Rogue One [Speculation] The 501st Legion in Rogue One

With Vader rumored to appear in Rogue One, and the opening scene of ANH being an immediate result of the events of Rogue One, I've been wondering if the Stormtrooper Legion That Can Shoot will appear in Rogue One. Could we learn the identities of some of them? Might they appear at the end to slaughter the heroes with Vader?

 

Me likey this idea.

 

Maybe members of the real-life 501st could play them.

 

Ha, how fun would that be? Every fan's dream come true.

Will we see Daine Jir?

 

I hope so. It's about time.

 

What I don't understand about the old EU is that it had stories about random cantina people but nothing about Daine Jir.

 

That I will never understand. Surely standing up to Vader and then being addressed as "Commander" by Vader > hanging out in a cantina?

 

Think of all the kickass missions the 501st and Daine Jir would have under Vader. Seeing a glimpse of that on the silver screen would be great.

 

^^^^^^^^^^^^ This can't be repeated enough.

 

Yes please!

 

I think they would be stationed around high priority targets (especially something involving the Death Star) or to crush uprisings, so it's easy to imagine elite troops, such as this legion, appearing in Rogue One. That aside... It would be nice to finally have some capable and dedicated stormtroopers... Their reputation overall could use some improvement on the big screen.

As Vader gets involved, and the 501st is called "Vader's Fist", we may just see them in action... That aside, anything that explores the inner workings of the Imperial military machine is welcome.

 

even better if one of them just so happens to be voiced by Morrison.

 

If the image doesn't show up, quote it and copy-paste the url.

 

You guys know I've been nigh-obsessed with confirming that the Imperial 501st even made it into canon. And all along, I keep thinking how great it would be to read about "Vader's Fist" in a novel like Torrent Company, or maybe even get to see them come alive in Rebels.

But to actually see the 501st in Rogue One? Now that would be a dream come true.

- Marching alongside Vader? Check.
- Actually referred to as the "five-oh-first"/"Vader's Fist" in the film? Yep.
- And yes, canonically identifying the soldiers in Vader's Tantive IV boarding party as coming from the Legion (and then seeing those 'same' troopers again on the big screen, some forty years after we first met them in ANH)?

"Yes, please" to all of that! Every little bit.


And who knows? Maybe, in those leaked set pictures, we've already had our first sneak-peek at Vader's Fist?

Argh! I cannot express how excited I am to see Stormtroopers in a movie again!

 

Can someone run me through who the 501st are? I thought they were just fans that dressed up... Are they actually anything from the films??

 

The blue-color-coded clone legion seen with Anakin in TCW and ROTS is the 501st. It's named after the fans. According to Battlefront II, this same legion is what we see in the opening scene of ANH.

 

Oh okay...cool!

 

Actually the 501st are already canon as they were named so numerous times on screen in TCW.

I don't think it's mentioned anywhere in canon that the Stormtroopers featured at the start of ANH are the 501st, remembering that Battlefront is Legends so that doesn't count.

The Troopers who attack the Jedi Temple in ROTS with Anakin/Vader are known to be the 501st, but it isn't mentioned anywhere in any canon resources that I'm aware of so who they are is debatable - even the Wook doesn't confirm this.

Interestingly, it's not beyond reason to think that by the time of ANH the 501st doesn't actually exist or has been disbanded, how ironic would that be!

 

Apologies for the double post, but I needed to clarify a point in my last entry and I missed the opportunity to Edit it.

Re the Troopers in ROTS who attack the Jedi Temple with Anakin/Vader. It's mentioned in Wook that it IS the 501st involved in this, however, my point is there's no actual canon reference to the name anywhere. In other words, it's as if someone, somewhere said "yep, it's the 501st" and everyone just accepted it.

 

Well actually it is confirmed that Vader's personal battalion is the 501st nicknamed Vader's fist http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/501st_Legion/Canon

 

Yep.


The Clone Wars canonized the 501st as a Republic clone outfit serving under General Skywalker/Lord Vader during the Clone War. That much is rock-solid.

As for the clones sacking the Jedi Temple in the ROTS? Yes, they were canonically the 501st. We know this because they are the same troops who rolled with Anakin all throughout the war (who, again, were referred to, on-screen, as "the 501st" during TCW). [Fun fact: Per the Season 2 trailer, we will soon hear former Captain Rex make mention of his having served during the war as part of the "501st Clone Battalion" in an upcoming episode of Rebels. Interesting if for no other reason than it calls into question whether the 501st were officially known as the "501st Legion" or "Battalion") during the Clone War?]

The question has always been whether the 501st survived as a unit into the Imperial period? So far, the only mention of it is in some of the literature JKF referred to. Don't get me wrong: It's a start. But as I mentioned before, I'd feel a lot better about it if we hear mention of "Vader's Fist"/the 501st on-screen in an upcoming work.

Either Rebels or Rogue One would be a welcome place to start.

 

You're right it is listed there thanks to an entry in the "Everything you need to know" book.

I was just asking whether the legion still existed by the time of ANH because nowhere in canon sources does it state the Stormtroopers at the start of ANH are the 501st - though they probably are.

Just changing tact a bit, now here's a mind bending question for you.

Would a screen used Stormtrooper costume from the OT (and Rogue One) gain automatic approval into the costuming group? Considering their requirements are "movie quality" costumes, you can't get more movie quality than the real thing used in the movie itself - even though anyone who has worked in the movie business knows that film costumes are quite often poorly constructed. Hmmm, an interesting conundrum for sure

 

In Star Wars #12:

Spoiler

A character mentions being a member of "Vader's Fist".

 

This is such welcome news!

Now if they can just show up alongside Vader in Rogue One (and someone new playing Jir showing up wouldn't hurt, either), it would be ideal.

 

Oh, and he is also a complete badass! Doesn't hurt, doesn't hurt at all.