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‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story’: Casting Title Reveals Disturbance In The Force [Spoilers]

By Dustin Wicksell
Published on: 03:18 PST, Mar 13, 2016

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is just over nine months away from release, and much like its predecessor, The Force Awakens, fans know precious little about the film. Some details have emerged regarding Rogue One‘s plot, as the Inquisitr has noted, and now a new casting title has appeared online, potentially shedding even more light on the next entry in the Star Wars franchise.

As many fans already know, Rogue One takes place directly preceding the events of A New Hope, focusing on the team of Rebels tasked with stealing the plans for the Death Star. During this period in Star Wars history, Imperial domination is near its zenith, with the Jedi Knights long shattered and the few members of the order who managed to survive scattered across the galaxy. Despite the efforts of Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader, the Star Wars universe wasn’t entirely purged of the Jedi, and now it appears that the characters brought to life in Rebels may not be the only members of the fallen order to turn their efforts against the Empire.

Recently, fans noticed a new casting title on the IMDB page for Rogue One. As HitFix points out, the listing is subject to interpretation, and nothing is certain. Yet when fans saw that Emeson Nwolie would be playing the role of a “Religious Warrior,” some of them jumped to the obvious conclusion. Yes, Nwolie could be portraying a minor background character, or even have just a brief bit of screen time. When it comes to the world of Star Wars, however, there is only one group of Religious Warriors that consistently matters in the storyline, and that is, quite simply, the Jedi Order.

The possibility of a Jedi (new or previously seen) having a role in Rogue One is interesting on multiple levels. Recently, it was reported that Darth Vader would have a much larger part to play in the film than was originally thought. Initial reports which confirmed the character’s presence in Rogue One suggested that he would only appear as a hologram, giving orders and acting as a guiding presence for the film’s main antagonist. As Moviepilot notes, however, that has changed, and fans will apparently get a chance to see the Sith Lord like never before, wreaking havoc on the battlefield with the Force. Should Vader face off against a remnant Jedi, that could make for one of the film’s more interesting fights.

Vader likely won’t be the only villain from the Star Wars universe to return to the screen for Rogue One. According to Den of Geek, Lucasfilm is working on a unique digital performance of Peter Cushing, who played Grand Moff Tarkin in the original Star Wars. During a recent Star Wars LEGO conference, Boba Fett’s ship, Slave One, was used in a presentation to denote Rogue One, suggesting to fans that the mandalorian-clad bounty hunter may be making a return to the screen, as well.

Director Gareth Edwards has talked about Rogue One as a war movie, and it has been noted that the film takes place in a galaxy where the heroes know that the Jedi Knights aren’t coming to save them. Whether that means that no Jedi will appear in the film remains to be seen, yet the possibility of a new Knight in hiding could be used to highlight that dramatic tension. When Rogue One: A Star Wars Story opens in December, fans will get their chance to find out if Nwolie’s Religious Warrior is indeed a new Jedi.

[Photo by Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Disney]

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