Today, Disney and Lucasfilm announced when the next series of Star Wars toys will be going on sale, and while we're being teased with an empty box, the image isn't entirely without useful information. It gives us our first look at our trio of heroes, Rey, Finn, and Poe as part of Star Wars: The Last Jedi and they do look a little different than the last time we saw them or at least one of them does.
The most obvious thing that we see here is Rey has gone with a new hairstyle. All throughout Star Wars: The Force Awakens she had it up and tied back. However, it appears that in Star Wars: The Last Jedi she'll be letting her hair down, as it were. It's down to at least shoulder length and likely longer. Is the change in hairstyle part of a larger change we'll see in Rey as part of the new film? The lightsaber she holds in front of her is the same color as Skywalker family saber and certainly looks like the same one, which would seem to imply that she'll continue to use it in the new movie. Is there something symbolic in that, or is it simply the only lightsaber around for her to use?
Finn and Poe are both here as well and while their presence certainly solidifies that they are our other two major characters in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, we don't really see much new and different about them. Poe is wearing his helmet, which looks pretty much identical to what he was wearing when piloting his X-wing in the first movie. He is looking quite stern, though. Finn still looks to be wearing Poe's old jacket. He's conscious, though, so there's clearly an improvement since he was last seen in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. We know that Star Wars: The Last Jedi will be picking up immediately where the previous film left off, so we'd expect Finn will still be recovering from injuries as the movie opens.
The box is part of the official announcement of Force Friday, which will be the day that all the new toys associated with Star Wars: The Last Jedi will be released around the world. In this case, Force Friday will be Friday, September 1, 2017. Many stores will be opening at 12:01 am to let the serious fans in to be the first to get their hands on the new merchandise. Of course, they don't want to reveal what any of those toys will be quite yet, so instead all we get is a generic package that shows us how the toys will be packaged once they hit shelves in September.
Even if you're not a toy collector, Force Friday II will likely still be an important day if you're a Star Wars fan. Seeing new characters and locations in toy form often reveals details about the new movie that the studio otherwise tries to keep under wraps. Exactly what is being planned for Force Friday II is still unknown but last time there was a massive 18-hour unboxing live-stream and we can probably expect something similar this time around. We'll certainly be paying attention. Will you be getting in line to be sure you have your choice of merchandise? Let us know in the comments.
