Happy Thursday! A new trailer for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story has been released, following up on the release of a new poster for the film earlier this week (which is included below, if you haven’t yet seen it).
We could write another introductory paragraph before the trailer, but you surely want to watch that first. So please give the second full Rogue One trailer a look:
After the teaser and full trailer that were previously released, most everyone is likely familiar with the premise of Rogue One. The story takes place before Episode IV: A New Hope and involves the Rebellion’s plans to steal the plans for the Death Star before the Empire’s weapon of mass destruction becomes fully operational. This third one doesn’t repeat the premise, so much as add to it, which is a welcome change. (And there’s a little more Darth Vader!)
It’s understood that Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones) is the hero — maybe even the antihero, given her criminal past — but the big reveal of the new trailer is that her father also plays a key role in the story. Did Galen Erso (Mads Mikkelsen, Hannibal) join the Empire to protect his daughter from being recruited? (Mikkelsen is set to have a big winter, by the way. He also plays the villain in Marvel’s Doctor Strange.) Of more importance is the revelation that Galen is a major factor in the development of the Death Star. So maybe it’s not a coincidence that the Rebellion tabbed Jyn for stealing those plans. She’s more than just a thief whose skills might be suited for espionage.
One more tidbit revealed in the trailer is why the film is titled “Rogue One,” thanks to Bodhi Rook (Riz Ahmed, The Night Of). That may not be too much of a surprise to fans and those who have been following this closely, but it’s still an intriguing bit of information.
Another notable aspect of the new trailer is that there doesn’t seem to be any difference in tone. With the news that Disney ordered reshoots on the production, there was heavy speculation that director Gareth Edwards (Godzilla) had made a darker film, one too grim for a wide blockbuster audience. Yet Rogue One still appears to be very much the war film that Edwards had envisioned. There is a whole lot of fighting, gunplay and battlefield action.
Maybe there’s a bit more of a heroic journey for Jyn and the other Rebels who join her in the story now. The trailer does have more of an inspirational bent to it than the previous two.
In case you need a reminder, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story opens in theaters on Dec. 16.
