concealed in Annie Leibovitz’s latest intergalactic portfolio.
by Joanna Robinson
Night Creatures
Neal Scanlan (seated), creative supervisor of the Star Wars creature shop, and guests at the Canto Bight casino.
The high-class occupants of Canto Bight—The Last Jedi’s upscale answer to the Mos Eisley cantina. It’s especially odd to see the upper echelon of the galaxy partying in The Last Jedi considering that the capital planet of the New Republic, Hosnian Prime, was blown up by the First Order’s Starkiller in The Force Awakens.
Some people who have managed to carve out a life for themselves where they can live apart from the galactic struggle. They found a way to live above it or beyond it. There’s a class of wealthy that have helped build all sorts of loopholes in society that will always ensure that they’ll survive or even thrive no matter what else is happening out there.” As Johnson summed it up in our cover story, Canto Bight is “a playground, basically, for rich assholes.”
The Dark Side
First Order leaders General Hux, Kylo Ren, and Captain Phasma.
That chrome-plated trooper suit is, by now, firmly a part of the Star Wars iconography, this portfolio is the first time Gwendoline Christie’s Captain Phasma has shown her face. “I think a big part of the allure of her character was just wondering what might be underneath,” Hidalgo explains.
Phasma is also sporting a slick new weapon which, Hidalgo says, “doesn’t have a fancy name yet.” (But it will—these things always do.) Unlike the weapons we’re used to seeing in Star Wars—lightsabers and blasters—Phasma’s accessory is a retractable pole arm that collapses into a smaller, easy to carry form should she ever find herself shoved down a trash compactor again. This weapon, Hidalgo says, has a strong connection to Phasma’s history. “Her background,” Hidalgo hints, “is more low-tech than many would assume.”
Force Awakens fans may notice that Kylo Ren’s battle wound has, well, migrated since Rey slashed his face and won their lightsaber duel. Is this some kind of advanced Sith healing method? As a matter of fact, no. “It was my decision to slightly adjust it,” Rian Johnson tweeted at a fan after the first glimpse of Ren’s scar in The Last Jedi trailer raised some questions. “It honestly looked goofy running straight up the bridge of his nose.”
Master Class
Daisy Ridley as Resistance warrior Rey and Mark Hamill as mentor Luke Skywalker, on location.
What do those structures mean for the Star Wars universe? Are they the remains of the original Jedi temple that Luke was reportedly seeking? Or merely a local village? Turns out those huts belong to a race of non-Jedi caretaker inhabitants of Ahch-To.
