Why a Classic Star Wars Character Cameo Was Axed From Rogue One

One of the most interesting things about Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, the first spinoff movie in the entire franchise, is the film's place in the overall Star Wars universe. Rogue One takes place just before the beginning of Star Wars: A New Hope, revealing how Princess Leia got her hands on the plans for the Death Star. With this setting, the film is able to include cameos from a vast array of characters from both the original and sequel trilogies, such as Darth Vader, Mon Mothma, C-3PO, and Bail Organa. As it turns out, there was also a plan to involve the fan-favorite character Wedge Antilles, but one line of dialogue from A New Hope kept him from appearing in Rogue One.

On Wednesday night, writers Gary Whitta and Chris Weitz teamed up with IGN for a Work From Home Theater event, live-streaming a commentary to Rogue One while fans watched along from the comfort of their living rooms. During the stream, Whitta opened up about the desire the creative team had to include Wedge Antilles in the Battle of Scarif. Even though he was one of the best known pilots at the time, including him would mean that he would have already seen the Death Star before flying up on it in A New Hope, thus ruining his most well-known quote.

As Whitta explained on Wednesday, Wedge was going to appear alongside the other legacy pilots ahead of the final battle, but in A New Hope, which takes place a short time after Rogue One, he says "Look at the size of that thing" when approaching the Death Star. Had Wedge shown up to the battle in Rogue One, he would've already seen the Death Star before and his line wouldn't have made sense.

So, in order ot preserve the integrity of the original Star Wars, Wedge had to stay sidelined for Rogue One. He did, however, get a cameo in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker just last year, showing up to fight alongside Rey, Finn, and Poe in the battle against Palpatine and the Final Order.

Are you disappointed that Wedge Antilles didn't make it into Rogue One: A Star Wars Story? Let us know in the comments!

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is currently streaming free on Disney+.