As the first non-Episode Star Wars movie, Rogue One has a lot of live up to, but if the first trailer is anything to go by, it’s off to a great start. We know relatively little about the spin-off movie (even compared to The Force Awakens), so the trailer is a welcome opportunity to trawl through the 1 minute and 57 seconds of footage in minute detail and see what we can glean about the upcoming film. Find out what we sussed out below.
1. Felicity Jones’ character is called Jyn Erso
We finally know a little bit about the main character played by Felicity Jones. While casting was confirmed a while ago, we didn’t know anything about the characters, really. We knew Felicity Jones would be the lead, but thanks to the trailer we now have a name and little bit of background information. The actress is playing Jyn Erso (we did a best guess with the spelling) who’s been on her own since she was 15 (sound familiar?), and is something of a rebel even within the ranks of the Rebellion. Mon Mothma describes her as, “reckless, aggressive and undisciplined” and she already has something of a record. Could she be the Han Solo of Rogue One?
2. Diego Luna is a rebel Captain
Another main character that we know very little (see: nothing) about is Diego Luna’s character. We don’t get as much from the trailer as we do with Felicity Jones, but the eagle-eyed among you will have spotted his Rebel rank (the dice on his uniform) as Captain. Given the fact that he’s present for Jyn’s dressing down by the Rebel leaders, could he be her Commanding Officer? Or does Command pair the two together for the mission in the hope that he’ll balance out her more “reckless” tendencies? Either way, he’s definitely part of the attempt to steal the Death Star plans as we see him running with her later in the trailer.
3. Get ready to fall in love with another new droid
We never get a full shot of it, but there’s definitely a droid following Felicity Jones around in this trailer. You can see it running behind her at about 1:12 and it looks distinctly more humanoid than BB-8. Given Star Wars’ ability to make us fall in love with robots, we’re getting ready for a new love affair with this character. We know Alan Tudyk is playing a mo-cap character, so could this be him perhaps? Hopefully, we’ll get a better shot in the next trailer.
4. Ben Mendelsohn is a Grand Admiral
We already knew Ben Mendelsohn was playing a bad guy (and maybe the main baddie) in Rogue One, but the trailer has given us a few more juicy details about his character in the form of his uniform. The all-white suit singles him out as a Grand Admiral of the Imperial fleet, the highest rank in the fleet. There are 13 Grand Admirals in total, all personally selected by Emperor Palpatine himself. Intimidating.
5. The Emperor might make an appearance
One thing everyone’s talking about is *that* cloaked figured at about 1:18. No, it’s not Darth Vader, but is it the Emperor? While we have a hard time believing Emperor Palpatine would kneel to anyone, that is the Emperor’s personal guard you can see (the guys in red), and there’s only so many characters you can have hiding under a black cloak.
6. There isn’t a lightsaber in sight
We knew that Rogue One was going to be lacking in Jedi, so the absence of lightsabers in this trailer isn’t surprising. What is interesting is what they’ve been replaced by. If you check out the two weapons in Jyn’s hands when she’s running at 1:23, they look like dual fighting batons. You can see them again at the end of the trailer tied to the back of her TIE Fighter pilot’s uniform. Donnie Yen’s character also kicks ass in the trailer but uses a staff not unlike another Star Wars character we’ve recently seen… *cough* Rey *cough*.
7. Genevieve O’Reilly is back to play Mon Mothma… maybe
Despite her small role in the original Star Wars trilogy, Rebel leader Mon Mothma is a fan favourite and it’s obvious from the trailer that the casting team have managed to find someone who’s a dead ringer for original actress Caroline Blakiston. We *think* it’s Genevieve O’Reilly who played Mon Mothma in Revenge of the Sith, but ended up having her lines cut. Here’s hoping she has more of a role in Rogue One than just what we’ve seen in the trailer.
8. There’s going to be lots of new Stormtroopers
We already knew that we were getting a new breed of Stormtrooper in Rogue One, but the trailer actually shows a lot of different kinds. Yes, there’s the scary-as-shit all-black Deathtroopers, but then at 1:13 we spotted some cream-coloured Stormtroopers with different helmets that are even a bit more Boba Fett-ish. Who are they and what’s going to happen to them, seeing as they’re not seen in any of the movies set after the event of Rogue One?
9. The story starts on Yavin IV
If you take a look at the scenery of the planet the Rebel base is located on at the beginning of the trailer, you’ll notice it looks a lot like Yavin IV. Even the Command centre and the hangar bay look identical to scenes from A New Hope. They might just be trying to recreate a similar feeling (all office spaces look alike, right?), but it’s probably safe to say this is Yavin IV given that the planet was also the location of the Alliance headquarters in Episode IV.
10. There’s no mention of Darth Vader
There were rumours flying around that Darth Vader would make a cameo in Rogue One, which does make sense when you think he’s still alive and kicking at this point in the timeline. He didn’t even get a name check in the trailer, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t in the movie. I mean, honestly, if Vader was making an appearance would you give it away in the very first teaser? No, this isn’t Batman v Superman.
