Can you believe The Rise of Skywalker comes out next week? It’s hard not to feel like a broken record expressing that sentiment, but holy cow. These last five years of Star Wars saga films blew by fast, and we’re not ready to say goodbye. No matter where you land in your love or dislike for the sequel trilogy, it’s still bittersweet that the story of the Skywalker family is coming to an end.
And yes, this really is the end of the Skywalker saga. Even if Disney continues the episodic films somewhere down the road, this is definitely the last time we’ll see the original trilogy characters as portrayed by the actors who originated them. (At least in the main saga films—we could see Hamill doing something with Luke on the small screen.) Mark Hamill and the late Carrie Fisher appear in The Rise of Skywalker, as the twins whose story is central to this whole journey. The whole thing begins with their father, Darth Vader, who also has a presence in the film.
Vader’s mask appears in the film’s trailers and is captured beautifully in this new poster from artist Chris Skinner. The artwork was shared by the official Star Wars Twitter handle and is one of our favorite artist renderings yet. Just look at this thing!
Check out this new poster inspired by #StarWars: #TheRiseOfSkywalker! Art by @SkinnerCreative. See the film in theaters December 20. pic.twitter.com/dIz8wx9WrQ
— Star Wars (@starwars) December 10, 2019
The poster shows a pivotal moment from The Rise of Skywalker footage, where Rey and Kylo Ren face off in the presence of Darth Vader’s mask. They’re presumably in some sort of white, shiny First Order location, and the mask is on a pedestal of sorts. As their lightsabers clash, the mask is caught in the chaos. Is it destroyed, or will it make through the film, a lasting symbol of an earlier era? Or is the sequel trilogy mantra (“Let the past die. Kill it if you have to.”) coming into play? Maybe this is just misdirection or obfuscation. Maybe it’s a dream sequence. The possibilities are endless for a film we know almost nothing about, plot-wise.
Whatever’s going on, it lent itself well to poster form. Skinner beautifully captured this moment and highlighted the main Skywalker of the entire saga in the process: Anakin. It also features the bold red and blue colors from Kylo and Rey’s respective lightsabers. With all of the elements added together, we get an almost retro feel from this art.
There’s no shortage of beautiful art from The Rise of Skywalker on the internet, from fans and officially licensed material alike. Hopefully the film is satisfying and continues to inspire stuff like this. We’d love to see even more standout scenes reimagined or brought to life in poster form. And then we’d like all of these artists to sell their stuff online so we can wallpaper our homes in epic Star Wars art.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker arrives in theaters on December 20.
Featured Image: Chris Skinner