Disney just dropped a new international trailer for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and it went a long way toward driving up excitement for the Star Wars spin-off, featuring more of the franchise’s most iconic villain, Darth Vader. This latest Rogue One glimpse also hinted that one aspect of the Star Wars saga not thought to be a part of this film, namely Jedi Knights and the Force, actually may drive one Rogue One character in particular, aside from Darth Vader, of course. Could that make this an origin story for a new Jedi hero in a whole new Star Wars spin-off?
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story Feeds Our Darth Vader Craving
The latest Rogue One tease delivers a taut and tense look at the early days of the rebellion against the Empire and that saga certainly can’t be told without Darth Vader, himself. As The Verge notes in sharing the newly released international trailer, Rogue One gives Darth Vader a greater presence than Star Wars fans might have expected.
It seems curious that the character would be so predominantly featured in this trailer, considering Star Wars fans have been warned that Darth Vader would only play a minimal role in Rogue One , as it has more to do with the spin-off story idea of the theft of the Death Star plans. Even when the Star Wars villain is absent from scenes, his presence can be felt with that point driven home at the very end of the Rogue One teaser, when it closes out with Darth Vader’s theme.
While even the most casual Star Wars fans are familiar with Vader’s story, from his rise to power to his ultimate fate in the first six Star Wars films, much of his life was skimmed over in order to tell the primary story as tightly as possible. There’s no telling what befell Darth Vader in the years before he meets up with his son, Luke Skywalker, and this new Rogue One tease seems to suggest that, at one point or another, Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones) will face off against the legendary Dark Lord of the Sith.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story Teases A Link Between Jyn Erso And The Force
There’s no denying that Jyn Erso’s life was forever tied to the rebellion, an idea further strengthened by the events revealed in this new Rogue One trailer, and, as Movie Web points out, this new glimpse may also tie her to the guardians of the Old Republic, the Jedi Knights. As the Rogue One trailer commences, we see Jyn Erso thrown into the middle of classic Star Wars battles, presumably as Darth Vader sends in troops to reclaim the Death Star plans, intermingled with flashbacks of Jyn’s childhood.
It has been known for some time that Jyn’s father, Galen Erso (Mads Mikkelsen), would play another major role in this Star Wars spin-off, so it’s not surprising to see connections to him made in this teaser. As a girl, Jyn learns that her father is instrumental in creating the Death Star only out of a concern for doing what he thinks is best for his family, but, as an adult, Jyn is called into action against the Empire by that same man, her father. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story comes together as another father/child tale, but, this time, the child, Jyn, seeks out the father, Galen, to ask his help in saving the galaxy, instead of striving to save him from himself.
“Rebellions are built on hope,” says Felicity Jones’ Star Wars character.
Later, Jyn utters the familiar phrase, “may the force be with us,” and also alludes to the Force later in the teaser, but what may be most compelling of all is the crystal gifted to Jyn at the start of the Rogue One trailer. Kyber crystals are used by both the Jedi and the Sith in the construction of their lightsabers. The unique crystals, naturally imbued with the power of the Force, are also used by the Empire in the creation of weapons of mass destruction, such as the Death Star.
That Jyn Erso was given a Cyber crystal — if that is what it is — as a young girl may suggest she comes from a family of Jedi Knights. It may also give credence to fan theories that Jyn Erso will be revealed to be Rey’s (Daisy Ridley) mother.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story hits theaters on December 16.
[Featured Image by Disney]