The very first scene of Rogue One will completely honor the opening entrance of Darth Vader in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope but with a twist. The whole scene is an inversion.
During an Twitter live stream on Friday, director Gareth Edwards described the opening scene of Rogue One as a “flip” from A New Hope. After pointing out that Darth Vader was a guy in a “black cape surrounded by white stormtroopers” Edwards said Rogue One will begin with “a guy in the white cape, surrounded by black stormtroopers.” This comment confirms that the prologue which begins Rogue One is in fact the scenes glimpsed in the trailers in which a younger Orson Krennic (wearing a white cape) is flanked by a squad of Death Troopers. Reportedly, this scene takes place fifteen years before Rogue One, making it a point in history just four years after the conclusion of the Clone Wars. (Which fuels the idea that the Death Troopers might actually be Clone themselves.)
The aesthetic similarities and inversions to the original Star Wars film are telling, too. In this first scene in Rogue One Krennic is presumably confronting the Jyn’s father, Galen Erso, while Jyn watches from distance. In A New Hope, Vader was confronting his daughter, Princess Leia about the Death Star plans. Meaning now at least two Star Wars movies will open with fathers and daughters, subverting the idea that these films are primarily about fathers and sons.
Rogue One opens on December 16.
