The Star Wars galaxy rejoiced when it was announced that Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens would be in theaters December 18, 2015; through all the excitement, there was a disturbance, as if a thousand fan voices all cried out and were suddenly silenced. Could Disney really take on the legendary epic of Star Wars? Would we see a dancing Chewbacca? Would we have to sit through some kind of stormtrooper musical number? Even worse, would they bring back Jar Jar Binks?

There have been thousands of speculations and countless posts on social media from Star Wars fans, young and old, on what the new movie will bring to the table.
In honor of May 4th (Star Wars Day), I’m covering some of the controversies and new ideas from the new movie that have developed so far.

Fans were uneasy when George Lucas left Star Wars in the hands of Disney. They were even more uneasy after seeing the teaser trailer.

Some were mildly perturbed when seeing the aged Han Solo and Chewbacca at the very end of the trailer. Very few have actually complained about stars Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, and Harrison Ford returning for the next movie; I, for one, find the return of heroes from my childhood refreshing.

There was mild turbulence over the African-American storm trooper as well, though the real reason for this issue is uncertain.

The greatest uproar, sparked by the teaser trailer, has become one of the most argued cases in modern Star Wars fans. This issue lies within the middle of the trailer: a hooded figure with his back to the camera pulls out his lightsaber. The red beam instantly resonates as a symbol of the Sith, and is often associated with the Empire; according to Wookiepedia, the Sith use synthetic red-hued focusing crystals that allow for a stronger beam when empowered by the dark side.

This new lightsaber is activated and looks like any other standard saber – until two smaller blades come out from the hilt to make a cross guard.

Fans went nuts.

Some loved the new design, but more often than praises were complaints about the cross guard lightsaber.

Those against it argue that not only does it look stupid, but that instead of protecting the wielder’s hand, which is the purpose of a proper cross guard, another lightsaber would simply cut through the metal and slice through the cross guard in a duel.

Supporters argue that this is not all the case. Stephen Colbert took a good five minutes on his show to explain his theory in the new design and prove through white board, expo marker, and wit that the cross guard would indeed work.

The basic schematics of a lightsaber that allow for an original saber or one with a crossguard center on the focusing crystal component. Traditional lightsabers have one focusing crystal; cross guard lightsabers have three.

According to Colbert, in the schematics of the new lightsaber, there is one beam and it is reflected to each of the three focusing crystals. If there is, as he says, just one beam that reflects and is honed by three separate focusing crystals, then the idea that another lightsaber could simply cut through the cross guard is invalid. It could possibly cut through the metal surrounding the guard, but strike against the beam itself, doing no damage.

Even if this is not the case, Count Dooku allegedly has a certain type of metal in his possession that cannot be cut by a lightsaber.

There has also been a rumor that the smaller cross guard blades are detachable laser weapons.

Another fan drew up a new design for a lightsaber with a cross guard that he believes trumps the more recent design. This cross guard would make an upward V-shape at the hilt in a shallow enough angle that any blade brought down upon the wielder would be caught in between the central beam and the smaller counterpart.

While this idea is intriguing, I have no stance on whether the cross guard is beneficial or useless; other fans like myself should wait for the movie and trust J. J. Abrams, the film’s director, to deliver.

May the force be with us all if he doesn’t.