Rogue One Bits: A New Side Of Darth Vader, New Details Revealed, Alan Tudyk And Donnie Yen Speak

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story remains cloaked in mystery. However, now that Star Wars: The Force Awakens has started to settle down a bit, details of the upcoming spin-off film (set in the days before the original 1977 Star Wars and following the Rebel soldiers who steal the Death Star plans) should soon start to trickle out at reasonable pace. Soon being the key word there. In the meantime, we have to rely on whatever the rumor mill has been churning out...and the rumor mill has been very busy.

As always, anything that comes out of the Rogue One rumor mill should be be taken with a grain of salt until we hear something official. Anything can change, anything can be based on outdated information, etc. Anyway, this new batch of assorted bits of business comes to us courtesy of JoBlo. You should hit that link for all of the details, but we'll run down the basics here:

There's nothing too concrete there, but the concept of black-suited Deathtroopers certainly seems to gel with the buzz that this will be a darker, slightly harsher Star Wars movie than we've seen before. Also, we can think of few things that intrigue us quite like Tudyk playing an off-kiler Droid.

While JoBlo says Darth Vader will have more to do in the film than expected, Making Star Wars claims to know the details. It seems that former Anakin Skywalker will see some serious action in the film and we'll get to see firsthand why everyone in the galaxy fears this guy beyond him having a scary mask and a scarier voice. The frequently reliable site says that multiple Vader costumes have been built for the production: the "hero suit" that must stand up to scrutiny in close-ups and stunt suits that will be used for action scenes. But what kind of action scenes? Well:

The action sequences filmed are unknown, but there was work pitching the different ways Darth Vader could kill rebels on a battlefield with the Force and his lightsaber. The storyboard "pitches" showing decapitated rebels, people being dismembered by Vader throwing his sword, levitating bodies to make human shields and so on. The art was more violent than what we've seen Darth Vader do on screen before.

Yikes. The original trilogy never truly showcased Vader's skills in all-out conflict, so seeing a Sith of his power at work could be terrifying. And it's about time Vader stopped being a cuddly corporate mascot and started being a nasty piece of business again.

Speaking with Comic Book Resources, the wonderful Alan Tudyk did not confirm whether or not his motion capture character is a droid with shifting allegiances, but he did give the requisite "being on a Star Wars set is amazing!' speech that every actor is obligated to give. However, the always self-deprecating actor gave his version a little twist:

"It's amazing. Going to work — even though it's difficult, you always hear that, film acting, there are moments where's it's very cold and you have to where something that isn't necessarily warm, and 12 hours days or more. But when you're doing "Star Wars" you're looking around at all the magic that's around you. And it sparks the kid in you, it immediately goes away. Or at least within an hour or two. At least around lunch it'll go away."

This man is a national treasure. Nay! A galactic treasure.

The great Donnie Yen, best known for his genuinely badass work in various Chinese action movies, is playinganother one of Rogue One's unknown characters. We know from carefully examining the lone cast photo that his character appears to be blind, which is very interesting indeed. Anyway, he recently participated in a Reddit AMA and had this to say about the film:

"I think it's really flattering to be the first Chinese actor in the Star Wars universe and I have full confidence Rogue One will do extremely well, because the force is with me."

Is it possible, and this is just conjecture, that Yen's character is a blind warrior who excels in battle because he has some connection to the Force? Perhaps not enough to be a Jedi, but enough to give him an edge. Chew on that until we hear more.

Advance photos smuggled out of the Nuremberg Toy Fair have have revealed that a few costumes from Rogue One will be on display when the doors open to the public this weekend. A cursory glance confirms that these outfits look very much like the ones worn by Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, and Donnie Yen, as seen in the official cast image. Judge them via the Tweets below!