As we reported yesterday, Darth Vader's confirmed to return to our screens for the first time in a good few years - which is pretty incredible, to say the least.

As well as this, a rake of new images were released online detailing a lot more information about Rogue One, the new characters and a good bit more about the story. While it doesn't exactly give us concrete information on what's happening, it does give us a much more better idea of the tone of the film.

More than anything, we know that Edwards' take on Star Wars is going to be a lot more grittier and angrier than anything we've seen before.

Let's get to it.

Right away, the thing that strikes us about these guys is just how militaristic and truly sinister-looking they are. There really hasn't been anything like this in the Star Wars universe; at least not recently. It's also been confirmed that these guys are named 'Deathtroopers' - which is also pretty sinister. Ben Mendelsohn's character is their leader and we'll have more information on him further down.

There was a thought that Felicity Jones' character, Jyn Erso, would end up defecting to the Empire before the film was over. While that could potentially still happen, the reason behind the TIE pilot uniform has been explained - she's undercover. Makes sense, really.

We called it that Ben Mendelsohn would be playing a Grand Admiral. We were wrong and there's official proof we were wrong. Ben Mendelsohn's character is... (drum-roll) Director Orson Krennic. He's been described as a manipulative, back-stabbing, highly-calculating sort who is an opposite figure to the likes of Peter Cushing. What does all that mean? Not sure, to be honest. All we know is Ben Mendelsohn is one of the best actors working today and seeing him in a Star Wars movie is just the best. His relationship with Darth Vader is going to be a major point in the film, as Mendelsohn's character is all about trying to curry favour with the Emperor and avoiding the wrath of Darth Vader in the process.

Another shot of the Deathtroopers. Yes, that IS a little Stormtrooper figure and no, it's not a behind-the-scenes shot. That little action figure plays into the whole world. What way and why, we've no idea. Could it be that merchandising opportunities have stretched to a galaxy far, far away? If Disney have anything to do with it, the answer is yes.

One of the key points that director Gareth Edwards has put across in any of the interview he's done is that the absence of the Jedi is really felt through this film. That said, Donnie Yen's character is supposed to be an "adherent" of the Force, but not strictly a Jedi. Whatever that means. The relationship between Chirrut Imwe (Yen) and Baze Malbus (Jiang Wen) has been equated to C3P0 and R2D2, however Wen's said to be much more gruffer and blunter about doubting the Force and, by extension, Yen's character.

Another very cool point that Gareth Edwards brought up was the location of the battle scenes. From what we saw in the trailer, it looks like a major setpiece takes place on a beautiful beach during sunset - sorta like something from World War II's South Pacific campaigns. That, according to Edwards, was exactly what they were after. "There’s this sort of South Pacific, tropical paradise planet that subconsciously leads into some of the imagery associated with World War II."

That's K2SO, voiced by Firefly's Alan Tudyk. Done completely through motion-capture, you'll also notice that he's in stark difference to C3P0's glimmering surfaces. Agian, that's intentional - K2SO is supposed to be much more gruff and utilitarian than Threepio, and according to Edwards, has a "dry delivery. He doesn't realise what he's saying is very funny."

Last, but by no means least, is Riz Ahmed's character, Bodhi Rook. Described as a short-tempered, but incredibly gifted pilot, Ahmed's character helps the team with his technical skills and - we're guessing - his piloting skills. Again, going by the earlier image, he too is undercover - hence the TIE pilot uniform.

On top of all these images, we also got a ton of information on what Rogue One will look and sound like. One of the key points that was stressed is that this is a Star Wars film, with the Wars underlined. Those reshoot rumours were addressed directly by Edwards, who reiterated our early report that reshoots were always planned.

Not only that, the tone of the film has been locked in from day one - so why change it now? We'll be expecting another trailer around the time of Star Wars Celebration next month, but in the meantime, let us know what you make of it all in the comments below!

Via EW.com