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The biggest Rogue One scenes from trailers that didn’t make it into the movie

About those reshoots...

Lucasfilm/Disney

One of the most jarring aspects of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is just how much footage from the trailers didn’t make it into the movie.

[Warning: The following contains spoilers for Rogue One.]

There are a couple of major moments that occurred in the trailers that never see the light of day in the actual movie. The reason? The trailers included footage that was lost after Lucasfilm ordered massive reshoots.

Scrubbing through the various trailers and TV spots that were released over the past year, we’ve discovered three of the biggest clips that were left out of Rogue One.

This Jyn Erso scene

One of the photos that was heavily associated with the film was this image of Jyn Erso standing in an Imperial uniform.

Lucasfilm/Disney

Still don’t remember it? It appeared at the end of the first teaser trailer released in April. It was a dramatic reveal that featured a voice-over from Saw Gerrera asking what she would become, before fading to black and the title credits appearing on screen.

The scene implied that Jyn would either undergo a major transformation or have an equally dramatic scene while on Imperial territory, but this exact moment never came.

Director Orson Krennic’s grand moment

One of the best moments from the first teaser trailer’s moment features a menacing Director Orson Krennic walking through the carnage that was left as a result of the Battle of Scarif. Everything about the shot is stunning, from the colors to the framing, but it never appears in Rogue One.

Lucasfilm/Disney

Look at this shot! The cape! The Stormtroopers! It’s fantastic, but unfortunately, it never comes to pass. Actually, Krennic never leaves the Scarif base, which implies there was quite a bit of footage cut around this moment in the movie.

Jyn Erso vs a TIE Fighter

In the first official trailer for Rogue One, which was released in August, Jyn Erso is seen walking out over the Imperial Scarif base to fix an alignment issue. While hobbling across the walkway, she’s confronted by a TIE Fighter that appears right in front of her. Like the aforementioned Jyn Erso moment from the teaser trailer, the image of her walking out to a waiting TIE Fighter was used quite heavily in marketing for the film, but didn’t make it past the cutting room floor.

The way this scene plays out, having the TIE Fighter appear right in front of Jyn and just behind the control panel she needs to reach wouldn’t have made any sense. It would have drastically changed the film’s ending, making it one of the more understandable cuts. Hopefully, the explanation for why these scenes were cut will end up in the bonus features on the Blu-ray and digital release.

There are a few other moments that don’t appear in the film, but none are as important and noticeable as these three. For example, there’s a conversation between K-2SO and Jyn that doesn’t happen because they meet earlier than expected, and this cool shot of Darth Vader is left out. Ironically, considering the importance of Vader to the franchise, the character is almost decorative in Rogue One. It’s not too surprising that this aesthetic-heavy moment wasn’t included after the reshoots occurred.

Lucasfilm/Disney

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is currently playing in theaters worldwide. Be sure to check out Polygon’s in-depth, spoiler heavy discussion below.

*SPOILERS* Rogue One Wrapup

Star Wars: Rogue One is out now. Our ragtag team of nerds saw it, and now they are going to talk about it. Many Bothans died to bring you this information. Huge spoiler warning!

Posted by Polygon on Friday, December 16, 2016