Cast your mind back to April of 2017, when Lucasfilm was busy celebrating 40 years of Star Wars, and you’ll no doubt remember the seismic jolt of excitement that swept across the Internet.
For it was here, under the bright lights of Florida’s Orange County Convention Center, where the Powers That Be officially lifted the curtain on The Last Jedi. But in keeping with the franchise’s knack for secrecy, soon after the Star Wars community caught a glimpse of those crimson posters and inaugural teaser, Rian Johnson’s sci-fi sequel was placed back under lockdown, where it remained all summer long.
That radio silence finally came to an end earlier last month, when Lucasfilm debuted the first full-length trailer for Star Wars: The Last Jedi. It gave us a lot to unpack, too – from Kylo Ren’s murky moral compass to the brooding Luke Skywalker, the sequel’s most recent preview arguably delivered more questions than answers. And though it’s admittedly light on story details, today brings forth yet another new promo. As far as fresh footage goes, there isn’t a whole lot, but we do get to see Luke stepping into the Millennium Falcon, which is a moment that will no doubt have fans smiling.
Aside from that – and some clever editing which makes it seem like Rey may battle Luke – it’s mostly just recycled footage here, but if nothing else, this promo is a sure sign that the floodgates are truly about to open as far as marketing material goes. With less than two months left until Episode VIII blasts into theatres, it looks as if the studio is ready to showcase the film in all its glory ahead of release, and that means you can expect a deluge of TV spots, photos and more to hit the web over the coming weeks. In other words, it’s a good time to be a fan.
Said to balance the “familiar with the unfamiliar” and lay down a new series of rules for this most precious of cinematic universes, Star Wars: The Last Jedi will be with us on December 15th. It’ll be followed in relatively quick succession by Ron Howard’s Han Solo spinoff, before J.J. Abrams brings the curtain down on Disney’s rebooted trilogy with the release of Episode IX on December 20th, 2019, placing it right alongside Warner’s Wonder Woman 2.