Darth Vader has come to define the Sith, but one iconic design has never been used… or equaled. There’s a sense in which Darth Vader has come to define the Sith; his masked visage and sweeping black cloak have inspired so many unforgettable Sith Lords, both in canon and the Star Wars Expanded Universe.
In 1982, though, moviegoers were treated to a very different look for Darth Vader. Drew Struzan was commissioned to create a poster for the third Star Wars movie (then provisionally тιтled “Revenge of the Jedi”). He came up with a stunning image, one featuring a duel between Luke and Vader overshadowed by the bloodied helmet of the Sith Lord.
“I wanted to do something a little different,” Struzan explained in a 1998 interview, published in Star Wars Galaxy Collector #1. “It was a simple idea, more scale than anything else: the head of Vader in a big background, with a little-bitty laser fight out in front. There wasn’t an established look to [Jedi s advertising] at that time; the styles were all over the place. So the poster stands out as a peculiar one.“
Drew Struzan’s Stunning Art Became An Unexpected Design For Darth Vader
Struzan’s art would remain a historical curiosity until 2023, when Hasbro celebrated that year’s Star Wars Celebration with an entire action figure based on the design. It’s a very different Darth Vader, with a blood-red color dominating rather than his usual black. The sweeping cloak is a little stiffer than usual, allowing it to stand rather well.
This definitely isn’t your typical Darth Vader. It looks quite unusual standing among other Sith action figures, standing out from them because of the reds; there’s a slick feel to it that makes this truly impressive.
The blood-red design of the Revenge of the Jedi figure creates a very different impression to your standard Sith. There’s something quite savage about it, even more intimidating. I can’t help but imagine what Darth Maul, for example, would look like in robes stylized like this; I suspect that would go well with his demonic countenance.
Darth Vader was the true trendsetter, of course; Star Wars followed his lead in giving the Sith black robes (even if red is technically their favorite color; there’s an ironic scene in E.K. Johnston’s Queen’s Peril in which Palpatine openly wonders what the chancellor’s quarters would look like in red, speaking to a Jedi Master who doesn’t get the hint).
But because Star Wars hops around the timeline with impunity, Darth Vader simply looks like a dedicated follower of Sith fashion. Star Wars would have been wise to take a different approach, creating yet more stunning designs inspired by Struzan’s art.
Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader
- Created By
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George Lucas
- Cast
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Bob Anderson, Hayden Christensen, James Earl Jones, Matt Lanter, Matt Lucas, Jake Lloyd, David Prowse, Sebastian Shaw
- First Appearance
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Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope
- Died
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Star Wars: Episode VI – Return Of The Jedi
- Alliance
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Jedi, Sith
- Race
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Human
