Empire Magazine Unveils Stunning Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Covers

The promotional campaign for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is heating up, with Empire Magazine unveiling a number of covers that will pay tribute to the upcoming film. All of the covers are graced with Rey and Kylo Ren, reminding readers that, despite featuring appearances from legacy characters, this upcoming installment is all about the new hero and villain that were introduced back in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. If the intensity of the covers is any clue, the upcoming film will surely feature a showdown for the ages. Grab your copy of Empire when it hits shelves on October 3rd.

The first set of covers forces you to choose your allegiance to either the Light or Dark Side of the Force, pitting Kylo and Rey against one another in an electrifying duel. For those of you who can’t decide, you can always grab one of each, as they depict an impressive clash when placed next to one another.

If you’re a subscriber of the magazine, you don’t have to decide between the two factions, as they both grace the cover of the subscriber exclusive edition.

Not only are the characters remarkably rendered by an artist, but the rest of the text on the cover that normally teases the articles inside are dropped, allowing the characters to stand tall without any clutter.

These covers will likely be just a hint of what to expect in the new film, with filmmaker Kevin Smith having previously revealed just how exciting the film’s final moments will be.

“I have not seen it, but I was on set,” Smith revealed to IGN. “I went to London at one point and visited the set, [director] J.J. [Abrams] invited me, because I had the heart attack. When I had the heart attack, he wrote me and he was like, ‘You gotta pull through, man, so you can come visit Star Wars,’ and I was like, ‘Can I be in it?’ and he was like, ‘Come visit.’ I pulled through and I was the kind of asshole that wrote him back to be like, ‘Remember what you said?!’ and he was like, ‘Come on out.’”

He continued, “I got to hang out and be there on set and there was a scuttlebutt about a set there on Pinewood. A big set that they were like, ‘You have to see this. When you see it, it’ll melt your mind.’ And I was like, ‘What was it?’ and they were like, ‘Ask J.J.’ And so I asked J.J., ‘They keep telling me I should see the set,’ and he goes, ‘Don’t.’ I said, ‘Why?’ and he said, ‘It’s the last shot of the movie.’ So I was like, ‘Well now I really wanna see it,’ and he goes, ‘You don’t want this spoiled. You wanna be in a theater when this happens, trust me.’ And then other people on the crew were like, ‘Bro, I wish I hadn’t seen it. I’m glad I did, but it will melt your mind.’”

Grab your copies of Empire on October 3rd. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker lands in theaters on December 20th.

Which cover is your favorite? Let us know in the comments below or hit up @TheWolfman on Twitter to talk all things Star Wars and horror!