Star Wars: The Last Jedi Adorns The Cover Of Empire Magazine

“There is another…”

Empire Magazine has crowned Star Wars: The Last Jedi to be the cover star of its October issue, bringing with it a tantalizing new peek at Rey (Daisy Ridley) and Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) as they’ll appear in the December blockbuster. And no, your eyes aren’t playing Jedi mind tricks on you; each cover is designed to be entirely holographic.

This is by no means the first time that Empire has gone the extra mile for a Star Wars release, as those long-time subscribers out there will remember the time when an audible Darth Vader graced the cover to commemorate the release of Revenge of the Sith back in 2005. Now, Lucasfilm’s crown jewel is closing in on its eighth episode, and all signs point to The Last Jedi delivering on those lofty expectations.

As for the cover itself, it features our two leading protagonists, Rey and Luke, prepped and ready for battle. It’s a much more revealing one-sheet than the one posted last week, which simply teased the inevitable moment when Daisy Ridley’s Jedi-in-training returned her lightsaber to its rightful owner. That, and Luke’s prosthetic hand.

Due to grace store shelves on Thursday, September 7th, this particular issue of Empire will be packed to the rafters with new intel on Star Wars: The Last Jedi – its characters, its vehicles and, hopefully, its story – so keep your peepers peeled. Also, the cover itself makes a nod to Luke Skywalker’s “emotional return,” so perhaps we’ll find out a little more about what drove Mark Hamill’s Jedi into exile in the first place? Time will tell.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi shoots for theaters on December 15th and when it does, it’ll include a poignant tribute to the late, great Carrie Fisher. It’ll mark the final appearance of Leia, too, after the Powers That Be ruled out the possibility of resurrecting Fisher via CGI for Episode IX.