With the Star Wars Celebration in London, England, starting this week on Friday, July 15th – the 17th, there are a few questions we’d liked to see answered from the promised Rogue One trailer that will be shown…
We recently reported that on July 15th — the first day of Star Wars Celebration Europe — during the 8pm panel, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy and director Gareth Edwards will present a new three-minute trailer for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
The Rogue One panel will be live-streamed from London at 4pm to 5pm London time, which is five hours ahead of the U.S. Eastern time zone, so we should expect the new trailer to hit the internet by 9pm EST on Friday evening. And of course, Dork Side of the Force will be covering the trailer and all the events live, as they happen.
With one trailer already under its belt, Disney/Lucasfilm really hasn’t answered many questions in regards to the film. So, with a new trailer on the way, we have five questions that we would like to see answered in the new Rogue One trailer.
Next: Who is the mystery person in the robe?
Who is the mysterious person in the robe? Obviously it’s not Darth Vader, because we know that Vader has to have his helmet in order to breathe. It could be Emperor Palpatine — notice the Royal Guard in red — but why would he be kneeling to whomever is in the bacta tank?
And this brings up the next question: Who is in the bacta tank? Is it Darth Vader? Have the rebels dealt the Sith Lord a deadly blow? We know that Forest Whitaker’s character in Rogue One is Saw Gerrera from The Clone Wars. In the interests of continuity, could Darth Vader be healing from his battle Ahsoka Tano in the Star Wars Rebels Season 2 finale? These are things to ponder, as we near the trailer.
The most simple logic could be that the mysterious hooded figure is a new player to the game. A Sith Assassin, like Assaj Ventress — also from The Clone Wars. This person doesn’t have to be a full-blown Sith Lord, but they could be a Sith Inquisitor.
Next: How close to being a Jedi is Donnie Yen's character actually going to be?
Thanks to Entertainment Weekly’s coverage of Rogue One, we know that Donnie Yen’s character is named Chirrut Imwe, a blind warrior who believes and follows the ways of the Jedi, even though he isn’t one. This means he’s not Force sensitive, but even without that special sixth sense he’s trained himself to be a formidable warrior in spite of his sightlessness.
But will he ever get to tap into the Force, and why does he follow the ways and teachings of the Jedi? Did he at one time know a Jedi Master? Was he at one time strong in the Force but then lost the connection? Or does he suppress his Force powers because of the Empire’s persecution of the Jedi?
I for one cannot wait to see him literally kick some stormtrooper ass, on-screen, and I want to know what other kinds of weapons he uses besides that Chewbacca-like bowcaster. We’ve seen him dispatch troopers with some sort of stick-weapon. I guess it’s too much to hope for a lightsaber.
Next: Will Saw Gerrera mention other The Clone Wars heroes like Ahsoka Tano?
Ah, the ultimate rebel, Saw Gerrara. He’s tough, he rough, and he’s rugged. He certainly looks like he’s seen some hard times, especially now that he’s covered in patchwork armor and limping around.
In Star Wars Rebels, we find out that Ahsoka Tano is the leader of a network of resistance fighters, and she is named the Fulcrum. The ultimate nod to fans would be for Saw to mention her name, either by using her code-name, or by out-right calling her Ahsoka, since he knew her.
Of course, if Rogue One wanted to turn this film into a Star Wars fan’s fantasy full of wish-fulfillment, they’d have Ahsoka show-up and do battle with her former master, one last time, before the events of A New Hope…but alas, we all saw what happened at the end of Star Wars Rebels Season 2 (although Dave Filoni wants us all to think of that ending quite ambiguously). Damn you Filoni, and your wonderful imagination.
Next: Will Emperor Palpatine be in Rogue One?
Look, at this point, if Emperor Palpatine isn’t in Rogue One, then it’s a darn travesty, Palps is arguably one of the most evil villains in cinematic history, and if you’re telling a prequel story to the original Star Wars film — that has to do with blowing-up the Empire’s super-weapon by the way — then you MUST have Emperor Palpatine as part of that story.
We all know that Darth Vader is going to be in Rogue One, and since we know that Vader answers to only one man in the entire galaxy, it makes sense that that man would be Galactic Emperor, Sheev Palpatine…or Darth Sidious, depending on his mood, I suppose.
But, just what has the Emperor been up to since we last saw him in Revenge of the Sith? Obviously he’s been ordering the extermination of the Jedi, but has he been cloning himself, like he did in the now relegated Star Wars legends books? Has he been making Inquisitors do his bidding like in Star Wars Rebels? I would like to see some screen-time with Palpatine in Rogue One.
Next: Just who is Director Krennic, and what does he want?
Direcor Gareth Edwards and Disney/Lucasfilm landed a helluva actor when Ben Mendelsohn signed on to play Director Orson Krennic in Rogue One.
According to EW, Director Krennic is vying for the attention of Emperor Palpatine — in the film — in direct competition with Darth Vader. Something tells me this won’t end well for Mendelsohn’s character.
Krennic commands the Deathtroopers (those all black badass looking stormrtoopers), and he’s in charge of security for the Death Star. Before the information about his character was revealed from EW, many fans were wondering if he was in fact going to be the on-screen version of Grand Admiral Thrawn, because of his white cape and uniform.
If he curries favor with Palpatine, and starts a rivalry with Darth Vader, once the plans for the Death Star are stolen, then his usefulness to both the Emperor, and Vader will most likely come to an end…but one may never know.
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Hopefully we will get some answers to these questions and many, many more, on July 15th, when the second trailer for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story airs. And don’t forget: Stay tuned to Dork Side of the Force as will will keep you up to date with all the latest news and information coming out of London from the Star Wars Celebration, all day and all night.