Star Wars Rogue One: Forest Whitaker's character revealed as a familiar face

His character history in the Star Wars universe has made him somewhat of a battle-hardened, fringe fighter; a force even the Rebel Alliance has been led to distrust

Disney has been playing its cards close to its chest when it comes to Rogue One.

As it should, since the resoundingly positive reaction to The Force Awakens has played us all right into their hands, shaking with excitement and anticipation for the studio's next chapter in the Star Wars universe.

One little teaser for now, though; with Entertainment Weekly finally revealing the identity of Forest Whitaker's imposing character, turning out to be someone very familiar to fans. Whitaker is playing is Saw Gerrera; the shadowy Rebel fighter described as, "so extreme that the other good guys aren't sure he really is one".

The same Saw Gerrera who was first seen in season 5 of The Clone Wars animated series; who, alongside his sister Steela, enlist the aid of the Jedi - including Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi - to free their planet from the Separatists. Saw left a pretty lasting impression when he went against his own allies, though; striking out on his own in an attempt to save his planet, with lasting consequences for the character now vehemently distrustful of authority.

An attitude seemingly shared by Felicity Jones' Jyn Erso; it'll be interesting to see what potential kinship these two characters end up sharing, or whether clashing beliefs may, in fact, tear them apart. Something hinted at when Saw tells her in the film's trailer, "If you continue to fight, what will you become?"

Indeed, Rogue One takes place 25 years after the events of The Clone Wars; so there's not a huge amount that can be assumed about how Saw will function as a character, as the years of fighting seem to have very much taken a toll on him. "Consider him kind of a battered veteran who leads a band of Rebel extremists," Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy stated. "He’s on the fringe of the Rebel Alliance. Even [they] are a little concerned about him."

Kennedy also stated that Saw would be an ally to the Rebel squad, but not really one of them; "He's off on his own". The idea is for Saw to be on the extremity of the Rebel cause, as a demonstration of how the Death Star's threat unites the disputing Rebel factions.

"The Death Star is the event that sort of pulls everybody into a place of unity, and prior to that it’s a little bit more divided. Who are at the different ends of that spectrum?" stated Kiri Hart, Lucasfilm’s head of story development.

EW also revealed several more character names for the film, alongside confirmation that Darth Vader will be playing a major role in the story.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story hits UK cinemas 16 December.