We're now 137 days out from Rogue One's release date and, little by little, we're seeing more information creep out online.
As we already reported, Darth Vader is going to be make an appearance and will be making a big impact on the film. There were sneaking suspicions and rumours that Han Solo - specifically, a younger Han Solo played by Alden Ehrenreich - would have a small cameo in the film, however director Gareth Edwards has shot that one down.
"I can put it to bed," said Edwards with a certain degree of finality. It was much the same for Hayden Christensen as well, who was also rumoured to have been spotted on set. Kathleen Kennedy, Lucasfilm's head honcho, debunked that rumour, but failed to confirm where exactly Rogue One ends in relation to Episode IV: A New Hope.
Many believed that Alden Ehrenreich's confirmation at Star Wars Celebration was also a sort-of confirmation about Han Solo's appearance in Rogue One, however it appears that that was nothing more than a nice little photo op for him. It's a shame that it'll be another couple of years before we see Alden Ehrenreich's take on the character, but trying to crowbar Han Solo into Rogue One was always going to be difficult.
For one thing, the film's already got an iconic character from the original trilogy in there and, secondly, it seems unlikely than Han Solo would be anywhere near any of the events that are due to take place in the film. Plus, if he was in the film, you'd just have people complaining that his character was forced in for no other reason other than fan service.
As it stands, there's early talk that Alden Ehrenreich and Han Solo will be getting a trilogy of films that'll follow the character through his early days, with Phil Lord and Chris Miller's film kicking it all off.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is slated for a December 14th release here in Ireland.