Her name is Jyn Erso. And she’s not just the main character in Rogue One, she’s also basically the title character. Until now, many assumed the name of the Dec. 16 film referred to the Rebellion’s most famous X-Wing squadron, and there may still be a tangential connection. But the revelation in Thursday’s teaser that Felicity Jones’ character is a criminal, a rabble-rouser, and someone they need – although not someone the Rebels necessarily trust – gives the title a new dimension.
Fans have wasted no time speculating that Jyn Erso could be Rey's long-lost mother from The Force Awakens. To be fair, pretty much every female who is cast in a Star Wars film ends up being tagged with the "Rey's Mom?" label -- ask Laura Dern, who's playing an unspecified part in next year's Episode VIII. But a similar physical appearance between Jones and Daisy Ridley, a shared independent streak, and scenes like this beat-down of old-school stormtroopers, which mirror's Rey's self-defense moves against Unkar Plutt's thugs, only add more circumstantial evidence to that theory.
We know her. This is Mon Mothma, former senator and leader of the Rebel Alliance. She was the one who delivers the Rebel briefing about the second Death Star in 1983's Return of the Jedi, and she was portrayed then by Caroline Blakiston. (That's the one where "many Bothan spies died" to bring the Rebels information about the second Death Star.) Mothma was supposed to turn up briefly in 2005's Revenge of the Sith, played by Genevieve O’Reilly, but the scene was cut and she appeared only in a deleted scene on the DVD. But ... O'Reilly is back! A Lucasfilm source confirms that's her playing the character again in Rogue One -- and this time there's no chance of ending up on the cutting room floor.
The trailer didn't reveal a character name for Diego Luna's character, who is seen listening to Jyn's scolding/recruitment by Mon Mothma. But whoever he is, he appears to be the grounding force the Rebellion thinks this loose cannon needs. He's her new partner, and they're going to be running (literally, it seems) this effort to steal the Death Star plans together.
Ben Mendelsohn turns up in this ominous shot as what appears to be a Grand Admiral in the Imperial Navy, the Empire's version of the lobster-like Admiral Ackbar on the Rebellion side. The rank insignia on his chest identifies him as an admiral, and the crisp white uniform tells you he's actually a step above. We've seen Grand Admirals in some of the Star Wars extended universe storytelling, most notable Grand Admiral Thrawn from the Timothy Zahn trilogy of books in the early 1990s, but one has never turned up onscreen before.
Here we see Luna and Jones running through some type of Imperial facility. (A garrison of stormtroopers is running the other direction on the opposite side of what appears to be some kind of rail station.) Note the tall, bony droid running behind them. We glimpse this character in the background of another scene, when Jyn ends up cornered in an alley by stormtroopers, and we know Alan Tudyk (Firefly) plays a motion-capture character in the film. It's a good bet he's going to be this metallic sidekick.
Here are the troopers sprinting on the other side of the platform. In addition to the retro white stormtroopers, we also see a new class of Imperial soldier -- the sand-colored scout troopers mingled among their bleached brethren. Exactly why they're different looking and what role they play in the Empire's navy is unclear, but we first caught sight of these uniforms in August, when Donnie Yen published a photo of some of Rogue One's new trooper helmet designs.
Coming soon to a Christmas tree or birthday party near you: the Star Wars hover tank! The commander of that vehicle, which is escorting some captives, seems to have a similar helmet to those sand-colored stormtroopers from the earlier image. These appear to be white, but there's a lot of smoke and dust -- so maybe that's a blue/gold dress effect playing tricks on the eye..
Also on the helmet shelf that Yen released was this iron-gray Imperial soldier, seen here on alert while the vaporator from a moisture farm burns in the background. This looks to be the aftermath of the beachside battle we see in the trailer. This design is by far the most sinister of any stormtrooper we've seen so far, almost echoing the look of Darth Vader himself. Whoever these guys are, they have to be some elite force the Empire breaks out only for special occasions.
