Exclusive: New information on Star Wars: Rogue One characters & more!

Now that the dust is beginning to settle on STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS, all eyes are turning to Disney/Lucasfilm's next adventure to a galaxy far, far away…ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY, the first in a series of spinoff anthology tales that will center on various characters at varying points in the Star Wars timline. Directed by Gareth Edwards, ROGUE ONE is said to be more like a war film involving the heist of the plans for the Death Star, taking place before the events of Episode IV.

So far, we've gotten a bare minimum of info on the film with some brief character descriptions, one official photo, and a series of blurry set photos, mostly of spacecraft sitting under a tarp. We've already heard rumors that Darth Vader will appear to some capacity in the film (which I'll address here as well) and have heard some potential story rumors. We've reported on some of this stuff last year, but now we have a bit of an update, some confirmations, and some new info to keep those STAR WARS fires burning. Nothing major here, per se, and nothing that would spoil the film, so you should feel comfortable reading the below. However, I'll just say LIGHT SPOILERS, just in case.

• Rumors began swirling about stormtroopers in all-black costumes appearing in the film late last year and we can confirm that they will be in the movie. Our sources indicated that they are often referred to as "Death Troopers", although no mention if the commonly referenced "Shadowtrooper" from the Legacy Universe would be used. (also, recall that Donnie Yen shared an image of some helmets a while back, including a black one).
• One of the prominent characters in the film is a droid that works with the rebels, specifically Felicity Jones' group, that is said to be a "scene stealer" in the film. It was originally an Empire droid and has been repurposed to serve the rebel alliance. He's two-legged and a dark grey or black color.  In terms of appearance, the droid has long arms and legs and is very different than a typical protocol droid like C-3PO. Could this be the mo-cap character that Alan Tudyk is playing? Time will tell.
• So far we don't have a confirmation on any of the character names, but you can add this one to the puzzle: "Cashen" is the name of one of the key players, although which we can't say. It could be spelled differently as well, in that whole "Star Wars" way (i.e. Kashen or Kashyn, etc.). Speculate away on that one, but hey…it's a name.
• There will be a new Tie Fighter design and AT-ATs will be featured in the film.
• Lastly, addressing those Darth Vader rumors, we can confirm that Darth Vader will be in the film and is expected to have a larger role than originally thought. How big or how involved we can't say specifically, but expect to see the return of one of Star Wars' most infamous characters to the big screen.

And that's it for this little scoop. Again, nothing spoilery, just some interesting bits to get you hyped. I'm actually excited to see Vader back on the big screen and, really, why not bring him back? He's one of the most famous characters in cinematic history and with a new venue (the anthology series) in the mix, there's no reason they shouldn't feature him. I know some folks may feel that it would be better to feature new or lesser known characters, but it's not like they aren't addressing that as well with ROGUE ONE. So, it looks like we'll have some cake and eat it, too, with this one.

It seems fitting that they'd use the black stormtroopers and vary things up a bit, especially when going for a darker and grittier take on the STAR WARS universe. As for the new droid character; again, it makes sense. We got a new beloved droid in THE FORCE AWAKENS with BB-8, so it's fitting that ROGUE ONE would do something similar. Droids are a huge part of the universe as it is, so it would almost be neglectful to leave out that aspect or simply have them all as background characters. I look forward to meeting this new chap(pie?)

ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY, starring Felicity Jones, Ben Mendelsohn, Donnie Yen, Mads Mikkelsen, Alan Tudyk, Diego Luna, Riz Ahmed and Forest Whitaker hits theaters on December 16, 2016.