A giant X-Wing outside the Pantages Theatre on December 10 for the Rogue One premiere. (Getty)
Disney and Lucasfilm have billed Rogue One: A Star Wars Story as the first stand-alone Star Wars film. But don’t let that mislead you into thinking that you don’t have to know anything about Star Wars before seeing it. True, you shouldn’t have to read a whole library full of books or sit through hours and hours of television to understand what’s going on, but it will help.
Here’s a look at what you need to know about the Star Wars timeline before you see Rogue One on the night of December 15.
Where Does ‘Rogue One’ Fit in ‘Star Wars’?
Stormtroopers at the Rogue One premiere. (Getty)
First off, it’s important to know just when Rogue One takes place in the Star Wars canon. The film tells the story of Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones) and a group of Rebels who steal the Death Star plans in order to learn how the Galactic Empire’s superweapon works. It will end with those plans getting in the hands of the Rebel Alliance, because that’s where they are at the start of Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope. So, Rogue One takes place just before the events of the first Star Wars movie. (Well… the first one released.)
Only those who were lucky enough to see the film during the December 10 premiere and those who made it know the fate of Jyn and her colleagues. If we are ever to hear from the survivors of the mission again, it likely won’t be in a movie. Director Gareth Edwards told Empire Magazine that the only sequel to Rogue One “will be directed by George Lucas,” obviously a reference to the 1977 film.
‘Rogue One’ Premiere: Meet the Cast of the New ‘Star Wars’ Movie
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story had its world premiere on December 10, five days before it opens. Meet the film’s cast and see scenes from the red carpet.
WATCH: ‘A New Hope’
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If you don’t have time to watch all seven Star Wars films before seeing Rogue One, you have to at least see the film that started it all. To many, it’s still just Star Wars, but it’s also known by its episode title, A New Hope. The opening crawl of the film references “Rebel spies” who “managed to steal secret plans to the Empire’s ultimate weapon, the DEATH STAR, an armored space station with enough power to destroy an entire planet.” Rogue One explains how those spies accomplished the mission.
A New Hope takes place approximately 19 years after the events of Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith. Rogue One is set within the year before Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) tried to reach Obi-Wan Kenobi on Tatooine.
Oddly enough, Rogue One shows just how hard it was to find the Death Star plans, but A New Hope shows just how close the Empire got to stopping the Rebels from getting them. In the film, Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) take the plans inside R2-D2 back to the Death Star without even knowing how important that little droid is. Between Rogue One and A New Hope, no one in the Rebellion thought of making a copy.
‘Star Wars: Rogue One’: See the 8 New Character Posters
Disney and Lucasfilm released eight new character posters for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story on Monday, marking two months until the film hits theaters.
READ: ‘Catalyst: A Rogue One Novel’ Acts as a Prequel to the Movie
Mads Mikkelsen plays Galen Erso and Felicity Jones stars as his daughter, Jyn. (Getty)
Star Wars fans were given a month to read Catalyst: A Rogue One Novel by James Luceno. The book is a prequel to the film and explores the relationship between scientist Galen Erso (Mads Mikkelsen) and Director Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn).
It turns out that Erso and Krennic knew each other during the Clone Wars. Krennic saved Erso, his wife Lyra and their daughter Jyn from the Separatists, who were trying to build a new massive weapon to stop the Republic. After the Empire came into being, Erso and Krennic went their separate ways.
During the Empire, Krennic is a member of the Death Star project and believes Erso holds the information the Empire needs to make the Death Star the ultimate superweapon. Erso wants his research used for good, but Krennic plans on using him for other purposes.
As trailers have shown, we will see flashbacks to Jyn’s past in the film, so if you don’t finish the book before you see the movie, you won’t be lost at all.
Mads Mikkelsen as Galen Erso: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know
Mads Mikkeslen was finally seen in the new Rogue One: A Star Wars Story trailer. Here’s a look at the actor and the character he plays.
WATCH: Saw Gerrera Makes his Debut in the Battle of Onderon Episodes of ‘The Clone Wars’
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Rogue One will include the first Star Wars animated character to make the jump from animation to live action since Boba Fett jumped from the Star Wars Holiday Special to The Empire Strikes Back. Unfortunately, it’s not Ahsoka Tano. It’s Saw Gerrera, who appeared in The Clone Wars, which takes place between Episode II – Attack of the Clones and Episode III – Revenge of the Sith.
Gerrera was a key figure during the Battle of Onderon between the Republic and Separatists in the Clone Wars. The battle was spread over four episodes of The Clone Wars series: “A War on Two Fronts,” “Front Runners,” “The Soft War” and “Tipping Points.” Gerrera’s rebels were trained by Ahsoka, Obi-Wan and Anakin Skywalker. During their fighting, he saw his sister killed.
All episodes of The Clone Wars can be found on Netflix, including the ones with Gerrera.
During the age of the Empire, Gerrera created a group called the Partisans and they were seen as terrorists. Gerrera also appeared in Catalyst and was mentioned in the Rebels episode “The Honorable Ones.”
In Rogue One, Oscar-winner Forest Whitaker plays Gerrera.
‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story’: The Images You Need to See in the New Trailer
The new Rogue One: A Star Wars Story trailer is here and it’s packed with images that reveal important details about the film. Click for a look at the photos.
READ: For a Look at the Empire’s Oppression, Read ‘Bloodline’
More Stormtroopers at the Rogue One premiere. (Getty)
At first, Claudia Gray’s excellent Star Wars: Bloodline doesn’t sound like it should be related to Rogue One at all. After all, it takes place six years before Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens, or about 30 years after Rogue One. However, the Lucasfilm story group has done a good job of using novels to flesh out details of the newly established canon timeline though character descriptions and flashbacks.
The main goal of Bloodline is to establish what drove Princess Leia to create the Resistance we see in The Force Awakens and how the New Republic learned that Leia is the daughter of Darth Vader. The galaxy also learns that Anakin Skywalker, a hero of the clone Wars, became Vader.
The book gives insight into what the Rebellion was up against before A New Hope. We learn from the background of Senator Ransolm Casterfo that his planet, Riosa, was where parts of the Death Star was built. Both of his parents were exposed to toxic gases and died shortly after the New Republic was created. He saw his father personally punished because other laborers were not meeting quotas. Casterfo saw Vader personally visit Riosa.
So, while Bloodline isn’t directly linked to Rogue One, it will help you understand just how strong the Empire’s grip on the galaxy was during the “Dark Times.”
Jyn Erso: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know
Felicity Jones plays Jyn Erso in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. The new international trailer revealed even more about her past. Here’s a look at the character.
WATCH: ‘Rebels’ Gives a Look at Another Rebel Cell
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Star Wars Rebels is the current Disney XD animated series. It began five years before A New Hope and focuses on Ezra Bridger, a kid from Lothal who has a connection to the Force and is being trained by Kanan Jarrus.
Kanan and Ezra are part of Phoenix Squadron, a group of Rebels who originated from Lothal. They are just one Rebel cell and throughout the series, we have seen how the Rebel Alliance began to group other cells together to form a large organization with the common goal of toppling the Empire.
The latest TV spot for Rogue One, seen above, reveals that we will see the Ghost in the major space battle sequence. The Ghost is the ship Kanan, Ezra, Hera, Zeb, Sabine and Chopper use.
A source for Star Wars News Net report that special effects wizard John Knoll came up with the idea of the Ghost making a brief cameo in the film. Knoll is credited with coming up with the idea for Rogue One.
‘Star Wars Rebels’ Season 3 Episode 11 ‘Visions and Voices’: Recap & Spoilers
In tonight’s episode of Star Wars Rebels, Darth Maul finally caught up with Ezra to find out what they really learned from the holocrons. It was also filled with Easter eggs that called back to the past.
Daniel S. Levine is entertainment and news contributor to Heavy, and former editor at TheCelebrityCafe.com. Graduate of Hofstra University, plus classic movie and Star Wars geek. Follow him on Twitter at @dsl89 and contact him at daniel.levine@heavy.com.December 12, 2016 1:33 pm
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