Star Wars Rogue One Fans Just Got News To Be Seriously Hyped About

Rogue One's mission may be over, but their story will live on, inspiring a whole new generation of fighters in the Rogue Squadron.

The film was announced today by Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy as part of Disney's Investor Day presentation, which also featured news of a new Ahsoka Tano series and the return of Hayden Christensen as Darth Vader for the upcoming Obi-Wan Kenobi series.

While few details were given about the project, it was confirmed that one of the latest chapters in the ever-expanding Star Wars universe is slated for release sometime in 2023 and will be joined by new series based in the Star Wars universe. It was also revealed that Wonder Woman's Patty Jenkins would helm the feature, making her the first woman to serve as principal director of a Star Wars movie.

Following the announcement, Jenkins posted a video to Twitter revealing why she got involved with the project — and her reasoning is profoundly moving.

"I love to move fast and speed of any kind. I think that that's because I grew up the daughter of a great fighter pilot," Jenkins shared. "And every day I would wake up and go outside and look up, see my father and his squadron taking off in their F4s, roaring across the sky, and it was the most thrilling thing still I've experienced in my entire life."

Jenkins went on to explain that following her father's death "in service to this country," she made it a personal and creative goal to bring her love for her father and his work to the big screen.

"It ignited a desire in me to turn all of that tragedy and thrill into one day, making the greatest fighter pilot movie of all time. But try as I might and look as I did, I couldn't find the right story ever," Jenkins said. "I kept looking and looking. But I just couldn't find the right one. Until now. Now I found a movie about two things I love."

Some fans of the Star Wars universe are likely familiar with the origins of the film's title. The Rogue Squadron, sometimes known as the Rogue Group, was a starfighter team for the Rebel Alliance.

It was formed and founded by none other than Luke Skywalker alongside renowned human pilot Wedge Antilles, the only two survivors of the Red Squadron after their battle with the Galactic Empire and its superweapon, the Death Star, during the civil war. As a squadron of space fighter pilots, the Rogue Squadron was known for flying craft like the T-47 airspeeders, T-65B X-wing starfighters, and on occasion, assault starfighters like the BTL-A4 Y-wing.

The shared "Rogue" title didn't merely skip a generation. The Rogue Squadron was explicitly named after the Rogue One team of rebels, which included Jyn Erso and Cassian Andor — the latter of whom will be leading a Disney+ series, which has already begun filming in London.

For those who might need a refresher, the 2018 stand-alone film featured a rag-tag group of fighters who teamed up and eventually sacrificed themselves to get their hands on the Death Star plans and deliver them to Carrie Fisher's Laia during the Battle of Scarif. The story of Rogue One was both tragic and inspiring, and after hearing Jenkins recounted her love for her father and his work as a fighter pilot, it's easy to understand why she'd want to helm a feature that keeps the legacy of Rogue One's heroes alive.