How Rogue One Validated Me as a Star Wars Fan

On the fifth birthday of Rogue One, I wanted to take a moment and talk about why this is my favorite Star Wars film. Sure, there is the story which is great. It has some of the best cinematic shots and battles in the franchise. I love each of the characters from Bodhi Rook (the true hero of all of Star Wars) to the delightfully campy Director Krennic. It’s one of my favorite journeys of Darth Vader, from seeing him just as Anakin in the bacta tank transforming to the murderous monster at the end. I adore everything about this movie from beginning to end.

But what I wanted to talk about today is why I fell in love with this movie before it ever came out. I found fandom validation in Rogue One through my love of the animated Star Wars shows.

Animation is my first love. Clone Wars was my gateway into Star Wars fandom (I wrote about it at length here for my Star Wars story). That series got me through some of the hardest times in my life, always a place I could return to. I met friends through Clone Wars, started podcasting, and it helped me figure out what career I wanted. While mostly online, it was great to finally be part of the Star Wars fandom.

About 2014, I became a manager for a comic book store which was a dream job that I loved. I got into the new Marvel Star Wars comics meeting great new characters like Doctor Aphra. The Kanan comic was actually my first exposure to Star Wars Rebels. I had no idea who these people were, though I was very intrigued. But it was also the first time I came across the negative side of the Star Wars fandom in person.

Star Wars was a popular debate topic in the comic shop as this was right around when The Force Awakens came out. Everything was new. There were comics and books being released. Of course, there was discourse about the Extended Universe going into Legends, but people were still genuinely excited for new content.

Except for one particular part which was animation. Because whenever I would bring up Clone Wars or Star Wars Rebels, which was in its early seasons at the time, these male fans would scoff at me. And yes, the majority of them were men. Actually, most of the women who I would talk Star Wars with were fans of animation too.

These comic bros would tell me that wasn’t “REAL” Star Wars, because it wasn’t on the movie screens. Which baffled me because I would say that Clone Wars and Rebels were canon. The comics coming out were canon. But these guys would say movies and the EU were the only things that actually mattered. If I pushed back, they would berate me and my merit as a fan. It was harassment. I was harassed for months at my job for being a fan of Star Wars animation. Some even went so far to call me an idiot to my face.

It was difficult at times. For the work side of things, it’s retail. I couldn’t just walk away from the argument, because I had a store to run. I couldn’t call security over a Star Wars debate. Usually if I gave a warning that they would have to leave the store for calling me an idiot, they normally knocked it off until the next time they came back to try their luck again. It made existing as a female Star Wars fan really exhausting.

Which was crushing. I loved the shows so much. Because now to go along with Clone Wars, I had Rebels too. I was introduced to the Ghost crew. Each of them was inspiring in their own ways. Kanan was an amazing unconventional Jedi who survived his own trauma of Order 66. Hera and Sabine were fantastic women who were equals to the men on the crew. Ezra was a bright ray of sunlight to make me smile. Zeb was honorable and brave. Heck, I named my cat Zeb, because I love that character so much. The Ghost crew was becoming just as important to me as any Clone Wars character.

It was also personal too. As I said, Clone Wars helped me through some of the hardest times in my life like losing our house to foreclosure (again see my Star Wars story for details). How could it not be “REAL” Star Wars when it meant so much to so many people like me?

But because they weren’t on a movie screen, they apparently didn’t count to some people.

And then on June 22nd, 2016, a miraculous thing happened. I was at work when I saw that Rogue One was trending on Twitter. When I checked the news, my heart stopped. Forest Whitaker was going to play Saw Gerrera in Rogue One. A Clone Wars character! An animated character was coming to live-action for a movie!

I checked another news source just to make sure it was true. And then another. And then three more. I would go home that night and check a few other sources in case I had imagined it.

Right there behind the counter in my comic book store, I started crying. It was a Wednesday, new comic book day. There were customers there to pick up their pulls for the week. My coworker didn’t know why I was suddenly crying, but he was happy to watch the store for me while I stepped in the back for a few minutes to gather myself again. And I cried more in the break room.

It was relief. It was pride. It was complete validation after being harassed for months about something I loved so much. Those jerks couldn’t come into my store and call me stupid for loving animation. Because now according to their terms, it was REAL Star Wars. Saw Gerrera was going to be on the big screen. He was going to be in the movie alongside the rest of the cast. I fell in love with Rogue One that moment, half a year before it ever hit theaters.

Of course, more news came out. The Ghost and Chopper would make cameos bringing Star Wars Rebels into live-action. While Mon Mothma and Bail Organa got their start in live-action, they both had their Clone Wars counterparts too. Hera’s name was shouted out in one scene. And after the movie premiered, Rogue One has been folded into the animated shows and games becoming an important piece of Star Wars lore.

To me, Rogue One is the canon gold standard. It’s what The Rise of Skywalker should have been. It bridged trilogies together, featured animated characters, and touched on the books and comics all in one film. It continues to prove over and over why it’s important. With Disney+, “REAL” Star Wars is looking very comfortable in a television format. I wish I could speak to those harassing men now with shows like The Mandalorian dominating pop culture. I can only wait to see what more we get with Andor coming.

So yeah, Rogue One is my favorite Star Wars movie for the characters, story, and its purpose in the franchise. But for personal reasons and to be a little petty, it allowed me to look the men who harassed me right in the face and go “Well actually, animation is REAL Star Wars, because of Rogue One.”