I woke up today wishing I had more Rogue One news and then boom Anthony Breznican at Ew.com uploads this story about this week’s cover all about Rogue One. Then about two hours later he drops another article with 10 new characters that names 9 and leaves us wondering about Forrest Whitaker’s identity, who is someone we know which we find out about in his last article of the day! Lets jump into it and look at what Anthony has brought us today(more to come too!)
Before we begin I just want to shout out to MakingStarWars as once again their information has been proven correct. So lets look at what we have starting with the cover. There are two things that stand out for me on the cover, first is the Droid K-2SO, this is the best clear look we’ve had of him. I have to say he reminds me of a BX Series Commando Droid from the Clone Wars, they fought of course for the Separatists.
Not saying he is one but the design definitely is reminiscent. There were early reports from MSW that suggest that K-2S0 would be a re-purposed Imperial droid. We’ll have to wait and see how this one fits into the trajectory of droid designs as more info is revealed.
The next is the new TIE Strikers, which remind me of the TIE Interceptors of old. They appear to be an in atmosphere craft to me., though that could just be me projecting. Perhaps they are the craft of the new Storm Troopers, Death Squad. Either way they look cool and I am excited for new ship design, something TFA lacked in my mind. It also teased what Anthony would be revealing this week the juiciest pieces being candid look into the reshoots and the confirmed return of Darth Vader.
Next up we got 10 short profiles on our characters. We already knew what they had on Jyn Erso and MakingStarWars had several of the other names already too. But here’s what I found interesting we have another character like Lor San Tekka that respects/worships the way of the Jedi, but is not a Jedi with the blind Chirrut Imwe (Donnie Yen). The Church of the Force seems like a natural fit for this character. I also liked the idea that Baze Malbus(Jiang Wen) being the Snacho Panza to Chirrut’s Don Quixote. It appears the K-2SO is seeking redemption so its possible he did work for the Separatists then the Empire? There were a couple of tidbits on our villain but nothing earth shattering. Finally, we got the official confirmation that Mads Mikkelsen is playing Galen Erso, Jyn’s father, as Mads has stated in the past.
For Forrest Whitaker I'm all in on Talon Karrde. I fully expect to be wrong though.
— J-Red! 5 (@mazlow01) June 22, 2016
I've seen several Saw Gerrera for Forrest Whitaker's character.. I can see it.
— J-Red! 5 (@mazlow01) June 22, 2016
Finally we got the story of who Forrest Whitaker is playing and my fellow nerds got it right with Saw Gerrera. This is a great choice and really helps to bring the cartoons into the movie world instead of the other way around. We also saw a mention of him in Bloodline by Claudia Gray when Ransolm Casterfo mentions “the campaigns of Saw Gerrera’s Partisans.” as proof of the viciousness of Rebel attacks during the war against the Empire. This tells us Saw is on the good guys side but is probably not someone that takes orders from anyone and is more than willing to get his hands dirty. It also matches up with the idea of his team being code named the Eels.
And there is this:
History. pic.twitter.com/so22qCFsZS
— Pablo Hidalgo (@pablohidalgo) June 22, 2016
So, there are possible deep connections there. The Star Wars databank entry for Saw Gerrera ends with this note:
He and his sister Steela were cast out of the walled city of Iziz and forced to live in ruins amid the jungles of Onderon, but formed a rebellion.
It sounds like this rebellion could be part of the many rebel groups that led to the Rebel Alliance. So given that we’ve seen many reports that Rogue One takes place in jungle environments, it raises the question, are there scenes for Rogue One on Onderon?His home world of Onderon is also of interest as it may be the location of the base we see in the teaser. It has been described as Jungle and that would fit what we have seen so far:
This shot could easily be part of a Imperial attack on the Rebels on Onderon started by Saw Gerrera. And what a bout Steela? Is there a chance that we will see Saw’s sister Steela in Rogue One? There is the persistent mystery of Eunice Olumide’s character, who comes to mind, but looks totally different from Steela. Still, it makes sense that this character would been seen in the film given her connection with Saw Gerrera. Stay tuned for more info on Rogue One!
Follow me on twitter and stay tuned to spoiledbluemilk.com for updates MWF