Promo Image For Star Wars: The Last Jedi Points To A New, Heavily-Armed Stormtrooper

Stormtroopers aren’t exactly known for their proficiency with weapons.

All throughout Lucasfilm’s genre-defining saga, the Empire’s (and later the First Order’s) colossal army of pale-white ‘troopers developed a reputation for their stupidity, be it bumping into low-hanging obstacles or their laughable accuracy with a blaster.

By and large, that all changed with the release of The Force Awakens, which brought forth a new division of Stormtroopers replete with cutting-edge weaponry – the baton-wielding FN-2199, anyone? For Star Wars: The Last Jedi, it appears as though Rian Johnson’s sci-fi sequel will continue to diversify the First Order’s menial soldiers, with the latest promo image pointing to a new, heavily-armed ‘trooper.

First spotted by Jedi Bibliothek, and relayed to us via ComicBook.com, the picture reveals a First Order Stormtrooper and its upgraded vibro-ax, a weapon that will surely be used during hand-to-hand combat with a Jedi. The exterior design is slightly different, too, with the armor featuring black stripes across its shoulders and helmet that evokes comparisons to war paint.

Check it out for yourself below:

Pretty neat, right? If you caught The Last Jedi‘s behind-the-scenes featurette, which first aired during the annual D23 event earlier this month, chances are you’ve already clocked eyes on this re-modelled Stormtrooper in action. Moreover, when you gather together all of the First Order’s many new toys – namely Kylo Ren’s TIE Silencer and the so-called “Gorilla Walkers” – it’s clear the sequel’s baddies won’t be lacking firepower.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi heralds the next chapter in the storied Skywalker saga on December 15th. It’ll be followed by the untitled Han Solo anthology pic on May 25th of 2018, before Colin Trevorrow brings about the final entry in Disney’s rebooted Star Wars trilogy the following year with Episode IX.