According to Star Wars veteran Warwick Davis, Rogue One director Gareth Edwards took a different approach to capturing the action compared to other directors that have worked on the franchise. After making his big screen debut as Wicket the Ewok in Return of the Jedi, Davis would go on to carve out an impressive career in film and television that includes Willow, Leprechaun, Harry Potter, Life's Too Short and Doctor Who. However, the actor has never strayed too far from the Star Wars universe and has appeared in all of the franchise's modern series of movie releases, playing an array of diverse and interesting characters.
In Rogue One: A Star Wars Story for instance, Davis portrayed Weeteef Cyubee, a member of Saw Gerrera's Partisan resistance group who would later lend his assistance to Jyn Erso in her mission to steal the Death Star plans. This trigger-happy Talpini may not have had a large role in Rogue One but he certainly made a big impression on fans and, like many aliens in the Star Wars universe, has more of a backstory than is actually shown on screen. Directed by Gareth Edwards, Rogue One delivered a more mature take on the war between the Rebels and the Empire and would go on to achieve critical and commercial success.
Related: Star Wars Stories: Comparing Solo To Rogue One
In an exclusive interview with Screen Rant, Warwick Davis revealed that he would definitely be willing to reprise the character of Weeteef Cyubee in the future and revealed how Gareth Edwards' directorial style helped him explore the character in more detail. Davis claims:
"As with all of these of these films, you shoot so much more stuff than ever makes it into the movie, especially with Gareth Edwards - he would shoot in a very unique way where stuff was kind of almost improvised, but you never knew quite when he was shooting and when he wasn't, so you just kept doing stuff just in case he was rolling at that time."
Rogue One was a very unique Star Wars movie in many respects and this novel way of shooting is yet another example of the film's individuality in the franchise. By employing a looser and more improvisational method of working, it's likely Edwards was able to capture some off-the-cuff moments of inspiration from actors that would otherwise have never seen the light of day. This approach is useful for adding more depth and detail to a scene or setting - something vital for a fantasy science-fiction film such as Star Wars where convincing fans to buy into the fictional universe is key. The results certainly told on-screen and with both The Last Jedi and Solo receiving mixed responses, Rogue One is perhaps the last wholly successful Star Wars movie.
Although the character survival rate wasn't fantastic in Rogue One, Weeteef's fate is left ambiguous, meaning that the character could certainly return in either the primary movie series, an anthology release or in a Star Wars TV show and the creature would be a welcome addition in all cases. Star Wars is a somewhat unique franchise in the sense that minor characters can go on to become fascinating and much-loved figures with a rich backstory and since Davis is never likely to be short of work in the galaxy far, far away, maybe there's a future yet for Weeteef Cyubee.