'Rogue One' Characters, Ships, and More Details Revealed in Visual Story Guide Preview

We’ve basically only had one teaser trailer for director Gareth Edwards’s upcoming Rogue One: A Star Wars Story so far, but an official preview of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story: Official Visual Story Guide has been posted online, and it features a treasure trove of new information about the movie, confirming some rumors and debunking others while giving nearly-full information about characters, ships, and vehicles. The 10-page peek at the book is from the online book catalog Edelweiss that posted a Macmillan Publishers winter preview. You can also pre-order the book on Amazon for a release on December 16. The page doesn’t list an author, but here’s hoping it’s Lucasfilm story group head Pablo Hidalgo, who did a Visual Dictionary for The Force Awakens

Here’s the book’s full synopsis:

“Lucas Films proudly presents the official companion book to this fall’s most anticipated release of Star Wars Rogue One. Featuring never-before-seen interviews, images and teasers from this major motion picture. Experience all the thrills with detailed, in-depth character profiles, iconic vehicles, weaponry and droids you’ve been looking for. Featuring 160 pages of action-packed photos and content, this official Lucasfilm collector’s book is a must-have for every Star Wars fan.”

Here’s the cover art:

Are these spoilers? You’re going to have to decide on that yourself. You can probably live with the idea for six months before a movie comes out that you know people’s names and such. The previews does note that the text is “Not Final,” meaning they could just be placeholders for more specific information to be plugged in closer to the release date.

Characters

• Felicity Jones - Jyn Erso, a “highly skilled soldier and warrior,” but we knew that already.

• Diego Luna - Captain Cassian Andor , a Rebel Alliance officer” who is unfortunately not Luke Skywalker’s friend Biggs Darklighter.

• Jiang Wen - Baze , a “freelance assassin.” Does this mean he’s playing both sides?

• Riz Ahmed - Bodhi, a “rebel soldier.” Can’t get much more basic than that.

• Donnie Yen - Chirrut, a “spiritual warrior” whose quarterstaff also looks like it’s a blaster of some kind.

• Pao and Bistan, who are two new alien creatures described each as a “fierce warrior.” Since these guys are brand new, they could be CG creatures or practical effects.

• Alan Tudyk - K-250, a computer generated “enforcer droid” recruited by Jyn Erso’s group to help the rebels steal the Death Star plans. We previously saw a glimpse of him in the teaser trailer

• Ben Mendelsohn - Krennic, a “Director of the Imperial Military” who doesn’t get any more information than that. He’s definitely not Grand Moff Tarkin, but is he Jyn’s father? Is he a Grand Admiral? We’ll have to wait on that one.

• Darth Vader - Does the looming helmet of the dark lord of the Sith mean he’ll make that heavily rumored cameo, or is it just there for spooky Imperial atmosphere? We’re thinking his inclusion is no coincidence, and that Vader will show up at some point.

• Death Troopers - “Elite Empire soldiers with the sole purpose of thwarting enemy Rebel Alliance forces.” These guys are definitely badass, but if they’re in the Rogue One timeline where were they in A New Hope?

Ships

• TIE Striker - A new spin on the regular old TIE fighter, these are described as”single-pilot” “aerial assault vehicles” that have been added to the list of alternate TIE designs like the Interceptor and the Bomber. Basically these are to sell more toys.

• U-Wing - A “versatile rebel alliance craft that balances speed with the firepower of proton torpedo launchers.” It also lists the ship has s-foils, so expect this thing to resemble an X-Wing in attack position.

• AT-ACT - This is another new spin on an old walker designer, but looks to be a little more compact than the ones seen in The Empire Strikes Back. The acronym isn’t given an explanation, but were guessing it stands for “All-Terrain Armored Carrier Transport.”

• Tank Troopers - Nothing new here besides the design and a head-on look at the desert tank seen in the teaser trailer. The setting looks like Mos Eisley, but is this actually the planet where the beach battle seen in the teaser takes place?

• X-Wing - This artwork of the classic ship could be a placeholder. The semi-circle engines on these X-Wings make them seem like the Resistance designs from The Force Awakens instead of the four-cylinder Rebel Alliance designs seen in A New Hope.

• Death Star - That’s no moon, it’s a space station that will eventually explode.

Here’s another look at the whole squad (note the correct X-Wing designs along with the new U-Wing and a Y-Wing in the top left):

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story: Official Visual Story Guide will be released in bookstores on December 16, 2016.