We already know that "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" will feature Darth Vader in all of his armored, heavy breathing glory. But Vader's not the only classic Star Wars villain that looks to be returning in the franchise's debut anthology film. In fact, it looks like the other headlining villain from the original 1977 "Star Wars" is making his return as well.
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In a new TV spot released for the film, one that prominently features Vader's iconic breathing noise, we see a prolonged shot of the back of someone's head. Whose head? Well, doesn't it look a lot like Grand Moff Tarkin?
It does, doesn't it? The Imperial uniform, the head, the ears -- it all looks a lot like the classic Peter Cushing character. Just check him out for yourself in this screengrab.
The only question is, if Tarkin is back, how is he back? Peter Cushing passed away in 1994, so it's incredibly obvious that this isn't the original actor. Wayne Pygram played the character in a cameo seen briefly in 2005's "Revenge of the Sith," but it's not clear that this is him either. This might be further evidence that there's some truth to a "Rogue One" rumor.
Grand Moff Tarkin might be a CG character.
This hasn't been confirmed by Lucasfilm yet, and they haven't even confirmed that the man in the screenshot above is Tarkin. But it was rumored back in August 2015 that “Rogue One” would use CGI to digitally recreate Peter Cushing so that Grand Moff Tarkin could play a part in the film.
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Set outside of the main sequel trilogy that began with “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” “Rogue One” is set just before 1977’s “Star Wars” and details the Rebel plot to steal the Death Star plans from the Empire. Directed by Gareth Edwards (“Godzilla,” “Monsters”) from a script by Gary Whitta and Chris Weitz, “Rogue One” stars Felicity Jones, Mads Mikkelsen, Alan Tudyk, Donnie Yen, Forest Whitaker, Diego Luna and Riz Ahmed.
“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” opens on December 16.
(via Entertainment Weekly)