The lack of backstory and deep character development is, to me, one of the stronger points of the movie. That said: I understand how some fans, many perhaps, may be disappointed or find it lacking. For the younger fans who came into the franchise at the Prequels, they’ve always had a Lucas-controlled series where every bit of minutia is backstoried and tied into the main narrative and characters. It’s exactly how Lucas shrunk the universe and turned it into “a solar system far far away”.

This isn’t a Lucas film. We don’t get to know the characters’ histories or why they may or may not know each other. That’s perfectly ok with me. In fact, I prefer it. Star Wars77 had all sorts of hinted- at pasts, but it didn’t get bogged down in explaining them. As someone mentioned earlier, we don’t know thing one about Han & Chewie, how they met, or how long they’ve been together. Yet they are wildly popular.

Sometimes people are who they are and don’t need an arc. The Rogue One team accepted a mission and they worked together to see it through. They didn’t take the mission for personal growth or to become The A Team. They had a job to do. I don’t know the story behind every person I work with every day (nor do I care). We have a common goal and we put in the work to accomplish it. We’re not growing. We’re working.