The cover story for the next issue of Entertainment Weekly is all about Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. The Star Wars-stuffed issue promises details on the plot, vehicles, characters and conflicts. It also confirms the long-running rumor that Darth Vader will be in Rogue One. But what will the Sith Lord get up to while the Rebel Alliance is busy stealing the Death Star plans out from under him?
Here’s where the plot of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story gets interesting. We’ve long known that Ben Mendelsohn would play an Imperial officer (that’s him with the white cape and giant blaster in the Rogue One trailer), presumably one instrumental to the Death Star’s construction. But according to EW, it looks like this officer has gotten a bit too big for his britches:
“ A look at the skullduggery inside the Imperial ranks, as seen through the eyes of a new villain: Ben Mendelsohn’s ambitious officer, who’s eager to earn the favor of the Emperor – and avoid the wrath of his black-masked enforcer.”
This may just be the most interesting thing we’ve heard about the Rogue One plot yet. Not only will it be a conflict between the Rebels and the Empire, but we’ll also see the kind of bureaucratic infighting and jostling not seen since Grand Moff Tarkin’s meeting on the Death Star all the way back in Star Wars.
There’s always been a conflict between the more religious side of the Empire, embodied in Vader, and the strictly military half, embodied in Tarkin. This conflict comes to a head in Star Wars when Vader Force chokes Admiral Motti.
It sounds like Rogue One: A Star Wars Story will investigate this division, pitting the height of its military bureaucracy against the imposing bearer of the Empire’s spiritual power.
