Star Wars prequels are rubbish, right? Well, maybe not. The trailer for the film series' new spinoff has just been released, and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story looks like it has absolutely nailed the iconic look and feel of the original trilogy, just like last year's The Force Awakens. Suddenly, the slightly pensive fan community has united in a collective shout of "I'm in".
As you'll note from the trailer – below – it's not hard to see why. The plot, about a team of rebels dispatched to steal the plans for the Death Star in the days before Episode IV: A New Hope, has allowed British director Gareth Edwards to interweave plenty of classic references and characters with brand new ideas.
But while there's a new storyline and plenty of new faces, it seems from this two-minute window into Rogue One that Star Wars can't help itself from telling the same basic story: of a universe faced with rising evil, and a band of spiritually-inspired rebels hanging on to the belief that they can defeat it against all odds.
Like almost every one of its predecessors, it looks as if Rogue One is going to provide a pretty good allegory for the Christian faith. In fact, even the trailer itself seems to do a good job of illustrating the Christian life. Here are just a few of the highlights, what they might mean for Star Wars fans, and how they seem to intersect rather well with a Christian view of the world...
"The world is coming undone"
The portentous tone of the trailer suggests that things are about to get pretty bad for the good people of the universe, who are suddenly living in the shadow of the ultimate weapon of mass destruction. There's a sense in the words of Forrest Whittaker's character Saw Gerrera that hope is almost lost; it's the sort of almost overwhelming darkness that the Bible describes in John 1:5. Fortunately in both the Bible and the Star Wars universe, there an unvanquishable light shining within it.
"I fear nothing; all is as the force wills it"
Baze Malbus (Jiang Wen) refers to the spiritual thread in the Star Wars universe, the Holy-Spirit-like force which empowers and guides the followers of the light. Not only does he display faith in a guiding power outside of himself, he also surrenders his fears as a result. That chimes with Paul's words in 2 Timothy 1:7: "for God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and love and self-control."
"There isn't much time... every day they grow stronger"
There's a huge urgency to the rebel cause; the evil Empire's 'kingdom' is advancing day by day. The Bible puts the same equation a different way round, but is no less urgent: "Repent," says Jesus, "for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matthew 3:2), while at the very end of the Bible, John writes that Jesus says "Yes, I am coming quickly" (Revelation 22:20). As a result, in both 'universes' the protagonists need to get on with the job at hand, whether that's undermining the Death Star or making disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19).
"This is our chance to make a real difference"
Rogue One is a brilliant idea – a relatively small story which takes place in the background of the main narrative and helps to set up the events of the 'bigger' movies. As Felicity Jones' lead character Jyn Erso puts it, this is a group of normal people's opportunity to have a say in the future of the whole universe. In a way, that's exactly the offer made by Jesus to his followers. In a world searching for significance and purpose, that's a vital message that perhaps we don't share often enough.
"Are you with me?"
Finally, Jones' character asks a question of her friends, but also of the movie-going public, many of whom have been on the fence about whether Disney-produced Star Wars spin-offs could really work. Are they with her? Are we? It's exactly the question that Jesus asks of all of us: do we want to join him in the adventure of a lifetime, making a real difference and facing down the rising darkness in our world?
Like so many other people, I was unsure about Rogue One. The trailer has given me plenty of reasons to feel excited – not just that Edwards has created a compelling new entry into the Star Wars universe, but that he's about to present us with a fantastic illustration of exactly the sort of Christian message that millions of Star Wars fans could respond to.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is released in December 2016.
Martin Saunders is a Contributing Editor for Christian Today and the Deputy CEO of Youthscape. Follow him on Twitter @martinsaunders
