Walt Disney's Star Wars Episode VII announced the addition of two female cast members, Lupita Nyong'O and Gwendoline Christie. Both actresses are believed to assume supportive roles, which may slightly spoil fans' expectations. The two highly-acclaimed actresses join the band of six returning characters and seven newcomers for Star Wars: Battlefront. 

Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy expressed her excitement in an official press release about the newest additions to Star Wars. "I could not be more excited about Lupita and Gwendoline joining the cast of 'Episode VII.' It's thrilling to see this extraordinarily talented ensemble taking shape."

Nyong'O is well known for her Oscar award in Twelve Years a Slave (2013) together with Chiwetel Ejiofor. On the other hand, Christie takes the center stage with her work on HBO's Game of Thrones as Brienne of Tarth.

According to Scott Mendelson, a contributor at Forbes.com, the inclusion of female casts in Star Wars plays a significant role in the overall entertainment industry.  He said that Director JJ Abrams' decision might be the production's response to the growing rumors of institutionalized sexism innate within the industry.

"We're still at a point where there are so few female-centric would-be blockbusters that each one is compared to the last one no matter how little sense it makes, so that Maleficent is totally the same as Frozen and Brave is of course identical to The Hunger Games," Mendelson wrote in Forbes.com.

Meanwhile, TMZ published exclusive photos of Star Wars: Battlefront that is currently shooting scenes in Abu Dhabi's sand dunes. It also captured what seems like R2D2 and a revival of the Millennium Falcon.

Check out 45 of the freshest snapshots from Star Wars Episode VIIhere.