It’s hard to avoid Star Wars rumors, they’re popular as hell and get sites huge hits. This can be very tempting to people who are both rabid fans and looking to boost awareness of their websites.
The Force Awakens is a prime example, if that massive amount of concept art didn’t leak I think a lot of bloggers wouldn’t have really much to go by but the word of a handful of nerds trying to dig-up stuff. Since there are so many outlets looking to grab the high-traffic that comes with Star Wars rumors and speculation stories.
Here my opinions on what little information and rumors have been circling online, which isn’t really much folks. This isn’t meant to ruffle-feathers but to really explore what the possibilities could be with these spin-0ff titles, along with my own opinion of the information that’s currently out there.
The one solid piece of information we actually have at this point concerning Rogue One is that it “could” focus on a team looking to heist the Death Star plans for the Rebel Alliance, which may or may not include bounty hunters. This synopsis could be a huge misdirect and we don’t know for sure if this plot point is even legit, SlashFilm is a trusted site but they’ve also been wrong in the past just like most sites are.
I’m a bit suspicious of them recently posting Rogue One “concept art” descriptions from second-hand information. It’s apart of a terrible trend which was started with trailer descriptions. I won’t even bother linking to it and I’d caution people it could be super fake.
I know fans are starving for this kind of stuff and sites are starting to take advantage this for an upswing of hits, but it’s really not worth exploiting the rest of the blogging community with something a fan could have created.
We’ve seen this recently with fake title cards and “leaked” trailer release dates. Be aware that even professional sites get fooled.
Latino Review who we greatly respect is even backtracking on their earlier Rogue One reports that Boba Fett and Han Solo would factor-into the film. Instead of previously being confident, they have become cautiously optimistic and it’s a huge leap from where they were a couple of weeks ago. Proving how quickly things can change with the development of these films.
They are still confident that Geonosis is where the Death Star plans will be lifted from and could be a major location in the film. You might remember seeing it in Attack of The Clones where Boba was left an orphan after his father Jango Fett was killed by the jedi. Seemingly, becoming a smoking-gun to Fett being apart of the film which it isn’t.
I’m not totally convinced he’s apart of Rogue One but I’m optimistic Boba Fett will eventually lands his his own film.
Joe Johnston, Fett’s creator has been pitching a solo movie since 2011 and there has been a rumor that Larry Kasdan wrote the script for it. It should be noted neither Joe or Larry have been involved creatively with Rogue One. Although, Kasdan and Rebel’s Simon Kinberg have been working on the other spin-offs. Larry also co-wrote The Force Awakens with Abrams.
I don’t think tossing him into a film with a new female lead is really fair to that character, since I could see both Solo and Fett overshadowing this new character if they’re given any large amount of screen time.
There’s just so much unknown when it comes to these films, and we’ve seen how quickly Lucasfilm can change things once they leak. The studio and their filmmakers are excellent at keeping things as hush as possible. Not to mention could be quick on the draw to rewrite things if they do leak.
Yes, there has been multiple sites saying that Han Solo and Boba Fett could be apart of the spin-off lineups. Since there are currently three spin-off films in development, only two have directors it’s possibly that the other two films could in-fact be these Solo/Fett movies.
Let’s not forget Rogue One‘s script originally written by Gary Whitta is currently undergoing major rewrites from Chris Weitz, and certain things could change greatly from the original draft. It’s possible it could end-up a page-one rewrite, meaning what we think we know about the film could drastically change.
While I think fans would want all three films to tie into each other, they honestly don’t have to and it could give each adventure breathing-room if they’re weren’t apart of three-part story. I’d love it if they were each standalone features but it does sound like they’ll be linked to each other.
Two names that have been linked for male roles via trade reports include Breaking Bad‘s Aaron Paul and Zero Dark Thirty‘s Edgar Ramirez.
The trades are convinced that Aaron Paul is up for the role of Han Solo while British tabloid The Sun had suggested that Kingsman actor Taron Egerton could be also in the mix for the part.
Adding Egerton to the lineup might be a move similar to hiring Attack The Block‘s John Boyega to play Finn in The Force Awakens.
Aaron Paul feels so against-type for a new Han Solo, it makes you really question the thinking there or if they’re just assuming that’s his role. I’m also highly doubtful that Ramirez would be looked at for Solo either, I’m starting to think they both were being looked-at for new characters instead.
All you have to do is compare Taron Egerton’s image to old pictures of Harrison Ford, he looks like he could be Ford’s son.
Taron’s rebellious character Eggsy in Kingsman feels a bit more similar to Solo than Aaron Paul’s Pinkman. We know that director Gareth Edwards is a huge fan of Matthew Vaughn and Breaking Bad, all you have to do is look at the two male leads of Godzilla to figure that out.
I have a feeling there will be plenty of male roles to go around, since the franchise is dominated by male characters, so it’s possible all of these actors could be apart of the film eventually. I just don’t see Paul in the role and feel like he’s better suited for a bounty hunter or a random thief hired for the heist.
If this indeed becomes a team of characters putting-on a heist it would make sense that there would be a bunch of main roles.
What we do know currently concerning the cast is that it will indeed star Oscar nominated actress Felicity Jones who has been confirmed by Disney. Announcing her as the first cast member gives the impression she is playing the protagonist of the picture.
Most bro-fans might still be opposed to this angle, but the Star Wars franchise has suffered their female fans by never really giving them solid characters of the other gender for the films. Plus, from what we know of the franchise you’ll be getting a majority of dudes in it.
We’re already seeing a larger group of female characters in The Force Awakens, but having Jones the actual lead of the film could be a step Lucasfilm has taken forever to do with their live-action films. Giving fans a female leading character, that isn’t a supporting damsel waiting to be rescued like Leia was in the original film.
Beyond the heist, what do we actually know about the film and who Jones is playing?
Apparently, the title Rogue One is giving people a lot of headaches trying to decode it. Most are assuming it’s Red Five or Rogue Squadron related as the Rogue aspect to allude to the forming of the Rebel group of X-Wing pilots. Lucas caused a bit of an outrage when he had female X-Wing pilots removed from Return of The Jedi, having a female pilot lead the film could be a way to make amends to fans.
People are also pointing-out it could be connected to Slave One, the ship of choice used by Boba Fett. There have been rumblings it could revolve around bounty hunters and the Fett family.
Another idea is that the title could refer to the main character, a ship, or the group’s code-name. Basically, everyone is guessing and nobody really has a clue what it means.
A couple of people have suggested that Jones’ character might be Sabine or a female Fett family member. I find it highly unlikely that Lucasfilm would push for a Rebels movie when they have four more seasons with the cartoon, canon or not, it feels like a move best suited once the show wraps-up.
Just looking at Sabine’s character I would assume the actress playing her would have different skin tone than Felicity, mostly likely an non-white actress.
Can’t these spin-offs just focus on original characters?
Fandom is a super strange, while they eventually learn to like new characters and at the same time very unwilling to supporting anything new. Rebels is proof that the people now in-charge of Star Wars can create compelling new characters, and that fans can learn to embrace new things in the Star Wars universe.
I’d wish that fans could see beyond a Rebels movie and Boba Fett, Han Solo, and Obi Wan spin-offs. These people obviously can contribute new things and I think everyone wants new stuff along with an expansion of the existing material.
Maybe if the spin-offs focused on completely original characters this could help Lucasfilm break ties with having to rehash established characters from over 30 years ago, giving the new generation their own chapter in the saga.
I just feel a bit of sadness that they feel the need to drudge-up films that would centre around characters we already know and sort of destroying some of their mystique. If you really think about it Lucasfilm could make a Mandalorian/bounty hunter epic without Boba Fett and a cool smuggler/space pirate film without Han Solo if they really wanted to.
Fans might bitch, like they usually do at every single move the studio makes, but the whole point of Disney buying the franchise out of the hands of George Lucas was to give the creatives the wiggle-room to expand on the existing universe with new characters, aliens and locations.
We’re getting at least three new heroic characters in The Force Awakens, who will likely replace the main three in Rian Johnson‘s Episode VIII. I think it’s about time fans started embracing this new chapter in the Star Wars universe and let go of certain characters. We’ll always have the droids and a Skywalker, these things won’t be changing anytime soon.
My own belief is that these spin-offs could allow Lucasfilm to really be experimental and give audiences a whole new Star Wars experience. The underbelly-side of the universe is something a lot of fans have been dying to see and almost had with the cancelled video game Star Wars 1313. Exploring a world of bounty hunters, thieves, pirates, smugglers, assassins, and mercenaries, giving us a couple of films that don’t have to necessarily need to revolve around the Empire or the jedi/sith.
When the rumor of a spin-off focusing on The Hutts surfaced, I was jumping for joy because it allows to move beyond Jabba and explore the rest of the galactic crime family. The same way a Mandalorian or bounty hunter film doesn’t have to place Boba Fett in the centre of it. Lucasfilm can nurture great ideas and fantastic new elements for the films and it’s about time we supported this way of thinking.
I know this could piss-off a lot of people that are under the impression Luke Skywalker could be swinging a lightsaber as lead hero until his 80’s. Sometimes I feel like it’s selfish demands of the fans like this that will ultimately hurt the future of the saga.
The more new characters that are involved the more invested I’ll be on going on their journey.
What would you like to see in Rogue One?
Should Lucasfilm rehash existing characters in that timeline or should they take another path and be a bit more original creating new ones?
Gareth Edwards’ Star Wars: Rogue One is set for release on December 16th, 2016.