Star Wars: Rogue One Writer Disputes Claims Dave Filoni Directed Darth Vader Scene

When it comes to Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, many would agree the film’s best scene is Darth Vader’s epic hallway moment that led right into the events of the original Star Wars. Recently, Star Wars creative Dave Filoni has been busy promoting the third season of Star Wars: The Mandalorian, and he has talked about shadowing other directors in the franchise. Star Wars Rebels voice actor Freddie Prinze Jr. recently talked about Filoni’s history working with other Star Wars directors and claimed Filoni helmed the iconic Vader scene in Rogue One instead of the film’s director, Gareth Edwards. However, Gary Whitta, who has a “story by” credit on the film, took to Twitter to debunk this claim. 

“I don’t know if people know this, maybe I’m not allowed to say this, but I don’t care anymore,” Prinze told the Lights, Camera, Barstool podcast. “He directed that scene in Rogue One where — well, basically the whole end of the movie — where Vader comes through… and you see, basically… what’s gonna happen in A New Hope. He directed all that.” The story was picked up by Geek Tyrant, who shared it on Twitter. “That Badass Darth Vader Scene in ROGUE ONE Was Actually Directed By Dave Filoni!” they captioned the post. “Completely false. This needs to be retracted and an apology issued,” Whitta replied. You can view his comment below;

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Whitta also had a back-and-forth with someone in the comments. “You might want to take that up with Freddie Prinze Jr. This didn’t come from some random fan but someone who was employed by Lucasfilm in a significant role. Not saying you are wrong but that’s where it came from,” @TheLegacyOfSW tweeted. “I was also employed by Lucasfilm in a significant role, the role of writing the movie he’s talking about,” Whitta replied. “I’m very well aware. Hence why I said you aren’t wrong but everyone points fingers at ‘irresponsible fan speculation or expectations’ meanwhile it came from the mouth of someone like that seems very irresponsible if false and Filoni should be the one putting that fire out,”@TheLegacyOfSW added. “Maybe he will. In the meantime others who know the truth, like people who were actually on set that day, are doing so,” Whitta concluded. 

Interestingly, Filoni’s recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter made it clear that Rian Johnson was the only Star Wars director who put him to work on set. 

“Yeah, Kathleen Kennedy and I talked from the very beginning of her coming into Lucasfilm about whether there would be opportunities for me to experiment with live-action or try it,” Filoni explained. “And she really worked at coming up with a plan to educate me and get me involved. I visited J.J. [Abrams] on The Force Awakens, I visited Gareth Edwards [on Rogue One] and I visited Rian on [The Last Jedi]. But Rian was the one who shoved me up front, sticking lenses in my hand and really getting me immersed in it. And so I still talk with him to this day. He’s obviously a very talented filmmaker, and I was just very fortunate to be in such an environment where I could sit and listen and learn.”

What do you think about this Rogue One mix-up? Do you believe someone is lying or was it just a misunderstanding? Tell us in the comments!