13 'Rogue One' Easter Eggs That 'Star Wars' Fans Will Catch
Being a Star Wars fan is a serious commitment. After all, Star Wars isn’t just a movie franchise – it’s an entire universe, filled with endless amount of lore and history. If you ask a member of the fandom about the origin of the Jedi, prepare to be in an hour-long conversation. Star Wars fans mean business.
The makers of Rogue One knew they had big shoes to fill; after all, The Force Awakens was a cinematic explosion last year. With that, the newest installment in the Star Wars franchise was ripe with inside jokes, easter eggs, and callbacks to the iconic trilogies that came before this new story. From cameos to iconic lines, here are 13 things that only the most diehard Star Wars fans would have noticed in Rogue One.
1/13Ponda Baba and Dr. Evazan’s appearance.
While on Jedha, Jyn, Cassian, and K-2SO quickly encounter the duo of Ponda Baba and Evazan – two characters we first met in Episode IV, A New Hope. We see them in the infamous Mos Eisley Cantina scene that takes place on Tatooine.
2/13Gold Leader and Red Leader.
Rogue One gave us three squadrons: Red, Gold, and Blue (we’ll get to that last one in a sec). The Red and Gold leaders in Rogue One are the same we later see in A New Hope – and the original footage was actually repurposed for this new climactic space battle.
3/13Blue Squadron.
For anyone who read Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker, you’ll know that Luke originally was on a Blue Squadron, not a Red one. This was later changed by George Lucas for the first film, but Rogue One included a nod to the original name.
4/13And we learn why Luke was able to join the squad.
Red 5 died during the Battle for Scarif, which paves the way for Luke Skywalker to join the team in A New Hope.
5/13C-3PO and R2-D2 were there.
Okay, maybe this one was a little more obvious, but C-3PO and R2-D2 are so iconic that we have to mention them. The droids made a quick appearance as the Rebels were dispatching to Scarif, although many fans are finding themselves wondering why they were there at all. It definitely felt a little random, but we’re not complaining.
6/13And there was a Stormtrooper doll.
In the first portion of the movie, we see Jyn as a little girl holding a Stormtrooper doll. So meta.
7/13There’s a major “noooooo” moment with Bail Organa.
And only Star Wars fans will feel this pain. In Rogue One, we see Bail Organa – Princess Leia's adoptive father – as he prepares to go back to his home planet of Alderaan. Of course, Alderaan later gets destroyed in A New Hope, making us want to yell “DON’T DO IT” at the screen.
8/13There were lots of iconic lines.
“I have a bad feeling about this,” has become sort of an inside joke among Star Wars fans, as it is said in literally every movie. In Rogue One, K-2SO has the honor of uttering the classic line of dialogue. Additionally, in the newest film, Saw Gerrera speaks the words, “It’s a trap,” most famously said by Admiral Ackbar in Return of the Jedi.
9/13We finally get to see Vader’s castle.
Darth Vader’s castle on Mustafar has always been a place of intrigue, as it was written into The Empire Strikes Back, but never seen. Rogue One finally shows us what that castle looks like, as a brief scene takes place in Vader’s lair.
10/13The blue milk.
In the opening scene of Rogue One, we see little Jyn with her family in their home. On the kitchen counter is a pitcher of what looks like a baby blue colored milkshake. This is likely a nod to the Bantha Milk that Luke’s Aunt Beru serves in A New Hope. Pretty sure if Instagram existed in the Star Wars universe, we’d be ‘gramming that blue milk on the reg with a Juno filter.
11/13The chess scene.
Derjarik – or holographic chess – has become something of a Star Wars staple. We’ve seen the game played in both A New Hope and The Force Awakens. In Rogue One, we see some Rebels playing the game, only this time, it is done with actual beast-shaped pieces instead of holographic versions. After all, these were the Rebels playing, so it’s likely they were just making use of the resources they had.
12/13Tarkin and Leia (!!!)
We are truly in a new age of cinematic technology, folks. Peter Cushing made an appearance in Rogue One as Grand Moff Tarkin despite the fact that he died in 1994, and a 1977-era Carrie Fisher appeared on screen as Princess Leia with the help of actress Ingvild Deila.
13/13And the power-move of all easter eggs: The Whills.
When we meet Chirrut Îmwe, we learn that he is a Guardian of The Whills. This is the most epic of callbacks, as it references the lore that later became Star Wars. George Lucas’s first notes for Star Wars came from a two-page partial outline called The Journal of the Whills, Part 1, which was written in 1973. Ba-ba-bam.
