VF Star Wars The Force Awakens Photos 

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See all of Annie Leibovitz’s photographs from the set of the year’s most anticipated film.

Unlike most film-set photo shoots, there are more than slick costumes and stunning locations on display in these new images from

. Annie Leibovitz traveled to London’s famed Pinewood Studios to photograph some never-before-seen characters and confirmed a rumor or two in the process. There’s a lot of mystery surrounding the closely guarded

set, but a few of those well-kept secrets are finally out, thanks to these exclusive photographs from the June issue of

Next-generation bad guy Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) commands snowtroopers loyal to the evil First Order on the frozen plains of their secret base.

star is the lucky cast member swinging that next-generation three-pronged lightsaber that prompted so much discussion in the first teaser. In case the all-black ensemble wasn’t enough to tip you off to Ren’s allegiance, those ominous snowtroopers behind him are a big clue.

A small galaxy’s worth of tracking dots affixed to Lupita Nyong’o’s face allowed artists at Industrial Light & Magic to transform her into the C.G.I. character Maz Kanata.

And while we may not know which side of the Resistance (the film’s new term for the Rebel Alliance) Lupita Nyong’o’s C.G.I. character, Maz Kanata, is on, we do know from the caption on this eye-popping rogue’s gallery photo that she’s a pirate.

Galactic travelers, smugglers, and other assorted riffraff fill the main hall of pirate Maz Kanata’s castle.

Don’t let that sway your opinion, though. Smugglers like Han Solo and Lando Calrissian were heroes of the original trilogy, and the rebellion has a long and loving relationship with so-called scum.

Dashing Resistance pilot Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) stands alongside his trusty X-wing fighter.

Speaking of heroes, this new gallery is also full of faces that

fans have already come to know and love. The raffish photo of Oscar Isaac’s Resistance pilot Poe Dameron hanging off an X-Wing is classic nerd pinup material.

J. J. Abrams directs Actress Daisy Ridley for a scene in which her character, the young heroine Rey, pilots her speeder through a bustling marketplace on the planet Jakku.

This behind-the-scenes shot of J.J. Abrams directing Daisy Ridley’s Rey on her trusty speeder gives us another look at the strange creatures inhabiting the desert planet Jakku. We still don’t know her character’s last name, but fans suspect that it’s one

: composer John Williams, producer and Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy, co-writer Lawrence Kasdan, and director and co-writer Abrams, photographed at Bad Robot, Abrams’s production company, in Santa Monica.

Avid fans of the franchise may feel a special connection with the portrait of the

brain trust comprised of director Abrams, producer Kathleen Kennedy, and veterans to the franchise composer John Williams, and co-writer Lawrence Kasdan.

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