Star Wars

10 Questions Raised By The New ‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story’ Trailer

Nick Steinberg (@Nick_Steinberg)

Source: Lucasfilm

The final story trailer has been released for Gareth Edward’s Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and it is easily the best one yet. The trailer not only gives us a better idea of the film’s plot, but also finally offers us a glimpse of Mad Mikkelsen’s character Galen Erso, who has been shrouded in mystery up until this point. While it’s great that the new trailer has opened up the door on this film a little bit more to give us a better idea of what it’s all about, these new details have also given us a number of new questions to ponder over the next two months while we anxiously await Rogue One’s December 16 release date.

10. Where Does Darth Vader Fit In All Of This?

Although he’s the Rogue One character we’re most familiar with as an audience, Darth Vader remains one of the film’s biggest question marks. We know that he has an important part to play, but it’s not yet clear how he fits into the whole narrative. As already discussed, the main conflict in Rogue One is centered around Jyn Erso, her father, and Imperial Director Krennic.

We see in the trailer that Vader and Krennic have some sort of interaction, and it looks like it may be a bit of an antagonistic relationship, as Krennic lectures Vader on the power of the Death Star, implying that the Sith Lord doesn’t quite understand the weapon’s significance. Beyond that, it hasn’t yet been made clear why Vader is in the movie or what his ultimate role will be. Of course, it’s a treat to be getting a new Star Wars movie that involves Vader, but hopefully the film has a bigger role for him that adds something of value, rather than just including him because he’s a familiar face among a cast of relative unknowns.

Source: Lucasfilm

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9. How Do Galen and Krennic Know One Another?

The new trailer finally gives us our first look at Mads Mikkelsen’s character, Galen Erso, and judging by the brief flashback we see of an Imperial team led by Ben Mendelsohn’s Director Orson Krennic, it’s pretty clear that the two know each other. Fortunately, we already know quite a bit about their relationship thanks to the Catalyst: A Rogue One novel written by James Luceno.

Luceno’s novel reveals that Galen and Krennic are old friends and that Galen is indebted to Krennic after the latter saves him, his wife Lyra, and their daughter Jyn from Separatist kidnappers. As a scientist specializing in energy research, Galen is taken in by Krennic to continue his research, which of course is actually the development of the Death Star’s laser weapon. The real question is whether or not Galen and Krennic are friends or enemies in the present timeline of Rogue One, as it looks like Galen’s allegiances could swing either way. Which brings us to the question of …

Source: Lucasfilm

8. Where Do Galen Erso’s Allegiances Lie?

The new trailer establishes Galen Erso as one of the most important and mysterious characters in the film, as everything revolves around him and his research that led to the creation of the Death Star. Right now, there is more evidence to support the idea that Galen is working on the Death Star against his will, as he tells Jyn when she is still a child that “whatever I do, I do it to protect you.”

However, there’s also a strong possibility that his allegiance is now with the Empire; we not only see him looking quite comfortable in Imperial garb, but after so many years spent under the Empire’s watch, it would be difficult for him to not be swayed to the Dark Side. Whatever the case, expect the question of Galen’s true allegiance to be a focal point of the film’s plot and the estranged relationship between Jyn and her father.

Source: Lucasfilm

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7. Will Jyn Settle The Score With Krennic?

Although we can’t say for sure, it’s implied that Jyn didn’t know her father was still alive when the Rebels tell her that he is involved with the development of the Death Star. We also see that Jyn was in hiding when Krennic came to take her father away when she was a child, so it’s safe to assume that Jyn has quite the personal score to settle with the Imperial officer. Will she get her chance or will events transpire that prevent Jyn from getting even with the man who pretty much ruined her childhood? Rogue One looks like it will build to a climactic showdown between the pair, but it’s probably not going to play out the way we expect, especially if Vader ends up being involved somehow.

Source: Lucasfilm

6. What Is The Significance Of That Half-Buried Statue?

The filmmakers have previously confirmed that there will be no Jedi in Rogue One (although there will be a Sith lord) but the Force will still play a significant role in the film. One shot from the new trailer that really piqued our curiosity was the brief overhead shot of a half-buried statue in the desert, which looks like it could very well be tied to the Jedi order. It’s doubtful that we’ll explicitly learn anything important about this statue, but its inclusion suggests that we may learn a bit more about the Jedi and spirituality in general may play a bigger part in the film than initially thought.

Source: Lucasfilm

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5. Is That Grand Moff Tarkin?

One of the biggest questions surrounding Rogue One is whether or not Grand Moff Tarkin, Peter Cushing’s Death Star commander from the original Star Wars, will be making an appearance in the film. Before the identity of Ben Mendelsohn’s character was revealed, many thought that he was playing a younger Tarkin, but that turned out to not be the case. Disney has not confirmed one way or the other whether Tarkin is in the film, but there’s a brief shot in the new trailer that suggests he is.

We see an Imperial officer stride into a room and although we don’t to see his face, the silhouette does seem to resemble Tarkin. While it would be difficult to bring back the character given that Cushing passed away many years ago, if the filmmakers found an actor that resembles the late actor and could live up to his original performance, it’s certainly possible that they decided to bring back Tarkin after all.

Source: Lucasfilm

4. What Is Saw Gerrera’s Role, Exactly?

This trailer makes it clear that Forest Whitaker’s Saw Gerrera has seen better days, as we see that he has a mechanical leg and a respirator built into his armor. He’s certainly one of the more intriguing characters in Rogue One, but it’s not really clear yet what his role is in the film. Judging by his compromised state, we’re guessing that he doesn’t accompany Jyn on her mission and he seems to be occupying an advisory role of sorts.

We’ve seen Saw before on The Clone Wars animated series, as an insurgent Rebel fighting alongside a young Anakin Skywalker, so we know that he has a history with Darth Vader. Our guess is that he has unique insight to offer Jyn and also warns her to be wary of Vader, but beyond that, we’re not sure what else he’ll be bringing to the table … but we’re excited to find out!

Source: Lucasfilm

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3. Who’s Flying Those X-Wings?

One of the more exciting revelations in the trailer is that we’ll be seeing the return of space dogfighting in Rogue One, after The Force Awkanes limited its ship-to-ship combat to in-atmosphere encounters. We have to wonder though: who’s piloting those X-Wings? We know that it’s probably not going to be anyone involved in the Death Star plans heist, so we can rule out the film’s main characters.

While the most likely scenario is that the ships will be piloted by a bunch of no-name Rebel pilots, we hope that at least some of them will be pilots we’ve met before. How great would it be if Dak Ralter, Wedge Antilles, or even our old pal Jek Porkins was manning one of those X-Wings? It would be a great callback to the original trilogy and help Rogue One feel more connected to the previous films.

Source: Lucasfilm

2. Will Someone Betray Jyn’s Group?

As a ragtag group of Rebels attempting the impossible, it’s fair to say that Jyn Erso and her group will be under an extreme amount of stress in their mission to steal the Death Star plans. As such, it feels like there’s a good chance that at least one member of the group may end up having second thoughts about the operation and compromise the mission by either informing the Empire of their plans or revealing themselves to be an Imperial agent the whole time.

Of course, there very well could be no betrayal at all and all the tension of the film’s central conflict comes strictly from it being a daring heist mission with a low chance of survival, but the betrayal trope is a well that Star Wars has dipped into before (hello Lando) so it’s not unreasonable to think something similar will happen in Rogue One.

http://www.starwars.com/video/rogue-one-a-star-wars-story-celebration-reel?cds Source: StarWars.com

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1. Will Anyone Make It Out Of This Alive?

While the Star Wars franchise isn’t known for being very trigger-happy when it comes to character deaths (well, besides the entire Jedi order being wiped out in Revenge of the Sith) it just wouldn’t feel right if every Rebel hero who joins Jyn on her suicide mission makes it out alive. When you also factor in the fact that none of these characters are seen in Star Wars films set after Rogue One, there’s a very good chance that most of them won’t survive. The big question, of course, is who will survive and we really don’t have much to go on here.

As much as we don’t want to see it because he seems like a lot of fun, it would be very surprising if Diego Luna’s Captain Cassian Andor makes it to the closing credits, and you can also probably count Alan Tudyk’s droid K-2SO out of the survivor pool since droids get destroyed all the time in Star Wars. One would also assume that Jyn is probably marked for death as well, but we think she’s going to make it out okay. Someone has to survive to deliver the Death Star plans, right?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rogue_One:_A_Star_Wars_Story Source: Wikipedia