Premiering on Good Morning America, the first look at the latest in the Star Wars franchise has finally been released to the public and boy was there was a ton to soak in. Luckily for you, we have compiled a short list of five things that have us at Byte excited for Star Wars: Rogue One after viewing the trailer.

1. Another Female Lead in a Galaxy Far, Far Away.

It seems Lucasfilm is doubling down on the diversity in the Star Wars universe by yet again giving the leading role to the Theory of Everything star Felicity Jones. She will play the role of Jyn Erso, an individual that is veiled in mystery.

The only things we know about Jyn is that she has been on her own since 15 and frequently gets in trouble with the Empire with many offenses including forgery and possession of stolen property.

I don’t know about you, but she sounds like the perfect candidate to steal important battle station blueprints. I for one can’t wait to see more of what Rogue One has in store for Jyn, and I am sure she will be as memorable as Rey was in The Force Awakens.

2. A Much More Brutal Empire

Looks like the days of the bumbling Stormtroopers are gone, as the soldiers seem much more menacing like their The Force Awakens brethren. Their numbers alone are simply intimidating enough, and give off that perfect sense of hopelessness.

Strewn across the trailer are scenes of multiple patrol units that look to be ganging up on either random civilians or our heroes themselves. I really hope Rogue One utilizes the Empire like the animated show Star Wars Rebels has been lately, by depicting them as the brutal iron-fisted regime that will do nothing to crush the rebel scum. Speaking of Stormtroopers…

3. The Shadow Trooper Squad

We know that Disney isn’t completely opposed to introducing certain elements from the Expanded Universe after The Force Awakens introduced the concept of a Solo child turning to the dark side and Luke opening a Jedi temple of his own. It now appears that we may be introduced to the deadly Special Forces unit of the Imperial Army.

This is merely speculation, but if these Stormtroopers clad in black armor are in fact the Shadow Troopers, then needless to say Jyn Erso and company are in for one hell of a fight. In the Expanded Universe, the Shadow Troopers were assigned to highly classified missions and trained in the arts of infiltration and ambush tactics. Sounds like a perfect foil for a Rebel squad trying to steal important documents.

4. The Mysterious Big Bads

While this first trailer mostly focused on Jyn, it did briefly showcase a ton of other characters, but none were as mysterious as Ben Mendelsohn’s character dressed in white officer attire, and the unknown figure veiled in black surrounded by the Emperor’s Royal Guard. Anyone familiar with the Expanded Lore will instantly recognize the white outfit as the uniform for Grand Admirals of the Imperial Fleet.

The most infamous of these being Thrawn, a blue-skinned and red-eyed villain who took it upon himself to takeover the Empire after the fall of the Emperor following the events of Return of the Jedi. It would be an interesting twist if Mendelsohn’s character is a new take on the classic character, but regardless, it is still a nice nod to those who invested their time into the expanded lore.

There is also the mystery behind who exactly is the cloaked character is in the trailer. All we know is that he is bowing and surrounded by Emperor Palpatine’s royal guards. I highly doubt it is the Emperor as he never was the type to bow to anyone, nor do I believe it to be Darth Vader, who is rumored to make an appearance in the film.

5. That AT-AT Battle Scene

Oh boy, now this scene definitely sold me on checking out this film. The large-scale battle between the Empire and the Rebellion looked like it was directly ripped from a Battlefront game. With Rogue One being more focused on the normal soldiers of the Rebellion and less so on those with Force abilities there is the potential to finally see the front lines of the war instead of all of the behind the scenes action we’re normally used to seeing.

Honestly, this would be a refreshing change of pace from the lightsaber duels and space battles, as we rarely have gotten to experience a boots on the ground experience from a Star Wars film. Also, any other reason to bring back the formidable AT-ATs is reason enough to get excited for Rogue One.

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