The next Star Wars movie is not Star Wars: Episode VIII, but instead the first film in a new Star Wars canon to expand the series beyond what Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy calls the ongoing “Skywalker family saga.” Sure, there have been non-Episode Star Wars movies, but nothing quite on the scale of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, which will tell the untold story behind the original theft of the Death Star plans. And now we know that Rogue One will return us to the era of classic Star Wars, with leaked photos from the set highlighting the return of the classic X-Wing design.

Rogue One To Star Wars: The Force Awakens

- The Evolution of a Space Fighter

If you weren’t looking closely you may not have noticed, but the X-Wings flown by Poe Dameron and his Black Squadron were quite different from the X-Wings piloted by Luke Skywalker’s Rogue Squadron.

Here are two X-Wings from the original Star Wars:

Notice the four separate thrusters.

One of the highlights of Star Wars: The Force Awakens was a return to practical effects and the grungy, analog technology that defined Star Wars upon release in 1977. But J.J. Abrams took “old-school” to the next level, incorporating original Ralph McQuarrie concept artwork from the development of Star Wars into the designs of new ships, locations and droids. The same was true for the X-Wings.

Here’s Ralph McQuarrie’s original X-Wing design for Star Wars:

Poe Dameron’s ship takes its design cues from this original artwork, instead of the first Star Wars movie (this could be explained in-canon by technological improvements).

But since Rogue One: A Star Wars Story returns us to the years just before Star Wars (it’ll be a cold day in hell before I call that movie A New Hope), the new movie has returned to that era’s X-Wings.

Sure, it’s a minor detail. But after the absolute hash the Star Wars Prequel Trilogy made out of the series’ continuity it’s nice to see Disney give the series the attention to design detail it deserves.