Star Wars: The Force Awakens is everywhere right now, whether it’s magazine covers, television commercials or Google. The latest – and perhaps most prestigious – place the movie has been highlighted is Time, and even photographer Marco Grob was impressed when he met R2-D2 and BB-8 for the first time in order to snap the shots you see above.
“The moment you meet BB-8, you almost build some form of weird human connection. It has this really cute way of looking at you…You just get about starstruck when you meet R2-D2.”
That’s understandable, but this isn’t actually the first time Star Wars has been featured on the cover of Time. In fact, Creative Director D.W. Pine was quick to weigh in on the significance of these two droids gracing the magazine this month.
“It’s great that the movies have been prominently featured inside the red border since the very beginning of the franchise. And the cover styles have evolved along with it – from artist Marshall Arisman’s classic Darth Vader painting to a 3-D rendered portrait of Vader [for the prequels] to this week’s stunning photographs of droids past and present.”
Seeing as how Star Wars: The Force Awakens will be bridging the gap between the original and new casts, it’s definitely appropriate for a fan-favourite droid to be chosen for the cover along with one who is no doubt destined to go down as another beloved character in the franchise, especially if the reaction to her (that’s right, it’s thought that BB-8 won’t actually be a he) has been any indication.
Starring original cast members Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, Kenny Baker and franchise newcomers, John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, Gwendoline Christie, Lupita Nyong’o and Max von Sydow, Star Wars: The Force Awakens is set to be released on December 17th.