One of the most exciting new characters introduced in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story was Chirrut Imwe, a blind, Force-sensitive warrior. While actor Donnie Yen brought a commanding presence to the film as Imwe, a source recently revealed that earlier versions of the film almost incorporated Rahm Kota from The Force Unleashed series, another blind warrior who is familiar with the ways of the Force.
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While a guest on the La Fosa del Rancor podcast, filmmaker Marcos Cabota recalled an experience in which a friend of his was auditioning to be in Rogue One and, when reading the few pages of the script, noted there was a blind Force-wielder named “Rham Kota.”
“In fact, they were talking about a Jedi, who then did not appear in the movie but did appear somehow … Rham Kota was in Rogue One, I can tell you, he was a blind Jedi,” Cabota divulged. “And what do we find in Rogue One? A blind user of the Force … In the script we had from Rogue One, before becoming Rogue One, it was Rahm Kota.”
Upon initial viewings of the spinoff film, many fans drew these comparisons between Imwe and Kota, due to their appearances and skill sets. It’s possible that the name in that early script was intended to throw off anyone who might come across it, but this could have also been a nod to fans of the video game.
Fans of various types of Star Wars media might have noticed other Easters eggs in the film, with the Astromech droid Chopper briefly gracing the screen in addition to the reference of “General Syndulla.” Both of these nods were to reference the animated series Star Wars Rebels.
One complication in the Kota theory is that both Force Unleashed games were released before Disney acquired Lucasfilm, who instated the Lucasfilm Story Group. These individuals were tasked with ensuring canon amongst all movies, TV series, books and video games. The result of this directive defined anything released prior to 2012, other than the original films, as no longer officially part of Star Wars mythology.
Characters from the Expanded Universe, like Thrawn, have since reentered canon, which would have been possible with Kota, but for now, he still remains outside the official storyline of Star Wars.
[H/T La Fosa del Rancor]
