Captain Phasma

Conception and creation

The character's creation was inspired by a rejected design for Kylo Ren. Costume designer Michael Kaplan came up with the concept of Kylo being "the Lord of the Stormtroopers, in bright shining silver armor". Kaplan had a strong image in his head of what this concept should look like, which concept artist Dermot Power turned into an illustration. This image, however, was immediately denied by director J. J. Abrams. Later, producer Kathleen Kennedy found the design, reacting positively and calling it "fantastic". Abrams then used the design to create a new character, Phasma. He named Phasma after the 1979 horror film Phantasm because her armor reminded him of the film's spheres. Kaplan intended for the visuals of the First Order to contrast with that of the Resistance, appearing in colors like "black, teal blue, and steel gray", with stormtroopers being updated to be more simplified and modernized while the same iconically. Kaplan designed the character believing it would be "extremely cool" to have a silver armored character in the film.

The character was not originally conceived as a woman, but rather was changed from male to female during casting, less than three weeks before principal shooting began. Phasma thereby became the second on-screen female Star Wars villain, after Zam Wesell. With Captain Phasma, the filmmakers wished to "push the boundaries" of traditional roles for female characters.

Actress Gwendoline Christie, who had previously played Brienne of Tarth in Game of Thrones, was first officially confirmed as Captain Phasma in a Vanity Fair spread released May 4, 2015, following its leak. Christie fought heavily to appear in the film, continually insisting her agent get her a part on it. Christie was not aware of the character's earlier gender. Christie took inspiration from her armor—"it's very high-functioning, it's very imposing and it's not malleable at all"—in how to play the character. In playing Phasma, Christie felt encouraged to experiment more with the gesture of a character.

Phasma's armor took Christie roughly forty-five minutes to put on.

Character

The commander of the First Order's stormtroopers, Captain Phasma is described as a "tough veteran commander" and one of a "commanding triumvirate" of the First Order alongside Kylo Ren and General Hux. Christie compared Phasma to Boba Fett in the sense of being a character who, while not "at the forefront of the action all the time", still has "a lot of impact". The actress called the character "a malevolent force" who takes pleasure in her cruelty, something she attributed to a perceived difficult journey to becoming the only female stormtrooper of rank. To contrast with other stormtroopers in the franchise, Christie portrayed Phasma with both some femininity and sassiness. Glen Robert Gill, writing for Bright Lights Film Journal, saw Phasma as "the demonic or negative emanation of the maidenly anima".

Phasma is depicted wearing salvaged chromium armor, which in The Force Awakens' visual dictionary is established as coming from a Naboo yacht once owned by Emperor Palpatine. It is said to serve "primarily as a symbol of past power". Christie recognised the character's helmet as both being futuristic and having medieval elements. Chris Laverty, creator of costume analysis site Clothes on Film, called her armor "probably the most regal costume" in The Force Awakens, and noted it as a reflection of her status. He also felt her cloak, "elegantly slung over one shoulder", was a method of humanizing the character. In-universe, the cloak is the "traditional cape of First Order command". Gill felt her armor called to mind mirrors, symbols of "self-reflection and self-examination", the feelings she brings in Finn when she inadvertently helps inspire him to defect.

In film

The second trailer for the 2015 film Star Wars: The Force Awakens introduced the character. In the film, Phasma begins engaged in an attack on a village in search of coordinates that will lead to the missing Luke Skywalker. After the battle is won, Phasma and the other stormtroopers execute the villagers at the order of Kylo Ren. Back on the First Order's base, she orders Stormtrooper Finn to report to reconditioning. Instead, Finn flees and betrays the Order in favor of the Resistance. When Finn, Han Solo, and Chewbacca infiltrate the base further in the film, they take Phasma hostage and force her to remove the base's shields, before dropping her in the trash compactor.

Phasma will also appear in Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

In other media

Before the Awakening, a prequel anthology, features the character in a short story centered around Finn. In it, she monitors Finn's performance in combat simulation and, although praising his skill, she criticizes his rescuing of a weaker soldier. Additionally, Phasma is featured in both the adult and junior novelizations of The Force Awakens. The Lego Star Wars version of Phasma also appears in the 2016 short form animated series Lego Star Wars: The Resistance Rises.

Merchandise

As part of the lead-up to the film, Disney released a wave of Star Wars toys on 2015's "Force Friday". One such toy was a Phasma voice-changing mask, which contained the first dialogue heard by the public. Other items included a costume for children as well as action figures.

Reception

Phasma received attention before release. Before her name was confirmed, Phasma had been dubbed "the Chrometrooper" by fans. The trademarking of "Captain Phasma" led to speculation that it was the name of Christie's rumored character, said to be an Imperial officer pursuing Finn. Phasma had been the name of a character in one Star Wars fanfic, Tarkin's Fist, leading to MovieWeb wondering if it was an intentional homage. IGN's "Keepin' It Reel" podcast discussed the possibility of Phasma being "the next breakout baddie" in the vein of Boba Fett and Darth Maul. They responded positively to the character's name, despite some initial misgivings, for fitting in with the franchise's Flash Gordon roots. They also praised her armor design which they felt likewise had been important in the success of Fett and Maul. They similarly had high hopes for Christie's acting. During the lead-up to the film, Phasma became a fan favorite. Polygon's Susana Polo considered The Force Awakens a great achievement for Hollywood for its diversity regardless of its quality, though she used Phasma as an example of how the film was not perfect, noting rumors of Phasma's minor role despite her being the first on-screen female stormtrooper.

Upon The Force Awakens' release, criticism fell on the character's minimal role in the film. The Telegraph's Jonathan McAloon called his "one criticism" of The Force Awakens the underuse of Phasma, and wondered if her face would ever be revealed in the films. Jason Guerrasio of Business Insider echoed the sentiment, noting her lack of screen time despite her great potential. Scott Meslow, writing for The Week, criticized the film's lack of nuance in its villains, calling her "a total cipher" in the film despite her heavy appearance in its promotion. He pointed to her appearance in Before the Awakening as a way to expand her character, noting her cold yet logical pragmatism in it. Jesse Schedeen of IGN called Phasma "something of a disappointment in The Force Awakens", negatively contrasting her against Fett in that "even Fett had the distinction of outsmarting Han Solo before meeting an ignominious end". Schedeen hoped Phasma would be revisited in Marvel's Star Wars comics, to help flesh out her character and build her into a better villain. Max Nicholson, writing for Collider.com, noted the amount of hype for the character, as well as her minimal role in the story. Nicholson suggested that Hux and Phasma should have been merged into one character, as they were too similar, or Phasma should have been given the melee fight scene given to a nameless trooper nicknamed "TR-8R" by fans.

Merchandise featuring the character proved popular. David Betancourt of The Washington Post called Phasma's role in the film "little more than a shiny new prop", viewing her as a victim of the film's need to introduce all its new characters, yet noted the popularity and rarity of the merchandise surrounding the character. Captain Phasma's figure was the bestselling of The Force Awakens' action figures on Amazon.co.uk.