3 Things to Know before Watching 'Rogue One'

Before hitting the theater to catch the latest Star Wars film, “Rogue One, A Star Wars Story” or simply “Rogue One”, here are 3 things to know to keep you up to speed. No spoilers, we promise!

1 . How does “Rogue One” fits into the Star Wars timeline?

Rogue One tells a story of a small band of rebels that were tasked with stealing the plans to the first Death Star. The plot of Rogue One was directly off the opening crawl from the original Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope.

Here’s the original 1977 opening credits of Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope movie:

In the opening credits, the second paragraph mentioned of “rebel spies”. Rogue One is the story of those rebel spies.

So to simply put it, Rogue One happened after Episode III : Revenge of the Sith and before Episode IV : A New Hope. If you’re looking for a clearer timeline, Rogue One probably happened just a few months before Episode IV started. Here’s a cool infographic of the Star Wars Timeline by Matthew DeWater.

Star Wars Timeline by Matt de Water

So is Rogue One a prequel of the Original Trilogy? It is not a direct prequel of Episode IV, nor a sequel of Episode III, but rather a side movie, and still part of the Star Wars Universe.

Both the Original Trilogy (Episodes IV, V and VI) ,and the Second Trilogy (Episodes I, II and III) features the storyline of the Skywalkers, which is not the case of Rogue One.

2. Who are the characters of Rogue One?

Without giving any spoilers here’s a quick profile of the characters of Rogue One.

Rogue One Characters (L to R): Jyn Erso, Capt. Cassian Andor, Saw Gerrera, K-2SO, Bodhi Rook, Baze Malbus, Orson Krennic (Source: Star Wars / Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)

Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones). She is the female heroin of this film. Together with Capt. Andor she leads a band of rebels for the mission to steal the plans of the Death Star.
Capt. Cassian Andor (Diego Luna). He is a Rebel Alliance Intelligence office, who served in the Alliance to Restore the Republic during the Galactic Civil War.
Saw Gerrera (Forest Whitaker). A battered veteran of the Clone Wars as well as the ongoing rebellion against the Empire, Saw Gerrera leads a band of Rebel extremists.
K-2SO (Alan Tudyk). Pronounced as “Kaytoo Esso”, is a KX-series Security Droid, originally created for use in the Galactic Empire’s armed forces but was reprogrammed by Capt. Andor to serve the Rebel Alliance.
Bodhi Rook (Riz Ahmed). A former Imperial pilot, Bodhi has strong piloting and technical skills that he will put to use for the Rebellion.
Chirrut Îmwe (Donnie Yen). He is a spiritual warrior-monk and a Guardians of Whills, the protectors of the Temple of the Whills on planet Jedha. He is a friend of Baze Malbus,
Baze Malbus (Jiang Wen). A friend of Chirrut Îmwe, Baze is a pragmatic soldier and a crack shot with his heavy repeater cannon.
Director Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn). He is the director of Advanced Weapons Research for the Imperial military, and is obsessed with the completion of the long-delayed Death Star project.

3. Is there an after credits (or mid-credits) feature in Rogue One?

With the running time of 134 minutes, the movie does not have any end credits nor mid-credits feature. But what we can assure it is full of excitement and whirlwind of emotional intensity. The ending of the film beautifully ties up with Episode IV making you want to revisit the old Star Wars trilogy again. 😉

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There are more things to share, but we do not want to spoil the movie for you. So, pick the best seat, seat back , grab your popcorn because you are in for ride with ‘Rogue One’.

‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story’ debuted in theaters last December 15, with a rating of PG. The movie is currently hitting $62 Million box office gross earnings on its opening week. Visit GMovies.ph, Ayala – Sureseats.com, SM Cinemas.com, Power Plant Cinemas , or Robinsons MovieWorld for movie schedules or ticket booking.

BONUS: (no worries, still no spoilers)

Here’s a video “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story Featurette” , a behind the scene look with interview with the director Gareth Edwards and the rest of cast.