'Rogue One' Writer Reveals That the Prequel Almost Featured a Nerf Herder
Now that Rogue One: A Star Wars Story has finally debuted in theaters, and collected a healthy $155 million in opening weekend earnings, fans are now in post-game analysis mode, pondering its details, and ruminating on how its story, and main characters, fit into the franchise’s larger universe. So when Gary Whitta, who has a story writing credit on the movie, jumped on Twitter for a chat, he had an eager audience peppering him with questions — and he revealed a tidbit that surely delighted the faithful: Gareth Edwards’ adventure almost included the first on-screen appearance of a nerf herder.
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What’s a nerf herder, you ask? In The Empire Strikes Back, Princess Leia hurls this insult at Han Solo: “Why, you stuck up, half-witted, scruffy-looking Nerf herder!” Alas, no such figure has ever been portrayed in any of the series’ installments, although as Uproxx reported, Whitta revealed that, for a while, Rogue One might have been the movie to change that.
Okay, one tiny bit of trivia: the original script had ACTUAL NERF HERDERS IN IT! #SWCanonChat https://t.co/L3PcDztRCZ
— Merry Whitta ???? (@garywhitta) December 20, 2016
The Twitterchat gave Whitta a forum to express his feelings on a number of other subjects regarding the film and its protagonists. For instance, he revealed that, given the chance, he’d love to tell more of the Chirrut and Baze story.
I guess they’re not that minor, but Chirrut and Baze. #SWCanonChat https://t.co/qa7bwGuQ1S
— Merry Whitta ???? (@garywhitta) December 20, 2016
He also expanded on why Galen Erso (Mads Mikkelsen) would have ever worked for the Empire on the Death Star.
I think that’s what kept him working on it for a long time, the belief that the Empire actually had altruistic goals. Naive, really. https://t.co/KysMRPTEwi
— Merry Whitta ???? (@garywhitta) December 20, 2016
He provided the reason that the Death Star doesn’t seem capable of destroying entire planets in Rogue One, as opposed to Star Wars.
Way, WAY less power. Single reactor ignition. https://t.co/PdonMzXxyD
— Merry Whitta ???? (@garywhitta) December 20, 2016
And when it came to his heroine, Felicity Jones’ Jyn Erso, he had a lot to say about her upbringing, and the way in which external forces conspired to make her who she was:
What I love about Jyn is that she’s a child of two fathers, one a pacifist, one a warrior. She carries a little of both within her. https://t.co/NsJ1R7FWWA
— Merry Whitta ???? (@garywhitta) December 20, 2016
I don’t think Jyn was ever meant to be a soldier. That’s the tragedy. Who knows what she might’ve become if her family had been left alone? https://t.co/eH5V7ppzjD
— Merry Whitta ???? (@garywhitta) December 20, 2016
To read more insider thoughts on Jyn, Galen, and wise-cracking reprogrammed-rebel-droid K-2SO, scroll back through Whitta’s Twitter feed. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is in theaters now.
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