The 25 most iconic Star Wars movie posters of all time

While the primary purpose of a movie poster is to advertise a movie, and get you to spend your money, in many cases, the movie poster can become a piece of art in and of itself. This is especially true when it comes to Star Wars.

The movie posters used to promote the movies have sometimes become as iconic as some of the movie moments themselves. These are 25 of the iconic works of art that have become some of the most memorable Star Wars images over the years.

1. The Phantom Menace teaser poster

After a decade and a half without a new Star Wars movie coming to theaters, The Phantom Menace was announced. We would all finally get to experience the first chapter of the saga.

There were rumors as to what we would get to see and more than a few images released of the movie being worked on, but this was the first official image we got advertising the upcoming movie — and really the trilogy as a whole. The image of a 9-year-old Anakin casting a Darth Vader shadow on the wall hit the world with a bang.

The shadow of Darth Vader looms over the 9-year-old Ani, just as the knowledge of where the story would eventually lead, looms over every moment of the trilogy. This was also one of the first times a photo was used as a movie poster to promote a Star Wars movie. Most of the posters for the original trilogy had been drawn. That small but very distinctive difference helped to set this poster apart and give the movies their own distinct feel right from the launching point.

It’s a powerful image, and one that sent fans into a frenzy excited for every sliver of information about the upcoming movie.