Watch: HK action star Donnie Yen, armed with a stick, battles ‘Star Wars’ stormtroopers in first ‘Rogue One’ trailer
It is unlikely to make as big a splash as The Force Awakens but the first trailer for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story has at least caused a ripple in the Force - and fans of Donnie Yen get a glimpse of the Hong Kong kung-fu star in action.
Most of the attention surrounding the 100-second teaser released Thursday focussed on the similarity between female lead Felicity Jones, who plays the titular rogue, and Awakens heroine Rey, portrayed by Daisy Ridley.
But an all-too-brief segment shows Yen surrounded by stormtroopers, whom he takes out armed not with a light sabre, but with a stick - a quarterstaff, technically, according to fan discussion.
People have been trying to work out Rey’s place in the Star Wars family tree since December - with fans speculating that she could be Luke Skywalker’s daughter or Obi-Wan Kenobi’s granddaughter - but many took to Twitter to claim Jones’ character Jyn Erso could be her mother.
“For dudes concerned abt keeping Rey & Jyn straight in your minds, use whatever flashcards/mnemonic devices that helped you figure Luke & Han,” LucasFilm creative Paul Hidalgo advised in a sardonic tweet.
Philadelphia-based film writer Scott Weinberg observed that “you could count the important women in the first six Star Wars movies on one hand - nice to see the pendulum swing the other way now.”