UPDATE 4! New Rogue One Info and Character Details. More on Forest Whitaker’s Character and Darth Vader Confirmed!

RogueOneEWEntertainment Weekly is at it again, bringing us Star Wars news and insider information. In the latest issue which will be released this Friday, Anthony Breznican is giving us peek behind the curtain of Rogue One, including the infamous reshoots.

 

 

The cover of this issue reveals something we already suspected. Darth Vader, the boogeyman of the Original Trilogy, will face off with our ragtag group of Rebels as they try to acquire the plans for the Death Star. And it seems that he might have enemies within Imperial ranks as well.

 

JynErso

 

The reveals we are promised include:

 

  • The background of our cover showcases new Imperial weaponry being used against the nascent Rebellion: taller, slimmer walkers known as AT-ACTs hauling cargo, and flatter, fang-like interceptors known as TIE Strikers.
  • New information about Jyn Erso (The Theory of Everything’s Felicity Jones), the outlaw who has clashed with both the Rebellion and the Empire, and now has a chance to clear her ledger of past wrongs by leading a mission for the good guys. It’s also personal – her  father, played by Mads Mikkelsen, is a scientist whose knowledge is sought by both sides.
  • Full details of the squad of characters uniting to take on the Empire, played by the most multicultural cast to appear in a Star Wars film yet: Diego Luna, Jiang Wen, Donnie Yen, Riz Ahmed, Forest Whitaker, and Alan Tudyk – as a performance-capture droid. (One of these has been seen before by Star Wars fans.)
  • A look at the skullduggery inside the Imperial ranks, as seen through the eyes of a new villain: Ben Mendelsohn’s ambitious officer, who’s eager to earn the favor of the Emperor – and avoid the wrath of his black-masked enforcer.
  • Candid revelations from the filmmakers about what the current reshoots are adding to the story as the film nears its December release.
  • Finally, confirmation of what fans have hoped ever since the project was announced: Vader is back. We have a run-down of the Sith lord’s first day on set, and what his return means for the larger Star Wars storytelling universe.

 

Rogue One, A Star Wars Story, is slated for the release on December 16, 2016. With Star Wars Celebration quickly approaching (July 15 – 17), we can expect more reveals including presumably a new trailer.  Rogue One hype train is on the move!

 

 

Screenshot

 

UPDATE!

 

Good Morning America posted a video with an exclusive look at the EW cover, and also shared a new image of the Death Troopers (above). They also shared an interesting statement by EW’s Anthony Breznican regarding the villains in the movie:

“Darth Vader kind of looms large over the plot even when he’s not necessarily on screen because the new villain played by Ben Mendleson, Director Krennic … He’s trying to fulfill the wishes of the emperor and he’s got kinda Vader looming in the background over his shoulder, making sure that he gets the job done.”

 

It’s nice to see the name of the Emperor finally being mentioned. But will we see Palpatine in Rogue One? How big is going to be Vader’s role in the movie? There are many burning questions, and we hope to get at least some answers during Celebration Europe next month.

 

 

 

UPDATE 2!

 

Entertainment Weekly posted a second article with some new details on the major players in the movie:

 

(All Images and Info Courtesy of Lucasfilm and Entertainment Weekly)

 

Direct Quotes from EW:

 

Jyn

Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones)

A streetwise delinquent who has been on her own since 15, she has fighting skills and a knowledge of the galactic underworld that the Rebel Alliance desperately needs. “She’s got a checkered past,” says Lucasfilm president and Rogue One producer Kathleen Kennedy. “She has been detained [by the Rebellion] and is being given an opportunity to be useful. And by being useful, it may commute her sentence… She’s a real survivor. She becomes a kind of Joan of Arc in the story.”

 

Diego

Captain Cassian Andor (Diego Luna)

Andor is a by-the-book Rebel intelligence officer, brought in to steady the volatile Erso, but he’s no square. He’s committed, steady, and practical, and has seen more than his share of combat. “He conveys a fair amount of experience and the reality of what it’s like to do this every day, to try to figure out how to resist the Empire effectively and intelligently,” says Kiri Hart, Lucasfilm’s chief of story development. “It’s not easy.”

 

Donnie

Chirrut Imwe (Donnie Yen)

Pronounced chi-RUT, he’s no Jedi, but he’s devoted to their ways and has used his spirituality to overcome his blindness and become a formidable warrior. “Chirrut falls into the category of being a warrior monk,” says Kennedy. “He very much still believes in everything the Jedi were about.” He maintains that belief even though the Jedi are no longer there to protect the galaxy. As director Gareth Edwards puts it: “This idea that magical beings are going to come and save us is going away, and it’s up to normal, everyday people to take a stand to stop evil from dominating the world.”

 

Wen

Baze Malbus (Jiang Wen)

Heavily armored, Baze prefers a blaster to hokey religions and ancient weapons, but he is devoted to protecting his friend Chirrut at all costs. “He understands Chirrut’s spiritual centeredness, but he doesn’t necessarily support it,” Kennedy says. Baze goes along with this Force business because “it’s what his friend deeply believes,” she adds. Think of them as a little like the galactic version of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza.

 

Riz

Bodhi Rook (Riz Ahmed)

Bodhi is this Rebel squad’s lead pilot. He tends to be hot-headed, but any abrasiveness is overshadowed by his skills in the air — and the void of space. “He 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.”

 

K-2SO

K-2SO (Alan Tudyk)

This towering, powerful security droid is described by Edwards as “the antithesis of C-3PO.” In other words, he’s tough, confident, not especially interested in “human/cyborg relations,” and the complete opposite of a neurotic fussbudget. “Kaytoo is a little bit like Chewbacca’s personality in a droid’s body,” Edwards says. “He doesn’t give a s— about what you think. He doesn’t fully check himself before he says things and does things. He just speaks the truth.” Like Jyn, he’s also seeking a bit of redemption for past wrongs. Droids, too, can have regret.

 

Mads

Galen Erso (Mads Mikkelsen)

Jyn’s estranged father is like the galactic version of nuclear pioneer J. Robert Oppenheimer, with doomsday knowledge that is sought by both the Empire and the Rebellion. “He’s one of those people that has insight into you know specific aspects of just how the universe works,” says Hart. Where has Galen been, if Jyn has been on her own for years? “The circumstances of how the family got to the state that it’s in is something that we probably don’t want to share right now,” Hart says. (Lucasfilm isn’t revealing his image yet, so this is file picture. Don’t worry — the button-down isn’t retro galactic fashion.)

 

Ben

Director Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn)

On the opposing side, this villain is an ambitious Imperial apparatchik who intends to use his squad of Deathtroopers to pulverize the Rebel uprising and ascend into the Emperor’s graces – while hopefully avoiding the wrath of his enforcer, Darth Vader. “The bad guy is a lot more terrifying when he’s really smart, and really effective,” says Knoll. “There is a lot of palace intrigue going on in the Empire, with people conspiring to move up the ranks and sabotaging each other. There’s not a lot of loyalty there.”

 

Whitaker

???? (Forest Whitaker)

This character has a past that Star Wars completists will recognize immediately when they see his name, even if he looks very different than the way they’ve seen him elsewhere. (He even looks different from when we saw him in the teaser trailer.) There’s so much to say about this character, we’re going to save his revelation for later today.

 

 

UPDATE 3!

 

Entertainment Weekly‘s just revealed the Forest Whitaker characters name: Saw Gerrera

 

acw_ia_100194

 

Who is he?

From Starwars.wikia.com

Saw Gerrera was a human male rebel who was active during the Clone Wars. With his sister, Steela Gerrera, he was one of the leaders of the Onderon rebels and helped lead the resistance movement to victory over the Confederacy of Independent Systems on Onderon. He later led a rebel cell on Onderon in the resistance movement against the Galactic Empire. He was involved in the mission to steal the plans to the Death Star.

 

TFN’s Daniel Brown actually called the character earlier than EW.com reveal. Good call!

 

Saw

 

Also Pablo Hidalgo reminded us that:

 

 

 

This is really great news! It is nice that they’re bringing character’s from the cartoons into live action.

 

Stay tuned for even more on Whitaker later today:

 

 

 

And more from EW on Vader tomorrow!

 

 

 

UPDATE 4!

 

Apart from The Star Wars Show where Pablo Hidalgo was guest, and revealed some interesting bits about Saw Gerrera, he also posted several very interesting tweets about him.

 

saw

 

 

 

Also here’s the excerpt from Claudia Gray’s “Bloodline” novel, where Saw is mentioned:

“Casterfo stopped mid-pace; the two of them now stood in the heart of one of the long, dark tunnels, the wind rippling their robes and chilling Leia to the bone. He said, “Destroying the Death Stars, for a death toll of nearly one and a half million people, the vast majority of whom were low-level Imperial officers or even civilian workers? The slaughter on Noult after the rebels had left, and the planet was discovered to have housed a secret base? Or what about the rebel assault on Vivonah? Or the campaigns of Saw Gerrera’s Partisans? Can you condone that?”

 

It’s really strange, that after months of no news on Rogue One, now we know so much about a certain character. This was a welcomed breath of fresh air after the multiple fake reports that are currently making the rounds on the web.

 

Star Wars: Celebration can’t come quick enough. And don’t forget that EW will have more for you tomorrow. 

 

 

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Staff member, comic and book reviewer. Cheers for the Light Side, but would drink with Grand Admirals.

Jelena Bidin (LadyMusashi)

Staff member, comic and book reviewer. Cheers for the Light Side, but would drink with Grand Admirals.

272 thoughts on “UPDATE 4! New Rogue One Info and Character Details. More on Forest Whitaker’s Character and Darth Vader Confirmed!

  • June 22, 2016 at 5:04 pm
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    Sorry to name drop this particular site (and it’s not meant to be an attempt to advertise for them) but it seems that MSW was on the money again.

    • June 22, 2016 at 6:30 pm
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      They always are. I swear its secretly ran by Lucasfilm employees 😛

    • June 22, 2016 at 8:01 pm
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      What’s to be sorry about? This site links to Jedi Council every week and Harloff & Company ALWAYS mention Making Star Wars and their track record.

    • June 22, 2016 at 9:34 pm
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      Maybe, but neither this one or MSW got Forrest Whitaker playing Saw Gerrera. Don’t forget Ello Asty and Snap Wexley were leaked from this site first, while MSW said Asty’s character was cut.

  • June 22, 2016 at 5:36 pm
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    All aboard the hype ship, everyone!

    • June 22, 2016 at 8:42 pm
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      party time!

      • June 22, 2016 at 9:15 pm
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        We can’t repel booty shaking of dat asse’s magnitude!

        • June 23, 2016 at 12:37 am
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          Get as close as you can, and then engage that ass at point blank range!

          At that range we won’t last long against that booty shaking!

      • June 23, 2016 at 7:15 am
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        This is everything.

  • June 22, 2016 at 6:26 pm
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    “Diego Luna, Jiang Wen, Donnie Yen, Riz Ahmed, Forest Whitaker, and Alan
    Tudyk – as a performance-capture droid. (One of these has been seen
    before by Star Wars fans.)”

    What does this mean?!?! Are they reviving an EU character? Is one of them playing an OT or other currently canon character? Interesting comment, to say the least.

    • June 22, 2016 at 6:31 pm
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      There was the dumb rumour that Diego Luna was playing Biggs but that seems like it was debunked hard. Doesn’t make sense either since Biggs only joined the rebellion DURING ANH (Yes, I know it’s a deleted scene but why go against it anyway?)

      Interesting though what they mean by that.

    • June 22, 2016 at 6:39 pm
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      Since we already know a few character names from that art book that was leaked, the previously seen character is almost certainly Ahmed or Whitaker.

      • June 22, 2016 at 7:09 pm
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        This is juicy. He must be playing a black version of an EU character. Is THIS Kyle Katarn?!?! “Shadowy figure” == Dark Forces? My hype level is back at 11, now.

        • June 22, 2016 at 7:24 pm
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          I think so too

      • June 22, 2016 at 9:32 pm
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        Saw Gerrera. Read all about him, and watch him folks (in TCW). You can also read about him in Bloodlines, the Post-ROTJ novel starring Leia.

  • June 22, 2016 at 6:26 pm
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    I just ain’t feeling this instalment, the trailer turned me off with all the dumb dialogue from Jin and it feels like she is void of emotion unlike Rey who was fully of energy. I hope I’m wrong but it looks like felicity jones is turning in a wooden performance with this one. With all the rumours of reshoots for half the film it is going to take more than a darth vader cameo to make me buy an IMAX ticket for this one.

    • June 22, 2016 at 6:31 pm
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      You got all that from the trailer? She has, what, one line in the whole trailer?

      • June 22, 2016 at 6:35 pm
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        The line is dumb, I’ll admit that. But yeah this guy is judging a whole 2 and half hour movie based on a 1 minute teaser trailer.

        “reshoots for half the film ”

        NO NO NO NO NO! Fuck that rumour, fuck it hard. That was NEVER going to happen. the whole 40% number was complete BS made up by an “anonymous source”.

    • June 22, 2016 at 7:05 pm
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      Felicity Jones says a total of twelve words in the trailer, including her character’s name and “yes, sir.”

  • June 22, 2016 at 6:29 pm
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    Is it me or does this website run like absolute ghabage now? I can’t even open it up on chrome any more, having to resort to Microsoft Edge. And it’s still struggling.

    • June 22, 2016 at 7:59 pm
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      It’s just you. Works perfectly fine for me on Firefox and Chrome. And I’m running Windows 10 on an 8 year old laptop.

    • June 22, 2016 at 8:00 pm
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      I am running smoothly on chrome right now.

    • June 23, 2016 at 1:53 am
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      It’s just you. It’s awful on mobile but reader mode FTW. On Chrome it’s fine.

  • June 22, 2016 at 7:12 pm
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    Whitaker is Mace Windu – you heard it here first…..

    • June 22, 2016 at 7:16 pm
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      What was Padme’s pilot named? Typho? He joins the Rebellion after finding out Padme was killed by the Empire.

      • June 22, 2016 at 8:10 pm
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        Wrong race. Typho was Maori, right?

      • June 22, 2016 at 8:27 pm
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        Didn’t he have a robotic eye-patch in RotS?

        • June 23, 2016 at 3:21 am
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          Yeah. I was wrong. I had a reason for the eye patch being removed.

    • June 22, 2016 at 7:17 pm
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      Nope. That goes against the whole “no jedi in this one” thing.

      • June 22, 2016 at 8:28 pm
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        Maybe he doesn’t consider himself a Jedi anymore……. I wasn’t serious tbh in saying Windu.

      • June 22, 2016 at 9:06 pm
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        Katarn wasn’t a jedi in Dark Forces. He doesn’t have to become on in the new canon.

    • June 22, 2016 at 7:24 pm
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      My guess its Elan Sleazebaggano and that armour is just a portable iron lung from all the death sticks he smoked.

      But seriously, I think it’s Kyle Katarn.

    • June 22, 2016 at 8:20 pm
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      I don’t think you’re nuts. That’s my guess also.

      • June 22, 2016 at 8:28 pm
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        I don’t think so. If he were Mace, we’d just see SLJ back – it’s been 11 years, he’d look fine for the period, and SLJ has proven he will literally do anything for a paycheque.

        • June 22, 2016 at 11:44 pm
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          I’m not sure he’ll prost himself out in a Russian or German underground sex club yet, but maybe if he doesn’t get back into Star Wars he’ll get desperate enough…

  • June 22, 2016 at 7:34 pm
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    My best guess is that Whitaker plays Panaka.

    • June 22, 2016 at 7:35 pm
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      That would be a huge let-down, IMO. To me, it sounds like they’re reviving an EU character and race-swapping him. My bet’s on Kyle Katarn.

      • June 22, 2016 at 7:40 pm
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        I hope you’re right — that it’s a character that hasn’t been seen onscreen yet. Pulling a character from the existing movies unnecessarily shrinks the Galaxy.

        • June 22, 2016 at 8:03 pm
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          Right? really bugs the shit out of me how everybody try’s to connect every character to every movie. Makes Star Wars seem like it takes place in a cul-du-sac and not a GALAXY.

      • June 22, 2016 at 9:05 pm
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        I would LOVE this.

  • June 22, 2016 at 8:02 pm
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    Vader being in it was the worst kept secret ever but it’s still nice to have it made “official.”

  • June 22, 2016 at 8:03 pm
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    I just don’t see the great Forest Whitaker playing such a minor character as Panama or Typho. There’s got to be someone better…

    • June 22, 2016 at 8:05 pm
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      Here’s a really out of the box theory….he’s playing somebody NEW! Not a character from the past. Not a relative of anybody. Just….a guy we’ve never seen before.

      • June 22, 2016 at 8:06 pm
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        Read what the article says about his character. He is someone we know.

        • June 22, 2016 at 8:07 pm
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          There’s been several “reports” about who these characters are that have been wrong.

          • June 22, 2016 at 8:08 pm
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            Did you read the article?
            “This character has a past that Star Wars completists will recognize immediately when they see his name, even if he looks very different than the way they’ve seen him elsewhere.”

            They are revealing his name in an hour.

          • June 22, 2016 at 8:29 pm
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            This is official media coming straight from Lucasfilm’s mouth.

      • June 22, 2016 at 8:26 pm
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        You speak CRAZINESS.

  • June 22, 2016 at 8:04 pm
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    This might be a bit of a stretch, but to me those character pics remind me of the mission screens in the original Dark Forces:

    https://pekoeblaze.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/dark-forces-mission-two-screen-with-screenshots.jpg

    This, combined with the film’s story makes it very possible that Forest Whitaker plays a canon version of Kyle Katarn – in a role reversal from the game: Jyn Erso (Jan Ors) gets to go on a mission, where Whitaker (Kyle Katarn) stays behind.

    And to the Katarn is a Jedi arguments: this didn’t happen until Dark Forces 2..

    • June 22, 2016 at 8:08 pm
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      Totally. That one of Whitaker reminds me of Kyle Katarn.

  • June 22, 2016 at 8:06 pm
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    Those death troopers look like Navy SEALs coming out of the water with their wet-suits on.

  • June 22, 2016 at 8:09 pm
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    NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

    • June 22, 2016 at 8:12 pm
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      • June 22, 2016 at 8:30 pm
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        PT fans are like sand…

        • June 22, 2016 at 8:52 pm
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          They get skin-to-skin contact with Natalie Portman by the lake?

          • June 22, 2016 at 8:55 pm
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            They’re coarse and rough and irritating and they get everywhere.

          • June 22, 2016 at 9:12 pm
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            That’s a shame – I liked mine better. But do they at least get the names of all the birds correct?

  • June 22, 2016 at 8:23 pm
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    Looks great, but where are the sideburns?!

    • June 23, 2016 at 1:44 am
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      They… burned away…

  • June 22, 2016 at 8:25 pm
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    Well, while I would prefer Vader be left for the truly giant, galaxy shaking stuff like episodes, if we gotsta have Vader (and yes, I understand both why we gots to, and why many people want to), it sounds like they’re taking the route I would prefer – keep him in the background as much as possible, and preserve him as a threat rather than constantly having him be outwitted and defeated by a random-ass group of heroes. Rebels has done enough damage as it is.

    • June 22, 2016 at 8:28 pm
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      Agree with everything but your last statement. Rebels has done a great job with Vader doing exactly what you describe. When he shows up he is terrifying and powerful and only significant luck gets them out of it.

      • June 22, 2016 at 8:51 pm
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        Sure he’s terrifying when he shows up, they’ve done a good job of establishing his entrances, but then the heroes escape pretty much unscathed every time, or, as in the season-ender, he gets his ass handed to him.

        • June 22, 2016 at 8:54 pm
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          How so? The only thing that saves the Rebels is the fact that Ahsoka faces him and he gets distracted by the greater/more personal threat.

          • June 22, 2016 at 9:10 pm
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            The beat down, complete with busted mask and life support just sat totally wrong with me. I’ll admit however that it MIGHT be because it unfortunately reminded me visually too much of the end of TFU, which was utter bullshit.

          • June 23, 2016 at 1:31 am
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            That all happened with one well-timed kamikaze from Ahsoka, though. It was a lucky shot, of sorts.

      • June 23, 2016 at 12:55 am
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        In Siege of Lothal though, there’s no point to Vader letting the whole crew escape. He needed some of them to so the plan would work, but he could have easily killed Kanan or Ezra or Sabine without issue. They all manage to escape though, because Disney kids show.

    • June 23, 2016 at 12:33 am
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      I’m hoping he’s going to eviscerate Donnie Yen’s character who we see being a total bad-ass against stormtroopers.

    • June 23, 2016 at 12:49 am
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      I certainly hope he won’t be a prominent obstacle. In Ep.4, he fails to retrieve the DS plans, then he fails to defend it. If it turns out he also failed to prevent the Rebels from getting the plans in the first place, then I just don’t see why Palpatine would keep this screw-up around.

      • June 23, 2016 at 4:16 pm
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        Was Vader responsible?

        Vader successfully intercepted Tantive IV, and C3P0 and R2D2 should have been blown-up as they escaped in the pod, but instead, an imperial officer instructed his sub-ordinate not to fire the laser as there were no signs of life coming from the escape pod.

        Tarkin had overall responsibility for the Death Star, more his failure than Vader’s.

        Director Orson Krennic has the main responsibility for the security of the Death Star.

        • June 23, 2016 at 5:53 pm
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          Tarkin’s failure was having too much faith in Vader – like when he went along with his idea of allowing the Princess to escape on the Falcon.
          As far as the movies go, Darth has way more checks in the loss category. I just hope this flick doesn’t add yet another one.

  • June 22, 2016 at 8:31 pm
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    Darth Vader’s role will be like the shark out of Jaws. A foreboding background presence, helping to drive the narrative forward, yet not being revealed in his full glory until the final act.

    • June 22, 2016 at 11:09 pm
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      Hopefully he won’t look laughably fake the moment he does appear, unlike that shark.

      • June 23, 2016 at 12:50 am
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        That will be awkward when he shows up and Jyn beats him in a lightsaber duel. She’ll be using double electric swords that you can see on her back when she’s wearing the DT suit.

    • June 22, 2016 at 11:43 pm
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      Hopefully.

  • June 22, 2016 at 8:58 pm
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    The lighting on these portraits is very soap opera-y. ehhhh. even K2 looks like he belongs on “Days of Our Lives”

    • June 22, 2016 at 9:01 pm
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      As someone pointed out below, I think they’re trying to pay homage to the mission briefing screens in Dark Forces. Pretty cool, if correct, IMO.

      • June 23, 2016 at 2:31 pm
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        I’ve never seen Dark Forces. Does it come on right after The Price Is Right?

  • June 22, 2016 at 9:04 pm
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    It’s 2 PM EST. Gimme mah detayls, EW…

    • June 22, 2016 at 9:13 pm
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      Nooooo! It’s only 6 months! Resist you must!

  • June 22, 2016 at 9:14 pm
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    Forrest Whitaker is Saw Gerrera!

    • June 22, 2016 at 9:15 pm
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      Dang, you beat me to it ! 😉

    • June 22, 2016 at 9:15 pm
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      Pretty damned cool, if you ask me. Especially given his connections to Anakin and Ahsoka…

      • June 22, 2016 at 9:17 pm
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        And he’s like a Rebel Extremist, and is referenced in Bloodlines as such. Great opposite to Palpatine.

        • June 22, 2016 at 9:19 pm
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          Awesome.

          Also, Onderon has loads of (non-canon) history. Tales of the Jedi, baby!

    • June 22, 2016 at 9:16 pm
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      I Saw Gerrera what you did there?

    • June 22, 2016 at 9:23 pm
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      Kinda cool. Does Lucasfilm know there’s more EU out there, though, besides just Clone Wars? RIP Kyle Katarn.

      • June 22, 2016 at 9:29 pm
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        Well Saw Gerrera is part of Star Wars Canon, since TCW, the new novels, Rebels, and the movies all are canon. Kyle Katarn is strictly EU, though Kanan in Rebels seems to have been heavily inspired by him.

        • June 22, 2016 at 9:31 pm
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          Right. I just want them to start bringing in more EU stuff, rather than just dredging up the not-even-decade-old Clone Wars for new material. I’m not opposed to Saw in this film, I was just hoping for a nostalgic bone to be thrown to the old-school fans.

          • June 22, 2016 at 9:41 pm
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            I heartily agree. BUT, Saw ties in quite nicely. We have him losing his sister in the Onderon War, and him taking over as leader, hurt, anguished, and always ready to fight, but since it’s near the end of the Clone Wars, he immediately begins fighting the Empire. As such, he meets Agent Kallus, and completely decimates his entire band of soldiers. Now, we see him helping Jyn’s group from afar in Rogue One, and even though he helps, his group, the Partisans, are known 30 years after for being the group most responsible for the Rebellion’s at -times reputation for terrorist attacks. Love the EU, but man, was it ever this tightly knit?!

            As for Thrawn, rumor is he’s the mysterios leader in the Aftermath book trilogy, and rumored to show up in Rebels Season 3, thanks to Filoni using Ahsoka’s “legends” quote and having the spine of what appears to be Heir to the Empire. So perhaps we are getting a HUGE EU character back,and finally on the screen!

          • June 22, 2016 at 9:49 pm
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            The EU was definitely never this tightly knit, which is why they did the canon reboot in the first place. I love what Filoni is starting to do with the EU and Rebels. I agree that Aftermath and Rebels are probably bringing in Thrawn.

            I was just really hoping that Katarn was a part of this new canon and I thought Rogue One was the perfect spot for him. Who knows? Maybe he’ll have a cameo in the movie or something…

          • June 22, 2016 at 11:42 pm
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            While I hope we get Thrawn back, I’m afraid that all it would do is add fire to the EU/New-Canon rift.

            I would like to hope that it could bridge that gap a little by giving EU fans a bone while injecting a potentially interesting new take/viewpoint on Thrawn into the new-canon. But you know what they say about hope, you can stack it in one hand and sh*t in the other and see which fills up first with your own eyes. 😀

          • June 23, 2016 at 1:29 am
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            They don’t even have to take a new viewpoint on Thrawn. Bring in Vice Admiral Thrawn (as he was in the TIE Fighter game) and have him be a strategic foil to the Rebels. You don’t have to kill him off or turn him into a dolt. Just give us the same exact character we got in the EU. He fits right in there with the rest of the canon.

          • June 23, 2016 at 1:37 am
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            Please, no Thrawn. I fear the Chiss will look rather silly in live action.

          • June 23, 2016 at 6:32 pm
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            You misspelled “tight as f***”.

          • June 23, 2016 at 4:14 am
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            Well, there’s a lot of things that wouldn’t mesh with the new-canon so yeah, it would be learning about him from a new viewpoint. It also requires tweaks to his and the Chiss history in general to fit within the new galactic history. I didn’t howevere say change the character. Do you not understand how bringing him into the new-canon in Rebels would be seeing him from a different viewpoint?

          • June 23, 2016 at 6:32 pm
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            Why do you have to go into his history at all?

          • June 23, 2016 at 8:02 pm
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            Hmm…let me see…character development? Make him more than a one dimensional villain? Explore his motives and goals? They’ve done this with quite literally every single character on Rebels, why would or should it be any different for Thrawn?

            That’s great that you’d like to get Thrawn in name only so that you can keep his EU backstory intact.

            I however, would rather see them explore him and give him some depth and layers as they’ve done with the other prominent characters. I.e. Kallus, Zeb, the first Inquisitor(even retroactively), Ezra, etc…

            They will need to adapt his personal and racial/special backstory to exist within the state of the galaxy as it sits within the new canon. We know where the galaxy is 30+ years later than Rebels at this point and Thrawns character progression during the time we originally meet him seems to be very unlikely with the state of affairs as the Empire sits. His (potential) trajectory as a character should bring something new to the table while still allowing the character to be, or at least grow into, the Thrawn that EU fans know. Even if he ends up sitting in a slightly different time frame or role than he was originally introduced in.

          • June 22, 2016 at 11:06 pm
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            Rebels, TFA, and the majority of everything put out by Lucasfilm post 2012 is a “nostalgic bone .., to the old-school fans.”

      • June 22, 2016 at 9:55 pm
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        RIP Dash Rendar… :’-(

        • June 22, 2016 at 10:40 pm
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          I feel you man, but let me remind you that Dash is actually still canon since Outrider appeared in Special Editions, as well as, most recently, Disney Infinity. it remains to be seen how will they approach ESB-ROTJ period, wether that will involve rewriting SOTE or replacing it with completely new stories but Dash and his ship are still (to some extent) there

          • June 22, 2016 at 11:08 pm
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            I thought it was officially legends, despite appearing in ANH SE? The novelization is labeled as ‘Legends?’

            Pretty big conflict/contradiction – ‘Kinda canon but not?’

            Personally, I’d rather see a Katarn/Rendar spin off/standalone film before seeing a Han Solo story as film. I feel like a Rendar film would be hell of a lot better than Solo as you could actually create something of an original story just using the Rendar character and Leebo as the buddy cop/Chewbacca sidekick – EU or not, for the intense fan(s), there’s already so much story created for Han Solo I feel there’s not a whole lot of elbow room for Disney to do anything with. Honestly I would love to see the Outrider have more of a film presence than what it did in SE and I would love to have a Moldy Crow presence period, even if none of the associated characters were there. Those two ships were just simply awesome to me as a kid.

          • June 23, 2016 at 1:08 am
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            totally agree. + i’ve been saying this forever, Chris Pratt was born with sole purpose: portraying Render in a SW spinoff film.

          • June 23, 2016 at 1:26 am
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            Correction: the YT-2400 is still canon. Dash Rendar and the Outrider are Legends until proven Canon. But yeah, there’s no reason to give up hope on Dash, just yet. His story didn’t intersect canon until ESB anyway.

        • June 22, 2016 at 10:57 pm
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          And good riddance.

          • June 22, 2016 at 11:00 pm
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            There’s no pleasing you Cranky… lol

          • June 22, 2016 at 11:53 pm
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            I just thought Dash was a pointless Han Solo proxy, with a weak name. His ship made no sense, and I hated his stupid backpack. Nyah.

          • June 23, 2016 at 12:02 am
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            Hahaha…

            I thought Dash was awesome. Just some rugged bada$$ sans the Skywalker/Leia romance baggage.

            I don’t think any of the Corellian freighters make any sense, especially the YT-1300. Cockpit on the side? How do you compensate for that much ship to the left of you?? Does it have park assist and lane departure warning system to help you fly/navigate the craft? lol at least the YT-2400 is more compact!

            Aw, give ol’ Dash a break – It’s an homage to his hero Marty McFly and his fav. classic film, BTTF II

            hayN.

          • June 23, 2016 at 2:44 am
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            Yeah, but walking onto the Outrider in the game, it LITERALLY is nothing more than a corridor and a cockpit – there is absolutely no place to put cargo. It’s like a REALLY light freighter.

          • June 23, 2016 at 7:09 am
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            Yeah I never really understood calling the YT series as ‘freighters’. Transports, maybe, but not ‘freighters’, but its Star Wars.

  • June 22, 2016 at 9:31 pm
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    If the guy who played him wouldn’t show for Episode II because he wanted more money (as much as Ewan and Natalie), and was replaced by Typho, that should tell us PT fans where his appreciation for Star Wars

  • June 22, 2016 at 9:45 pm
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    That is the coolest thing bringing a Clone Wars character into live action.

    • June 22, 2016 at 11:04 pm
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      Yeah… Ahsoka Tano…..

  • June 22, 2016 at 10:14 pm
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    I gotta say… the thing I’m really excited about is… the 70’s HAIR.

    Look at Diego, Forest and especially Ben’s hair in those above pictures. They look like they’re right out of the 70’s. It’s genius! throwing us right into the aesthetic of EP IV! Bravo Gareth Edwards. I’m all about the details.

  • June 22, 2016 at 10:25 pm
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    love how a TCW character made it in a live action! I guess that means that he’ll appear in rebels aswell!

  • June 22, 2016 at 10:28 pm
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    Awwww yeah.

    • June 23, 2016 at 6:30 pm
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      Evrry Bodhi, yeeeeh

      Rook yorr bodhi, yeeeeh

      Evrry Bodhi, yeeeeh

      Rook yorr bodhi raet

      Beckstrreets beck, ulraet

  • June 22, 2016 at 10:42 pm
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    These are great actors, for sure…but how can diversity be construed as a blanket assurance of a movie’s quality?

    • June 22, 2016 at 10:52 pm
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      What I’ve learned from the past 7.5 years is this: racial quotas and ‘diversity’ are valued more than merit.

      • June 23, 2016 at 5:27 am
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        Good. Before it was “if not while and male, don’t even apply”.

    • June 23, 2016 at 1:51 am
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      It’s not a blanket anything. It’s one good thing among many other things.

    • June 23, 2016 at 3:17 am
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      People like you need to stop associating diversity with movie quality. Diversity has nothing to do with that. It has to do with representation, i.e. we’re not all white men.

    • June 23, 2016 at 5:26 am
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      The same way all-white-male can’t.

    • June 23, 2016 at 1:24 pm
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      Because for quite a number of people these days film cast’s diversity is a reason to go see a movie or not, so that’s why it’s mentioned so often.

    • June 23, 2016 at 6:28 pm
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      I’m pretty “meh” about this. I hate forced diversity as much as the next guy, but they’re trying to show how expansive the universe is. The more diverse the cast, aliens included, the better, IMO.

  • June 22, 2016 at 10:48 pm
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    Which one is LBGTQIA? JJ knows, we can’t leave them out! LMAO.

    • June 23, 2016 at 1:18 am
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      The droid. Definitely the droid.

    • June 23, 2016 at 5:26 am
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      Which Star Wars character has ever been not straight on film?

      • June 23, 2016 at 6:26 pm
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        C-3PO is definitely gay. I think we all have our suspicions about Salacious B. Crumb, too. The Emperor always struck me as a little queer.

        • June 23, 2016 at 11:30 pm
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          What with that dress he paraded around in.

        • June 24, 2016 at 5:21 pm
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          c-3PO is a droid. He isn’t gay or straight.

  • June 22, 2016 at 11:03 pm
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    Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones)
    A streetwise delinquent who has been on her own since 15, she has fighting skills and a knowledge of the galactic underworld that the Rebel Alliance desperately needs. “She’s got a checkered past,” says Lucasfilm president and Rogue One producer Kathleen Kennedy. “She has been detained [by the Rebellion] and is being given an opportunity to be useful. And by being useful, it may commute her sentence… She’s a real survivor. She becomes a kind of Joan of Arc in the story.”

    Rey (Daisy Ridley)*
    A desert scavenger who has been on her own since she was a little girl, she has technical and piloting skills and a strength in the Force that the Resistance desperately needs. “She’s got a mysterious past,” said Batheleen Bennedy. “She has been thrust into the struggle against the First Order and is being given an opportunity to be useful. And by being useful, it may reveal her mysterious past. . . She’s a real survivor. She becomes a kind of Messiah in the story.” [*my own editorial]

    Look, I understand the whole female empowerment / feminist push by Disney, but the fact that the two faces of Star Wars are now female seems weird to me. And it’s by no means from a political perspective, etc. From an overall mythological story standpoint, it seems that Rey should be the center of the new Star Wars Universe and not have to share it with another female with pretty much the SAME characterization profile for purposes of satisfying diversity quota. Am I off the mark here? I’m open-minded and would like to hear your thoughts. . . .

    • June 22, 2016 at 11:05 pm
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      If the center of TFA was another Luke type and the center of Rogue One was a Han Solo type I doubt you’d care enough to write about it.

      • June 23, 2016 at 12:09 am
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        And yet that is the case. It just happens to be a female Luke type and a female Han type. It’s way to early to speculate that Rey and Jyn are anything alike. Beyond some superficial things (they’ve been surviving on their wits since a young age) the characters sound nothing like each other.

    • June 22, 2016 at 11:50 pm
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      Jyn also speaks to something I found puzzling in the recent comics; does the Rebellion ARREST people? And, like, keep prisoners? Where? WHY? That makes literally no sense whatsoever.

      • June 23, 2016 at 12:28 am
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        “You are hereby under arrest for not being a traitor.”

        • June 23, 2016 at 2:41 am
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          Right? I mean, am I crazy?

      • June 23, 2016 at 12:34 am
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        My guess is, that they do that to keep hostages. Remember that in rebels they captured the mandalorian leader? Being Jyn Erso the daughter of that guy Galen Erso who seems to be the death star designer or something, it makes quite sense to be that they capture her daughter. Plus she might’ve been stealing from them, wich also can make them need to arrest her. Lastly, I’m pretty sure that’ll be shown in the film.

      • June 23, 2016 at 1:16 am
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        The South had prison camps in the Civil War. Why wouldn’t the Rebellion? Prisoners of war are part of war.

        • June 23, 2016 at 3:09 pm
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          The North had them too, buddy. Some of the worst ones.

          • June 23, 2016 at 6:13 pm
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            Yep. My point is that the rebels in a civil war also take prisoners.

          • June 23, 2016 at 11:46 pm
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            But again, you’re talking about a civil war with defined territory held by each side. In SW, there is no geographic definition of the Rebellion – it’s an insurgency.

          • June 24, 2016 at 12:11 am
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            Even insurgents take prisoners, as hostages or as political prisoners. Look at the French Revolution.

            But are we 100% certain that the Rebellion didn’t hold any territory prior to the Battle of Endor?

      • June 23, 2016 at 1:31 am
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        Most of rebel movements had some kind of court in order to keep their soldiers in line. They are nearly always weaker than their enemy and in such a situation your troops’ obedience is especially important, thus an effective way to punish contumacy is a must.

      • June 23, 2016 at 1:32 am
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        Of course it does. If an Imperial, Imperial ally or other aggressor is found insider Rebellion territory, why wouldn’t them arrest them? You think they’d just say “oh don’t worry about it” and let them go?

        • June 23, 2016 at 2:40 am
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          Hmm…mmm..hmmm…i see, i see. Except, wait a minute, there is no such THING as Rebellion territory. They are a guerrilla group, operating inside the Empire. So….nope?

          • June 23, 2016 at 3:22 am
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            So their bases aren’t occupied territory then? Lol. Ok. They also don’t have a fleet? Ok. Lol

          • June 23, 2016 at 11:45 pm
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            They have bases on imperial worlds and uninhabited planets.

          • June 24, 2016 at 12:12 am
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            So if someone stumbles upon their secret base, do they just let them go or take them prisoner?

          • June 23, 2016 at 5:24 am
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            Read Lost Stars. Educate yourself.

          • June 23, 2016 at 11:44 pm
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            Oh god, yet another piece of crap movie writing that can only be explained by supplemental material? SW is the movies. If it’s no longer expected that they stand on their own, and require Mr Scott’s Guide to the Deathstar to make sense, LFL will have managed to kill my interest in the future of this franchise.

          • June 24, 2016 at 5:04 pm
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            There’s zero bad writing in the fact a military rebelliion that often kills people while engaging in combat, to the tune of millions (the Death Stars), would also keep prisioners. I have no idea why you can’t make sense of that. They obviously can keep those people for interrogation and bargaining. That’s what all real-world military rebellions do. But your question was when and where and Lost Stars delves a bit into that. People don’t seem to like it when Star Wars films haver long expositional scenes concerning the minutia of politics, then I suppose a book is the perfect way to do it. And your complaint was about something that happened in the COMICS, not the films, so I find it silly you’d blame the films’ writing for that. Especially because we haven’t even seen Rogue One.

      • June 23, 2016 at 5:18 am
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        Because there’s no real world example of insurgent forces arresting individuals and incarcerating them during civil war, right?

        Right?

        Right?

        Right?

        Cranky. I expect SO much more from you than this. This is like Snark level.

        • June 23, 2016 at 11:28 pm
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          Yeah, but those guys tend to be bloody-minded terrorist groups at heart, often military coups. Is that what we’re saying the Rebels are now?

          • June 24, 2016 at 12:25 am
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            No…The bloody-minded terrorists would execute someone disobeying orders in their ranks. Not arrest and detain them, then offer them an exciting secret mission that links directly into the birth of an entire franchise.

            The Super Happy Unity Peace & Love Rebel Alliance arrests and incarcerates. I would also assume they take prisoners of war when they’ve won a battle against the Empire and end up with Imperial forces surrendering in the wake of the attack.

          • June 24, 2016 at 5:26 pm
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            No, they are not. You see, Americans think they are always the good guys, but a lot of these groups are fighting an overpowered army that is killing hundreds of thousands of innocent people in their own countries and decide to fight back. Exactly like the Empire and the Rebellion.

      • June 23, 2016 at 6:59 am
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        The Rebellion has a prison too, a secret prison where no one knows where it is because if you can’t beat them then you arrest them. 😉

    • June 23, 2016 at 12:48 am
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      I think Disney is pandering to the white teenage girl audience. they figured out SW audience is mostly male, they saw a potentially new huge market. Besides Kathleen Kennedy seems to be a rabid feminist, she owes her career thanks to a female lobby that forced the company she worked for at Hollywood to have a female quota. Kennedy benefited from it, now she must belong to this sort of female supremacy rings, that’s why she’s shoehorning her feminist fantasy into SW. The female empowerment and feminism are codewords for female supremacy and misandry. Btw she’s a huge hypocrite, she’s never produced a movie with a female feminist lead for 30 years up until she got ahold of SW where she can basically do anything without risking to lose money.

      • June 23, 2016 at 1:31 am
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        Where can I buy your special grade of meth?

        • June 23, 2016 at 7:07 am
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          The He-Man Woman Haters Club. Ask for Spanky.

    • June 23, 2016 at 1:29 am
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      So, Luke sharing the limelight with Han was what exactly?

      • June 23, 2016 at 2:19 am
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        It’s called Redpill. Be careful, there’s no coming back to LALALAND.

        • June 23, 2016 at 4:51 am
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          Yes, you too will be able to prove how independent of women you are by loudly bleating on the Internet any time a woman is allowed to raise her head above the parapet.

          • June 23, 2016 at 2:06 pm
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            Hollywood makes more super strong female led movies every year than any of us could count. Some are the main lead and others are supporting but they are always strong. I’ve never heard people complaining about these female characters. Ask yourself why. SW is a different story, the female lead is a fanfiction character written by a teenage girl, and we’re supposed to accept it to avoid being maimed by feminist hyenas and their lapdogs. Meanwhile all the male characters are weak and stupid. Find me only one movie with female characters that would behave like Finn (coward, stupid, weak, ridiculed during the whole movie) or like Kylo Ren (supposedly strong at the beginning but actually very weak when there’s a battle, throws temper tantrums like a child, physically looks like a nerd). It doesn’t exist.

          • June 23, 2016 at 8:01 pm
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            The “strong female character” is a current cliche. But often at the last minute they’re relegated to being saved by the male leads or just weirdly useless despite the way their characters are presented. One time this isn’t the case — Rey — and you’re screaming “feminist conspiracy”. Please.

            I’d be the first to admit Rey’s development wasn’t all it could have been but the character was redeemed by an engaging performance in an overall enjoyable movie. The character she most reminded me of was Episode I’s Anakin but he’s a boy so that doesn’t count.

            Jurassic World had a female character who was venal, foolish and ended up being redeemed by falling for the male lead. That movie was produced by Frank Marshall, Kathy Kennedy’s husband. Oh and the writer/director is doing Star Wars IX. Did Kennedy miss that one off her conspiracy checklist?

            We’ve argued about Finn before but even if we accept your version of his character (which I don’t) ONE movie where the boy is saved by the girl and it’s a feminist conspiracy? The bad guy loses a fight against the hero at the end of an adventure movie and it’s because of a feminist conspiracy?

          • June 24, 2016 at 2:24 am
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            To me Jurassic World was pretty anti-feminist, that woman was a stupid bitch and the males are dealing with the shit going on. But just like you said, it’s a Frank Marshall movie, I bet it’s a jab at his wife, conscious or unconscious. Search for “jurassic world misogynist” and you’ll find countless articles complaining about it, yet nobody shamed their authors for being insecure or misandrists.
            What you said about strong female characters often being useless or saved by a man by the end of the movie is lies. You took Jurassic World and made a false generalization , when I watched the movie I was a bit surprised because it’s very unusual today, it’s a anomaly.
            Force Awakens is an anomaly too, it’s feminism going full retard. We’ve been used to strong female characters like Katniss, that doesn’t surprise anybody, but this time not only Rey is a typical Mary Sue case but they also decided to render all the male characters extremely inferior to the female lead which highlights the female supremacist and misandric nature of the movie. Look at Kathleen Kennedy’s interviews, she keeps talking about her female parts, she’s a rabid feminist, wether you enjoy or not this kind of ideology, you can’t deny that she is pushing it through our beloved franchise that never needed this kind of crap when Lucas was the head.

          • June 24, 2016 at 7:09 am
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            So let me get this straight… you think Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall secretly hate each other and are using the movies they produce as some kind of passive-aggressive battleground?

            Sounds legit.

          • June 24, 2016 at 3:08 pm
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            I don’t think they hate each other but there is certainly some competition between them.

      • June 23, 2016 at 2:35 am
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        Luke did NOT share the limelight with Han. Han had no more than 15, maybe 20 minutes in ANH. Han and Leia’s purpose was to service Luke as we didn’t see their backstorys and such (which is why Han is now getting a backstory film). Leia was just the maiden who was overly sexualized for a bunch of nerds. Kathleen didn’t want that for her female protagonist. She allowed 2 leads. Finn and Rey and yes they’re equals and unlike Luke and Han are actually sharing the spotlight. Both Finn and Rey had about 40 minutes of screentime in TFA. Luke had more than double the screentime of Han.

        • June 23, 2016 at 6:44 am
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          “just the maiden” doesn’t grab the gun and take charge of her seemingly incompetent rescuers.

        • June 23, 2016 at 10:46 am
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          Did you just shit all over Leia’s character just to hype up two millennial roles? Leia was a “strong, female character” two whole years before Ellen Ripley and decades before every Mary-Sue action hero got promoted as “unique” and “ground-breaking”.

          • June 24, 2016 at 5:23 pm
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            Lea was literaly a princess in distress in ANH.

        • June 23, 2016 at 11:27 pm
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          Equal in that one of them always succeeds at everything, and one of them is a useless idiot who only gets a single moment of success, and that only because his “co-lead” does all the work for him. You know “equal”

    • June 23, 2016 at 1:39 am
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      Female characters were always a big par of “Star Wars” films, so it’s no surprise that at one point there will be stories that will have women as protagonists. Don’t worry, there will also be a plethora of male characters in new Star Wars material, so there’s no need to worry.

      I believe that it is quite damaging to put Rey and Jyn into “strong, female character” box. Rey is kind-hearted, caring while Jyn is the exact opposite (at least that’s how it seems.) Jy may be even considered to be an antiheroine, what hasn’t been explored that much in “Star Wars” (maybe except for Ventress.)

    • June 23, 2016 at 2:29 am
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      Its because of Kathleen. She’s all about pro-female and such and she talks about it all the time. No doubt she was like “the lead of Rogue One is gonna be a female” and “I want a strong female character (who doesnt dress as a slave) in episode 7, I guess I’ll let the co-lead be a male.” Yes Finn is a co-lead for anyone still denying.

    • June 23, 2016 at 5:23 am
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      Wow! TWO women had important roles? The outrage! It is totally unbalanced against the last 6 Star Wars films with female leads.

      And, unless you think women = all the same, Rey and Jyn are pretty different. Rey resisted the calling. Jyn seeks it. Rey has an innocence about her. Jyn seems war-weary. Rey has no idea who her father is. Jyn does. Rey has the Force. Jyn doesn’t.

    • June 24, 2016 at 5:12 pm
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      You can’t deal with the fact that two women can have leading roles?

      After six films starring two men?

      You comparrison between the two is heavily biased. For starters, we haven’t even seen Rogue One. But from the bits we’ve seen, Jyn seems very different from Rey. She’s clearly volunteering for this, while Rey was relunctant. Rey was ,more of a naïve person, while Jyn is battle weary. Rey has the Force. Jyn is more of a soldier.

      It’s like saying Luke and Han are the same for being men.

  • June 22, 2016 at 11:14 pm
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    This is looking really good. Finally, after 33 years, we may actually have a Star Wars movie worthy of the franchise.

    • June 23, 2016 at 1:15 am
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      Besides TFA, you mean.

      • June 23, 2016 at 1:25 am
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        No, my statement means exactly what it says.

        • June 23, 2016 at 1:34 am
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          Besides TFA, of course.

    • June 23, 2016 at 4:11 am
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      I’m guessing that anything less than another Empire is going to be “worthy” in your book.

      • June 23, 2016 at 12:27 pm
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        Anything equal to or better than ROTJ.

        • June 23, 2016 at 4:58 pm
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          TFA was about equal to Jedi.

          • June 23, 2016 at 6:24 pm
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            I personally put Jedi higher, but some put TFA higher. It’s basically a wash.

          • June 23, 2016 at 10:01 pm
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            Just without the cool creature design, emotional punch, awesome new villain, or epic space battle. Come to the dark side and admit it – Snoke was teh lame, you KNOW it to be true 🙂

          • June 23, 2016 at 10:11 pm
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            We didn’t see much of Snoke for him to be considered lame or not. He is to this movie what the Emperor was to ESB – just a distant hologram for a brief amount of screen time.

          • June 23, 2016 at 11:50 pm
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            Right (well, ‘exactly like the Emperor in Empire’ some might say sideways…) but you were comparing the film to Jedi, not Empire. The Emperor in Jedi is one of the iconic evil characters of the last 50 years of film. S’nope’ is…not.

          • June 23, 2016 at 11:57 pm
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            I was comparing the overall quality of the movie to Jedi, not individual characters.

  • June 22, 2016 at 11:16 pm
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    It may just be me, but K-2SO reminds me of 8t88 from Jedi Knight Dark Forces II

  • June 22, 2016 at 11:20 pm
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    With the inclusion of Saw, could it be that the town/urban setting from the trailer is actually Onderon?

    • June 23, 2016 at 12:29 am
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      After this revelation, I’m thinking the beach and palm tree planet (featuring the new AT-ACTs) is Onderon. Wookiepedia describes it as a jungle environment…which the Empire took over, and R1 teaser suggests rebels were attacking/escaping from an Imperial installation…

  • June 22, 2016 at 11:44 pm
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    K-2SO looks like the same droid that was operating the torture device on Saw in “The Soft War” (TCW 5:4)

    • June 23, 2016 at 12:49 am
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      That’s a AV-series supervisor droid that’s also seen in Return of the Jedi during the droid torture scene and in TCW Lair of Grievous (1:10) amongst others.

  • June 23, 2016 at 12:29 am
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    I figured… we’ve seen Saw Gerrera bald in the trailer, but here he’s got hair. Are they doing the reshoots also because of that?

    • June 23, 2016 at 1:42 am
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      I hope they give him back his aqua marine eyes as well, then.

    • June 23, 2016 at 9:55 pm
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      Confirmed! Saw Gerardo is in 40% of the movie then!

  • June 23, 2016 at 1:24 am
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    Felicity Jones looks genuinely pissed on that cover, I bet she wasn’t happy to come back for shooting half the movie again

      • June 23, 2016 at 2:29 am
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        Yeah they must have told her to do the resting bitch face during the whole movie, because Katniss proved it’s popular. I’m only saying that she didn’t have to make any effort to exhibit that face. She looks like a mess, her costume look different and large and she looks like she’s wearing a wig.
        As for acting: “i rebel” was terrible

        • June 23, 2016 at 2:30 am
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          It’s also really weird how her face has that purple sheen and judging by the background the special effects in this movie are going to be shit.

          • June 23, 2016 at 2:38 am
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            geez people -.-

          • June 23, 2016 at 7:06 am
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            lmao

          • June 24, 2016 at 2:13 am
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            It looks like Disney people are reading this board. They released a picture where Jyn attemps to smile.

          • June 24, 2016 at 5:18 pm
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            To be fair, they still have six months to finish them.

        • June 23, 2016 at 3:07 am
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          You never get laid.

        • June 23, 2016 at 5:19 am
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          I agree. She should look all smiley and sexy during a war. Women soldiers should care about nothing but looking fresh, happy and willing for any given men that might stare. It’s their patriotic duty.

          • June 23, 2016 at 1:37 pm
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            There’s a difference between being intense in dramatic time and showing the resting B face in every friggin scene. For example watch Hunger Games, Jennifer Lawrence does that during 4 movies.

    • June 23, 2016 at 4:15 am
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      half a movie? where was this information obtained?

  • June 23, 2016 at 1:27 am
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    Obviously this is the start of the hype train and is marketing driven, but everything revealed here looks great. I genuinely thought they’d NEVER cross a character over from the animated shows. That’s super interesting (even though I’m not familiar with that arc of Clone Wars). I’ve been meaning to sit down and watch that show properly as all I’ve ever seen are odd bits when my kids are watching it. This might be the spur to make me do that.

    • June 23, 2016 at 2:37 pm
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      Rob, I highly recommend you watch the 4-part Onderon arc. It’s the best season 5 so I would have recommended it anyway but now it is even more important. I will be rewatching it here soon.

  • June 23, 2016 at 1:35 am
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    I liked the part where they talked about star wars.

  • June 23, 2016 at 1:43 am
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    If Forest Whitaker is Saw Gerrera, why do they look so different?

    • June 23, 2016 at 1:45 am
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      Animation to real life is rough on the skin.

      • June 23, 2016 at 10:47 pm
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        Oh… that’s why Ben was so old and wrinkly in ANH! (=^O

    • June 23, 2016 at 5:16 am
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      Different mediums.

      • June 23, 2016 at 6:19 pm
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        Why don’t some fans get this? What you see on screen or on page is just a portrayal of an event in a fictional universe. The appearance of a character is largely irrelevant compared to his/her characterization, history, etc. Why can normal people jump 50 feet into the air on TCW or Rebels? It’s the style of the show. You might as well ask why Ransolm Casterfo doesn’t look like text on a page if he shows up in Ep 8.

        • June 23, 2016 at 6:20 pm
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          This is also why introducing Thrawn is a ‘damned if you do, damned if you don’t’. The whole canon is now different, and so would Thrawn’s role be. Even if it differs insignificantly, there will be psychotic fanboys going crazy.

      • June 23, 2016 at 10:45 pm
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        Most of the characters in non-film mediums look like the actors, such as TCW characters and the PT actors. I feel they could’ve made a better effort to have that dude look like a younger Forest.

        • June 24, 2016 at 5:16 pm
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          That dude was created before they ever knew a) that the character would ever be in a film b) who would play him.

          • June 24, 2016 at 9:05 pm
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            Oh, okay. Just looked it up. TCW. Thanks.

  • June 23, 2016 at 2:02 am
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    Uh, Wasn’t Saw a fucking teenager in TCW? Maybe in his early 20’s at the oldest. Why does he look 60 years old now? Can no one at Disney count?

    • June 23, 2016 at 2:48 am
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      War has been a hard life.

      • June 23, 2016 at 3:06 am
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        Yep. Look at what 8 years as an American president does to these people…

        • June 23, 2016 at 2:28 pm
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          Indeed, both Bill Clinton aged 15 years in his 8 year presidency, Obama has aged at least 12 years. Stress adds a lot to people’s faces and the stress of living under warfare is even worse and living with constant war for twenty years like Saw Gererra has, well, it’s no wonder he looks old.

          • June 23, 2016 at 4:50 pm
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            Correct me if I’m wrong (and someone here will, you can bet on it), but I don’t remember anything in the Clone Wars that really pegs Gerrera’s age. He could easily be in his mid-20’s or early 30’s. With animation, it’s often difficult to tell with any great degree of accuracy. If he’s 25 in the Clone Wars episode, then he’d be somewhere around – I don’t know – mid 40’s or 50 during Rogue One. Toss in a life of violent conflict and things start matching up nicely.

            The same things applies to Mon Mothma. The character looks considerably younger in the Rouge One preview compared with her appearance in Return of the Jedi. But three years of struggle against the Empire have passed. That’s three years of not only armed Rebellion, but also facing repeated atrocities of the Empire. Yeah. That would give me some lines as well.

      • June 23, 2016 at 2:52 pm
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        But this guy’s a commando not a beauracrat. Also what happened to his green eyes?

        • June 24, 2016 at 12:00 am
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          Yeah, so war would be even harder on him.

          Well, it’s a movie, not a cartoon. If you can accept people being recast in parts, you can probably come to terms with his eyes 😉

          • June 24, 2016 at 2:18 pm
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            Aging sure but he looks like someone who have a heart attack trying to beat Jabba in a footrace or star in a sequel to Beverly Hills Ninja.

            I understand the eed to exagerrate certain features in animation but not outright chang them and they at least attempted to sound like the original characters. Andrew Kishino and Forest Whitaker sound as alike as Carrie Fisher and Samuel L. Jackson.

          • June 24, 2016 at 5:15 pm
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            Not many black actors have vivid aquamarine eyes. They decided to go for a good actor instead of just casting someone with a rare eye colour.

          • June 24, 2016 at 7:44 pm
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            And recasting Ewan Mcgregor from Alec Guinness was fine, right? Or in Iron Man, when Terrance Howard was replaced by Don Cheedle? It’s fictional. Deal with it.

    • June 23, 2016 at 5:16 am
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      To be fair, he aged as well as Obi Wan Kenobi.

      • June 23, 2016 at 2:50 pm
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        He was responsible for the war though and while Mon Mothma does age, It’s not to this degree and she calls all the shots.

        • June 24, 2016 at 5:14 pm
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          She wasn’t actulally in the trenches.

    • June 23, 2016 at 3:12 pm
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      He is the oldest looking teenager I ever saw. Sorry, but looks more like he is in his late 20s/ early 30s during TCW. And then we get two decades plus before he is seen here. Stop crying.

      • June 24, 2016 at 1:59 pm
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        Uhhh, You do realize Luke and Anakin were teens who look like his contemporary in ANH and AOTC. Clearly you missed the part where Ashoka referred to him and the others as kids and she’s a 16 year old. I mean seriously, You think a non-clone would take orders from a teen girl like that? C’mon man, Think!

        But even if the storygroup pulls yet another retcon out of their lazy assholes, That still makes him late 40’s early 50ish which Whitaker hasn’t looked in sometime and especially not the way they made him up here. They done goofed.

        • June 24, 2016 at 7:14 pm
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          I disagree with you, as usual.

  • June 23, 2016 at 2:34 am
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    Donnie Yen is not a Jedi in the same sense that Knights of Ren are not Sith.

    I knew they couldn’t resist putting a “warrior monk” in it, one way or another.

    • June 23, 2016 at 2:52 am
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      They’re going right back to the start of the EU and re-canonizing Don Wan Kihotay.

      • June 23, 2016 at 6:16 pm
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        That was a great comic arc. Green bunny and all.

    • June 23, 2016 at 6:16 pm
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      Yes, but this is a much different take. He’s not a trained Jedi. He’s just a believer in the Force. I personally love the idea.

  • June 23, 2016 at 2:36 am
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    I love this, I noticed his eyebrow scar isn’t present though. That would have been a good touch I think they forgot? At least in the images I’ve seen.

  • June 23, 2016 at 2:43 am
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    And they told me I am crazy if I think they will include someone from Rebels or The Clone Wars. Thank You Disney,even small character like that,finally payed off for our cartoon fans. Thank You for appreciating The Clone Wars and Rebels fans!!! Only thing it will make it more great,if they include Captain Rex or Cad Bane,helping them to get Death Star plans. I mean,they remembered guy from 5 years ago,how great is that?

  • June 23, 2016 at 3:25 am
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    Disney owns ABC and ABC did a story about Star Wars which Disney owns. ABC can’t spell Lucas Films right. It’s not that hard.

    • June 23, 2016 at 4:12 am
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      May i ask what misspelling you are referring to? Also… if it is so easy, why weren’t you able to do it? it isn’t ‘Lucas Films’. It is Lucasfilm.

      • June 23, 2016 at 9:21 am
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        Sure. On the GMA preview. In the upper left hand corner of the video, Lucasfilm was spelled Lucas Films. I found it odd that a Disney owned company spelled another Disney owned company’s name incorrectly.

        • June 23, 2016 at 2:35 pm
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          That is kind of funny. bet someone caught flack for that lol

  • June 23, 2016 at 5:27 am
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    Look I love Star Wars and I am super excited for this movie. I liked Godzilla and think Edwards is a great choice for this. BUT there is some stuff in this that is scaring me. The characters looks like they are painfully cliche; the one guy who is the super skeptic and will be brought around by the end, the wise and spiritual warrior, the chick with “red on her ledger” who is looking for a “clean slate.” I mean COMMON!!! What have there been like, 40 writers on this thing? This is the best they could come up with?!?!?!?!?!?!?! And this is a small thing compared to my previous point but WTF is Mr. Brady doing in this movie?!??!?! And why get someone as talented as Mads Mikkelson to play him?

    • June 23, 2016 at 6:28 am
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      At least it’s bound to be better than the Force Awakens, no?

      • June 23, 2016 at 7:02 am
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        No! TFA is awesome! Look, it has problems. It is very much a greatest hits album of past Star Wars movies. But it also captures the essence and magic that made the originals so great. it’s super fun and aside from a few dull points the movie is paced beautifully. The characters are great and well acted and JJ directed the hell out of it. Point is, I think it’s a great movie.

        • June 23, 2016 at 7:05 am
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          Good for you. I think it’s one of the dullest and least imaginative sci fi movies I think I’ve ever seen. Not an ounce of imagination on screen.

          • June 23, 2016 at 2:34 pm
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            Agreed. TFA was an unimaginative, suspenseless, rehashed missed-opportunity. They literally had a galaxy’s worth of directions to take the story and we ended up with a copy-and-paste mediocre Star Wars movie. And that’s coming from a lifelong SW fan who was seven when ANH came out.
            Rouge One, so far, is looking great. I just hope the influence of the Disney execs hasn’t ruined anything.

          • June 24, 2016 at 2:01 am
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            Hey man you’re entitled to your opinion. I mean I think Blade Runner is a snoozefest that has a lot of good looking rain, so theres that

    • June 23, 2016 at 7:00 am
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      Star Wars is archetypal – its supposed to be cliche.

      • June 24, 2016 at 2:02 am
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        I think you can be archetypal without being redundant

        • June 24, 2016 at 5:06 pm
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          The way fanboys want things? Unlikely there’s a difference when it gets analyzed like this.

  • June 23, 2016 at 8:59 am
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    I can’t wait to see Vader. Yes… bring back his glory days of a menacing badass that his mere presence was enough to instill fear. I’m more hyped about the imperial infighting than I am the theft! 😛

  • June 23, 2016 at 2:53 pm
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    Darth Vader is the worst kept secret since Han’s “surprise” death or Leia’s upcoming coma.

  • June 23, 2016 at 6:25 pm
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    KayToo might be an updated (or not) Commando Droid.

  • June 23, 2016 at 6:26 pm
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    Rook’s goggles are a little to ‘earthy’ to me. Just a small note.

    • June 23, 2016 at 6:35 pm
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      They should be earthy. That’s what made the OT aesthetic great. Everything looked like it could have been made with real materials on Earth. It was familiar yet foreign. All of the guns were just thinly-veiled Earth weapons.

  • June 24, 2016 at 6:43 am
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    Anyone notice the similarity of the death trooper “belt buckle” to that of Vader’s buckle?

    • June 25, 2016 at 12:54 am
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      Shingaurds too – they’ve got the little knobbly bumps on them like Vader’s boots, and no sniper knee.

  • June 24, 2016 at 12:03 pm
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    When have we seen a performance-capture droid before?

    • June 25, 2016 at 12:55 am
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      It’s a weird sentence. I THINK they mean one of the group has been seen before, which would be Forrest Whittaker’s character. If they DO mean the droid…Proxy maybe?

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