Rogue One: A Star Wars Story Trailer #2 Shows Back Story, Action Scenes, and Hope

Disney has unveiled the second - and possibly final - trailer for its upcoming Star Wars standalone film, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. It fleshes out a bit of the back story - Jyn Erso’s (Felicity Jones) childhood, primarily - so if you’d like to go in blind come release date, you’re probably better off not watching it.

Still here? Let’s dig in. The trailer begins on a beach before cutting to a team of Death Troopers with a much younger Director Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn) than the one we have seen in past footage. And that’s because the opening scenes are set years before the main story, with Galen Erso (Mads Mikkelsen) telling her daughter that everything he does is to protect her. Music builds to a crescendo, and an elder Jyn wakes up in an Imperial prison cell.

Later, Alliance-allied forces - with Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) at the helm - break her out and she is taken to their base on Yavin IV. There, Andor asks Jyn, “When was the last time you were in contact with your father?” to which she replies confused, “What is this?”

“It appears he is critical to the development of a superweapon,” co-founder and leader of the Rebel Alliance Mon Mothma (Genevieve O'Reilly) informs her. And to make things tremendously clear, the trailer cuts to a faraway shot of the Death Star. “If my father built this thing, we need to find him,” an up-to-date Jyn barks. To do that, they’re going to need a crew – and Baze Malbus (Jiang Wen) asks, “Alright, how many do we need?”

Cut to the crew in place, and droid K-2SO (voiced by Alan Tudyk) saying someone wants to know their call sign. Bodhi Rook (Riz Ahmed) thinks for a second, and then replies, “Rogue. Rogue One.” Oh look, they sneaked in the film’s name!

Moving onto the film’s villains then, with Krennic telling Darth Vader, “The power that we are dealing with here, is immeasurable.” Anyone who’s ever seen Star Wars already knows about this, but thanks for the nod anyway. It’s troubling enough for the rebel leaders though, as one of them asks, “If the Empire has this kind of power, what chance do we have?”

Post a few quick cuts of battle scenes, Jyn Erso comes up with a quotable line: “We have hope. Rebellions are built on hope.” The trailer then shows us some beautiful shots from the Imperial-controlled planet Scarif, with dense foliage that will surely play in a part in fight sequences. It also harkens back to what director Gareth Edwards has already promised us with Rogue One, a war film of sorts.

There are peeks of Jyn Erso clad in Imperial armour; Chirrut Îmwe (Donnie Yen) mentioning the Force, getting help from Baze Malbus in an against-the-odds fight versus Stormtroopers; Andor delivering an inspirational battle cry, and some heavy, intense fighting – on the ground with blasters, and in space with X-wing Starfighters.

Towards the end, Darth Vader makes another appearance, and Saw Gerrera (Forest Whitaker) shouts, “Save the Rebellion! Save the dream,” in what seem like his final moments.

That’s all to fit in the two-and-a-half-minute trailer. For the uninitiated, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is set immediately prior to the original Star Wars: A New Hope, and follows a bunch of rebels as they try to get their hands on the plans for the Death Star. The film will release in cinemas worldwide December 16.