Other Characters We'd Like To See In Rogue One
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is set to feature a cast of characters we've never seen before. We'll also get a young Han Solo, and as was accidentally revealed by LEGO at the Nuremberg Toy Fair, probably Boba Fett in his famous Slave One ship. An adventure set between the events of Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope, Rogue One needs a few characters to bridge the 20-year gap between films. So, which familiar Star Wars characters could make an appearance without seeming like they're totally just slapped in there to sell action figures?
Chewbacca
Our pal Chewy made a very strange appearance at the end of Revenge of the Sith as he was thanked by Yoda for his service against the burgeoning Empire. Maybe Rogue One can legitimize Chewy's unexpected involvement by explaining that whole Wookiee connection in a sensible way. Plus, wouldn't it be cool to see Chewbacca kickin' it up with a whole new rebel crew? The answer is a definitive maybe.
Darth Maul
Sith Lord Darth Maul was one of the cool parts of The Phantom Menace, and even though we saw him get chopped in half and fall down an apparently bottomless pit into space, we know that he's still alive. In The Clone Wars animated series, it was revealed that Maul had actually landed in some garbage and had his legs replaced by a weird and terrifying robot-spider body. After a few more years of adventures and a revenge quest against Obi-Wan Kenobi, Maul was last seen trying to overthrow Emperor Palpatine himself before escaping into the depths of the galaxy. Throw the guy a double-sided bone and give him a real conclusion to his story.
Jabba the Hutt
It's been stated that Rogue One kind of has a "no Jedi" rule, so aside from The Force, what's the one power in the universe that could actually be really interesting? It's not politics, as the Prequel Trilogy so deftly proved, but following the money has some real potential. Hutt's criminal empire and connections have historically played a role in the formation of the Empire, but Jabba's a guy who really just does whatever's the most profitable. How many credits does it take to get Jabba to hire a few dozen disposable Bothan spies to steal some Death Star plans? Or does he only take payment in things he can eat or torture?
IG-88
The assassin droid with the soda can head and all of his bounty hunter buddies would make a pretty incredible addition to Rogue One's cast of outcasts. It's important to remember that Boba Fett and his ilk aren't inherently villainous, but will sell their services to whatever interest pays them more. It's completely possible that an inscrutable droid like IG-88 would be the best double agent in the universe; he's efficient, you can't read his emotions, and you can pay him in bitcoins or whatever. Let's see some morally ambiguous hunters for hire, this time on the side of the Rebellion.
Jar Jar Binks
After The Phantom Menace, it's obvious that George Lucas put Jar Jar back on his meds, because Binks' subsequent appearances aren't quite as terrible as one would've expected. By the end of Revenge of the Sith, he's pretty much a functioning member of society, so he's probably still around during the events of Rogue One. Mr. Binks went from deplorable to mostly bearable, and we'd like to see where the guy ended up—even if it's just to see his withered body wasting away in a space-home for recovering morons, telling stories of rogues gone by.
C-3PO and R2-D2
It's just not Star Wars without a paranoid droid fretting his way through every other scene and walking around like he really needs to find a bathroom. While ol' Goldenrod may not be too important of a character, R2 seems to be the thread that ties the entire Star Wars universe together. Forget about The Force, because this robot is full of secret star maps, hidden lightsabers, messages from princesses, garbage smasher knowledge, and he's never gone through a memory wipe, so he's equipped with more secrets than most Jedi. There's no doubt that these two droids are involved in the Rebellion somehow, in service to the Organa family during this period, so they absolutely have to show up.
General Grievous
If you didn't watch The Clone Wars before you saw Revenge of the Sith, the appearance of General Grievous probably didn't make any sense. Grievous' entire story plays out during the animated series, and he's a pretty decent character, but there's something about evil dudes in Star Wars building things with gaping holes that expose sensitive parts. Whether it's a Death Star exhaust port or a cyborg's alien heart just hanging out on display, these obvious weaknesses have to stop. As a robot alien with access to cloning technology, we'd like to see Grievous 2.0 spell actual trouble for the Rebels this time around. Plus, it's a solid way to introduce lightsabers around the whole "no Jedi" thing.
Max Rebo
What has to go wrong in your life for you to choose a gig in the middle of an unrelentingly dead desert where you play exclusively for a morally repugnant criminal and his violent friends? We're not saying that we want a full backstory on the blue elephant, but seeing a sad Rebo trying to stay warm over a vent on some backwater planet, playing a space-trumpet for spare change, would explain a lot. And someone needs to be there to play the sad trombone sound anytime C-3PO opens his mouth.