The Final Star Wars: Rogue One Trailer Is Exciting, Rebellious And Filled With Hope

It's been a while since a Star Wars movie hit theaters. Okay, it's only been 10 months, but nowadays, but with the franchise more popular than ever, that feels a lot longer. Fortunately, we're only two months away from Rogue One: A Star Wars Story's release, and to get fans even more excited for the "Anthology" spinoff, a new trailer has been come out following its premiere on ABC's Good Morning America. Take a look!

"Save the rebellion. Save the dream." This final Rogue One trailer does the best job, so far, of establishing the hellish conditions plaguing the galaxy under the rule of the Empire. When we first see Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones), she's imprisoned, and dreaming of better days with her father, Galen (Mads Mikkelsen). But her reality is one where Stormtroopers hold rebellious forces down. Someone needs to do something.

The trailer covers two sides of the ongoing story. The Empire, personified by Director Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelson) and glimpses of Darth Vader, is diligently working on its new weapon -- the Death Star. Meanwhile, the forces of the Rebel Alliance are fearing the worst with the imminent emergence of the Death Star, and are recruiting a band of soldier spies to help them take the beast down. We know that won't necessarily happen in this movie. For that, we have to wait for A New Hope... which already happened. I know. It's a little confusing. This is a prequel, that arrives decades after the original Star Wars. Whatever, it'll be fun.

As with many final trailers, the visual effects needed to bring a sci-fi thriller to life are far more polished, meaning that we get exciting shots like this to help us salivate until December.

X-Wing Fighter in Rogue One

And yet, we still only get a brief glimpse of this dude:

Darth Vader in Rogue One

So I wonder if Lord Vader really will be relegated to cameo status in this upcoming movie? Here's what we know for certain. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story takes place in the run up to A New Hope. Directed by Gareth Edwards, it is the first of the standalone solo movies that exist outside of the legacy trilogies, and has NOTHING to do with Star Wars: The Force Awakens. That bears repeating, because some casual fans don't realize this movie doesn't have Rey, Finn or Kylo Ren. We are meeting a new band of Rebel warriors. And while we know the outcome of their mission, we hope that we'll be engaged along the way.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story hits theaters on December 16. For all of the details on the spinoff movie, click here. We also got a new Rogue One poster with this trailer drop, and it has an awesome Vader nod. Check it out on the next page.

Sean O'Connell
Managing Editor

Sean O’Connell is a journalist and CinemaBlend’s Managing Editor. Having been with the site since 2011, Sean interviewed myriad directors, actors and producers, and created ReelBlend, which he proudly cohosts with Jake Hamilton and Kevin McCarthy. And he's the author of RELEASE THE SNYDER CUT, the Spider-Man history book WITH GREAT POWER, and an upcoming book about Bruce Willis.