Star Wars: The Last Jedi: Some classic references in a new promotion

Star Wars: The Last Jedi has yet another promotional item that goes in a vaguely familiar direction for these sorts of things.

While Star Wars News Net may have decided to focus on what’s new in the latest promotional item for Star Wars: The Last Jedi, we here at Culturess noticed something different: that this reminds us, in a number of ways, of pieces we’ve seen before in the realm of Star Wars marketing tools.

First off, Luke Skywalker is occupying a very similar position to the one Darth Vader does in this well-known poster from The Empire Strikes Back. In fact, The Last Jedi even has the same concept of two visual masses at the center, just reversed in which one’s larger and more prominent. For Empire, it’s Han and Leia to the right; for Last Jedi, it’s Rey to the left, looking steely and resolute.

Second, although SWNN does comment on the different palette, it’s not really more than an observation. However, check out this poster from Attack of the Clones. There’s another use of both orange and red. Last Jedi certainly skews more reddish-orange, but also borrows the idea of a blue lightsaber illuminating part of a main character’s face — in this case, it’s Rey again, and Obi-Wan on Attack of the Clones.

Third, Revenge of the Sith actually combines both of these ideas: the palette as well as the looming presence in the upper left.

Fourth, to talk about the droids (again), it’s good to see that R2-D2 is on the right and C-3PO is on the left. That one goes all the way back to A New Hope … er, Star Wars.

There are some other points to note as well. Kylo Ren’s expression here is particularly intriguing — it’s very obviously conflicted. That’s something that not even Anakin ever managed on any of the posters he features in. Not even any of the Revenge of the Sith or The Phantom Menace pieces really come close to capturing such emotion.

Look to the right of Kylo Ren as well. Although it doesn’t seem like there are actually two suns, a brief glance might make one think that there are. Look behind both the X-Wings and the TIE Fighters, and you might see what, given the colors used, almost looks like a binary sunset. That’s the kind of callback we like to see.

Next: What's the deal with The Last Jedi?

Do you have a favorite piece for The Last Jedi so far, or can you just not wait to see more?