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

So Darth Vader's back, but what's he doing in the film? According to Kathleen Kennedy, not all that much: "He will be in the movie sparingly, but at a key, strategic moment, he’s going to loom large." That moment has already been fairly well-hyped and will probably be the movie's only use of the Force and/or lightsabers.

From a fan standpoint that's a shame, but I can see how it's beneficial for this grounded movie. And it sounds like the film will reflect that by making Vader rather mysterious; he's a secret enforcer rather than a political figurehead. Edwards said, “Within the Empire, there is the culture of knowing of the existence of Darth Vader. There’s definitely an underlying feeling that there is a power – a dark power – available to the Empire and that if you overstep your mark, you will suffer the consequences.”

This is very interesting. I'd always assumed that Vader was a well-known and feared presence across the galaxy in the twenty years between trilogies; not necessarily one you'd expect to ever see, but clearly felt. This puts his as more of a boogeyman, a mythic, intangible threat, which echoes a wider shift in the presentation of Vader's character (recent novel Bloodline revealed that few actually knew Anakin was Darth Vader).

Of course, this isn't exactly a bad thing; making Vader imposing again atones for the wussing-up of the prequels and maintains the weight of the gradual Emperor reveal from across the original trilogy. Rather than ret-con, there's also a real sense of franchise-correction in this choice.