Following the destruction of Starkiller Base in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the war between The First Order and The Resistance is kicking up a couple notches in Star Wars: The Last Jedi. For The First Order, this means breaking out more firepower to gun down Resistance scum. With only four months to go until The Last Jedi's release, Lucasfilm has officially unveiled a new armored walker and a new Star Destroyer that will make life hell for our intrepid protagonists.
First up, we have the AT-M6 Walker, which stands for All Terrain Megacaliber Six Walker. The latter half of that Walker's designation refers to the Megacaliber 6 laser cannon on its back. The AT-M6 is much bigger than the standard AT-ATs the Empire used, and as previously reported, this walker has a more simian-like frame which helps stabilize its cannon when on the battlefield. Presumably these are the walkers that were seen in the distance during the first trailer for The Last Jedi when The Resistance's speeders were kicking up red dust on the planet Crait.
The Star Wars Show also showed off the First Order Dreadnought, a warship that has two orbital auto cannons that make it perfect for large-scale bombardment. Although this Star Destroyer looks like it might dwarf the Super Star Destroyer from the era of the Empire, the Dreadnought measures out to be nearly 7,700 meters, while the monstrosities seen in the original Star Wars trilogy were around 19,000 meters. Nevertheless, the First Order Dreadnought is a force to be reckoned with, especially for any enemy ship that gets too close, as there are numerous 24-point defense anti-aircraft cannons on its dorsal surface.
The introduction of these vehicles in The Last Jedi is very reminiscent of when The Empire Strikes Back debuted the AT-ATs and Super Star Destroyer, signifying how the Empire had escalated its campaign against the Rebellion after Luke Skywalker blew up the Death Star. Still, considering how much The First Order has borrowed from the Empire, from stormtrooper armor to TIE Fighters, it's not surprising to see the organization continuing to augment and put its own spin on its predecessor's vehicles. Even Kylo Ren will be piloting his own customized TIE Fighter like granddaddy Darth Vader did in A New Hope.
We'll see what these new First Order vehicles are capable of when Star Wars: The Last Jedi opens on December 15. Don't forget to also look through our 2017 movie guide to see what non-Star Wars offerings are heading to theaters later this year.
