Star Wars: Rogue One - 9 Ways It Actually Improves The Original Trilogy

1. Darth Vader

Where else could we end.

I'm going to stick my neck out here and say that the few glimpses we get of Darth Vader in Rogue One undo all the damage done to him by that "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" scene in Revenge of the Sith. Just. It's really close, but just.

In his introduction he's presented as a shadowy overseer in Imperial business, commanding total fear from those beneath him and, probably, no more than a myth to most officers. As things spiral out of control for the Empire he's forced to take matters into his own hands and... I mean... what else can you say about the corridor scene in the movie's final act.

It's arguably Star Wars most tense set-piece, that after everything that's happened here, and everything we know happens after, for the whole crux of the story to come down to two Rebels passing a disc between a crack in a door as they're savagely butchered by a merciless Sith lord, is breathtaking. It finally gives us the Vader we've always imagined. The Vader we've always deserved.

Cheesy lip-service to the fans it may be, but to finally recapture the fear viewers felt when they first saw the black mask is Rogue One's greatest achievement.