‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story’ Report Suggests Bigger Role for Darth Vader, New Stormtroopers and More

While we very patiently await the first trailer for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, a new report has surfaced offering a few details regarding key players in the first Star Wars anthology film. In addition to suggesting that Darth Vader will have a bigger role than we previously assumed, the report also confirms new Stormtroopers and drops some intel on a scene-stealing droid and new vehicles.

JoBlo has the latest scoop on Rogue One, the upcoming Star Wars Story anthology film from Gareth Edwards that takes place before the events of Episode IV: A New Hope and centers on a group of rebels attempting to pull off a dangerous heist and steal the plans for the Death Star. As previously rumored, Darth Vader will make an appearance in the film, with James Earl Jones returning to reprise his iconic voice role. The latest report claims that Vader’s appearance is bigger than a mere cameo, though they can’t say for sure exactly how big his role is or what he’ll be doing.

The report also addresses a rumor that began circulating last year about Stormtroopers with all-black uniforms. That rumor was seemingly confirmed to some degree in a photo shared by Rogue One star Donnie Yen, which features three helmets: a regular Stormtrooper helmet, a mysterious tan helmet and a black version of the Stormtrooper helmet. The photo appears to have been removed from Yen’s Instagram account, but JoBlo still has a copy for you to puzzle over.

According to the report, these black Stormtroopers are known as “Death Troopers,” and will not use the Shadowtrooper name from elsewhere in the Star Wars universe. We’ll also allegedly see a new TIE fighter design as well as the classic AT-ATs.

And finally, the site claims that there is a new droid character who is a bit of a “scene-stealer” and may be the character Alan Tudyk is portraying with the aid of mo-cap. The character is a repurposed droid previously owned by the Empire, and aids the Rebel alliance in their heist plans.

Though this report is hardly major or spoiler-y, it does offer some intriguing details. The first trailer is set to arrive with Captain America: Civil War on May 6. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story hits theaters on December 19.