Rogue One, the Atomic Bomb, and Love by Samhita Adapa

 

Rogue One, the Atomic Bomb, and Love

The death star atomic bomb connection has already been made a lot throughout the history of Star Wars but what not many people know is how heavily Rogue One was inspired from Robert J. Oppenheimer and his bomb, specifically, Galen Erso, the man who created the Death Star laser. 

When Rogue One was first in development, the early title for the production was “Destroyer of Worlds”, inspired by Oppenheimer’s Hindu verse, the one he used to express his regret in developing the bomb. Galen Erso, like Oppenheimer, is directly responsible for the creation of the Death Star Laser.He was the one who created the plans. He was the scientist who learned how to harness a kyber crystal’s power to use it for destruction. And he was the one who then caused its destruction by leaving a critical flaw in its designs. Both Galen Erso and Oppenheimer significantly regretted their hand on the large-scale destruction their creations would cause and Erso was the only one of the two to actively work towards its destruction, his love for Jyn and guilt driving him to take this step. 

Another connection is Gareth Edwards, the director. Edwards had previously worked on a BBC documentary, called Hiroshima, which detailed the aftermath of the bombing in 1945. His knowledge of the history and aftermath of the bomb along with the early title for the story granted the crew the codename Los Alamos, named directly after the place where Oppenheimer carried out his tests for Project Manhattan.

In terms of similarities, both the Death Star and the Atomic bombs are extremely powerful weapons that have devastating effects on targets. Though the death star seems to be on an extremely larger scale, a planet as opposed to a city, when the atomic bomb first dropped, people collectively reacted with shock and horror to the immense loss of life and destruction. People struggled to accept the magnitude of the destruction and were reeling from the bombing. In the real world at the time, this was the equivalent to a planet. The first time in history such mass destruction and death was carried out intentionally in war. In both worlds, the effects on humanity were devastating and longstanding. 

In fact, when the death star first targets Jedha, a nuclear bomb test was taken as inspiration by the VFX artists to create the scene. They took a direct reference from the Castle Bravo Nuclear Test in 1954. The resulting sequence is both equally horrifying and visually stunning. 

The bombing of Jedha and later Scarriff and Alderaan is a harsh wake up call for the Rebellion. They need to do something, they need to fight back otherwise it's them next and after that, there will be no one left or willing to stop what’s coming. There is unity and shared cause in the rebellion unlike never before, contrast to the arguments between them in Rogue One. This is similar to the real life response after the atomic bomb was dropped. People came together to tend to the wounded and later rebuilt the city with the help of the community. Humans came together in shared love for one another and compassion. Survivors were resilient and people were sympathetic from all across the globe in this time of grief and suffering. 

This all ties back to Jyn and Galen’s last name Erso. By switching the placement of the “o” and “s”, you get Eros, the Greek word for love. It was Galen’s love for his daughter Jyn that forced him to keep working for the empire. It was Jyn’s love for her father that caused her to have so much faith in his death star flaw, to be able to trust him despite being separated for over a decade and seemingly working for the other side.  And at the very end, Jyn’s death was another product of that love, to be able willingly walk to her death to carry out his last wish, destroying the death star. A father and daughter's love for each other catalyzed the rebellion, offering them hope for a first victory. If rebellions are built on hope, that hope was sparked from their love. Jyn and Cassian embrace in their last moments, in a show of love for the collective humanity, taking comfort in another human’s arms before their death. So at the root of it all, it is a story of love. 

Works Cited

Rennie, Daniel. “How ILM Created the Death Star’s “Beautiful” Destruction of Jedha City in “Rogue One” | Bold Entrance.” Bold Entrance | Behind-The-Scenes of Hollywood’s Biggest Franchises, 22 Dec. 2019, boldentrance.com/rogue-one-death-star-jedha-city-destruction/. Accessed 10 Oct. 2025.

Seastrom, Lucas. “Destroyer of Worlds: How Lucasfilm’s Storytellers Found Inspiration for Rogue One.” StarWars.com, Disney News, 17 May 2017, www.starwars.com/news/destroyer-of-worlds-how-lucasfilm-storytellers-found-inspiration-for-rogue-one.

Team, GunPundit. “How Did the World React to the Atomic Bomb? - the Civil War.” The Civil War, 17 Nov. 2024, www.civil-war.net/how-did-the-world-react-to-the-atomic-bomb/.