I don't think this trailer has impressed me as much as it has everyone else. I thought it was fine but there is one looming element that seems to be consistent with this film.

That is, nothing feels new. Nothing is surprising. Just on the trailer alone there wasn't any specific moment or shot that made me get excited that hasn't already been shown in previous trailers. The Darth Vader shot was nice. But I've seen Darth Vader plenty of times. I can't get excited for the return of Darth Vader when Darth Vader never really left...

One noticeable problem with some of the scenes shown was the poor use of CGI. I can only assume its from the reshoots that have been going on the past few months for the film but the CGI just didn't connect well with different shots with great CGI. Hopefully it will look better in the final release but who knows. 

I thought the music was just okay. I would've liked the film having its own score instead of just redoing the John Williams themes but clearly not having him compose them. Which can also go along with how the movie looks in terms of cinematography. It very clearly has the modern movie look to it, but does that belong in Star Wars? I just wish there was a bit more style to it, something that reflects the director or cinematographer shooting it.

It does seem like all the side characters are far more interesting then the lead of the film which is concerning. Of course it depends on how the story is told as sometimes it is better to have a more toned down protagonist as they are much more as a vessel for the audience to get into this world. 

I can't say that trailer got me excited but who knows, that could be a good thing when the movie arrives.

 

Its crazy to think that there is another Star Wars movie already on the way right after the release of The Force Awakens!

What is cool is the way this film looks! Edwards knows from experience how to make his moves at least look epic with the darker tones and atmosphere and its cool to see that brought here. My biggest concern is that the films will worry too much about connecting the story to the original trilogy and giving you nostalgia instead of standing on its own.

Rogue One isn't the most interesting story that could be told in this universe, mostly because its going back to prequel territory of explaining events that are much cooler in passing than actually dedicating an entire movie about it but I will reserve judgement until I see the movie myself.

Check out the trailer for yourself!

The Rebellion

We know that there are different factions of the rebellion across the galaxy and the ones we do see mostly through the original trilogy is just one of them. It's not until Return of the Jedi where we do see the rebellion come together with all the different ships and factions to take on the Empire one last time.

Death Star?

Rogue One is coming out next year, and the movie will take place before A New Hope and will focus on how the Rebels stole the Death Star plans from the Empire. How will this connect with Rebels? Well we know that our group have been messing with the Empire for quite a while and by the time the events of Rogue One happen it would have been four years after the star of Rebels. 

The rebellion, at the time it is now airing on Rebels is still in its early stages. You can see different factions coming together, but they are no where near the efficiency to start doing covert missions against the Empire. 
We are also far off from big battle or wars happening between the rebellion and the empire but until that I can see more interactions with the empire.  

In the context of the prequels, we actually get to see the development of the Death Star or at least seeing it in production. Because making a Death Star planet that size is going to take a long time to make so it would be cool to see it before it is finished in some form.

They Won't  

There is still that possibility that the series won't connect to the original trilogy, well at least not directly to it. We have already seen cameos from C-3PO and R2-D2 and some of the other characters that become relevant to the rebellion later on. But there is always a possibility that our group of characters will not become involved in the events of A New Hope, whether they are killed off or just travel to a different faction or become their own sorta ghost faction of the rebellion. Secret from everyone else, which could be cool and could keep the show going for a long time. 

Do you think Rebels will connect to the original trilogy, if so how? or Should they even connect to each other?