We Need to Talk About Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

This weekend marked the opening of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, the latest entry in the nearly 40-year-old film series, and the first "standalone" release to take place outside of the episodic Star Wars installments--that is, of course, if you don't count those WTF (Way Too Fuzzy) Ewoks movies. Rogue One, as you likely know by now, tracks a group of Rebels (played by Felicity Jones and Diego Luna, among others) as they attempt to steal information vital to the Empire's brand-new Death Star. Along the way, they witness daring dogfights and catty robots, and occasionally find themselves face-to-face with beloved galaxy-questers from previous Star Wars films. Rogue One Relatives: 10 More Star Wars Standalone Movies Disney Should Make The Alt-Right Hates Rogue One, Because of Course It Does Want to Really Get Rogue One? Read the Prequel Novel Want to Really Get Rogue One? Read the Prequel Novel Want to Really Get Rogue One? Read the Prequel Novel But as Rogue One chugs along to certain box-office domination, we can't help but wonder: Is this latest Star Wars story really necessary? Or is it merely a temporary diversion--an escape pod--from the dauntingly gargantuan ongoing narrative that is the traditional saga? WIRED's Brian Raftery and Angela Watercutter discuss the movie below--and, lest we be accused of Dianoga-like stealth and sneakiness, we should be upfront about the fact that spoilers are everywhere.