The first and totally understandable question you might have when diving into the new Krennic Imperial Shuttle Lego set from the upcoming Star Wars: Rogue One movie is, who or what the heck is a “Krennic?”
A picture at the bottom of the box provides a clue. Krennic is indeed a “he”—or more specifically, the white-cape-wearing Director Krennic. Some judicious Googling turns up more information.
Peter Nowak
Orson Krennic, played by Ben Mendelsohn in the movie, is the director of advanced weapons research for the Imperial military. In a nutshell, he’s the guy responsible for building the Death Star.
Such a notorious figure in fictional history should have a suitably nefarious-looking ride, which is where his Imperial Shuttle comes in.
Krennic’s ship borrows design elements from previous Star Wars films, looking like a hybrid of the Emperor’s shuttle from Return of the Jedi and Kylo Ren’s ominous transport in The Force Awakens.
Peter Nowak
Krennic’s shuttle is topped by a shark-like fin, and its wings fold down like the Emperor’s shuttle, but its black color exudes the same bad-ass vibe as Ren’s.
Details of Star Wars movie plot points are generally closely guarded secrets, which is what makes the release of new Lego sets before the associated film so interesting. Lego has a habit of spoiling such information—see the inclusion of a Giant-Man figure in a Marvel set ahead of this summer’s Captain America: Civil War.
That said, the Krennic shuttle set doesn’t give too much away—or at least not without doing some further research and connecting-of-dots.
Aside from the head honcho himself, the set also includes two Imperial Death Trooper minifigures. Some more Googling reveals them to be black-clad variants of Stormtroopers who serve the Empire’s military intelligence division.
There’s also K-250, which Wookieepedia confirms to be an Imperial enforcer droid. All of these characters show up in the various trailers released so far.
The other two included minifigures, Bodhi Rook and Pao, introduce some intrigue and potential spoilers. Bodhi Rook, it seems, is a former Imperial pilot who defects to the Rebel Alliance. Pao is a commando who helps with the theft of the Death Star plans.
Peter Nowak
Their inclusion is curious. What are a pair of Rebel-affiliated characters doing with a bunch of evil Imperials? Hmm… could it be they’re somehow involved with stealing Krennic’s shuttle?
We’ll know soon enough as Rogue One hits theatres on Dec. 14, but if that does turn out to be the case, blame Lego for spoiling it.
Otherwise, the $89 set itself is a good build. At 863 pieces, it’s a relatively quick job that requires only an hour or two.
The ship comes in four basic sections: two wings, the main body and the fin. The body is surprisingly functional, with the sloped sides, front hull and back flap all folding open to reveal the innards.
The Death Troopers can man the ship’s guns in the front while Krennic himself sits in the cockpit above them. Additional troops can also fit in the side cargo bays.
Peter Nowak
The wings are supported by ball-bearing-like elements, which means they fold smoothly but still maintain some weight and solidity. The ship also sits on retractable ski-like landing gear.
If there’s a downside to Krennic’s Imperial Shuttle, the Lego version, it’s that it doesn’t come with a stand. Lego tends to reserve such extra gear for its high-end Ultimate Collector series, leaving us to either build our own or improvise if we want to see the shuttle in its full extended glory.
Peter Nowak
Alas, balancing the Death Star architect’s evil-looking ship on top of a cat scratching post somehow takes away from its mystique. It’s not a fate that Krennic, whoever he is, would likely approve of.
Brickrolled is a monthly Lego review column by Peter Nowak. You can read about his previous builds here.