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Donnie Yen has had an action-packed career, between being the Ip Man and starring in a slew of martial arts films and the upcoming John Wick: Chapter 4 with Keanu Reeves. But one of his most memorable roles in recent years saw him landing in a galaxy far, far away in 2016’s Star Wars anthology film, Rogue One. It was originally a one-off storyline depicting the sacrifice involved in the rebellion, but hey if Diego Luna’s Cassian Andor is coming back, can Yen's character, Chirrut Îmwe, do the same?
Donnie Yen played a blind spiritual warrior-monk and was always accompanied and protected by Jiang Wen’s Baze Malbus. But, spoiler alert: both characters died in Rogue One, alongside pretty much every key character in that film. We’d watch more from the character if the Star Wars storytellers found something worthy of our time. Here’s what Yen thinks about coming back to play his Rogue One character:
Well, I would definitely consider it. I had a great time shooting Rogue One, and I guess people like my character. It really depends, you don't know what they're thinking. I leave it up to Disney to sort it out. We'll see. I believe in destiny. A lot of times, what brings people together in one film, it's all about timing and destiny.
Following the release of Rogue One, Disney has found another spinoff story to tell in the form of Disney+'s Andor. The series, which is coming sometime in 2022, will star Diego Luna as Cassian Andor prior to his sacrifice to save the Death Star plans, which ultimately saves many lives through Luke Skywalker’s journey. Maybe down the line, we could go on an adventure with Chirrut Îmwe and Baze Malbus, too?
Rogue One is available to stream on Disney+. You can sign up for the service using this link along with a number of Star Wars movies and TV shows.
During Donnie Yen’s interview with Looper, he shared some interest in returning to the Star Wars Universe, but it all comes down to telling a good story. It makes sense, especially considering how powerful and rare it is for a Disney property to keep characters dead instead of making them these unexpendable figures that we can always count on returning.
It’s a bit of a similar discussion that Marvel deals with as well. For example, Robert Downey Jr and Chris Evans’ Iron Man and Captain America had complete arcs as of Avengers: Endgame but, following their thoughtful finales, I assure you, they’ll be asked when they will return for decades to come.
Star Wars aside, Donnie Yen is currently filming John Wick 4 alongside a huge cast that includes the aforementioned Keanu Reeves as well as Bill Skarsgård, Laurence Fishburne, Hiroyuki Sanada, Ian McShane and Rina Sawayama. The movie is expected to hit theaters on May 27, 2022.
