The next 24 hours or so are going to be intense. Tickets for Star Wars: The Force Awakens go on sale tomorrow morning and a new trailer will drop later on in the evening, but all kicks off now, with this new poster (the first official one) for the film. And WOW. They've done a brilliant job. It's a classic Star Wars design, highly reminiscent of the artwork for the originals and cramming in just about every key character from the new movie. There's what we've come to expect from the marketing campaign - a prominent Kylo Ren, Finn weilding a Anakin/Luke's blue lightsaber, the Millennium Falcon back in all its glory - but also some exciting new reveals and clues to what Episode VII may include. Biggest is that small moon-like construction in the top right corner. It's a design heavily reminiscent of the original Ralph McQuarrie designs for the Death Star, with a massive exhaust/weapon protruding and a rather smooth outer shell. This is the first we've officially heard of this, and I for one am very intrigued. Is "Starkiller Base" not just a cool in-joke and a little more literal than expected? There's also the first non-behind-the-scenes look at Leia, with Carrie Fisher sporting some big hair as the former Princess and suggesting she won't be as marginalised as her absence from the trailers thus far has suggested. Also spot the tiny alien behind R2-D2, who is likely Maz Kanata, Lupita Nyong'o's motion-capture pirate character. Best of all? There's no Luke, which furthers my thinking Lucasfilm are keeping the Jedi Master firmly under wraps until December. Star Wars: The Force Awakens is in cinemas from December 17th in the UK and December 18th in the US.
