D23: The Light and Dark Sides Clash in STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS Poster!

Tired of Star Wars news yet? No? Good.

Earlier today at Disney’s D23 Expo, their very own convention, the studio broke a ton of exciting Marvel and Lucasfilm news as well as showing off a bunch of clips and art from their own live-action slate. It was an action-packed panel, and as well as showing off Doctor Strange concept art, a Civil War trailer, revealing the director for Star Wars Episode IX, the cast for Star Wars: Rogue One and footage from The Jungle Book, Alice Through the Looking Glass and more, they also handed out the first official poster for The Force Awakens.

By Drew Struzan.

If you’re unaware, Struzan is the guy who has designed the poster for every Star Wars movie and is responsible for giving them their iconic look. It appears as if this sequel is no different as this poster is absolutely gorgeous (although it’s probably not final). Check it out!!!

This was dubbed a ‘D23 exclusive’ but it’ll probably end up getting an official release sooner rather than later – or rather, a different poster will. This feels like a special variant because it doesn’t have key characters such as Poe Dameron, BB-8 and Chewbacca, rather cutting it down to the essential leads: Rey, Finn, Han Solo and Kylo Ren. That makes it pretty similar to Struzan’s poster for A New Hope.

But hey ho, let’s get cracking on it.

Star Wars posters are unique in that they’re a hell of a lot more creative, meaningful and exciting than 99% of other posters out there, which have now just become photoshopped messes. This one is no different, and it supports the fan theory that Daisy Ridley’s Rey is actually the lead of this new trilogy since she’s front-and-center rather than Finn. He’s also wielding a blue lightsaber, presumably Luke Skywalker’s; while pretty much everybody guessed that at least one of the new leads would in the movie it’s nice to finally have confirmation and a visual of it. This could suggest that he’ll be the one doing all the fighting since Kylo Ren is directly opposite him (also wielding his fancy home-made lightsaber), but Rey will be the one caught in the middle as she is literally in the middle of the Light and Dark Sides, highlighting her connection to both characters.

Hey, KINDA like what we wrote about earl-

It’s just a very neat poster. We’re now only four months away from release (can you believe it?!) so Disney are obviously going to release this or some version of it soon, where you’ll be able to view it in all its high-res glory. But for now you’re stuck with this. Poor us, right?