One of the most notable aspects of Rogue One, the first Star Wars spinoff film, was its lack of Jedi. For the first time, a robed, lightsaber-wielding Force user didn’t leap into the picture and save the day. Instead, we saw another facet of the Force through Chirrut ÃŽmwe, a Guardian of the Whills. But reportedly, an actual Jedi was named in the script at one point: Rahm Kota from the video game The Force Unleashed.
Screen Rant caught the news (via Slashfilm) from La Fosa del Rancor, a Star Wars podcast. Film director Marcos Cabota appeared on the show and shared a story about a pal who auditioned for Rogue One. The name Rahm Kota appeared in the script pages. Cabota said, “They were talking about a Jedi, who then did not appear in the movie but did appear somehow … Rham Kota was in Rogue One, I can tell you, he was a blind Jedi.”
In the game, Kota was blinded by Starkiller, Darth Vader‘s apprentice. He’s a fan favorite character, and it can feel like a warm and fuzzy hug to see a Legends character brought into the current storytelling universe. It’s not unreasonable to think they’d be bringing faces from the past into new stories. See Exhibit A: Grand Admiral Thrawn, among many other examples.
But, the presence of Kota’s name could simply have been a placeholder or code name of sorts for Chirrut. While he wasn’t a Force user, Chirrut was blind like Kota and aware of the Force. I’m glad they went the route they did because in the years between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope, there shouldn’t be tons of Jedi roaming the galaxy. We’ve already seen a few more than I would prefer, so I’m happy Rogue One didn’t feature yet another one.
Are you glad we had a character like Chirrut instead a of a Jedi? Use the Force to leave your thoughts in the comments.
Images: LucasArts, Lucasfilm, Disney, Giphy
Amy Ratcliffe is an Associate Editor for Nerdist. Follow her on Twitter and keep up with her Disney food adventures on Instagram.
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