Star Wars: Rogue One - 16 Major Details Lucasfilm Just Revealed

Although seeing the galaxy circa-1977 and some of the other new (we'll get to that heavy-breathing cyborg in due time) is a pretty big selling point, one of the most exciting things about Rogue One is its cast of heroes. A proper multicultural spread, these are a more morally ambiguous group compared to those in the Episodes; bounty hunters and mercenaries, they make Han Solo in A New Hope look like Han Solo in Return Of The Jedi.

We were introduced to all the characters oh-so briefly in the teaser, but aside from Felicity Jones' Jyn Erso we didn't really get an idea of where they were coming from.

As expected, the EW article sheds a lot of light on this rag-tag gang. Chiefly there's confirmation that Jyn is leading the assault somewhat under duress and that Diego Luna's character, Cassian Andor, is her official Rebellion partner, a typical, smart, learned Rebel.

Chirrut Imwe's the most interesting of the rest - Donnie Yen's playing a blind warrior who, despite no affinity with the Force, finds spiritual strength from the Jedi Code - but it's an exciting mix across the board; Jiang Wen is Baze Malbus, a typical heavy (described by Kathleen Kennedy as "the galactic version of Don Quixote") and Chirrut's friend, and Riz Ahmed is Bodhi Rook, the gang's pilot.

There's also K-2SO, Alan Tudyk's mo-cap security droid. Known informally as Kaytoo, he sounds to be a galaxy away from the prissy-but-friendly likes of C-3PO, with a blunter manner; Gareth Edwards calls him "Chewbacca's personality in a droid’s body."