James Earl Jones will voice Darth Vader for ‘Rogue One’ as ‘realistic’ aliens have a big role
In the wake of Star Wars: The Force Awakens crushing the box office records, fans are already looking ahead to the next film: Star Wars: Rogue One.
Making Star Wars has a new scoop about the film, confirming previous reports that Darth Vader will play some kind of role in Rogue One, possibly as an arch-villain overseeing the film’s new bad guys. Making Star Wars claims that the Vader costume as seen in the original 1977 Star Wars has been recreated in exacting detail. More importantly:
The coolest part is we’ve learned that James Earl Jones, the voice, the heart and soul of Darth Vader will return to speak Darth Vader’s lines in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. The Darth Vader we all know from the original Star Wars film is effectively back in look, voice, and spirit. There is still no word on if he has already recorded his lines or will in the post-production phase.
Rogue One creature designer Neal Scanlan spoke to MTV about creating aliens for the new movie, which found him working in very different territory. Although he just received an Oscar nomination for his work on The Force Awakens, director Gareth Edwards wanted a different flavor of creature than J.J. Abrams:
In the world of Force Awakens, there was a real mixture of all different kinds, very much like the original Cantina sequence. Working with Gareth now on Rogue One, he sees these aliens as being much more part of the human [world]. They co-habitate, they work together and so it’s pushed us very much to create characters that are more realistic.
Unlike most of the 110 creatures that were built for The Force Awakens and only appeared onscreen for a few seconds, Scanlan says that the aliens of Rogue One frequently play a vital role in the plot and required a new level of detail and realism:
They move more realistically, they’re able to emote more than maybe the characters that we did for ’The Force Awakens.’ So they’re a closer part of the storytelling. They’re less of the world, and they’re more of this group who have a mission, and play a part in that.
Fans hear someone saying “this movie will feature detailed practical aliens that play a major role in the plot” and begin calling for Christmas to get here quick.
Rogue One is set to arrive in theaters on December 16, 2016.
