“Designing a new walker was kind of our white whale.” In an exclusive clip from a featurette included with the Star Wars: The Last Jedi home release, director Rian Johnson talks about creating the AT-M6 walker, a.k.a. the gorilla walker, with design supervisor Kevin Jenkins. Given how iconic The Empire Strikes Back‘s AT-AT walker is, it’s no wonder they were intimidated by creating something new and massive for the First Order to bring to the party on Crait. Watch:
The lumbering AT-M6 towers over the familiar AT-AT. To see it move is to wonder what it would be like to be crushed under its gigantic feet. Johnson says this walker projects a certain kind of power because of how it almost walks on its knuckles. The vehicle came to be known as the gorilla walker because of its stance, and Jenkins told StarWars.com he even molded the profile over an actual photo of a gorilla to nail the pose in the early design stages.
You can see the rest of this clip by bringing The Last Jedi home; digital release is on March 13 and Blu-ray release is on March 27.
Have you cleared an evening or two to watch all of the extra features included with The Last Jedi home release? Head to the comments and tell us what you’re hoping to learn.
Images: Disney/Lucasfilm
Amy Ratcliffe is an Associate Editor for Nerdist. She likes Star Wars a little. Follow her on Twitter.
More from The Last Jedi!
- Rian Johnson previews The Last Jedi‘s deleted scenes.
- The making of The Last Jedi‘s space horses and crystal foxes.
- On making The Last Jedi‘s milking scene.
