Entertainment Weekly has published exclusive images from the upcoming film “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story”. It includes new character details as well as some pretty interesting revelations.
Death Trooper
The new class of Stormtroopers owe their name from the now expunged Legends. Since Rogue One takes place before the Rebels united themselves into a single entity, the Death Trooper’s task is to hunt the fragmented cells and looking cool while doing so.
One of the photos shows a Deathtooper holding what appears to be an action figure. According to Entertainment Weekly, the doll has a special significance in the story. Maybe it was Jyn Erso’s perhaps?
Jyn Erso
Tired of the father/son focus of previous Star Wars movies? Try father/daughter instead. Jyn Erso’s relationship with her father, Galen Erso (Hannibal’s Mads Mikkelsen), is a crucual aspect of her story. For Jyn, this mission is personal, since her father is a scientist whose knowledge is being sought by both the Empire and the Rebellion. How personal? Well, personal enough to infiltrate the Empire using a disguise to secure details of its latest weapon – a moon-sized battle station we know as the Death Star.
Chirrut Imwe
I don’t know if “Mr Ip Man” Donnie Yen’s character, Chirrut Imwe, is Force sensitive. The blind warrior believes in the Force even though he may not be sensitive to it. One goal of Rogue One is to step away from the Jedi and Sith to explore the heroism of ordinary people. “The Jedi are pretty much extinct,” says Director Gareth Edwards. “It’s up to normal, everyday people to take a stand to stop evil from dominating the world.” Chirrut Imwe wouldn’t be the first “normal” dude to believe in the Force: Lor San Tekka from The Force Awakens heads a sort of “light side” cult. There’s also Bail Organa, Padme Naberrie, and Mon Mothma. But it seems to me he’s the first non-Jedi believer in the Force who exudes the presence of one and – as the trailer has shown – kicks ass like one as well.
Baze Malbus
Jiang Wen’s Baze doesn’t believe in the Force — but he believes in Chirrut. Think The Hound or Brienne of Tarth. Basically an ass-kicking bodyguard who might not share his ward’s interest. “He understands Chirrut’s spiritual centeredness, but he doesn’t necessarily support it,” Lucasfilm Producer Kathleen Kennedy says. “He supports what his friend deeply believes, but he’s much more of a pragmatic soldier.”
K-2SO
The new Star Wars droid — a security robot known as K-2SO (Kaytoo Esso), who is voiced and performed via motion-capture by Alan Tudyk (Firefly.) Compare his gunmetal gray surface to the shimmering plating of “Goldenrod” C-3PO, and you’ll see the difference between a utilitarian droid like Kaytoo and a protocol droid like Threepio. Kaytoo wasn’t built to socialize. He’s as brusque and blunt as he is strong. “He has a very dry delivery,” Edwards says. “He doesn’t realize what he’s saying is very funny.” He reminds me of that medical droid in the Original Trilogy but the trailers all point to him being a very able security droid.
Captain Cassian Andor
Diego Luna (Y Tu Mamá También) plays Capt. Cassian Andor, a Rebel stalwart who anchors the loose cannon Jyn. Andor is an intelligence officer with some combat experience. I honestly mistook him for Biggs Darklighter, Luke Skywalker’s boyhood friend from Tatooine though I quickly realized that’s impossible: Biggs was on Tatooine with Luke when Darth Vader managed to capture Princess Leia. He’s the quiet type, with the type of sadness you see from veteran soldiers who’ve seen a lot.
Bodhi Rook
A Star Wars production wouldn’t be complete without an experienced pilot and this time he’s Bodhi Rook (Riz Ahmed). Rook “flies a lot of cargo, one of his key jobs,” Kennedy says. “And he tends to be a little tense, a little volatile, but everybody in the group really relies on his technical skills.” From that description, I’d say Rook isn’t the ace pilot in the Skywalker boys, Han Solo, or Poe Dameron mold but that he’ll hold his own, and probably save the lives of the Rebel Squad more than a few times.
Director Orson Krennic
The dude with the awesome cape is Director Orson Krennic played by Ben Mendelsohn. A high ranking Imperial, Krennic is responsible for protecting the security of the Death Star Project but it seems he’s also a manipulator within the Empire. Kiri Hart, Lucasfilm’s head of story development, says that Krennic “understands the system and he knows how things work, but he also is not above trying to bend it to get what he needs or what he thinks he wants”. Not only will he have to contend with Rebels trying to target the Death Star, there’s the big looming figure of Darth Vader over his shoulder and the Emperor’s very high expectiations for his officers to consider. He’s got all that to deal with plust the fact that fellow Imperials love to trip each other up because of their own agendas. Thankfully, he has his wits (which point to this character having enough strategic acumen to keep things interesting) and his squad of Deathtroopers to keep him “safe”. Well, until Darth Vader comes waltzing around, that is.
Saw Gerrera
I’ve always wondered when characters from the Clone Wars series would make an appearance in a Star Wars movie. But I never expected it would be Saw Gerrera, the guerilla fighter who once fought side by side with Anakin Skywalker (who is technically also in this movie). Played by Forest Whitaker, Saw has become a freedom fighter whose brutal tactics unsettle the Rebellion. He’s old now, but has obviously become more violent. Although they fight for the same cause, the Rebellion seems reluctant to associate themselves with the Clone Wars veteran, something that will provide color to the entire plot of Rogue One.
Paradise Lost
Keeping with the Star Wars tradition of planets with a single ecosystem, one key battleground in Rogue One is on a world that might resemble a relaxing seaside holiday destination if not for its proximity to the Death Star. That leads to a key battle in the film taking place on its balmy shoreline — blue waters and an eerie gray sky.
We don’t yet know the name of this world, but it’s meant to evoke both heaven and hell — tranquility and war. “There’s this sort of South Pacific, tropical paradise planet that subconsciously leads into some of the imagery associated with World War II,” Edwards says. “We went to lots of different places around the world, and one of them was the Maldives. When you’re shooting Stormtroopers in paradise, you have the best job in the world, you know? You can’t really deny it at that point.”
Personally, I think this planet might have a shield generator to defend the still-unfinished Death Star. Remember in Return of the Jedi, the second Death Star’s shield is being generated from the forest moon of Endor.
Rogue One is going to hit the theaters this December.
