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‘Star Wars: Rogue One’: James Earl Jones’ Return — Darth Vader ‘Dream Team Assembled’ [Rumors]

By Tony Smejek
Published on: 09:52 PST, Jan 15, 2016

Some interesting Star Wars: Rogue One rumors are on the way, with James Earl Jones in the mix for the prequel spin-off. It’s well known that Darth Vader’s voice is played by the legendary actor, and he could be on his way for one of the movies in the Star Wars Anthology, according to International Business Times.

Warning: Spoilers ahead!

So there appears to be a double whammy of rumors that the Darth Vader character is making a comeback, and now comes James Earl Jones’ voice which is likely the appropriate choice. David Prowse, an English weightlifter, bodybuilder, and actor, wore the suit back in the day. Hayden Christensen wore it at the end of Revenge of the Sith and could return according to Attack of the Fanboy, but that theory was debunked by multiple sources.

If you go back to Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope, Darth Vader is in hot pursuit of Princess Leia when she hid the plans in R2-D2 — the very popular scene when they breach the rebels’ location and Vader chokes a soldier in the process. Prior to that mess, there probably were hoops that Darth Vader had to hop to get to that point in Episode IV. Rogue One likely fills in that gap.

The folks at Making Star Wars reported that there is a rumored “dream team” for Darth Vader being “assembled,” and that a costume is being made that’s said to “meticulously” match the 1977 version. In fact, last year it was announced that sculpture Brian Muir was said to be working with the Rogue One movie crew. So from the sounds of it, it appears that there’s an attempt at the original character, with all the components making Darth Vader look, sound, and, even in spirit, feel like the the original deal.

Interestingly enough, Vader won’t be the prominent villain in Star Wars: Rogue One, but it was reported originally last year via Birth Death Movies that he would be making an appearance, but as a hologram or on a view screen. Also, there would be a “puppet master” of sorts behind the scenes of Vader. Of course, one may think it’s Emperor Palpatine. Or could it be Snoke from Star Wars: The Force Awakens? The source didn’t go beyond what was given and didn’t say anything about Vader making an in-person appearance.

It’s not surprising he would be in the spin-off movie, but Vader indeed has an influence in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. There is more to the story and a lot of questions that come up. Kylo Ren still keeps his grandfather Vader’s helmet on a pedestal and has an ambitious drive to continue where he left off. Snoke is another person behind all this and at the end of the film asks to retrieve Kylo to continue his Sith training. The question remains: how was Kylo Ren turned to the dark side?

A conversation between General Leia and Han Solo reveal that Snoke has turned their son to the dark side. That being said, would answers to these questions be revealed in Star Wars: Rogue One and perhaps the rest of the anthology movies?

The main premise to the spin-off is a group of “heroes” in league with the rebels to retrieve the Death Star plans. The main profile and the fact that they were referred to as “heroes” and not actual rebels make one wonder if they are a mercenary group. The Star Wars Wikia refers to them as “resistance fighters”, so this could be where the labeling of “rebels” to “resistance” has transitioned between Episode IV and Episode V.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is directed by Godzilla’s Gareth Edwards and debuts on Dec. 16.

[Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images Entertainment]

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