This week's issue of Entertainment Weekly hits newsstands and electronic devices on Friday, August 14, and it's one that Star Wars fans absolutely must not miss.

The most anticipated movie of the year, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, is the cover story in the magazine's annual "Fall Movie Preview." Adam Driver's Kylo Ren graces the cover with his malevolent visage and that crazy red lightsaber. (Which, if you look closely and watch carefully in the trailers, sports a blade that looks a bit more jagged and wild than the usual saber, kind of like a blade that's on fire.)

Inside, the cover story promises an interview with the Episode VII maestro himself, J.J. Abrams. Teasing the issue, EW says that one of the biggest things we'll learn from the interview is the story of how Lucasfilm's Kathleen Kennedy convinced Abrams to sign on. Apparently, she hooked him by asking him a question about Luke Skywalker that he had to know the answer to — even if it meant devising it himself.

Regarding villain Kylo Ren, EW suggests that this is not his original name, and it's hinted that he has an important connection to Darth Vader. Put two and two together, and it sounds like Ren could come from the Skywalker family tree. The magazine also notes that his lightsaber is "homemade."

EW.com has also posted a series of new images from the film, which will figure prominently in Friday's magazine. Among them are several new shots of heroes Finn and Rey, the first official image of Domnhall Gleeson as the vicious New Order leader General Hux, C-3PO sporting a new red arm, a new shot of Gwendoline Christie's Captain Phasma with a tease about the character's name having an "unexpected origin," and more.

Here are a few of the images, but head over to EW.com for the rest.

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