We’re rapidly approaching the release ofStar Wars: The Last Jediand, without giving too much away, a whole lot from the movie has been making its way online to hype up the latest adventure in a galaxy far, far away. We know, at least in vague terms, a lot of what we’re going to see in the movie. And now it looks like we can expect to see some pretty awesome-looking snowtroopers that are reminiscent ofThe Empire Strikes Back.
A new photo fromStar Wars: The Last Jedihas been released online, revealing that thesnowtroopersare back. And this time, there’s a whole lot of them. That means we’re going to see the First Order taking care of business in a very cold enviroment. And while it’s white, it won’t be snow. Though, perhaps they’ll run into those new crystalline foxes everyone is so fascinated with. The image is entirely in black and white, with the snowtroopers armed and ready to do battle with whoever gets in their way. The scene takes place on Crait, a new planet being introduced inThe Last Jedi. And while it is completely white, the planet isn’t covered in snow. It’s covered in salt. These First Order troopers were first introduced inThe Force Awakens, where they were seen on the snowy ice planet that housed the Starkiller Base. Here’s the description of these new Stormtroopers, who don’t look to have been given much of an upgrade from the previous movie.
“Evoking echoes of The Empire Strikes Back’s Hoth troopers, the snowtroopers boast personal environment suits with insulated armour and glare-reducing slit visors, perfectly suiting them for cold weather offensives such as releasing a Star Wars movie in the thick of the British winter.”
Stormtroopers seem to have a hard enough time actually hitting anything with theirblastersas is, so these visors could be helpful, seeing as they reduce glare. That said, looking at the image, even if that’s the case, as cool as they look, they seem somewhat constricting when it comes to the visual field overall. But the armor sounds helpful. In any case, they look really menacing and some morecold weather action in Star Warscan’t possibly be a bad thing. TheHothstuff at the beginning ofThe Empire Strikes Backremains some of the finest footage in theStar Warsfranchise to date.
With that in mind, seeing something thatharkens back to The Empire Strikes Backmay give some fans cause for concern.Star Wars: The Force Awakensmanaged to successfully relaunch the franchise, but many fans took issue with the broad similarities toStar Wars: A New Hope. Director Rian Johnson has promised thatStar Wars: The Last Jediwon’t just be retreadingStar Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, but we’ve seen quite a few things so far in the marketing that seem to call back to the 1980 classic. Let’s just hope they aren’t too overbearing.
Even if this movie does rehash some of what we’ve seen before, early indication is thatStar Wars: The Last Jedi, which arrives in theaters on December 15, is a great movie. No matter what, it’s going to make a ton of money, as it’s expected to make $200 million or more on its opening weekend. Be sure to check out the new image of the snowtroopers, courtesy ofEmpire Magazine, for yourself below.
