It has been nearly forty years since the first time Star Wars was shown, and after all that time, audiences are about to see the events leading up to Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope. The film's opening crawl shares the story of the rebels stealing the plans to the Death Star, leading to an angered Darth Vader searching for the plans at the beginning of the movie. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story will show the lead up to A New Hope through the eyes of the Rebellion, which has found Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones) in a position of leadership.
As the main hero that audiences will be following, Erso will be given plenty of time to shine in the film and has continued to do so throughout the Rogue One pre-release marketing campaign. On the other side of the battle, Darth Vader's role has been largely played down during the marketing. Now, both characters are the stars of another magazine cover.
EW has released two new covers for their upcoming Rogue One issue that puts Jyn Erso at the center with the Death Star looming large behind her, and then again with Darth Vader's presence being shown to be even bigger. The Erso solo cover is available for pre-order now, with the Darth Vader cover being sold exclusively in Barnes & Nobles stores across the country.
Meanwhile, EW has also revealed what the space station shown in the latest trailer is. As it turns out, the Shield Gate is protecting the tropical planet known as Scarif that is a base of operation for the Empire. The Shield Gate is meant to protect intruders from interfering with the Empire's plans, although it seems as though the Rebels will have to break through to succeed with their own mission.
As for the covers themselves, there is not too much new information that could be gathered. The Shield Gate on the other hand, does offer up clarity to one of the more intriguing moments of the trailer. The Empire having a shield around Scarif makes sense with the planet being such a prominent location. It is said to be the home of operation for Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn) and since the trailers have shown even more action on the planet's surface, getting through the gate is sure to be the beginning of the final battle.
Previous footage has already shown the multi-faceted battle that will take place here, with X-Wings, AT-ATs, and more being present. Once the Empire is put on alert of the Rebels' final attack, having a military base at their disposal should come in handy. Obviously, this is not going to be enough to stop them from successfully stealing the plans, but the tension will be created by seeing how many (if any) of the main characters in the film make it off of Scarif once they arrive.
Source: EW covers, EW Shield Gate
