Easter eggs to look for when you see Force Awakens for the second, third, hundredth time

You’ve now seen The Force Awakens. Maybe you’ve seen it twice, even three times over the last few days. Maybe even more. But now the bigger question: have you really seen everything in the movie?

Not the lightsaber battles, or the Millennium Falcon jumping to lightspeed. But, the little Easter eggs scattered throughout the movie, and the call-backs to prior Star Wars films, and beyond. Now that you’ve seen the movie, multiple times, it’s time to head back to the theater and search for these little things (like Rey searching through the downed Star Destroyer).

Here’s a collection of some Easter eggs, but with each viewing more and more things are bound to pop up. Spoilers ahead, of course, but I think everyone has seen the movie now. From the box office report, it sure looks that way.

Star Wars superfan Simon Pegg

Pegg is a huge Star Wars fan. He and director J.J. Abrams are also very good friends, and Pegg served as the “unofficial” Star Wars consultant for him during filming. He must have done a good job, because Pegg landed a role in the movie. He plays Unkar Plutt, the junk dealer who gives Rey her rations on Jakku.

J. J. Abrams’ BFF, Greg Grunberg

Grunberg is a well established actor in his own right, but well before he was gracing the small screen in such things like Heroes, Masters of Sex, Alias, and Felicity, he was Abrams’ childhood best friend. The two have known each other since they were hanging out on the playground. So yeah, if anyone’s going to get screen time as a Resistance X-Wing pilot, it’s gonna be Grunberg. BFFs no matter what galaxy.

Carrie Fisher’s daughter and reigning scream queen

Did you watch Scream Queens this past season? The ear-muff wearing Chanel #3 was played by Billie Lourd, who happens to be Carrie Fisher’s daughter (and yes, she was wearing the ear-muffs as a callback to her mother’s OG Star Wars hairstyle). Lourd appears here as Resistance Lieutenant Connix.

Abrams’ mystery box

This might get a little deep into Abrams’ mythology, but he’s included one of his signature “mystery boxes” in the movie. He loves mystery boxes, because the contents inside hold endless possibilities. He once gave a TED talk on this. He’s included — whether real or figurative — mystery boxes in all his work before. In Force Awakens we find Luke’s lightsaber in WHAT? A mystery box that Rey opens. Endless possibilities are inside.

The OG Jedi training tool

While rummaging around in the Falcon, Finn happens to pull out a small, circular drone. It’s got little holes all over it. You might remember this from A New Hope. It’s what Obi-Wan uses to help Luke learn to trust his instincts with the lightsaber. Glad to see it’s still kicking around.

Dejarik, the game

You might know this better as the holographic board game Chewie and R2 play during A New Hope, when 3P0 utters his amazing line, “Let the wookiee win.” Finn sits down at the still-intact game on the Falcon, and leans on the wrong button. The holographic game pieces spring to life before he shuts it off.

The trash compactor

Is there a trash compactor on Starkiller Base? There sure is. And when trying to decide what to do with Captain Phasma when they’re done with her, Han and Finn decide to throw her in there. A nice little callback to the time Han, Luke, Leia, and Chewie found themselves in the same messy situation.

A mini-Lost reunion

No one told me that Force Awakens was going to bring together so many former players from my favorite TV show of all time (and one that Abrams’ created) Lost. Grunberg actually played the pilot of the doomed Oceanic Airlines flight 815, and Ken Leung, who played ghost-psychic Miles in season five and six, appeared here as Resistance Admiral Statura. I’m also PRETTY SURE Henry Ian Cusick, Desmond on Lost, appeared quickly as an X-Wing pilot during the last battle.

Hamilton superstar, Lin-Manuel Miranda

Fact: there is nothing Miranda can’t do. Or write and sing. So why not tackle a song, entirely in Huttese? That’s exactly what he did when he teamed with Abrams to write the new cantina song for Maz Kanata’s bar. He actually wrote two, “Jabba Flow” and “Dobra Doompa.” Neither one is on Spotify yet, but they’ll pop up soon enough.

Some old Jedi friends

Obi-Wan is in Force Awakens. Repeat: Obi-Wan is on Force Awakens. It’s very fast, but he’s there. He’s actually there twice, as both the late Alec Guinness and Ewan McGregor. During Rey’s flashback scene after she’s touched the lightsaber, McGregor himself is actually the one who says, “Rey … these are your first steps” at the very end of that sequence. And thanks to some editing wizardry, Guinness is able to say, “Rey.” Frank Oz, who did the voice (and puppet) for Yoda also provides additional voices for the movie.

(Image via Lucasfilm)