Warning: Spoilers for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story follow…
Although he was only used sparingly in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, the scene of Darth Vader cutting down Rebel troopers in an effort to prevent the Death Star plans from falling into the hands of Princess Leia delivered one of the Dark Lord of the Sith’s most memorable moments of the entire Star Wars saga. And, it seems we almost didn’t get it, as editor John Gilroy has revealed that it was a late addition to the film during the reshoots.
“What was added — and it was a fantastic add — was the Vader action scene, with him boarding the ship and dispatching all those rebel soldiers,” Gilroy tells Yahoo Movies. “That was something conceptualized a little later. It was a really great punch in the arm and something I think fans wanted to see.”
It’s a well-known fact that much of the third act of Rogue One was retooled during the additional photography (see the shots from the trailer of Jyn, Cassian and Krennic on the beaches of Scarif, for example), however Gilroy went on to reveal that the original plan had always been for the final shots to build to the opening scene of A New Hope: “As far as I know that was always the plan, the main structure was there.”
SEE ALSO: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story images hint at deleted scenes
SEE ALSO: Gareth Edwards discusses Darth Vader’s introduction in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
From Lucasfilm comes the first of the Star Wars standalone films, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, an all-new epic adventure. In a time of conflict, a group of unlikely heroes band together on a mission to steal the plans to the Death Star, the Empire’s ultimate weapon of destruction. This key event in the Star Wars timeline brings together ordinary people who choose to do extraordinary things, and in doing so, become part of something greater than themselves.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story sees Gareth Edwards (Monsters) directing a cast that includes Felicity Jones (The Theory of Everything), Diego Luna (Milk), Ben Mendelsohn (The Dark Knight Rises), Donnie Yen (Ip Man), Jiang Wen (Let the Bullets Fly), Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland), Alan Tudyk (Con Man), Riz Ahmed (Nightcrawler), Genevieve O’Reilly (Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith), Jimmy Smits (Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones), James Earl Jones (Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope), Valene Kane (The Fall), Alistair Petrie (The Night Manager), Warwick Davis (Star Wars: Episode IV – Return of the Jedi), Ian McElhinney (Game of Thrones) and Jonathan Aris (Sherlock).
Originally published January 14, 2017. Updated November 30, 2022.
