The majority of Star Wars fans are still trying to recover from the rollercoaster-ride that was ‘The Force Awakens’. Having had to endure a full year of Internet speculation, set leaks, clever teasers, the literary reboot of the entire canon, and then the spectacular and tragic events in the film itself, it was all very emotionally draining.
But there’s no letup, and today’s first full trailer for the next Star Wars movie, ‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story’ has officially kicked off the nine month hype-train until it’s release on 16th December. So as we embark on this new epic journey, what can we tell you about what we know so far?
5. So What Is It?
It’s a great time to be a parent. Film fans with kids have Marvel and DC films planned out for the next decade, and they’ll also be able to take their young padawans to a new Star Wars film every year, something that’s never happened before. The plan is to alternate trilogy films and one-shots each year, with this being the first of these.
There were rumors of Yoda and Boba Fett prequels (more on Mr Fett later…) and it’s been confirmed the next movie in this series will be. Han Solo movie, but this one is the first of the entirely new format to come out of the gate.
It’s set between ‘Revenge Of The Sith’ and ‘A New Hope’, and will show the results of be transition from Clone Trooper to Storm Trooper, and the infancy of both the Empire and the Rebellion.
British director Gareth Edwards has been selected to run proceedings. His first two movies were ‘Monsters’ and ‘Godzilla’, defining him as a man who can do fantasy and scale. Set photos have shown debris strewn battlefields, littered with the bodies of fallen Stormtroopers. And check out that AT-AT assault teased in the trailer. Belt up, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.
4. Tell Us A Story
The idea for the film spins out of two relatively throw-away scenes from the original trilogy. This is nothing new for the franchise. Devotees will remember a brief line from ‘A New Hope’ about the Emporer dissolving the Senate, and Palpatine’s relationship with the Senate went on to become a key component of the subsequent prequels.
In this case fans need to look to two scenes. The first is the opening scenes of ‘A New Hope’, where Vader is scything his way through the Corellian Blockade-Runner, hunting for stolen Death Star plans. This is then later backed up when Mon Mothma expands on the theft of the plans by saying “Many Bothans died to bring us this information.”
When scouting the franchise for ideas for a one-shot, the makers zoned in on this, and decided to use the theft of the plans as the basis for this film. It’s a tale that’s been referenced, but never told, and what we’ll be looking it has been described as a blend of a ‘heist movie’ and a Vietnam-era war film.
The movie will follow the efforts of a small group of Rebels, as they penetrate the heavy security around the project, and steal the plans which will be spirited to Alderaan. A previous teaser trailer showed the Death Star being constructed on the horizon of a forest planet, and concept art showed rebel transports disgorging squads of soldiers clad in the same armor as seen during the battle for Endor.
Now we know from the rest of the trilogy that the plans will get successfully stolen, but who will be doing the stealing? And at what cost?
3. The Good Guys
As the trailer has highlighted, this is very much going to be ‘The Dirty Dozen’ meets ‘A New Hope’, with a small band of miscreant Rebels being lead by Felicity Jones’s feisty Jin Alsar.
Martial arts experts Donnie Yen and Jiang Wen are playing a pair of sci-fi samurai, recently showcasing their moves onscreen by flinging some unfortunate Stormtroopers from pillar to post.
Diego Luna’s uniform would suggest he’s playing the team’s Rebellion Handler (more on his identity later…)x and Forest Whitaker is playing a slightly demented, battle-scarred veteran who is responsible for the team’s success.
British actor Riz Ahmed’s technology bedecked appearance in the promo photo for the film would suggest he is playing their tech support, and the legendary Alan Tudyk is playing an unknown mo-capped role, believed to be on the side of the light
2. The Bad Guys
The big bad in the project is believed to be being played by Aussie actor Ben Mendelsohn, and his unnamed white-robed Imperial officer can be glimpsed twice in the trailer. Could he be playing some version of fan favourite Admiral Thrawn?
The makers have also confirmed that we definitely will be seeing Darth Vader in be movie, though the extent of his appearance is not known. There is a black cloaked figure approaching what looks like the Emperor’s Throne Room in the trailer, which may well be our first sight of the character since Episode III.
It’s not been confirmed it Palpatine will be shown at all, but is argue he does play an integral part in the story, so he’s at the very least deserving of a holographic cameo.
1. Old Friends
The trailer has already shown that the character of Mon Mothma will be completing her hat-trick of appearances in the various trilogy timeframes, but who else might we expect to see?
Well, at a German comic convention towards the end of last year, drawings of some of the planned line of toys for the franchise were unveiled, and one picture in particular bore a strong resemblance to SLAVE 1. ‘Empire Strikes Back’ established that Vader has a long-standing business relationship with Bona Fett, so can we expect a cameo from him?
Sticking with the imperials, it’d be unrealistic to expect the architects of the Death Star to not crop up
In the proceedings in some shape of form. It’s intriguing that Mads Mikkelsen’s character has been kept under wraps. Could be be playing Bevel Lemelisk, the mad engineer behind the station? And how will Moff Tarkin make an appearance? A CGI Peter Cushing? Or a simple recasting?
It’s been noted by some observers that Diego Luna’s unnamed rebel officer bears more than a passing resemblance to Luke’s childhood friend Biggs Darklighter, who was destined to perish at the Battle Of Yavin. Is this character finally going to get a long overdue retcon?
There are very very strong rumours that the makers intend to use this movie as a means of easing in the actor they will be choosing to play a young Han Solo, much as Marvel have done in ‘Civil War’ with Tim Holland’s reboot of Peter Parker.
There’s been no official announcement of who they’ve picked yet, but it would be beyond cool to see the young Corellian smuggler show his face prior to his own prequel.