Where's Luke Skywalker? J.J. Abrams Sorta Explains the Jedi's 'Force Awakens' Trailer Absence

Many Star Wars fans had only one question after watching the full-length trailer for The Force Awakens last week: Where was Luke Skywalker?

While Han Solo (Harrison Ford) made a memorable first appearance in the April teaser and Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) finally made her debut in the new poster and trailer, one of the heroes of the original trilogy has been mostly absent except for a voiceover and hooded glimpse in the second teaser. According to writer-director J.J. Abrams, the omission wasn’t an oversight.

“These are good questions to be asking. I can’t wait for you to find out the answer,” Abrams told a reporter for the Associated Press at an event in Hollywood over the weekend (watch the video above). “It’s no accident.”

Also read: 5 Highlights From the new ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ Trailer

The absence of any concrete information has naturally led fans to think up plenty of conspiracy theories. Abrams, after all, loves a good twist, which has some fans wondering if the man who was supposed to revive the Jedi Knights has instead turned to the dark side. Adam Driver plays Kylo Ren, the new Darth Vader-worshipping villain of the franchise, but maybe that means he’s willing to work for Darth’s only son? We’ll have to wait until the movie’s release on Dec. 18 to find out.

Abrams was slightly more forthcoming about the status of the film’s post-production. The director says that they likely still have 3 or 4 more weeks of visual effects work to finish up for the 3D and IMAX release.

“We’re in the editing room, working on the cut, going over visual effects and doing reviews,” Abrams said. “We still have another scoring session with John Williams, who is a god when it comes to music. So it’s been an ongoing, surreal experience, and I just cannot wait for the movie to be out in the world.”