Life-sized stormtroopers invade Comic-Con ahead of Star Wars Episode 9

Wednesday nights at San Diego Comic-Con are preview nights, a chance to see the show floor with (very slightly) fewer people than will be there the rest of the week. It’s a great time to get up close and personal to many of the marvels on display. Among the largest was Star Wars, which set up a veritable rogues gallery of stormtroopers — including, very notably, a bright red Sith Trooper, newly-unveiled ahead of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, in the middle.

As I was taking photos of the Sith Trooper — which is the only one on display without a placard explaining its place in canon — two fully-clad Sith Troopers popped up behind me for photo ops in front of their near-identical statue. To the left of that, a steampunk Vader was giving interviews. All that and a LEGO Star Wars Sith Trooper below.