Everything you need to know about the cast of 'Rogue One,' the first 'Star Wars' spin-off movie

"Rogue One" is going to be a different kind of "Star Wars" film. 

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The first of three planned spin-off movies to be released in the years between Episodes VII-IX, they're an opportunity to tell stories in the "Star Wars" universe with a different sort of feel than the grand space opera fans know and love.

"Rogue One" takes place before "Episode IV: A New Hope" and tells the story of a group of resistance fighters and their mission to steal the plans for the Death Star. At this summer's recent D23 expo, the movie's cast was unveiled — and though we don't know the name of their characters or what roles they'll be playing, it's a pretty exciting bunch. 

Rogue One Cast
Most of the cast of "Rogue One" was shown off at D23 in the first official cast image for "Rogue One." Disney

Get to know the cast of "Rogue One":

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Felicity Jones finally gets a big role after getting nominated for an Oscar last year.

felicity jones
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More than any other cast member in this movie, there's some heavy speculation about who Jones will be playing in this movie. The favorite rumor right now is that she's the daughter of Boba Fett — but that's one to take with an enormous grain of salt given that Boba Fett is a name that is always thrown around by speculators whenever there's a "Star Wars" mystery to solve. 

While Jones has been acting since the late '90s — she's appeared on shows like "Doctor Who" and had a minor role in "Amazing Spider-Man 2" that would have ostensibly led to a bigger part in the now-scrapped series — she received much acclaim (and an Oscar nomination) for playing Jane Hawking opposite Eddie Redmayne in the Stephen Hawking bio pic "The Theory of Everything."

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Ben Mendelsohn will likely play an intense villain.

Ben Mendelsohn
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A character actor with a penchant for playing villainous people in the States and a longtime leading man in his native Australia, Ben Mendelsohn is an actor you've almost certainly seen (most likely as Dagget in "The Dark Knight Rises") but whose face you'll likely recognize more than his name.

Mendelsohn is an intense, unsettling performer in his best roles (like Danny Rayburn in Netflix's "Bloodline"), and given that he doesn't seem to be pictured with Felicity Jones in the released cast photo, he might be playing a villain.

He does look like he'd be a good fit for an Imperial uniform, no?

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Mexican actor Diego Luna also appears to suit up with the Rogue One team.

Diego Luna
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A Mexican actor who exploded on the scene with 2001's "Y Tu Mamá También," Diego Luna spent much of his career in Spanish-language cinema, occasionally surfacing in big films like  "The Terminal" and landing a pivotal role in the Academy Award-nominated "Milk." 

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Hong Kong action legend Donnie Yen returns to Hollywood.

Donnie Yen
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Martial arts movie fans, this one's for you. 

While "Rogue One" isn't Hong Kong actor and stuntman Donnie Yen's big Hollywood debut (that distinction goes to "Blade II"), it is the Chinese superstar's first big American blockbuster. 

Want to know why it's so cool that Yen is in this movie? Have you seen "Ip Man"? You should see "Ip Man." 

 

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Forest Whitaker is a versatile, award-winning talent.

Forrest Whitaker
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Forest Whitaker needs no introduction. The Academy Award-winning actor (for playing Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in "The Last King of Scotland") has played parts in both critically acclaimed films like "The Butler" and big blockbusters like "Taken 3." He's also had stints on long-running TV shows like "ER" and "The Shield." Given his versatility, it'll be interesting to see what he ends up doing in "Rogue One." 

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Mads Mikkelsen will bring his understated intensity to the cast.

mads mikkelsen
Vittorio Zunino Celotto / Getty Images

We recommend a lot of things here, but few of them as highly as NBC's "Hannibal," Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen's TV home for the past few years (and sadly, not much longer) where he reinvented the titular role of Dr. Hannibal Lecter. 

More famously, Mikkelsen starred as Le Chiffre, the primary villain opposite Daniel Craig in "Casino Royale," displaying all of the same cool, dispassionate intensity that makes him so magnetic in "Hannibal."

He'd make a great villain, but an even more interesting hero. Either way, we're excited he's here. 

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Fan-favorite actor Alan Tudyk will appear as a CGI character.

Alan Tudyk
Imeh Akpanudosen/Getty Images

Alan Tudyk — who became a cult icon for his portrayal of Wash in the canceled TV series "Firefly" and its big-screen follow-up "Serenity" — is another one of the few actors with a role in "Rogue One" that we have few details on. 

The full cast and crew list on StarWars.com notes Tudyk will play "a performance-capture character," and not much else. Tudyk is known for his big personality and great sense of humor, both things that haven't yet been indicated by the (admittedly very scant) details released so far. 

If anyone's going to liven this bunch up, it might as well be him. 

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Riz Ahmed follows up on one of the most unsettling movies of last year.

Riz Ahmed
Neilson Barnard

After delivering a great performance opposite Jake Gyllenhaal in last year's "Nightcrawler," it looks like the British-born Riz Ahmed is on the cusp of breaking big.

Previously, Ahmed was known for starring in the BAFTA-winning 2006 film "Four Lions," a comic farce about a group of bumbling British Jihadists. 

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Jiang Wen is a bona fide, controversial filmmaker.

Jiang Wen
Andreas Rentz/Getty Images

A full-fledged filmmaker in his own right, Jiang Wen is the actor/writer/director behind a number of films — like the 2012 action-comedy Western "Let the Bullets Fly" and the dark 2000 World War II satire "Devils on the Doorstep" — a film that was banned in his native China.

Whatever his role is, it's absolutely fascinating that Wen was cast in this movie, and he makes a strong addition to a talented, international cast. 

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