New Star Wars poster is a dramatic design departure

By now there's arguably a formula for Star Wars posters. The DNA of Drew Struzan's hand-painted designs for the original trilogy has followed the franchise through its many reiterations, including the sequel trilogy and various TV shows on Disney Plus. But the design for new series The Acolyte marks a radical departure. 

Seemingly straying into Tarantino territory, the new teaser poster for Reservoir Jedis The Acolyte features a lightsaber hilt along with a striking streak of blood in place of the blade. We've had our eyes on on the best film posters lately, and this one's certainly surprising. 

It certainly suggests we're looking at a more adult tone with the new series. The Acolyte at the end of the High Republic era in a world of "shadowy secrets and emerging dark side powers", approximately 100 years before Star Wars: Episode I (thanks, Wikipedia).

The Star Wars saga's various TV instalments have offered up a varying degree of quality lately, but for every Book of Boba Fett (bad), there's been an Andor (good). Time will tell where The Acolyte falls, but judging by this poster, we might at least get something different in tone when the series lands on Disney Plus in June 2024.