Humans may comprise most of the principal characters in Star Wars movies, but this franchise wouldn't be very interesting without the unique aliens populating a galaxy far, far away. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story will be including its own assortment of colorful creatures later this year, and judging from the Star Wars Celebration behind-the-scenes reel released this past weekend, most of them will be lifeforms we haven't seen before. Earlier today, we met the weird character Endrio Two Tubes, but now there's new information on some of the other aliens who will be partaking in the action.
Director Gareth Edwards provided new details to EW about two of the aliens who will be contributing to Rogue One as members of the Rebel Alliance before A New Hope begins. First up is Pao, who earned the nickname "Bigmouth." He is a platoon leader responsible for "coordinating the charge into battle" against the Empire. Here's what Edwards had to say about how Pao was created:
There was this great design of this creature that's mouth would open really wide, and he looked like he was really good at giving orders and shouting at people during a battle. I was like, 'We've got to give him that moment in the film,' and so [Pao] was born out of that.
Then there's Bistan, a.k.a. the infamous "Space Monkey," whose actor was seen in the Rogue One highlight reel taking direction on how to properly cackle. He is a gunner on a U-Wing, a Rebel ship that's a combination of a gunship and troop transport. Despite looking similar to a Wookie, Bistan is a member of the new Iakaru species. While Bistan won't get that much screen time, Gareth Edwards is quite fond of the character, saying:
It's not necessarily a character that we get to know, but I think he has a very memorable, iconic look. [He's] one of my favorites. I can't give away what happens to him.
Aside from the droid K-2SO, Rogue One's main cast is comprised of humans, from protagonist Jyn Erso to antagonist Orson Krennic. So it's not Pao and Bistan will be crucial to the plot, but it will still be cool to see them, along with all the other aliens, participate in the story. A lot of time and effort went into creating these creatures during production, so any opportunity for them to be spotlighted is welcome.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story arrives in theaters on December 16. Let us know what you think of these cool aliens in the comments below.
