The new Star Wars: Rise of the Skywalker poster debuted at D23 is being accused of using a photograph of Hot Toys’s Emperor Palpatine Deluxe Version.
As noted by Disney Star Wars Is Dumb, the Emperor Palpatine image used in the most recent Rise of the Skywalker poster looks extremely similar to a photo of a Hot Toys toy posted to their official Facebook page last year.
You can see the original poster below:
And here’s a look at the photo of the Hot Toys Emperor Palpatine collectible.
And here’s a side by side comparison of the poster with the photo of the collectible, which was originally shared on the Hot Toys Collectors Facebook page.
Disney Star Wars is Dumb reports, “The dimensions of the face in the poster appear to be scrunched up vertically a bit, and the width widened horizontally. But that’s a match.”
YouTuber Geeks and Gamers described the poster and its use of a photo of the Hot Toys Emperor Palpatine Deluxe version as a “lazy, pathetic attempt at marketing by using a Hot Toy of Palpatine. It’s just really bad. It’s really bad optics. And I think Lucasfilm needs to be called out for it. And I’m going to continue to call them out for it.”
He would add, “Yes, this poster is bad. Yes, this poster is lazy. Yes, it needs to be called out, but I think the problem is people are so angry about it because of what we’ve seen so much of over the past several years with how Disney has done Star Wars. So now everything that they are doing is on a microscope.”
What do you make of this alleged use of the Emperor Palpatine Hot Toys photo in the Star Wars poster? Do you think it is a cool homage and shows the craftsmanship of the Hot Toys collectibles? Or do you think it is lazy work from Star Wars and Lucasfilm?