We Must Be Cautious: MV-175 Variant Poster

"A long time ago, Mondo brought me the opportunity to create a poster for one of my all-time favorite movies, Star Wars: A New Hope. I had worked in the realm of Star Wars several times before, most notably when I was asked to produce over 100 full-color illustrations for the New Essential Guide to Characters, published in 2002. But this was the first time I had the chance to create an official poster for the film that had such a huge influence on my life.

Faced with the vastness of the Star Wars universe and the fact the material within had been covered to the point of redundancy, I felt an immense responsibility to bring something different. I began considering the visual origins of Star Wars and the concept paintings created by legendary artist Ralph McQuarrie. Many of his preproduction designs were not specific to the plot, but they introduced a unique environment to set the tone and invite curiosity. Going forward with that mindset, I began sketching out a poster not based within the frames of the completed film, but from an imaginary page that fell from Lucas’ notebook or from a yet-to-be revealed extended scene.

When I think about A New Hope, the most substantial point of the film is when Luke Skywalker commits to join Obiwan Kenobi on the path to fight the dark side and bring action to his words. My first viewing of this movie as a kid had a transformative effect, and I walked out of the theater with an energetic sense of direction and optimism. This piece is intended as a hanging reminder to all fans to trust their instincts and do what they feel is right (of course) as they walk out the door and fight their own battles." -Mike Sutfin