Sherlock Actor Jonathan Aris to Appear in Rogue One

Jonathan ArisBBC reporter Lizo Mzimba made another interesting discovery from the pages of the UK’s leading casting resource – Spotlight. British actor Jonathan Aris has updated his Spotlight account, revealing that he was cast as a character called Senator Jebel in Rogue One…

 

 

This info is 100% legit, since it’s coming from the actor himself. You can check Aris’ Spotlight page HERE. (the info has already been removed, but you can see the screen capture below)

 

Screenshot

 

The fact that the actor was confident enough to reveal his involvement with the movie himself, could probably mean that his role in the movie is very minor and that he will have small screen presence. For a comparison you can check out the other finds made by Mr. Mzimba on The Force Awakens, all coming from Spotlight (HERE). You can see that they are all supporting characters.

 

So far the only confirmed cast member for Rogue One is Felicity Jones. Other rumored actors to appear in the movie are: Diego Luna, Ben Mendelsohn, Forest Whitaker, Riz Ahmed and Sam Claflin.

 

As you know Disney agreed not to promote Rogue One until after Paramount releases Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (produced by J.J. Abrams), which is exactly in 5 days. So we should probably expect some real Rogue One news in the following weeks, starting with Disney’s D23 Expo at Anaheim on August 14-16.

 

Star Wars Anthology: Rogue One is scheduled for a December 16, 2016 release, and is expected to start principal photography in just a few days, according to Kathleen Kennedy.

 

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Founder of SWNN, MNN and The Cantina forums.Born on April 24, 1980.

81 thoughts on “Sherlock Actor Jonathan Aris to Appear in Rogue One

  • July 27, 2015 at 5:15 pm
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    Jebel means Mountain in Arabic.

  • July 27, 2015 at 5:32 pm
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    Slow news this week.

    • July 27, 2015 at 6:04 pm
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      This week just started

      • July 27, 2015 at 7:39 pm
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        im saying since last week.

    • July 27, 2015 at 6:19 pm
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      News about there being a Senator in the movie IS news.

      • July 27, 2015 at 7:28 pm
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        I wish Mission Impossible Rogue Nation was relesed now so we won’t have to put up with this silence crap regarding Rogue One.

        • July 27, 2015 at 10:39 pm
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          It’s nice to see that the studios are working together cordially and politely like this. It means that Star Wars would get the same respect if a marketing situation were to similarly arise again. Don’t worry guys, just enjoy the ride. 🙂

      • July 27, 2015 at 8:05 pm
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        it could still be just a rumor.

  • July 27, 2015 at 5:49 pm
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    This probably means we will see some Senate scenes

    • July 27, 2015 at 6:10 pm
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      Leia and Vader reference the Senate in ANH as an entity that is very much still operating (albeit with the fraction of the weight it once had with the Emperor pulling the strings). Later, in a meeting aboard the Death Star, Tarkin informs the powers that be that the Senate has finally been dissolved by the Emperor. I’d expect to see a weakening senatorial body in Rogue One, that still has a little bit of power. If we see the senate, I think we will definitely have a Palpatine cameo. It’s possible that this Jebel is a Rebel sympathizer and we may see his character away from the Imperial Senate, maybe being part of a ship or convoy that gets caught up in a battle between the Rebels and the Imperials.

      • July 27, 2015 at 10:51 pm
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        I feel like Palpatine at this stage would give zero craps about the senate; can’t imagine him sitting on that podium for hours. He probably has Mas Amedda or another stooge do that for him.

        The news that there’s a senator in this makes me hope we see Mon Mothma, Bail, and maybe even Padme’s niece Pooja (not canon that she became a senator, but why not?).

      • July 27, 2015 at 10:55 pm
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        I really hope it is like that. We don’t need to actually see the Senate. Although the place probably needed renavation after Palpatine and Yoda wrecked it in Episode III, so maybe it looks different in this era…

    • July 27, 2015 at 6:35 pm
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      I’m excited to see how Disney handles Star Wars’ political scenes.

    • July 27, 2015 at 7:03 pm
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      Politics! No! God no, noooooooo!

      • July 27, 2015 at 7:31 pm
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        actually, politics has a strong and important part in the world of star wars.

        It’s not just you sitting on your bed playing with boba fett action figures blowing each other up.

        • July 27, 2015 at 11:23 pm
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          That’s so very true of some of our network of devotees

          • July 28, 2015 at 6:28 am
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            Even the older, more experienced ones. (sadly enough)

          • July 29, 2015 at 2:14 am
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            Agreed, my friend

  • July 27, 2015 at 6:16 pm
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    i wonder if there are any characters called Redi…

  • July 27, 2015 at 6:32 pm
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    I’m loving all the rumored actors for Rogue One so far. I just wish we had a second female actor rumor to work with. I’m tired of Star Wars films being sausage fests.

    • July 27, 2015 at 6:48 pm
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      Is that why Felicity Jones [whom I presume to be a female] is THE ONLY actor to be officially revealed yet?

      • July 27, 2015 at 8:57 pm
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        What are you getting at, hat? I’m not even talking official casting.

      • July 27, 2015 at 10:53 pm
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        Anonymous is just trying to start a sex war.

        • July 27, 2015 at 11:58 pm
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          Why would bringing up the lack of women in Rogue One (thus far) automatically mean I’m trying to start a sex war?

        • July 28, 2015 at 7:23 am
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          Star Wars Anthology: Sex War
          Sounds good to me.

          • July 28, 2015 at 11:13 am
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            Sausage fest lolol

    • July 27, 2015 at 7:29 pm
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      Agree.

      Fortunately, Kathleen Kennedy said that from now on women will have a stronger presence.

    • July 28, 2015 at 7:17 am
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      What do you have against sausage?

  • July 27, 2015 at 7:32 pm
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    This is actually HUGE news. We now have the first solid confirmation that Disney does acknowledge the PT.

    Rebel pilots. Tarkin. Classic X-wings and stormtroopers. The Death Star. Darth Vader. The Senate. Jeeez, Rogue One is starting to become the most exciting film in decades!

    • July 27, 2015 at 7:38 pm
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      I”m with you 100% Jonipoon,

      Since day 1, Disney has done nothing but shove practical effects and McQuarrie down our throats. Before you OT guys get butt-hurt please realize I am a fan of the originals too.
      I am glad that Disney is doing something remotely similar to the PT. I don’t think that’s asking for too much.

      • July 28, 2015 at 1:27 am
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        I guess they felt they had to start with things familiar to (and liked/loved) by the fans to win people over – a chunk of this fanbase tends to be rather critical.

    • July 27, 2015 at 7:46 pm
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      First solid confirmation? Star Wars Rebels constantly acknowledges the PT.

    • July 27, 2015 at 8:00 pm
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      I agree that the PT will be acknowledged in upcoming films/tv shows/comics/books etc… but how does this confirm that? The Imperial Senate is an OT entity, mentioned (but never seen) at least three times in ANH. Leia talks about the Senate not going along with Vader’s actions in capturing her and her ship, Vader and a commander have a conversation about keeping her capture under wraps so as not to foster Rebel sympathy from the Senate, and later, Tarkin says that the Emperor has finally succeeded in dissolving the Senate. This is not a PT thing. But the PT is canon so I’d expect to see references to events, events, or characters to continue in new stories.

    • July 27, 2015 at 9:02 pm
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      @ Jonipoon

      How is this huge news for PT fans? The Senate existed in ANH, including Senator Leia Organa of Alderaan.

    • July 27, 2015 at 9:04 pm
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      How on earth does this acknowledge the PT? The senate is mentioned in the OT so this is hardly a surprise.

      • July 27, 2015 at 9:07 pm
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        I wouldn’t count Rebels or any other expanded universe stuff in this matter… The live-action films are all that matters, its what the big mass will watch and it is what’s essentially Star Wars.

        While its true that we’ve never seen the IMPERIAL Senate in the films, the actual confirmation that there will be a character referred to as a “senator” in this film proves that we will probably see people talk about politics on or outside of Coruscant. Of course, Disney might have changed the premise and the Imperial Senate may be located on a different planet than the former Republic Senate. But I find this very unlikely. The most likely scenario is that the Imperial Senate is located on Coruscant in the same building. Seriously, they already have everything built and ready on Coruscant. It’s where all the senators are used to travelling to. Why change that?

        • July 28, 2015 at 12:01 am
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          “Seriously, they already have everything built and ready on Coruscant. It’s where all the senators are used to travelling to. Why change that?”

          Because they’ve changed Windows operating systems.

          • July 28, 2015 at 2:59 pm
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            This is a stupid response to a very logical conclusion. Seriously. Grow up.

      • July 27, 2015 at 11:47 pm
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        Sock puppet time. To this Anon & Burt both: the Senate was seen heavily in the PT, correct? So then if we seen anything “action-wise” with the Senate as we did in the PT, then this would, plot wise, be a visual reflection of what we seen in, you guessed it, the PT, right? This is what was being addressed. Welcome to the fascinating world of understanding.

        • July 28, 2015 at 12:04 am
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          I don’t think the political scenes will be anything like what we saw in the Prequels. Thankfully.

          • July 28, 2015 at 2:18 am
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            And if it does, are you going to despise Rogue One as much as you do the PT?

    • July 27, 2015 at 10:55 pm
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      There have been a couple of flashbacks to PT scenes in Marvel’s Darth Vader series, and a couple of references (i.e. Naboo, Amidala) in the Princess Leia one. And Rebels has Ahsoka, Rex, etc.

      I wish the new Episodes would, though. It’s all just X-Wings, TIEs, stormtroopers, etc. so far.

      • July 27, 2015 at 11:51 pm
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        That is because the PT was horrible and it is better off NOT being referenced. Maybe in 20 years it will be completely forgotten…

        • July 28, 2015 at 2:24 am
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          You know, there won’t ever be a movie moment, plot, or storyline that will ever live up to your OT expectations. I will assume that your collection of films is just the OT trilogy and possibly the Ewoks “Caravan of Courage” movie you taped off television years ago.

        • July 28, 2015 at 2:35 am
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          The PT is a part of the cannon, Wookiedung. If the story needs to be aligned with it, it will be, regardless of your personal dislike of the PT or your self-pleasuring via the OT. Next, you’re going to try to convince someone that Jean Claude van Dame’s “Nowhere to Run” was a misunderstood classic and that it was better than any of the prequels.

          • July 28, 2015 at 3:00 am
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            Stip defending the Prequels. They were BAD, period…

          • July 29, 2015 at 1:41 am
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            Wookieejizz, you would you stop pouting if I bought you a coffee mug that had “Caravan of Courage” written on it?

          • July 29, 2015 at 2:18 am
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            You mean “stop” defending?

  • July 27, 2015 at 9:29 pm
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    Dont know him, but the face fits. I could see him in a war movie in a serious role. hope he keeps the beard. As long as Jai courtney isn’t in this movie it seems to be shaping up normally… without obvious danger of belly flopping.

    • July 28, 2015 at 1:19 am
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      Jonathan Aris looks like young Crix Madine, leader of the Rebels!? Could be! The absence of PT’s Bail Organa in rebel leaders of EP IV-VI suggest that character is not a major in this movie! I hope PT’s failed characters don’t appear in Disney’s version of PRE-ANH storytelling. I didn’t like PTs Senate aliens with too much emphesis on Ponda Babba’S race, Mas Amedda (making Bib Fortuna a joke) etc. WE NEED STORIES ABOUT REBELS NOT DIPSY PT SENATE CRAP!

  • July 27, 2015 at 9:33 pm
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    Rebels does count. Its canon and I wouldn’t be surprised to, if not see then have mentioned characters from Rebels as Rogue One is set near the same time.

  • July 27, 2015 at 10:22 pm
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    I’m okay with a senate scene. Can you imagine the chaos when they discover the Death Star is finished? They obviously don’t approve as the Emperor dissolved it. I’m okay with politics in Star Wars, just not as filler.

    Rogue One is shaping up to be one hell of a movie. I hope it can live up to its potential.

  • July 27, 2015 at 11:07 pm
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    To be honest, the senate scene in The Phantom Menace was the most well written scene in the entire film. It’s actually a very major moment for Padme and there’s so much going on in Palpatine’s head.

    • July 27, 2015 at 11:57 pm
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      Mesa agreeing with’a yousa, fellow water treading brudder!

      • July 28, 2015 at 3:28 am
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        Ani! Meesa so proud a bien king Naboo for Padme! Iza here for your Palpatine to vote on next referendum! Boss Nass soza proud of Gungan rule and sendin many Gungans to minen under water for your imperial ships! Many Gungans die by eaten by big fish. Weesa looken for rebels on Naboo but only find strange fish Mon Calmari! Maybe iza come to your star destroyer and put youza helmet on and command officers some day! Meeza a no liken rebel scum! I vote MORE CLONES, EVERYWHERE AND ON EVERY PLANET! – THIS SCRIPT WRITTEN FOR A BEIN PART IN NEW MOVIE!

        • July 29, 2015 at 2:09 am
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          Say-ee, is this’n my cousin Shitzu Fong? Meesa sorry mesa missin’ the maxi-big family get-together, sir! Ahbeda-ootoot!!

    • July 28, 2015 at 12:14 am
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      @duckface

      “To be honest, the senate scene in The Phantom Menace was the most well written scene in the entire film.”

      Doesn’t say much.

      “It’s actually a very major moment for Padme and there’s so much going on in Palpatine’s head.”

      For an important elected official, Padme looks clueless as all hell and wholly dependent on Palpatine for “sage advice”. The Senate mind-numbingly forces Chancellor Valorum out of office with only the vote of one politician. For no reason other than to advance the plot, everyone else just goes with it.

      • July 28, 2015 at 12:46 am
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        The seeds for pushing Valorum out of office were already planted. We are told earlier that Valorum was “mired by baseless accusations of corruption.” Padme was simply used to call for the vote.

        I don’t disagree that the script had problems, but in this case I think it was pretty clear that Valorum was having some serious political problems already. It didn’t come out of nowhere.

        • July 28, 2015 at 4:12 am
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          Padme was 14 years old. She was used by Palpatine, obviously, but she was also the eyes through which we saw how corrupt the Republic was and how easy it was for the Sith to creep in while the ‘good guys’ were resting on their laurels. However poor the film is as a whole, Padme’s eye-opening experiences on Coruscant (a young leader who is committed to an ideal that it turns out no longer exists) were probably some of the most interesting aspects of the prequels for me.

    • July 28, 2015 at 3:07 am
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      “Well written” and “prequels” don’t belong in the same sentence.

    • July 28, 2015 at 2:13 pm
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      Thanks for the link, WackyBantha. I had never seen that scene before (and I relish any new footage of Ian McDiarmid in his most famous role). Also, Jar-Jar mercifully didn’t say a word!

      I can understand why it was left out of the theatrical version, as a non-vital “talking heads” scene without overt action (psychologically there is much going on, though). But there should have been a DVD “extended version” (Peter Jackson-style) that provided extra scenes that are thereby made fully canonical. Scenes like this would certainly deepen and expand on Padmé’s character, and elaborate on the dynamics leading up to the Clone Wars.

      In the final cut we are only told that Padmé is a senator, but we hardly ever see her function as such.

  • July 28, 2015 at 12:55 am
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    I think he’s a good physical type for a Senator role. Keep that beard, and I can absolutely see him as a Senator who is either a Rebel sympathizer (with that earnest “We HAVE to make things better!” idealism about him) or else an Imperial loyalist who is on the scent of Organa, Mothma and company, or who is maybe even agitating for the dissolution of the Senate (“Government is corrupt and ineffective, and the Senate has to go!”) in hopes that he can weasel his way into the Emperor’s inner circle.

    There are plenty of cool things that could be done with a new Senator character other than to rehash the same old “discuss it in committee” scenes that we saw in TPM, et al.

  • July 28, 2015 at 2:48 am
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    I’m glad we are getting actual ACTORS in these films and not celebrities or models like Lucas would have done had he been in charge.

    • July 29, 2015 at 2:03 am
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      What models? If you’re talking about Natalie Portman, that lasted for two seconds some time before she filmed The Professional, and she only started to pose for Dior within the last six years, well after her final performance as Padme.

  • July 28, 2015 at 3:31 am
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    “Jebel the Rebel”

    • July 28, 2015 at 4:19 am
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      Yeah, I wouldn’t be surprised if this was a typo. “Senator Rebel”. And he has one line.

  • July 28, 2015 at 3:34 am
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    Tarkin casually mentions that Palaptine “dissolved the council permenantly.” I don’t think Tarkin was talking figuratively. Can we expect mass genocide scene of the Imperial Senate? “Wipe them out…all of them”. I will squeal with glee if Ian McDiarmid makes a cameo for this purpose.

    • July 28, 2015 at 4:29 am
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      I never got the feeling that Palpatine murdered the entire Senate. “Dissolved the council” sounds like more an organizational move – he basically just shut the Senate down and bolted the doors.

      Now, if Tarkin had said, “The Emperor has liquidated the council, permanently,” then we might have a whole different story altogether! ;^)

  • July 28, 2015 at 5:07 am
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    Not every casting has been disclosed regarding this movie. Jimmy Smith could be popping up as hidden Rebel cell transmission as described in Rebels.
    Besides, is Ben Mendelsohn playing Tarkin sure thing?
    While PT reference is indifferent for this movie, Physical
    presence of Tarkin is integral for the story and canon sake.

  • July 28, 2015 at 9:22 am
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    Actually seeing Palpatine disband the Senate would be awesome.

  • July 28, 2015 at 9:35 am
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    Spoiler
    I seen rogue one already mainly because future me came in from the future with the blue ray dvd but anywas the intro starts off with vader forcechoking a rebel asking him where is their base where the rebel is silent and dies. Vader is mad and begins to have dasterdly tantrums and the scen cuts during halfway i saw a person being hanged from limbs where the rebels are stabbing him and turns out to be nar jar binks dead and in the end credits everyone dies by shamus wearing a black mask and saying with his scottish accent “noe dis is killing”
    Thee end

    • July 29, 2015 at 1:57 am
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      Ooooh, sounds like yousa smoke’ed some bad bantha poo doo!

  • July 28, 2015 at 6:26 pm
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    Aris could easily pass for a younger version of General Madine.

  • July 28, 2015 at 9:55 pm
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    Oh hi there, Anderson!

  • July 28, 2015 at 10:32 pm
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    Fact or Fiction:

    TFA is about a dyke in shining armor pretending to be a knight from Charlemagne who’s task is to track down a white girl and her pet darkie.

    • July 28, 2015 at 11:29 pm
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      Wow! The ignorant brain dead twats are out tonight!

    • July 29, 2015 at 1:53 am
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      You do realize that your ex, Whoopi Goldberg, was black, right “Ted”?

  • July 28, 2015 at 10:37 pm
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    Fact or Fiction:

    Most longtime Star Wars will hate the new direction JJ’s taken the series in, and their extreme displeasure will be the talk of the internet come December.

    • July 29, 2015 at 1:48 am
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      Nobody knows that for sure, unless you have a crystal ball, Ted, which is most likely just a “magic eightball”.

  • July 28, 2015 at 11:18 pm
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    My guess is he’s going to play Rogue 2. Zev Senesca.

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