Darth Vader Appears In Rogue One: A Star Wars Story Trailer

Darth Vader has been long confirmed to appear in Rogue One: A Star War Story this December. Now, we’ve officially had our first look at the iconic villain’s return to the big screen.

Over the weekend, Disney unveiled a new trailer for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story at Star Wars Celebration in Europe. In the trailer, Darth Vader made his long awaited return, even if only as a tease. The new movie takes place prior to the events of Star Wars: Episode IV but after those of Star Wars: Episode III, so we’ll be filling in some of the blanks on Anakin’s rise (or fall) into powerful villainy form in between.

The second trailer starts with Jyn as a little girl running. “There’s not much time. Every day, we grow weaker, while they grow stronger. “This is our chance” she says in narration “To make a real difference.” During the narration, we see many scenes of battle and the Empire’s tyrrany. We see new locations, an X-Wing flying on a forest-heavy planet, new aliens, new shuttle craft, more Deathtroopers, the Death Star… And then suddenly it cuts to… Darth Vader, breathing & standing over a display. The clip ended there, with Vader’s reflection on the panel (presumably on the Death Star), and his breath echoing.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story stars Felicity Jones, Ben Mendelsohn, Mads Mikkelsen, Alan Tudyk, Riz Ahmed, Diego Luna, Donnie Yen, and Forest Whitaker. James Earl Jones returns to voice Darth Vader. The movie is directed by Gareth Edwards. It is the first Star Wars spinoff film with several others rumored to be following its lead in the future.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is set for release December 16, 2016.

Additional reporting by Lucas Siegel