The new Rogue One: A Star Wars Story trailer is here

Looking darker and grittier than a Star Wars film has in a good long time, Rogue One is hitting all the right marks.

Is it December yet? If you’re a Star Wars fan, then chances are that’s what you’re wondering right now. It’s not of course. It’s August. which means that there’s about four months left till Rogue One: A Star Wars Story hits the big screen, and oh what a long four months they’re going to be. Fortunately, you have this new trailer to pour over in the meantime.

Star Wars, but grittier

There’s not a huge amount of time between this film and the original movies, and you can clearly tell that. True Rogue One does have new troopers and new vehicles, but all of them retain the flavor of the original trilogy. As a Star Wars fan who’s mostly into the series because of those movies, I like what I’m seeing.

The roots of the Rebellion are plain to see here, in the story of the force that took on the Empire and walked away with the plans to the first Death Star. And we all know how that played out in the end. Still, there’s plenty of mystery here, since many of the characters in Rogue One are new. And this is essentially a standalone movie, so there are no guarantees as to who lives and who dies. Well, except for Mon Mothma and Darth Vader. I have a pretty good idea that they’ll be living past eh end credits.

Rogue One also looks to be the darkest Star Wars movie maybe ever. I’m sure there are some light moments here and there, this is Star Wars after all, but this is looking grimmer than The Empire Strikes Back. That’s a good thing as far as I’m concerned by the way.

Recent news and notes

Also worth noting is that it was announced recently that Forest Whittaker’s character is actually Saw Gerrera. Sound familiar? That’s probably because Gerrera is a Clone Wars character, from the cartoon show. He’s also a ruthless fighter, which should make for some interesting scenes with main character Jyn Erso, who works closely (though seemingly reluctantly) with rebel leaders Mothma and Bail Organa.

Oh yeah, that’s right, Jimmy Smits’ Organa returns from the prequel trilogy for this film, which makes for some pretty neat linkage. And then there’s Darth Vader in there at the end. Yes, it’s like a half second and we don’t even see the front of his mask, but hardcore fans should be pretty happy just to hear that respirator.

It’s going to be a long Autumn; Rogue One: A Star Wars Story hits theaters on December 16th.