'Star Wars: Episode VII' Still Has a 'Substantial' Female Role to Cast (Can We Hope It's Ahsoka?)

Star Wars: Episode VII isn't done making casting announcements yet. At least not according to The Hollywood Reporter, which broke the news on Tuesday afternoon that "sources tell The Hollywood Reporter that director JJ Abrams has another substantial role to fill — and it's a female part."

News of an additional and substantial female part yet to be cast should be welcome news to Star Wars fans who were surprised to only see one new female name — Daisy Ridley — among the 13 names revealed for Episode VII on Tuesday. From pretty much the moment this movie was announced in October 2012, we've heard that Disney and Lucasfilm were intent on making sure there was a major female hero as one of its new characters. That could be the character Ridley is playing, but there could be a bigger name coming.

Over the past few months, we've heard names like Oscar winner Lupita Nyong'o and mysterious newcomer Maisie Richardson-Sellers get mentioned. If you go back even farther, there were rumors of Chloe Grace Moretz meeting with Abrams.

And if you want to fuel the speculation fire even more, there's the Popculturology theory that Episode VII would be the perfect way to make Star Wars: The Clone Wars fan favorite Ahsoka Tano live on. Now that Lucasfilm has declared that the animated series the same level of canon as the movies, Ahsoka now counts just as much as Han Solo, Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia. Ashley Eckstein voiced Ahsoka in The Clone Wars, but Abrams could cast whoever he wanted to play Togruta ex-Jedi.