The fantasy story of a female-led insurgency against a domineering Empire seemed like space opera escapism only a few days ago. But now that people are protesting the election of Donald Trump in cities across the US, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story—and its ragtag group of rebels out to defeat a new regime—feels a lot more au courant than it did just last week.
We got the final US trailer last month, but now there’s an international trailer that gives even more information about how Jyn Erso and the rest of her team steal the plans for the Empire's super weapon. This new trailer is also far more forthcoming about that plot—like, for example, Jyn finally actually utters the words, "Death Star," and there are shots of the space station moving. It’s kind of terrifying to see it rise in the sky above a planet, get in position for a weapons test, and destroy the surface of it while blotting out the sun.
Less terrifying are the new shots that flash back to Jyn’s childhood. A woman, presumably Jyn's mother, puts a necklace with a clear crystal around her neck. Jyn is still wearing that crystal as an adult—part of the mounting evidence that it’s a kyber crystal, the mineral used to create lightsabers, and the raw material the Empire seeks on the planet Jedha to create the main weapon on the Death Star.
And for an orphaned delinquent who gets broken out of prison to lead this team, Jyn is also quite inspiring. At the end of the trailer, she's imploring an unknown audience, "We’ll take the next chance, and the next, until we win, or the chances are spent."
Rogue One hits theaters December 16.
