Krennic's Rogue One Costume Is A Sneaky Star Wars: A New Hope Easter Egg

In Gareth Edwards' 2016 film "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story," a group of scrappy Rebels defy orders from their superiors to infiltrate an Imperial stronghold and steal the blueprints for the Empire's newest superweapon, a planet-killing, moon-sized laser called the Death Star. It's no surprise that they will be successful, as the plans they steal are put to good use in the 1977 film "Star Wars." Indeed, the events of "Rogue One" end at the exact moment "Star Wars" picks up, leaving nothing to the imagination. Sadly, the characters of "Rogue One" all die in their mission, a fact that all "Star Wars" fans kind of knew going in.

The villain of "Rogue One" is an Imperial weapons developer named Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn) who has overseen the design and construction of the Death Star. Like most of the Imperial characters throughout the "Star Wars" franchise, Krennic is stressed, angry, and unhappy. He hates the interactions he has with Grand Moff Tarkin (Guy Henry, altered by CGI to look like Peter Cushing) and with the mysterious warlock Darth Vader (Spencer Wilding, voiced by James Earl Jones). Krennic is important enough of a figure in the Empire to warrant having his own personal bodyguards, and he even has his own unique uniform.

Unlike the usual gray and black uniforms that the Empire officers typically wear, Krennic's is pure white, letting him stand out in the darkened Imperial interiors. The uniform was designed by Glyn Dillon, who teamed with David Crossman to invent the "Rogue One" costumes, and he revealed that Krennic's costume was a direct reference to a single background character in the original "Star Wars." Dillon recalled his inspiration in Josh Kushins' 2016 book "The Art of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story." 

Remember Wulff Yularen?

Dillon was quoted as saying: 

"If you blink, you'll miss it, but there's a character on the Death Star in the original film who's sitting alongside Tarkin. He's got a really fine mustache, slicked-back hair, and a great white tunic. We thought that tunic would be a perfect look for the villain of this piece. We've got a cape on him, as well, because capes are very 'Star Wars.'"

The above picture is the mustachioed character Dillon refers to. He can be glimpsed seated around a big conference table about halfway through the movie when Tarkin (Cushing) is addressing his generals. He was played by an actor named Robert Clarke, although few details can be found about his career, and there is still some speculation as to whether or not that name is even accurate. 

Naturally, because "Star Wars" fans are such sticklers for detail, the white-clad character has since been given a name and a whole backstory. The character is named Wulff Yularin, and he has become a rather large presence in multiple "Star Wars" stories. The character was first named in a "Star Wars" card game, and that little piece of trivia became concrete lore. /Film once wrote an entire story about Wulff Yularin, and why his presence on the 2022 series "Andor" was so significant. On "Andor," Wulff was played by Malcolm Sinclair. 

Yularin was also a major figure in the animated 2008 feature film "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" and the TV series "Rebels," where he was played by Tom Kane.

The white uniform indicates that Yularin has attained the rank of Grand Admiral. Krennic, I supposed, was meant to bears a similar amount of menace. It seems that Dillon didn't much care about Yularin's backstory, feeling merely that the white uniform looked cool.