A former 'Star Wars' writer came up with the name for the spinoff film

Disney announced the title of the first "Star Wars" spinoff will be called "Rogue One" Thursday during its annual shareholder meetings.

The name evokes images of the Rogues, a rebel alliance squad founded in part by Luke Skywalker.

However, what's most interesting is the origin of the spinoff's name. 

Screenwriter Gary Whitta ("The Book of Eli") took to Twitter to reveal he came up with the name "Rogue One."

Whitta was originally hired to write a screenplay for the film along with director Gareth Edwards ("Godzilla"). The announcement was made on the official Star Wars site May 2014. He left the project in January after completing a first draft of the film, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

In Thursday's "Rogue One" announcement, Whitta's name was nowhere to be seen, prompting some fans to take notice. 

Chris Weitz ("Cinderella," "About a Boy") has taken over script duties while chief creative officer of Industrial Light & Magic, John Knoll, is credited for the "Rogue One" story idea.

On his website, Whitta lists serving as co-writer of "Star Wars Rogue One" under his body of work. According to Whitta, he helped come up with the story and an early version of the film's screenplay.

Business Insider has reached out to Whitta for comment.

We'll update this post if we hear back from him.