'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' cast, trailer, release update & update: JJ Abrams talks about Luke Skywalker's "absence" from the film

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Some of the most beloved characters in the Star Wars film series have already been spotted from the different posters and trailer released so far, but one thing conspicuously missing from the promotional materials is Luke Skywalker, to the dismay of some fans with few others going ballistic over it.

The film's director JJ Abrams was quick to address the issue in saying that the Jedi who seems to be in MIA status will still play a vital role in the upcoming movie. "Star Wars The Force Awakens" will hit the theaters on Dec. 18.

"No one forgot about him!" said J.J. Abrams according to Entertainment Weekly. "We were hoping people would care, but there are a lot of things that are not on the poster, as busy as the poster is. Certainly Luke is a very important aspect of the story."

Apart from the question on where Luke is, the mystery surrounding his character is also one of the things fans should look forward to in the new film. "In the context of talking about story and laying out what we were thinking, I said one thing to him: 'Who is Luke Skywalker?'" Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy told Abrams before he accepted the director's job, EW also wrote.

Meanwhile, in a promo event during Thursday night primetime in ABC, which is referred to as TGITAwakens, Shonda Rhimes made an introduction to the new trailer of the film, Mashable reported.

It included some previously released scenes together with other new ones, which let the fans get another glimpse of Hans Solo and Rey, played by Daisy Ridley, this time showing the former passing on some kind of a weapon to the latter before saying, "You're going to need this."

There was also another shot at what seems to be a Resistance base showing Carrie Fisher's character Princess Leia who is going to play a general's role in the upcoming film. The scene also showed Fisher's daughter Billie Lourd prompting some fans to speculate she might be playing the general's younger version for some flashback scenes.

The ABC network, which was also owned by Disney along with Lucasfilm, has been helping in the promotion of "The Force Awakens" with its teasers including cast members from three of its shows "Grey's Anatomy", "Scandal" and "How to Get Away With Murder." These casts talked about their love for the franchise and how their shows, to an amusing extent, resemble Star Wars.