Cantina Talk: This Is How Rogue One Originally Ended

First of all, everyone needs to know that there will be AT-AT Walkers at the Star Wars land currently under construction at Walt Disney World in Orlando. Now that that’s out of the way, what else is going on in a galaxy far, far away? Oh, nothing much, just teases for what’s going to happen in this December’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Why aren’t you reading ahead already? Move along. Move along.

Source: Disney shareholders, of all peopleProbability of Accuracy: High, but not infallible, considering it relies on memories.The Real Deal: Apparently, it really pays to be a Disney shareholder. (Well, OK, holding Disney stock has probably always produced dividends—but now those dividends are Star Wars-shaped!) At this year’s annual shareholder meeting, Disney CEO Bob Iger introduced the first footage from Star Wars: The Last Jedi to be screened publicly anywhere, and although it didn’t reveal a lot, it did feature Mark Hamill’s first Star Wars dialogue in three decades…

We just saw more “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” footage. In it, Luke asks Rey, “Who are you?” Then we see her deftly handle a lightsaber.

— Daniel Miller (@DanielNMiller) March 8, 2017

/Film has a more detailed description, and apparently the movie will have Finn undercover in the First Order, Rey using a lightsaber some more, X-wings in flight, and a shot of Captain Phasma, who might be using a spear instead of the blaster she had in The Force Awakens. Now, when does everyone else get to see it? Well, Star Wars Celebration is next month…

Source: The man behind the little green Jedi himselfProbability of Accuracy: Sure, it’s speculative, but this seems to be fairly clear.The Real Deal: So far, there’s been nothing said about Yoda appearing in The Last Jedi, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible. And when Variety asked Frank Oz, the voice of Yoda, about that possibility recently, his response was particularly telling. “I feel like I’m a prisoner at war here, and I can only give you my name, rank and serial number,” he said. “To be true to the people who asked me, and they are kind of my family, I have to say I’ve been asked not to talk about it. I love Yoda. I would be happy to talk to you about it at the time they let me.” That certainly sounds like a yes, doesn’t it? After all, if he wasn’t in the movie, why would there be any issue, and for that matter, why would Lucasfilm be “the people who asked me”? Also, there wouldn’t be anything to talk about when allowed. Prepare for Force Ghost Yoda, everyone.

Source: Lucasfilm and Marvel themselvesProbability of Accuracy: It’s an official announcement, so it’s entirely on target.The Real Deal: Just months after the end of the last series, Marvel is returning to the Sith well for a second Darth Vader comic book series. Written by Poe Dameron writer Charles Soule with art by Giuseppe Camuncoli, the new title will take place immediately following Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and show just how Vader went from Anakin Skywalker’s whiny, confused self to an unstoppable force for evil. “In my head, I call this book ‘Vader: Year One,’” Soule told StarWars.com. “While the Sith Lord does exist prior to the start of this book, during the final act of Revenge of the Sith, I think this is where his story really begins—at least in the form most people think of when they visualize Darth Vader.” First order of business? A story showing just how Vader got his red lightsaber, following the end of the Jedi Order.

Source: Rogue One’s director himselfProbability of Accuracy: If you can’t trust the actual director, then who can you trust?The Real Deal: As you may have heard, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story initially had a different ending. But, according to what director Gareth Edwards told /Film, the conclusion audiences saw wasn’t a massive overhaul of the original. “What used to happen, and you can get a sense of this in the early trailers, the transmission tower for the plans was separate from the main base on Scarif,” he explained. “To transmit the plans, they had to escape and run along the beach and go up the tower. In cutting the film, it just felt too long. We had to find ways to compress the third act, which was quite long as it was. And one real, fast, brutal solution was to put the tower in the base, so they don’t have to run across the beach and do all of that stuff to get there.” Well, now we know where some of those shots in the trailers came from—and also that there was never a last-minute escape from Scarif by Jyn or Cassian, as had been rumored. Sorry, everyone.

Source: A second-hand source with first-hand knowledgeProbability of Accuracy: Consider this one somewhat ambivalent, for reasons that’ll become clear.The Real Deal: Just how closely will future Star Wars Story installments connect with the core Skywalker Saga movies? Gary Whitta, who worked on the story for Rogue One, and also writes for Star Wars: Rebels, had an answer when asked by ComingSoon.net. “One of the things we really want to do at Lucasfilm is create a universe and not keep relying on old legacy characters,” he said. “We’ve got Rey and Finn and Kylo Ren, they’ve already introduced a new generation of characters. Whatever kind of Star Wars films they’re making 10 or 20 years from now, I don’t think they’re going to be relying on the same legacy story elements as we have in the past.” He later added, “It makes sense to me that you don’t want to keep telling the same story over and over again. You want to tell new stories.” Given that the Skywalker Saga might end after Episode IX (unless a fourth trilogy is announced), could it eventually be the case that what was once the core Star Wars storyline ends up being outnumbered by everything around it?