When news leaked that Rogue One, the latest addition to the Star Wars franchise, would forgo the traditional crawl that has set the stage for its seven predecessors, fans panicked. Would it still be a Star War without the iconic opening?
But in the days leading up to Thursday’s theatrical release, fans did what they do best, generating countless options for how director Gareth Edwards might have included the crawl in his screenplay after all.
Some opted for the more sincere route, laying out the path as we understand it from the tail end of Episode III and before the start of A New Hope:
@TheRochaSays @ReillyAround @SineaddeVries #mailbag Made this to watch before Rogue One starts to help with the inevitable crawl withdrawal. pic.twitter.com/smw31yRTBA
— Colin W (@Flowrs4Alderaan) December 4, 2016
View post on imgur.comOthers, predictably, went a bit more absurd with the creative opportunity. (This is the internet, after all.)
'Rogue One' won't have an opening crawl, so we made our own https://t.co/CBYppCN69O pic.twitter.com/rmRH697GTg
— The Ringer (@ringer) December 14, 2016
https://twitter.com/saladinahmed/status/808826616013029376
EXCLUSIVE: the leaked opening crawl from inside the #RogueOne #TheForceAwakens theater! pic.twitter.com/6N1U55F6k8
— Cal Cagno Radio (@CalCagnoRadio) December 16, 2016
https://twitter.com/StarWarsJunk/status/805214499364073473
Now that the film is out, some viewers have said they didn’t miss the gigantic yellow text after all, while others turned to these parodies to sate their withdrawal.
Enjoyed Rogue One. Probably 4th favorite of the Star Wars movies. But can we all agree to never, ever cut the opening crawl again.
— Justin Martin (@Justin_Martin23) December 16, 2016
Just in case Rian Johnson feels like putting his own spin on the opening scene for Episode VIII, or Phil Lord and Christopher Miller get any funny ideas about the young Han Solo spinoff film, we humbly suggest this guy had the right idea:
The only opening crawl I want to see at #RogueOne is George Lucas on his hands and knees, begging for forgiveness for the prequels.
— Tom Appleton (@thetomappleton) December 5, 2016
Correction 8:03am CT, Dec. 22: A previous version of this article misstated Rian Johnson’s affiliation with the Star Wars films: He is directing Episode VIII, not the Han Solo spinoff.