The wait for Star Wars: Episode VII—The Force Awakens has felt endless, but at least fans have had plenty to chew on while we wait. Even today, as we anticipate the latest trailer (set to premiere during Monday Night Football) with bated breath, the Star Wars marketing gods have seen fit to bestow upon us a new poster and many teasers for said trailer.
Above, we have an official movie poster. As some have pointed out, its most noteworthy trait is actually what’s missing—Luke Skywalker. Mark Hamill is returning to the movie, but he seems to be the only big player not seen here. There also appears to be a Death Star-like weapon lurking in the background.
This poster comes on the heel of many, many teasers and trailers. The first of the three most recent teasers, seen here, featured the serious-looking faces of Rey (Daisy Ridley), Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac), BB-8, Finn (John Boyega), and Kylo Ren (Adam Driver).
Actually, that’s just a shot of Kylo Ren’s back as he turns on his lightsaber, but in previous teasers it has still provided plenty of fodder for fan analysis.
This next teaser featured Oscar Isaac’s Poe hopping out of an X-Wing and dramatically crossing paths with John Boyega’s Finn. What does it mean when Poe pats Finn’s arm?
This last one gives us another look at Daisy Ridley’s facial acting skills, as Rey stares up at a swarm of TIE fighters overhead. BB-8, this movie’s new droid, actually gets a whole line, but this robot’s beep patterns are far less emotionally expressive than R2-D2’s—at least in this 10 second clip.
By now, we’ve also had promo art leaks, a baffling 180-hour unboxing video event from Maker Studios, and snippets of footage culled from international trailers. On their own, most of these things are really nothing special. (How many times do we need to see Oscar Isaac’s pilot face, or Adam Driver’s back?) But, if nothing else, these tiny teases are unparalleled fodder for fan-made remixes, some of which turn out far more rewarding—or at least funnier—than the original content. The movie premieres Dec. 18. In the meantime, we’ll see just how many Jar Jar Binks jokes the Internet has left.
