As we’ve known since the first Rogue One trailer, Felicity Jones’s character Jyn Erso joins the Rebellion because she likes to rebel but what about Donnie Yen’s new wannabe-Jedi character, Chirrut Îmwe? A new photo released along with a lavish Rogue One spread in British movie mag Empire gives us some subtle clues about how Îmwe joins Erso’s rag-tag group of misfits tasked with stealing the Imperial plans to the Death Star.
The photos offer different, if slightly redundant, views of Jyn’s whole team. We’ve got Diego Luna’s dashing Captain Cassian Endor in a killer winter coat, Bodhi Rook looking like he’s about to do some damage on Scarif, and Chirrut’s pal Baze Malbus, who the magazine curiously describes as a freelance — or, some might say, ‘rogue’ — assassin. There’s also an ominous photo of Ben Mendelsohn’s Director Orson Krennic flanked by two Death Troopers aboard a Star Destroyer. Still no Galen Erso.
But the most subtle and telling pic shows Jyn kneeling down and chatting with “Spiritual warrior” Chirrut, who extends an empty bowl as if he were a common beggar. Taking all the scenes we know from the trailers and the information revealed at this years Star Wars Celebration we can trace Chirrut’s involvement in Jyn and Cassian’s daring plans.
Check out the photo below before we issue our educated guess.
Hey, so, uhhh, wanna join the Rebellion or what?
First, Jyn is captured by the Rebellion and given the mission, with Cassian tagging along to gather intelligence on Jedha, an Imperial stronghold where he’s been secretly “recruiting” for the Rebellion.
It’s there that Jyn happens upon Chirrut, a Force-less monk beggar drawn to or a native of Jedha, a type of Jedi Mecca planet that is supposedly where the Empire is mining for a natural resource called Kyber Crystals that power the Death Star.
Jyn and Cassian move on from the beggar, but eventually get caught by a squad of Stormtroopers, causing Chirrut to step in and use his quarterstaff weapon to save them.
"All is as the Force wills it."
But things probably won’t turn out well for old Chirrut after that.
Possible spoilers ahead.
The fact is that Chirrut’s best bud Baze seems alone and pretty pissed in the nighttime attack scene from the trailer when he says “They destroyed our home” in reference to the Imperial destruction of Jedha (not to mention actor Jiang Wen’s now-deleted spoile-rific SNAFU from Rogue One’s Star Wars Celebration panel admitting that Wen’s character dies). Match that with the absence of any shots of Chirrut on Scarif, another Imperial stronghold that will most likely factor into an attack scene at the end of the film – then Chirrut’s last stand will most likely be on Jedha at some point.
But then again, this could all be bullshit.
Rogue One hits theaters on December 16.
