There was a period of time earlier this year in which activity on Star Wars: The Force Awakens seemed to be almost completely non-existent. As evidenced by the recent onslaught of promotional material from the highly-anticipated next installment in the Star Wars saga, Disney and Lucasfilm were clearly waiting for a more opportune time to start the true marketing push for the film - and it's paying off, too.

All of the recent pieces of marketing - whether it be the new trailer, the new international trailer, the new TV spot, or the new character posters - have all elevated the excitement surrounding the seventh Star Wars movie, if that was even possible. If the sheer amount of advertisements for The Force Awakens had come out just a few months earlier, perhaps it wouldn't already be breaking box office pre-sale records.

It's going to be a difficult task to keep this hype going up until the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens next month. There is a such thing as too much promotion, although the Lucasfilm marketing team seems to know what they're doing. As apart of the marketing push for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, EW has unveiled three new covers for their special Star Wars double issue, featuring the likes of Rey (Daisy Ridley), Finn (John Boyega), Han Solo (Harrison Ford), and the galactic duo of R2-D2 (Kenny Baker) and C-3PO (Anthony Daniels).

In addition, EW also revealed some of what's to come in their special Star Wars issue, which promises more information on Lupita N'yongo's Maz Kanata, Leia's (Carrie Fisher) official title in The Force Awakens, and the Starkiller Base, which could be seen in the background of the poster released a few weeks back. Also featured will be interviews with some of the franchise's new stars, like Boyega and Ridley, along with some of the Star Wars veterans, namely Ford.

You can check out those EW magazine covers, below:

Unsurprisingly, Luke Skywalker's (Mark Hamill) role in The Force Awakens will not be revealed by EW, although director J.J. Abrams and Hamill will discuss how Luke mysteriously disappeared from the galaxy. Like Abrams has said, there's a good reason why Luke hasn't been revealed yet in the film's marketing. Considering that, it seems unlikely that we will get an official look at Luke until the actual movie itself.

Then again, stranger things have happened, but keeping Luke's presence confidential only adds to the excitement of getting to finally see Star Wars: The Force Awakens. And while it's possible Luke may not have a large role in the film, it certainly looks like it's going to be an important one.

NEXT: Star Wars 7 - The Most Interesting Things to Know

Star Wars: The Force Awakens hits theaters on December 18th, 2015, followed by Rogue One: A Star Wars Story on December 16th, 2016, Star Wars: Episode VIII on May 26th, 2017, and the Han Solo Star Wars Anthology film on May 25th, 2018. Star Wars: Episode IX is expected to reach theaters in 2019, followed by the third Star Wars Anthology film in 2020.

Source: EW