Why Disney Should Let ‘Rogue One’ Rebel Against Star Wars Formula

Via firstshowing.net:

“This is a rebellion, isn’t it? I rebel.” Who would have thought that line, spoken by actress Felicity Jones’ character Jyn Erso in the Rogue One teaser trailer, would have such great significance for the actual film itself? According to several unconfirmed sources, Rogue One might’ve rebelled a tad too much. That’s the story that has been sweeping the internet this week with major rumors that the first film in the Star Wars Anthology series, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, will undergo significant reshoots after initial internal test screenings at Disney apparently failed to impress senior executives. Let’s examine why I think that might not bode well for the spin-off and why the film should rebel against the famous Star Wars formula.

When Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (at first called Star Wars Anthology: Rogue One, a much clunkier title before this one) was originally announced, it was met with much enthusiasm by Star Wars fans. Even though we’ve seen seven installments or episodes in the Star Wars saga, they have all been in one form or another about the Skywalker family. Thanks to the Expanded Universe (which is now referred to as the “Legacy” series and deemed “not canon”), die-hard Star Wars know there’s a wealth of stories to be told that don’t feature someone named Skywalker or a Jedi Knight. There’s been tens, if not hundreds, of published material (both in narrative book form and graphic novel/comic book form) that focus on bounty hunters, aliens, side characters and all others in between. The Star Wars films have only scratched the surface at the untapped potential the franchise possess in those galaxies far, far away.

As details further emerged during pre-production regarding Rogue One, the prospect of a live-action story existing in the Star Wars universe but focusing on new, different characters became much more enticing. Once the trailer dropped, fans got to see firsthand how different and unique Rogue One would truly be. As a refresher, check out the original teaser trailer that got fans so excited in the first place:

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