James Earl Jones
Actor James Earl Jones, pictured here at the "The Gin Game" Broadway opening night after party on Oct. 14, 2015 in New York City, is rumored to return to voice the character of Darth Vader in a new "Star Wars" film. Getty

People love the new J.J. Abrams movie “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” despite the fact that the franchise’s most iconic villain wasn’t in it. Fortunately, it looks like Darth Vader may be making his way back to the big screen by way of the upcoming 2016 “Star Wars Anthology” film, “Rogue One.”

According to Making Star Wars, a fan-run website devoted to news about the franchise, a perfect replica of the character’s costume from the original 1977 film “A New Hope” has been designed and built for a role in “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.” However, as any fan of the original movies will note, the costume is only half the character. The outlet, which has had success predicting spoilers for some of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens’” bigger moments, also says that famed actor James Earl Jones will lend his deep and menacing voice to the character once again for a role in “Rogue One.” However, despite the iconic character reportedly returning to the newly invigorated franchise, he won’t necessarily be the film’s main villain.

If the rumors about Vader’s return are true, they would back up previous reports from Birth Movies Death, which reported in July that the dark lord of the Sith would come back for one of the anthology films. Apparently Vader will be pulling strings in the background of the film, but the main villain will be someone else. As the outlet notes, it would make perfect sense for “Rogue One” to include the villain as it takes place prior to the first “Star Wars” film. At that time in the film universe’s fictional history, Darth Vader was not only alive, but practically ruling the galaxy with an iron fist.

Although Darth Vader wasn’t in the record-breaking “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” his presence loomed large over the story, especially the new villain Kylo Ren (Adam Driver). With the character making waves in the new saga, it would make sense to introduce fresh material for Darth Vader when “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” hits theaters on Dec. 16, 2016. The film will focus on a rag-tag group of heroes that are working with the rebels to steal the original plans for the Death Star. As those who watched “A New Hope” will remember, the mission is ultimately successful as the rebels use the stolen plans to blow up the Death Star, but at what cost?

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