Speculation: Explaining the Two Darth Vader Suits in Rogue One.
Some eagle-eyed fans have noticed that there seems to be a discrepancy in the appearance of Darth Vader between the footage that’s been released, one behind-the-scenes photo, and the original costume seen in A New Hope. Keeping recent speculation in mind concerning a certain scene shown in the teaser trailer, there may be an explanation as to why these differences are present – and why they aren’t actually continuity errors.
POTENTIAL SPOILERS AHEAD!
As seen above with the promotional image of Darth Vader (click above for high-resolution), his eye lenses have a red tint to them. While it’s not entirely clear from the image due to the darkness present in the shot, it also appears as though a portion of the fabric on his torso manages to wrap around his shoulder pads from beneath his cape. Both of these aspects were present in the character’s armor as it appeared in A New Hope, and many have praised Lucasfilm’s commitment to recreating the Dark Lord of the Sith’s appearance in a way that kept in line with the original movie.
So when the set photo below appeared through Entertainment Weekly, there was naturally a bit of a stir among fans.
Those who scrutinized the image noticed something very clear about it rather quickly: Darth Vader’s lenses are solid black, with no red tint to them whatsoever. Furthermore, there was a much more obvious difference present between this scene and the other one, and that’s that the cloth clearly went under his shoulder pads as opposed to over it. So many of the same people who praised the earlier costume’s accuracy have now let out a collective “WTF?!” on Star Wars message boards as they noticed that these are clearly not the same outfits.
As it stands, the design revealed in the Entertainment Weekly photo is a lot closer to the one from Revenge Of The Sith for the few scenes that it actually appeared in that film: Darth Vader’s lenses are solid black, and nothing is covering the shoulder pads – technically because there’s no cloth to begin with in the last installment of the Prequel Trilogy. (The above image is mirrored vertically, in case you’re wondering why the control panel has its buttons mixed up.) So if nothing else, Lucasfilm was at least consistent with that design, and they also had it updated slightly to more closely resemble the one in A New Hope. That being said, it still did not solve the problem. Since this is an immediate prequel to A New Hope, many believe that the design should be consistent with what we saw when Darth Vader first stormed through the entrance of the Tantive IV. So either the design seen in the promotional image was a fluke that was fixed during reshoots, or they actually went with it for one reason or another.
With all that out of the way, I’d like to present you all with a theory – we’re going to be seeing both of those costumes in the movie, and there will be a good reason for it. Since this is going to bring up that other article’s reveal, this is where a discussion of spoilers regarding the film will begin. If you don’t want to risk seeing too much about the movie, you should turn back now.
Remember this scene? A lot of people think of this particular shot when they think of the teaser, and many have even gone as far to suggest that it might not be in the final cut of the film because it hasn’t been shown in any of the other trailers or television spots. What we have is a scene of some unknown Imperial figure (not Palpatine) is kneeling before what appears to be a bacta tank – and whoever is in the tank is so important that they’re being protected by the Imperial Guard. Recently, people like Hard Case and I have noticed something in the background of another video that might suggest that this is indeed a bacta tank, and those standing guard have a strong incentive to keep the person inside safe from harm.
There’s no disputing it – what you see above is a mannequin of an armorless Darth Vader. He’s a quadruple-amputee with a right arm stump that is slightly longer than the one on his left. The scars on his head match up with the ones that we see in Revenge Of The Sith, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return Of The Jedi. And the mask he’s wearing looks a lot like the one that Luke Skywalker wore when he got dunked into bacta at Echo Base. So the pieces to suggest that we’ll be seeing Darth Vader in the bacta tank are certainly there – we just don’t have any more footage of this particular scene.
Consider this: what if Darth Vader’s body wasn’t the only thing that needed to be healed? After all, there are rumors that there’s going to be an action sequence involving Darth Vader at his most brutal, so while it’s likely that he’ll be handing out a lot of punishment, he could also take damage as a result of whatever carnage takes place wherever he’s dispatched. There’s no reason to believe that Darth Vader had only one helmet and one set of artificial limbs throughout his time in the suit, and indeed, the subtle changes that the suit goes through over the course of four movies suggest that all components of it were being modified whenever Darth Vader was in stasis – and whether he takes damage or not, he’ll need a resting place before he can be refit with the best armor the Empire can offer him. So the operating theory is that the earlier ROTS-like armor is going to be what we see before circumstances force Darth Vader to switch it out for what we see in ANH.
I should note that thus far, the image of Darth Vader near the top of the article is the only shot in-film that we’ve had a clear look at his torso. All other footage has either involved Darth Vader having his back turned to the camera or has his torso partially obscured. Aside from saving the full extent of Darth Vader’s role for people who see the movie, why do you think that this is? It could very well be that they don’t want to show off too much of Darth Vader because they don’t want to accidentally reveal that he’s wearing completely different sets of armor between two different scenes – and if that’s the case, the fact that they released a photo of the ROTS-like set of armor suggests that while we will see the ANH armor, it probably won’t be present for very long (or perhaps the other scenes where he wears it are either too spoiler-tacular or trailer-unfriendly that they just won’t show them until the release of the movie itself). Whatever the case may be with this little mystery, I’m pleased to say that we won’t have to wait long to get an answer – for most of us, Rogue One will be released in a little under a week, and we’ll all be able to see for ourselves.
Grant has been a fan of Star Wars for as long as he can remember, having seen every movie on the big screen. When he’s not hard at work with his college studies, he keeps himself busy by reporting on all kinds of Star Wars news for SWNN and general movie news on the sister site, Movie News Net. He served as a frequent commentator on SWNN’s The Resistance Broadcast.
I attribute the control panel reversal as the old “A-B camera” paradox. We’ve seen this many times in the past, where an image is reversed for one reason or another in film and promotional shots.
yeah. the first TFA teaser had a reversed shot of rey approaching with her speeder for example.
Precisely!
The shot above from ROTS is a flipped/mirrored shot as they say (It was NOT flipped in the movie.) I don’t know why they couldn’t use a still from the movie in the corrected format, all over google.
There are some scenes in the Rogue One Trailers/TV Spots that have the Rebel Troopers running through the jungle doing it from right to left and then left to right.
Of maybe someone just flipped the pic in photoshop
Very likely. This stuff happens all the time for promo material – it’s no big deal.
It may not even be flipped for the promo material, they just stumble on a flipped pic that someone did on photoshop. They could have found it corrected on google or corrected it themself. But it wasn’t flipped or mirrored in the movie.
I think this makes a lot of sense. I also wonder if Darth doesn’t rock “combat” and “dress” versions.
I think that’s more likely. Didn’t Knoll, while prefacing it with the caveat that his opinion wasn’t official, even say as much recently?
Oh? I didn’t see this! Do you happen to have a link, by chance?
http://comicbook.com/starwars/2016/12/06/exclusive-star-wars-vfx-legend-john-knoll-explains-darth-vader-c/
– Pomojema
Thanks!
Well it obvious Vader changed his outfit even between ANH and ESB.
I can’t deal with this anticipation……partying like its 1999.
Hopefully the after party lasts a bit longer this time around.
God no, what was served up in 99 and thereafter, gave us all the runs. It still leaves a bad taste in the mouth after all these years, I dry heave just thinking about it.
But doesnt vader already have the red lenses in his mask by the time of Rebels? And since Rebels happens before Rogue One, it wouldnt make sense that he would go from black lenses in ROTS, to red lenses in Rebels, then back to black in Rogue One, and switch back to red in ANH.
His helmet got messed up in the Season two finale, we haven’t seen him since. So he might have gotten back to the black ones again.
True, I guess the real question is why does he switch from the black lenses in ROTS to the red lenses we see in Rebels
I figure that it’s a case of him switching his armor several times over the course of his life. My argument here was that we specifically see him switch between suits in the movie itself.
– Pomojema
Exhibit A: Palpy from SW Robot Chicken. And I quote: “Oh, you must smell like… feet wrapped in leathery, burnt bacon!”
“Fashion Conscious Darth Vader”
Like Ralphie in ‘Christmas Story’! He’s got the backup pair of glasses…
John Knoll simply said Vader has different sets of armor, with variations. Quite simple.
Don’t the lenses look red when he’s first getting the helmet on in ROTS? I don’t think it’s ultimately a big deal, dark red could look black in the right light.
I don´t care if Vader is wearing a tutu! I just want to see the movie ASAP!!
https://youtu.be/J-MdVdM0qAQ
https://youtu.be/vSV0OpZ955w
Beautiful!!!! Beautiful!!!!
Mr Vader’s eyes have a red tinge when he’s receiving info about his suit visually, or he’s checking the footie scores..
imdb ratings drop too fast…. 😐
IMDB ratings fluctuate weirdly in the first few days of a movie’s wide release. Don’t pay that much attention to them for now and look back on them in a while – you’ll thank me later.
– Pomojema
I still love how they let people rank the movie before it’s release date anywhere.
Technically, it did release with the premiere. Though I’d agree that it’d make more sense for them to wait until the wide release begins to actually let people rate the movie.
– Pomojema
Not more than a few hundred people have seen it. And how many people ranking already?
You’re technically free to vote on any movie as long as it’s out – it doesn’t matter if you’ve seen it or not. The people who are one-starring the movie right now are only doing it because they get attention from it.
– Pomojema
It has 3364 votes, that is stupi***, I never had seen those ratings before and I will never trust them.
I thought one of the disappointing things about ROTS were all the sequences around Vader and his suite. I think George could have been more creative in designing a proto-suit. Something not quite like what he would end up in. It would give the character more depth and show that he may of had his own input to it’s eventual form.
And the whining that Vader didn’t actually show up at all, it was already loud enough (I was included in that) that the suit only showed up at the end as it was.
Vader changes suits almost as much as his wife changed hair styles. In ROTS, the chest plate was a solid piece of armor that extended over the shoulders. This alluded to in the DV novel as he is frustrated that the armor prevents him from lifting his arms above his head. In ESB, the shoulder pads were separated from the chest armor. In ROTS, the neck collar isn’t present and the helmet terminates inside of the chestplate. All other movies have the collar outside of the chestplate. At the beginning of ANH and during the snow battle scene in ESB, Vader’s helmet brim is shorter than it is in other scenes; maybe a “battle helmet” design to give the Dark Lord more mobility in combat situations. ANH is the only movie where Vader’s eyes are red and translucent, and even this was tamped down during the 1997 edits.
Terrific Article – I actually think “Darth Vader with Interchangeable Armor/ Interchangeable body parts” could be a great angle for toy spin-offs – he could utilise different types of appendages for different missions:
Underwater Darth Vader, Volcano Darth Vader, Zero-G Darth Vader, etc.
Stormtroopers do it, why not Darth Vaders.
Reminds me of all those different Batman figures in the 90s.
Cue digital fiddling of TESB and new Hasbro figures to create a white suited ‘Hoth Vader’ so he doesn’t stand out so much in the snow 🙂
B-Boy Break Dance Vader. Scarif Clam Bake Vader.
Space Batman.
The more i think about thus, the more this feels like an actual episode one. They keep saying this isn’t a Skywalker movie, a saga. But it is. Earth Vader looms large all over the thing. He is the thing most see most excited to see.
And his action, the event leading to New Hope, all impact the Skywalker story.
Skywalker looms large even in this non Skywalker movie–and I love it.
Cool article. I like the thoughtful analysis and the eagle eye search for clues! Only 3 more nights to go and then we’ll know! Can’t wait! Thank you Disney and Lucasfilm…. I love having a new Star Wars movie every year!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVzc20Bm8Xo
One more thing that makes me question this particular theory – LFL has been carefully controlling fan’s expectations around Vader since the reveal was made. He’s only in a couple of key scenes, but makes a big impact when he does show up, that kind of talk. Having Vader involved in a huge battle, being crippled, healed, and changing armor in the middle of the movie (because I don’t think there’s any way it can be the finale if we end up on the T4 by the end) would seem to imply a much larger role, and risk distracting from the story it looks like this film is telling. I’m thinking very quick flashback, otherwise how do you get away with a rubber mannequin (no prequel jokes) in a tube?
Didn’t George’s tweek of the ‘special edition’ to clean up the ‘Red eye lense, David’ P.’s eye (visibal issue?) Settle it? From what I understand, it was a special effects issue that bothered him. (Lucas.)
They are tinted red throughout Rogue One. The photos must be prior to CGI adjustments.
I have a few pairs of tinted specs, all depends what mood I’m in.
As long as the inner robe is where it should be for boarding the Tantive 4 I’m cool with whatever Vader wants to do with his look.
***Spoiler Follows***-
I think its so funny that the cloaked figure turns out to be ‘vaders butler’, In his Vader castle/batcave. After all of the fan theories, of who it might be, including my own.