New poster for The Rise of Skywalker pays homage to Revenge of the Jedi

We are rapidly approaching the premiere of STAR WAR: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER, and the official Star Wars Twitter account has been releasing a series of posters from a variety of artists over the past week. One of the latest posters pays homage to a classic poster for RETURN OF THE JEDI illustrated by Drew Struzan which STAR WARS fans are certainly familiar with. Before George Lucas elected to change it, a pre-release poster for RETURN OF THE JEDI was produced under the film's original title – REVENGE OF THE JEDI.

Check out the new poster for STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER by illustrator/designer Rich Davies below, as well as the original REVENGE OF THE JEDI poster for comparison.

As we know, STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER is set to serve as the conclusion of the entire nine-film Skywalker Saga, but it's obvious that the franchise will continue in one form or another. In a recent New York Times profile, THE RISE OF SKYWALKER director J.J. Abrams said, "Can it go on? Of course it can go on. But there’s something bold about saying this is what the story should be. Any great ending is a new beginning on some level." Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy added that although the Skywalker Saga is coming to an end, STAR WARS itself doesn't have to.

"It doesn’t have to end. We’re all custodians of something that George created, and we’re trying to do the best we possibly can,” Kennedy said, adding that it was important to “recognize and honor what it is that he created — and move on. I think we’re ready to move on… It’s not as though we have nothing to dip into, but all it is, really, are road posts, pointing us in a direction,” she said. “You don’t spend a lot of time defining what it is that George intimates in this mythology. You tell stories about people, and you take the mythology and apply it to their conflict."

STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER will hit theaters on December 20th.