Here’s Why Wedge Antilles Wasn’t At The Battle Of Scarif In Rogue One
By Elaine Tveit
Lucasfilm’s resident Star Wars guru Pablo Hidalgo and voice actor Matthew Wood revealed why Wedge Antilles wasn’t in the Battle of Scarif in Rogue One.
Many fans of the original trilogy wondered why Wedge Antilles didn’t fly in the Battle of Scarif in Rogue One. Thanks to Lucasfilm’s resident Star Wars guru Pablo Hidalgo and voice actor Matthew Wood, we now know the answer (via Star Wars News Net).
The explanation is simple, really. In his response to a Twitter Star Wars fan’s questions about Wedge’s absence in Rogue One, Hidalgo pointed out that when Wedge sees the Death Star in A New Hope, his reaction is: “Look at the size of that thing!” The first impression nature of his comment suggests he never saw the Death Star before the Battle of Yavin IV. This means he couldn’t have been present at the Battle of Scarif in Rogue One, where the Death Star eventually showed up.
So where was Wedge when Red Squadron was dogfighting with TIE fighters over Scarif? Matthew Wood, voice actor and engineer at Skywalker Sound, said the X-wing pilot was still on Yavin IV.
Wedge (voice of @DavidAnkrum1 ) is on Yavin 4, announcing to flight personnel to report in & redirect to Scarif, MTFBWY. He stays on Yavin.
— @matthewood (@matthewood) January 28, 2017
I like that Lucasfilm made the decision not to have Wedge appear on-screen in Rogue One. Star Wars is not so small that every character from the original trilogy has to reappear in some capacity in every future story from that era. Similarly, in-universe, we realize the Rebel Alliance is not small, either. There are a lot of pilots just as good at what they do as Wedge Antilles. He had his time in the spotlight in the original trilogy, and then again in a cameo in Star Wars Rebels. It’s time to introduce new pilots. And for the most part, the Battle of Scarif accomplished just that.
At the same time, it’s cool that Wedge was a part of the movie in some small way. As a mere voice on the loudspeaker, Wedge demonstrates that the members of the Rebel Alliance take on different jobs as needed. They’re not all hotshot pilots all the time. It was a clever storytelling device by Lucasfilm that grounded the Rebel Alliance in reality while simultaneously delivering subtle fan service.
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Do you wish Wedge Antilles was more present in Rogue One? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below.