Star Wars Battlefront 2 is in a closed alpha period right now, but the community has been in a frenzy this past week after a slew of names were leaked from the game’s alpha files (which has to be an NDA violation, but hey that’s what anonymous Reddit profiles are for, right?) These names included a bunch of heavy hitters, some we already knew about and others we’re all glad to finally see, including General Grievous, Lando Calrissian and Chewbacca, to name a few.
But now that the dust has settled, and the initial excitement waned, us in the Star Wars fanbase are putting on our detective hats and looking not for who is there, but who isn’t. Below are the biggest names not included on this leaked list. Keep in mind, though, that these files are just from the Alpha, so it’s possible there are more coming before launch in addition to the few heroes already announced for post-launch, including Captain Phasma.
Jango Fett
Included on the list was the Original Trilogy’s Boba Fett, the infamous assassin and antagonist of series legend Han Solo. But the light-blue variant from the prequel trilogy, who met an unceremonious demise at the hands of Mace Windu on the battlefields of Geonosis? Nowhere to be found.
Will he be playable? Too close to call. As of right now, the game has no model for the character nor any reference. The original Star Wars: Battlefront II did include Jango Fett, so that might put some pressure on EA, since he’s also a more recognizable character (more so than someone like Aalya Secura). The only other strand of hope was a piece of concept art that showed Jango Fett’s ship chasing Obi Wan’s.
Obi-Wan Kenobi
Speaking of Obi-Wan Kenobi, where the heck was he on this list? Again, recognizing that this is a leaked, datamined list from the Alpha of Star Wars Battlefront 2, it’s still confounding. Obi-Wan is such an ingrained part of the Star Wars mythos, that seeing a list of heroes without him is nearly unbelievable. It would be cool if EA was bold enough to put the older Obi-Wan Kenobi in the game. This may be restrictive, but that would be an interesting move.
Will he be playable? He has to be. Right? He’s had major interactions with several of the heroes already confirmed or included on the leaked list, including General Grievous, whom Obi-Wan killed, Darth Maul, whom Obi-Wan killed, and Darth Vader, whom Obi-Wan almost killed (always double-tap, Ben). I don’t think Battlefront 2 can be a Star Wars game without him.
Mace Windu
On the subject of Jedi who have killed other characters, Mace Windu, the killer of Jango Fett and the would-be slayer of then-Chancellor Palpatine. Played by Samuel L. Jackson in the prequel trilogy, Windu was once the most powerful Jedi not named Yoda before meeting his untimely, mutinous end.
Will he be playable? No word on that yet. Like Obi-Wan, he seems to be big enough character that his absence would be noticed immediately, and the presence of other Prequel-Trilogy villains would suggest that they are going to balance that out, but, again, nothing just yet. I’d be more willing to be that Windu will be a post-launch DLC hero.
Anakin Skywalker
Of course, Darth Vader is already confirmed – one of those heroes without whom you couldn’t have a Star Wars game. But the man (the one that’s not more machine) named Anakin Skywalker featured in the prequel trilogies, the man who became slowly corrupted by the Dark Side of the Force under the influence of Sheev Palpatine (who was actually Darth Sidious all along!!!!!). Where is he?
Will he be playable? He better be. Including Darth Vader is obvious, but that does not preclude the inclusion of the Prequel-Trilogy Anakin Skywalker. Vader is only half the man – half the story of who Anakin Skywalker is. With multiplayer content that spans that spans all eras, his absence is especially prominent.
Count Dooku
Count Dooku was most certainly introduced in Attack of the Clones as a necessity. “Well, we killed off last movie’s villain, so let’s go create us another.” This much was confirmed when they hurriedly killed him off at the start of Revenge of the Sith. At any rate, he was an integral part of that era, even crossing Sabers with Yoda, himself. So where is he?
Will he be playable? Unlikely. I mean, they even replaced him with Darth Maul in the trailer as the prequel trilogy villain who fights Yoda. Those two never even met. Count Dooku just doesn’t have the buying power, so to speak, as Darth Maul, or any of the other villains already introduced. Look, I’m not at EA and have no connections with inside sources. But let’s just say, I wouldn’t count on it.
Jar Jar Binks
A Gungan so infamously hated among Star Wars nerds as to need no introduction.
Will he be playable? If there is a god, no. That being said, the developers did coyly respond with “only time will tell,” when asked if Jar Jar Binks would be a playable hero, so our peace of mind hangs in the balance.
One thing you will notice about this list is that it is exclusively heroes from the prequel trilogies. If that was a “let’s pretend those don’t exist” move by EA, we could all get on board. But the inclusion of Darth Maul, General Grievous and a master-swordsman Yoda prove that to not be the case. Will they come around? Let’s see.
