If you wished for a different ending in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, one which was wildly different from what it ended up being in the final film, you almost got your wish. Director Gareth Edwards has revealed a divergent direction was initially considered for the fates of the Rebel heroes.
Major Spoilers for Rogue One follow.
As reported by io9, Gareth Edwards told Empire Magazine that Jyn, Cassian, and other characters weren’t always going to die at the end of the film. “The very first version, they didn’t [die],” he said. “We thought we weren’t going to be allowed to.” But in the Empire interview, Edwards said that eventually he and the screenwriters were encouraged to kill off all the characters because these new people are “not in A New Hope.”
However, the original interview from Empire, in which Gareth Edwards made these comments, has subsequently been removed. Empire Magazine explained in a tweet on Tuesday that the piece was “published too early.”
In the final version of Rogue One, Jyn and Cassian are not “safe on another planet.” But it seems that at some point, they could have been. Star Wars fans will no doubt be divided over the alternate-ending, which was likely never filmed. Still, who doesn’t want to see more of Jyn and Cassian?
Rogue One is out now.
