Since Disney first bought Lucasfilm and announced more Star Wars movies were on the way, there’s been constant speculation as fans wonder which of their favorite characters may or may not make an appearance. This amped up even more when we found out about the Star Wars Story movies, many of which will be set earlier than Star Wars: The Force Awakens and the Episode movies, generally around the time of the original trilogy. Darth Vader has been rumored to appear in the first of these, Rogue One later this year, but according to one new rumor, he may have a bigger role than we originally thought.
Sources close to the Gareth Edwards-directed Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, have told the folks over at JoBlo that all of those reports about Darth Vader being in the first standalone spinoff are, in fact, true, and they even reveal that we should expect to see much more of him than we expected. They don’t get into specifics of what this means, probably because their sources didn’t share many, but the fact that one of the most iconic villains in movie history could play a significant role in Rogue One is intriguing. This is, of course, purely an unconfirmed rumor at this point, so make of it what you will.
Rogue One is set in the time between Episodes III and IV, going down in the years after Revenge of the Sith and just before A New Hope. The plot, as we understand it, revolves around the theft of the plans for the first Death Star, the ones Luke Skywalker and company ultimately use to destroy the Empire’s most powerful weapon.
Given the timeline and subject matter, it makes sense that Darth Vader could play a part. This was the Empire’s heyday, where they were increasing their stranglehold on the galaxy, and he was a key player in that expansion and tyranny.
There are a number of ways that he could figure into the plot, though I’ve always envisioned him being more of a larger, behind the scenes villain, pulling the strings, rather than mixing it up in hand to hand battles. For instance, I could easily see him dispatch a group of bounty hunters to go after the stolen blueprints, or something along those lines.
This report, however, should it turn out to be true, implies that he will play a larger role than that, though, without any details, it’s difficult to speculate about what that may be. Personally, I have mixed emotions about his presence. He’s one of the greatest villains ever, but it seems unnecessary to trot him out like this—he already has his own comic series from Marvel. I wouldn’t mind a smaller, background role, but a big part seems like overkill, and it’s likely to overshadow and distract from the new characters and story. Maybe I’m wrong, but that’s a legitimate worry that I have about too much Vader.
What do you think? Do you want Darth Vader to play a significant role in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story? Or do you think he’s had his time to shine and they should focus on other characters? Sound off in the comments below. We'll find out how this turns out when the movie opens on December 16.
