We’ve taken for granted that Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones) would recruit a bunch of misfits to steal the plans to the Death Star in Rogue One, but how many times have we stopped to think whether her squad actually wants to help her or not?
That’s the biggest hook in a new character explainer featurette that describes who Jyn is exactly and what she’s up to in Gareth Edwards’s first standalone Star Wars movie.
Specifically it’s Rebel officer Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) who is highly skeptical of the former felon suddenly tasked with a do-or-die mission with the entire Rebel Alliance at stake, and you can’t really blame him. As he’s said in previous trailers, “I’ve been recruiting for the Rebellion for a long time,” so he’s been at it for awhile. Then suddenly along comes this random thief with a disreputable rap sheet (forgery of Imperial documents, possession of stolen property, aggravated assault, and resisting arrest to name a few) to save the Rebellion. Anybody would be suspicious of that.
There’s a lot of Rogue One footage out there in the lead up to the film’s highly anticipated release on December 16, but this is the first time we truly have a sense of the early dynamics of Jyn and Cassian as they assemble the crew that will eventually include former Imperial pilot Bodhi Rook and vengeful best friends Chirrut Îmwe and Baze Malbus.
It seems Jyn has a lot more to prove to everybody else before she proves to herself she can complete her mission.
