New #StarWarsForceAwakens Poster and Trailer Released

What (or who's) missing from the poster is perhaps more interesting.

Story by Matt Cummings

Unless you've been living under of a garbage scowl, the anticipation behind the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens has been almost too hard to miss. It's been almost six months since the magnificent trailer was released, showing off Chewbacca and Han Solo (and what looks like Leia Organa's hand and perhaps Luke Skywalker's) but we had yet to see an official 'character' poster.

That was resolved on Sunday, when LucasFilm released the official poster, which we've included below:

It's a classic and absolutely fantastic design, showing off a number of interesting conversation starters, including:
- A sinister Kylo Wren carrying his homemade lightsaber
- Finn carrying Luke Skywalker's New Hope lightsaber: If that one is new to you, hop on the web to see the short clip of him and Wren ready to battle in the snow forest. It's pretty cool.
- Our first look at Leia Organa: Apparently, weird hair designs are still in, and Carrie Fisher's new 'do is riding high. I'm still a little worried about our princess actually looking like one, so we'll have to see if Fisher can still carry the role.
- A wonderfully angry Han Solo: If you've been happy to witness Harrison Ford's film re-awakening (no pun intended), this image should merely add to that. He and Chewbacca look ready to go.
- Captain Phasma and the 'New-Look' Stormtroopers: Honestly, I have to say their look just gets better. The updated helmets look great.
- Droids: Along with C-3PO, R2-D2, and BB8 we get a new alien that looks like a child. No information on that one yet, but it's probably an addition designed to bring kids into the story. We'll see.
- Rey ready to do battle!
- Oscar Issac and a Starkiller base? While Isaac is prominently featured as an X-Wing pilot, it's the addition of a new improved Death Star that's interesting to note. Apparently it's capable of destroying entire star systems, lending to the idea that even in the Star Wars universe, bigger is always better.

Who's Missing?

Perhaps the most interesting thing that's missing from the poster is Luke Skywalker. We know Mark Hamil is in the film, as leaked images of him in his best Obi-Wan Kenobi robes have revealed. But the fact that he's not featured in the poster will have people discussing this over their catina watercoolers on Monday. We think Luke will play a role (why wouldn't he?), so why not include him? Ideas include that Abrams is looking to hide something from audiences, and that Luke's self-imposed asylum is based on his desire to keep the dark side from re-emerging. It's also possible that he's changed his physical appearance to the point that perhaps he no longer 'exists.' But most likely, it's that Abrams is hiding him simply because he doesn't want all of his cards on the table.

From press releases, we've learned that the first trailer takes a lot of scenes from the first third of the film. Although we do see a mechanical hand touching R2-D2, we might not officially see Luke until much later in the film. With all the storytelling that needs to be done, it probably isn't a bad idea to hold off on actually seeing him until much later.

Regardless of Luke's appearance or not, this is but the first news we got today about the film. Hop on over to our next story to learn when it will be released!

Discuss this review with fellow SJF fans on Facebook. On Twitter, follow us at @SandwichJohnFilms, and follow author Matt Cummings at @mfc90125.