EW Reveals Further Info On Darth Vader's Role In Rogue One

By Ciaran Duggan,

EW are at it again today! After the plethora of EW announcements yesterday, including a revelation about the character profiles of the principal Rebel characters and confirmation of the identity of Forest Whitaker's character, EW have today supplied further details about the confirmed return of the menacing Sith Lord, Darth Vader. 

In her interview with EW, Kathleen Kennedy, the President of Lucasfilm, finally spoke about the return of one of the most iconic movie villains of all time, Darth Vader (after an initial moment's hesitation). The main revelations, or perhaps rather official confirmations, we received about Vader included:

• James Earl Jones will reprise the iconic voice of Darth Vader, at the age of 85. Jones will continue his reprisal of the Sith Lord, following recent special guest appearances on the second season of the hit Star Wars animated TV series, Star Wars: Rebels.
• Audiences will be getting "just a little bit" of Darth Vader. Kathleen Kennedy stated: "He will be used sparingly in the movie. But at a key strategic moment, he's going to loom large".
• Vader will remain a "background player in galactic politics"
• Kathleen Kennedy described Vader as "the muscle, the fixer and the breaker, when he needs to be"

The other interesting point raised in the article was the fact that Vader is unfamiliar to both the Rebels and Empire alike. Film Director, Gareth Edwards described Vader as "more legend than presence" in the Empire and will be portrayed as such in the movie. 

Gareth Edwards: Within the Rebellion, it's not commonly spoken about. Within the Empire, there is a culture of knowing of the existence of Darth Vader. There's definitely an underlying feeling there is a power - a dark power - available to the Empire and if you overstep your mark, you will suffer the consequences.

However, it is clear that the knowledge of Vader will not be as concealed to Ben Mendelsohn's character, Director Orson Krennic. Gareth Edwards and  Kiri Hart, Lucasfilm's Chief of Story development, make it fundamentally clear that Vader and Krennic are not friends. 

Kiri Hart: Vader doesn't really play by the rules. He's present in the military structure, but he's not beholden to it. He's not accountable to anybody really, except Palpatine.

The other interesting tidbit from the EW article is that Gareth Edwards encountered a 'fan boy' moment when Vader showed up, in his full glory, on the set of Rogue One. 

Gareth Edwards: I got goosebumps. I was so nervous to turn the corner and see him. You have to pinch yourself. Everyone became children again. You just go straight back to being a 4-year-old, like, in a heartbeat. There's all sorts of rules about security on set, but I couldn't help it. I got my phone out and started taking pictures of him, and pictures of him with me, because I felt like no one would believe that I'd met Darth Vader. 

Can you blame Gareth Edwards for having a 'fan boy' moment? I think all of us would do, if we were in his shoes. What do you make of the reappearance of Darth Vader on the big screen? Are you excited and hyped? Or do you think this is mere fan service? Leave us your views in the comment section below.

Source: Entertainment Weekly 
Follow The Star Wars Underworld on Twitter @TheSWU for more updates about this story and other breaking Star Wars news.