yotsuya said:
I would add the Darth Vader was suited well prior to the final story took shape. They’ve mentioned some possible inspirations, but one that comes to mind are the samurai helmets with the black face mask. Not only does Vader’s helmet resemble the Japanese helmets (but being much closer to the head), but the face mask does as well. As so much of the rest of Star Wars comes from Samurai Cinema, I wouldn’t be surprised if Darth Vader’s look did as well.

I remember reading years ago that McQuarrie had a hand in steering the look when he worked on some sketches. Apparently Lucas dug it and went in that direction. The Samurai influence is pretty clear in some of the McQuarrie art that followed that new direction.

I thought it was the Deak fight but he’s already fully masked by then. Reading this McQuarrie explanation below, it’s a sketch I’ve never seen. I found this on the Star Wars site.

“Early in the script there was a description of Vader crossing between two ships in space so I created this mask so he could breathe in space, with a suggestion of teeth in the masks grillwork,” McQuarrie said. “It was not until the fourth draft that Lucas wrote in more of the backstory of Vader, with his connection to Ben Kenobi and Luke’s father, as well as the duel that followed between Ben and Vader after Vader killed Luke’s father.”

With regard to Rogue One; I hope he isn’t in it at all. And yes, I realize that’s very unlikely. If he is, I’ll be glad if it’s just a scene or a name-check. I’ve never found him to be interesting. Not when I was a kid in 77, not in the 80s films, not now. A movie without him would be just fine with me.