Disney and Lucasfilm are getting ready to go full-steam ahead on getting the hype train moving for their nextStar Warsmovie.Rogue One: A Star Wars Storyis due out in December, and because it is aStar Warsmovie, there will be months of press, details slowly leaking out and mounting anticipation for the follow up toThe Force Awakens. ButRogue Oneis going to be a very different type ofStar Warsmovie, and Disney has their work cut out for them to help the mainstream audience understand that.
The studio recently got a lot of excitement built up thanks to a massive amount of coverage about the movie fromEntertainment Weekly, which got a lot of people on board. Prior to all of the new details that were revealed aboutRogue Onein that EW spread, we didn’t know all that much about the movie. We knew that it was going to be a spinoff movie taking place in theStar Wars universe, we knew the timeline in which the story took place and we knew the main beat of the plot. But beyond that, much ofRogue Onewas a mystery. That is no longer the case.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Storywill be taking place between the events ofRevenge of the SithandA New Hopeand will center around aband of Rebelswho are tasked with stealing the plans for the first Death Star. That band of Rebels will be led byFelicity Jones' character Jyn Erso and she is being joined by a very seemingly interesting cast of characters. Not only do the characters sound very much like nice additions to theStar Warsuniverse, but the cast is absolutely stacked with top shelf talent likeForest Whitaker,Diego Luna,Alan TudykandBen Mendelsohn.
Disney recently had to do a little bit of damage control after it was revealed thatRogue Onewould reportedly have to undergo substantial reshoots. It still isn’t totally clear to what degree of severity these reshoots were because reports varied widely, with some saying the movie was a total disaster and others saying it is all very standard. We do know that Disney plans for reshoots with their larger movies, so it did seem like a lot of the panic about these reshoots were a bit overblown. Either way, Disney is committed to makingRogue Onethe best movie that they possibly can, and that should be encouraging.
J.J. Abramsmanaged to successfully re-invigorate theStar Warsfranchise withThe Force Awakenslast year, and Disney wants to capitalize on that momentum.Rogue Oneis going to be the first everStar Warsmovie to take place outside of the main episodicStar Warstimeline, and it is going to be a very different kind of movie in a galaxy far far away. It is going to be a war movie, it will feature the most famous bad guy in all ofStar Warshistory and it will answer a lot of questionsStar Warsfans have had for a long time. You may very well be excited about the movie, but here are some reasons that you should be a lot more excited aboutRogue One: A Star Wars Story.
9The Introduction of Jyn Erso
Felicity Jonesis one of the most promising actresses working in Hollywood today and Disney managed to lock her down to play the lead role inRogue One, which should be a very exciting prospect forStar Warsfans, or fans of movies in general. Going all of the way back toA New Hopein 1977, theStar Warsmovies have a long history of featuring strong female figures, andJyn Ersolooks like she will be another addition to that legacy. The first teaser trailer forRogue Onefeatured her character heavily, and it was very clear that she can handle herself in action.
Her character is described as a very streetwise troublemaker who has been living on her own since the age of 15. She has a very troubled past and has connections to the underworld. When she eventually crosses paths with the Rebel Alliance, they decide to try and put her skills to good use in order to help steal the Death Star plans. What is perhaps most interesting is that Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy described her character as a “Joan of Arc” inRogue One, so that could be something we haven’t ever seen from a female character in theStar Warsuniverse before.
8The Return of Darth Vader
It is pretty much no contest when it comes to who the greatest movie villain of all-time is. Darth Vader is to this day unmatched in his ability to be an imposing force of evil on screen, and it has been quite some time since we have seen Vader on screen. He showed up briefly at the end ofRevenge of the Sith, but that wasn’t the Darth Vader we all know and love. That will soon change though, because we are getting real deal Darth Vader inRogue One. We don’t know exactly how much screen time Vader is going to get, but the fact that he is going to be in the movie at all is very exciting.
Rumors had been circulating for quite some time that Darth Vader would be making an appearance in the movie, but it has been confirmed and that is a really big deal.James Earl Jonesis even returning to voice him forRogue One, so this is truly the Vader we have been dying to see on screen again ever sinceReturn of the Jedi. Not only that, but because of the time period that the movie takes place during, this will be a version of the character that we have never seen. If there is only one reason any fan ofStar Warsor of movies at all should be excited aboutRogue One, Darth Vader is it.
7Director Gareth Edwards
There are elements of the 2014Godzillareboot that not everyone loved, but for the most part,Gareth Edwardsdid a very good job of finally being able to get that right outside of the original Japanese movies. The movie made a lot of money and putEdwardson Disney and Lucasfilm’s radar, which is what landed him the coveted job of directingRogue One: A Star Wars Story. The task of tackling the very firstStar Warsspinoff ever is no easy one, but even if you didn’t loveGodzilla, he very much seems like the right guy on paper. For one,Rogue Oneis going to be more of a war movie with elements of espionage with the theft of the Death Star plans. Everything we have seen fromEdwardspoints to these things being able to play into his strengths. WithGodzilla,Edwardswas able to bring an interesting take on the classic franchise by showing all of the monsters and disaster through the eyes of the people around the chaos. He understands the importance of character and how to look at something through fresh eyes. That is somethingStar warscould really use and it should be really great to see whatEdwardsis able to do in theStar Warsuniverse.
6Saw Gerrera is Back
Forest Whitakerhas been one of the better actors working in Hollywood for a very long time now, so it was very exciting when it was announced he would be taking on a role inRogue One: A Star Wars Story. He wound up having one of the best bits in the first teaser trailer for the movie, and that only got us more excited, but when his character’s name was revealed, it changed everything.Whitakeris playing a character by the name ofSaw Gerrera, and fans ofStar Wars: The Clone Warsmay very well know that name. As it turns out, he is a character that first appeared in the fifth season of the animated TV show, and that is a really big deal. Not only is Saw Gerrera a great, grizzled, hardened, battle tested character, but it is also very significant that Lucasfilm pulled a character that was created in theStar Warsexpanded universe and is bringing them to live action. That opens up a big world of opportunity in the future, and is a really big deal in terms of potential for the future of the franchise. ForRogue Onespecifically, not only do we have an excellent actor likeWhitakerin aStar Warsmovie, but he is playing a character who already has a rich history to mine.
5It’s a Real War Movie
When one thinks ofStar Wars, a lot of things come to mind. Lightsabers, The Force, complicated family relationships, cool space ships. But oddly, one doesn’t think often enough about the actual title of the franchise. All of theStar Warssaga up to this point has taken place during a time of war, or at least when the threat of war was prevalent.Rogue Onemay very well be the first pure war movie we ever get in theStar Warsuniverse. We have seen elements of this in the footage that Lucasfilm has released, especially in theRogue Onefeaturette that was shown atStar WarsCelebration this year. The focus is not on The Force, Jedi’s or trade negotiations. It is on a band of Rebel soldiers who are doing some of the nitty gritty work that is needed for the war effort. We are going to get to see the what a boots on the ground perspective from the front-lines of battlegrounds in aStar Warsmovie, and that should be a very exciting and interesting prospect for anyStar Warsfan.Rogue One: A Star Wars Storywill be a true blue war movie set in theStar Warsuniverse, and that is really cool.
4Donnie Yen Fights Stormtroopers
One of the great things aboutStar Warshas always been the various kinds of combat that are displayed in the various movies. We get more traditional combat in the form of lightsaber battles, lots of gunfights and of course, aerial battles with some of the most memorable spaceships ever put to screen. ButRogue One: A Star Wars Storyhas something new in store for fans, as martial arts legendDonnie Yenis in the movie and that is going to potentially be very awesome. His character, named Chirrut Imwe, is a blind warrior who is not himself a Jedi but has dedicated himself to the Jedi way in order to become a very imposing fighter.Yenhas headlined some of the greatest action and martial arts movies of all-time, likeIP ManandCrouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. So the prospect of taking talent like that and transplanting it in theStar Warsuniverse with an interesting character backstory like Chirrut has reeks of potential, and could easily wind up being one of the highlights ofRogue One.
One of the most memorable sequences in the entireStar Warsfranchise is the battle on Hoth with the AT-ATs assaulting the shield generator at the Rebel base. We have only had very faint glimpses of the Walkers in otherStar Warsmovies, but we know that we are getting a version of them inRogue One, and that is extremely exciting. At the end of the first teaser forRogue One: A Star Wars Story, we see the team of Rebels running for their lives and they come face to face with several Walkers, which we know are early versions of the AT-ATs featured inThe Empire Strikes Backknown asAT-ACTs. We don’t know exactly how much the Walkers will be featured inRogue One, but we know for sure it will be more than just a glimpse and they will for sure be in action and not just there to look pretty. No doubt, the prospect of seeing another Walker action sequence is as good a reason as any to get really excited aboutRogue One.
2All the New Things
One of the most interesting things that continues to be revealed as we learn One: A Star Wars Storyis that there are going to a whole lot of things that we have never seen in otherStar Wars movies. There are new ships, like the Rebel U-Wing and the Imperial Tie Striker, which both look interesting from what we have seen. There seems to be an awful lot of new Stormtroopers that we have never seen before, such as the seemingly threatening and highly advertised Death Troopers, and that is just the tip of the iceberg. It looks like the very firstStar Warsspinoff movie is going to be jam packed with a lot of new weapons, ships, characters and costumes for fans to drool over, and those types of things have always been one of the best things about digging deep intoStar Warslore. That seems to be a big part of what these spinoff movies will be about, andRogue Onedoesn’t appear to be skimping on that aspect of the movie, which is really neat.
1It’s AStar WarsMovie
It pretty much goes without saying that there aren’t a lot of people who loveThe Phantom Menace, or most of the prequels for that matter. But we still talk about that movie and there are still things we love fromEpisode I. With that said, at the very worst aStar Warsmovie is still aStar Warsmovie, and that is still exciting. The good news is,The Force Awakenswas really good and everything we have seen fromRogue One: A Star Wars Storyhas been very encouraging, so we have no reason to think that this new addition to theStar Warsmovie universe is going to be bad. At worst, we should wind up with a decentStar Warsmovie that gives us some cool stuff to talk about. However, at the best, we have aStar Warsmovie that has the chance to do something very different and bring a really fresh perspective to theStar Warsuniverse, and that is undoubtedly exciting.
Disney and Lucasfilmseem to be very committed to theStar Warsfan base, and that is very encouraging as the release forRogue Oneapproaches. Before we know it, we will be sitting in a theater, as excited as ever, waiting for those famous words to flash across the screen that let us know that we are about to watch aStar Warsmovie. And that is really cool.Rogue One: A Star Wars Storyhits theaters on December 16.
