Darth Vader And Grand Moff Tarkin Almost Crossed Paths In 'Rogue One'
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story was a huge turning point for the franchise under Disney back in 2016. It was the first Star Wars theatrical film to be set outside of the Skywalker saga within canon. The film turned out to be a huge critical and financial success, as well as one of the most popular films in the Star Wars community. But one of the great things about it is some ties to the main saga and some familiar faces. Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin and, of course, Darth Vader, returned to the franchise in live-action for the first time in years. However, these two important characters in the franchise never even shared a scene together in the final product.
Interestingly, though, it turns out that there was a scene shot for Rogue One in which Tarkin and Vader were together in the film side by side. After sharing a shot of Darth Vader from Rogue One that ended up not being in the movie at all, ILM animation supervisor Hal Hickel was recently asked on Twitter if there was a scene meant to go into the final cut, or if it was a shot just for the trailer. Hickel responded:
"Yes, there was a conversation between Vader and Tarkin that ended up out of the film."
With the events of Rogue One leading into Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope, and Grand Moff Tarkin and Darth Vader having worked closely together since the formation of the Empire as seen in Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith, it is not really that shocking to hear that these two would have conversed in the 2016 Star Wars movie. At this point in time, Tarkin would stll be keeping Vader on a tight leash. Although James Earl Jones reprised the role of Darth Vader vocally in Rogue One, Tarkin’s original actor, Peter Cushing, passed away in 1994, and Guy Henry voiced the character and had Cushing’s face digitally mapped over his own.
Regarding the conversation between Grand Moff Tarkin and Darth Vader from Rogue One, fans were very curious about what would have unfolded between them. Hal Hickel could not recall what was said. When he asked Rogue One co-writer Gary Whitta if he remembered the dialogue, the writer responded:
"I wrote scenes for Vader/Krennic and Tarkin/Krennic but not Vader/Tarkin. Chris or someone else must have added that after me."
For anyone who is not familiar with Rogue One’s production, Gary Whitta penned the movie’s original script, but he left the project in early 2015 due to “creative difference”. Whitta was given a "Story By" credit alongside John Knoll, but in the end, Chris Weitz and Tony Gilroy were given final screenplay credit due to WGA rules. It is unknown whether the Tarkin/Vader scene was shot during Rogue One’s original principal photography under director Gareth Edwards or whether it was part of the extensive reshoots that Tony Gilroy oversaw.
Who knows if the Vader/Tarkin conversation will be thrown onto Disney+ platform as an extra at some point? I would not rule it out. As for the future of Darth Vader and Grand Moff Tarkin in the Star Wars franchise, Hayden Christensen will reprise the role of Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader for Obi-Wan Kenobi, while Tarkin is set to appear in the animated series The Bad Batch. Stephen Stanton, who voiced Tarkin in The Clone Wars and Rebels animated series, is reprising the role. Both of these series will air on Disney+ in the near future.
Source(s): CinemaBlend