Intriguing connections and illuminating backstories are revealed in new character information from Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
Entertainment Weekly has revealed the lineup of Rogue One‘s central characters, starting with Felicity Jones’ hard-nosed protagonist Jyn Erso.
Fans have already enjoyed a taste of Jyn’s personality in the first teaser trailer for Rogue One, but Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy elaborates on the film’s reluctant hero.
“She’s got a checkered past,” Kennedy says, revealing Jyn’s Suicide Squad-esque straits as the film opens. “She has been detained [by the Rebellion] and is being given an opportunity to be useful. And by being useful, it may commute her sentence.”
“She’s a real survivor,” Kennedy adds, teasing somewhat ominously that, “She becomes a kind of Joan of Arc in the story.”
Another crucial piece of Jyn’s puzzle arrives in the revelation that Mads Mikkelson will be playing Jyn’s father, Galen Erso. Star Wars, of course, is a saga obsessed with family (and daddy issues) but it’s intriguing to learn that the gritty, front-lines drama of Rogue One will continue to play with that theme.
According to Lucasfilm’s chief of story development, Kiri Hart, Jyn and Galen have been mysteriously estranged by the time Rogue One begins. But Galen is “one of those people that has insight into… specific aspects of just how the universe works,” Hart says — and the critical information he holds makes him a hot commodity for both the Empire and the Rebellion.
In other words, we’re smelling serious space drama.
Also populating the array of rebels (and probably contributing to the drama) is Diego Luna’s Captain Cassian Andor. Acting as Jyn’s handler, Andor will balance the young woman’s wildness with a steadfast commitment to the Rebel cause. “He conveys a fair amount of experience,” Hart says, adding that Andor brings the daily struggle of the Rebellion to life. “It’s not easy,” she notes.
Other members of the hard-bitten Rogue One crew include Riz Ahmed as the surly pilot and techie Bodhi Rook, who “tends to be a little tense, a little volatile,” Hart admits. There’s also K2-SO, the security droid brought to life by Alan Tudyk, who — quite intriguingly — is seeking redemption for past mistakes.
“Kaytoo is a little bit like Chewbacca’s personality in a droid’s body,” says director Gareth Edwards. “He doesn’t give a s— about what you think.”
Also populating the crew are Jiang Wen as the exceedingly practical gunner Baze Malbus, who is close friends with Donnie Yen’s Chirrut Imwe. Imwe is a blind “warrior monk” devoted to the spiritual practices of the Jedi, though he is not a Jedi himself. Gareth Edwards notes that the character represents a transition in the galactic mindset.
“This idea that magical beings are going to come and save us is going away,” he says. “It’s up to normal, everyday people to take a stand to stop evil from dominating the world.”
Rounding out the Rebel crew is Forest Whitaker’s as-yet-unrevealed character, who is promised to be familiar to Star Wars fans engaged in the wider universe of stories. And on the Imperial side of things waits Director Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn), a man teeming with ambitions to rise in the Emperor’s favor. But with the fractious, hungry state of Imperial politics, Krennic also must avoid the attentions of Darth Vader — which probably indicates that he has a dangerously smart head on his shoulders.
Update: Forest Whitaker’s character is Saw Gerrera, a character who Star Wars fans will know from the animated series The Clone Wars! “Along with his sister, Steela, he fought alongside Darth Vader — back when the Sith lord was just an impetuous young Jedi named Anakin Skywalker,” EW says. “In the episode ‘A War on Two Fronts,’ which aired in October 2012, Saw and Steela were part of an insurgent group being unofficially trained by Anakin, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and the padawan Ahsoka Tano.”
Here’s the character on The Clone Wars and what he looks like now in Rogue One:
In spite of fan concern over reports of reshoots for Rogue One, the character roster suffers no shortage of promise. Replete with natural tension, dramatic relationships, and quirky individualism, fans should be all too eager to meet the rebels of Rogue One — and learn the intimate cost freedom in the Star Wars galaxy.
Rogue One hits theaters on Dec. 16, 2016.