Star Wars: The Last Jedi introduces two new ships, the Dreadnought and AT MegaCaliber
By Buckie Wells
Star Wars: The Last Jedi knows that the fastest way to inspire fear in the hearts of your enemies is to give all your gigantic spaceships really cool names.
It’s called an X-Wing because the wings are shaped like X’s, boom. Makes sense. The TIE in TIE Fighter stands for ‘twin ion engines.’ Also, makes sense.
But Dreadnought?
What is the First Order trying to compensate for exactly? Sure, it sounds cool, but so does “Hey, here’s my Imperial Star Destroyer.” Obviously, both of those are infinitely better than Arleigh Burke. But it’s not about the name, is it? It’s about what it can do.
As revealed on Wednesday by The Star Wars Show, Star Wars: The Last Jedi will introduce two new First Order vehicles that pack quite a punch. The first ship will be the Dreadnought. According to Kevin Jenkins, the design supervisor on The Last Jedi, it’s a pretty big spaceship.
"“So basically, it’s an armored gunboat, an armored gun platform. It’s sort of a heavy artillery that’s much bigger than a standard Star Destroyer, about two-and-a-half times the size of a standard Star Destroyer.”"
Then, we have what I’m simply going to refer to as the MegaCaliber:
"The AT-M6 (All Terrain MegaCaliber Six), named for the laser cannon on its back, dwarfs the Empire’s AT-AT; its simian-like gait stabilizes the cannon."
Correction: This is the Monkey MegaCaliber that Making Star Wars told us about back in March.
Unfortunately, the Monkey MegaCaliber will have more firepower, but still might not be able to scare the Resistance, seeing as it’s literally dragging its knuckles on the ground. I’m sorry, it’s a stupid design. Jenkins explained his design by saying, “This is the aesthetic, this is the way that the First Order, who was the Empire, work.” However, I still think there’s a better way to evoke a gorilla without integrating something that is quite literally a metaphor for stupidity.
You can check out the video below:
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This AT-Monkey is worse than Kylo Ren’s snake fang ship thing.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi hits theaters on Dec. 15.