Alternate Rogue One Ending?

Posted by Bret on 07/25/18 at 12:46 PM Category: Rogue One

Gary Whitta was one of the people brought in during the early stages of the development of Rogue One. Ultimately, he parted ways from the crew before production began in earnest. We know that there were extensive reshoots and rewrites to the script. Someone on Twitter asked Whitta if he had a different vision for Vader's involvement at the end of the film. Here's what he answered:

The version I pitched (but never wrote) had Vader on the Scarif beach single-handedly slaughtering his way through a Rebel blockade at the base of the Imperial tower. The version in the Raddus hallway works much better because it’s so contained, feels more horror than action. https://t.co/0BLNp2l6YK
— Gary Whitta (@garywhitta) July 23, 2018

While there is only one person on earth who is known to have hated the ending to Rogue One, it was otherwise widely enjoyed by fans. It is still interesting to consider Vader landing on the beach at The Citadel, and slicing and Force-using through Rebel troops in an attempt to stop Jyn and the team from escaping with the plans. It would probably have precluded the almost seamless transition to A New Hope, but still fun to think about.

For a bit more on how Gary Whitta got involved in Rogue One, check out this article from last year on iO9. He was even filmed as X-Wing pilot Grey Leader, but was unfortunately cut from the final version of the film.