Patty Jenkins May Have "Leaked" A Huge Cameo For 'Star Wars: Rogue Squadron'
Kathleen Kennedy, President of Lucasfilm, announced the Star Wars feature film, Star Wars: Rogue Squadron during the smorgasbord of new content announcements made on Disney's Investor Day this past December. The current planned release date for the movie is December2023.
What We Know Thus Far
We learned of Patty Jenkins' involvement at the same time as the film's announcement. Jenkins will direct the movie, making her the first woman to direct a Star Wars film. Jenkins' recent movies include the DC Comics superhero sequel, Wonder Woman 1984 (2020), released virtually and in theaters this past December. Before WW84, she directed the excellent mini-series I am the Night (2019), which is about the Black Dahlia murders.
The similarly titled Star Wars: Rogue Squadron video game franchise comprises three separate game titles released between 1998 and 2003: Star Wars: Rogue Squadron, Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader, and Star Wars Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike. Players become a Rebel fighter pilot with the opportunity to take down a Star Destroyer. The film Rogue Squadron is not affiliated with any part of the video game series.
Star Wars fans anxiously await any details or hints about the upcoming film. Those involved in Disney's Investors Day projects have been adhering to their NDA clauses thus far. Where's a Mark Ruffalo or Tom Holland when you need one?
While on the press tour for WW84, Jenkins has answered questions about the upcoming Rogue Squadron project. Thus far, she has revealed her screenwriter. She may have also revealed an actual spoiler too!
This incident happened in a recent conversation with Collider. Jenkins' response to questions about which characters may appear in Rogue Squadron led to a larger reveal. Rogue Squadron will more than likely take place during a particular part of the Star Wars timeline. Its placement naturally leads to questions about the appearances of other characters from the Skywalker films. Could we see fan-favorite Porkins? Jenkins stated, "I cannot definitively state anything. I'm just clearly joking. It's obviously not Porkins. I know. It's so hard to talk about." In the last part of her remarks, her intonation implied she was trying hard not to share details about this character.
Perhaps we will see Jek Tono Porkins! Her statements implied that Porkins might make a small cameo of some kind in the film. He would need to be recast, though. William Hootkins, who portrayed Porkins, sadly passed away in 2005.
If Porkins truly is making an appearance, this places at least part of the film in a specific section of the Star Wars timeline. Everyone knows that Porkins dies in Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977). If he were to appear, then at least part of Rogue Squadron would have to take place between Rogue One (2016) and Episode IV. The Rogue call sign is the key. We know via the canonical Marvel comics that Rogue Squadron was named after Rogue One sometime between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back. Does this mean flashbacks could be involved?
As Jenkins let the Porkins tidbit loose, Mark Hamill, who portrays Luke Skywalker, mentioned yet another character from that time period on a Tosche Station social media post. He mentioned Biggs Darklighter (Garrick Hagon). Instead of revelations, could both mentions be misdirecting to keep fans guessing? That may also be a possibility. Red herrings and misdirects on details would not be out of the ordinary for Disney. Fans know that Disney and its various franchises are intentionally enigmatic to keep fans interested and miserable with suspense until it hurts.
Jenkins has also stated numerous times that Rogue Squadron will feature new characters as the main cast. The potential cameos of iconic Star Wars characters are quite possible, too. Princess Leia would have to be a CGI version of Carrie Fisher. We saw a younger Luke Skywalker recently as well. During the season 2 finale of The Mandalorian, Max Floyd-Jones portrayed Luke as the body double while Mark Hamill did the voice.
Fans are anxious to see what Jenkins has in store for Star Wars. We all want to know which of our fan-favorite X-wing pilots will make an appearance in Rogue Squadron. Where do you want the film to take place?
Source(s): Inside The Magic