While Star Wars: The Force Awakens has been chewing up all the headlines over the past couple of weeks ahead of the much-anticipated first teaser trailer — set to arrive by the end of this week, mind you — the rumors for Disney’s upcoming spinoff films have gradually been gaining more and more traction. And the one getting the most attention of late is Gareth Edwards’ Star Wars movie, which will be the first to make its bow following J.J. Abrams’ trip to a galaxy far, far away.
But rather than continue in the modern universe, according to this unnamed source, Edwards’ spinoff is set to take place before the events of A New Hope and follow a group of Rebel fighters who chalk up a plan to complete the most audacious heist in the galaxy: steal and destroy the blueprints of the Death Star before it is built. As fans of the franchise will already know, the man-made, world-destroying satellite is the linchpin of Episode IV, and its development seeds the growth and prominence of Darth Vader throughout the course of George Lucas’ older trilogy.
But therein lies a twist to the tale, as this tidbit suggests that the spinoff will follow a ragtag group of bounty hunters who are recruited by the Rebel Alliance to complete the job. Moulding a film around a set of morally ambiguous characters has become a growing trend in the industry — what with DC’s Suicide Squad — so it won’t be too surprising if the first Star Wars spinoff breaks course and follows a group of outlaws. After all, moviegoers can only root for a Han Solo-like rogue for so long.
It’s worth keeping in mind that this is still very much a rumor for now, but that doesn’t mean we can’t speculate about the possibilities lurking within Edward’s 2016 pic.
Gareth Edwards’ Star Wars film will be the first of three planned spinoffs, which will be released intermittently between Disney’s newfangled trilogy. It’s due to hit theaters in 2016.
