'The Martian' First Look: Matt Damon Is An Astronaut Again

Last year, we saw Matt Damon in astronaut mode in Christopher Nolan's Interstellar (above). And now The Bourne Identity star is returning to space with The Martian, the adaptation of Andy Weir's novel of the same name. Alien director Ridley Scott is at the helm of the sci-fi drama which follows an astronaut (Damon) who was part of the first team to walk on Mars. But when a dust storm catches his crew off guard, he ends up left behind on the planet, with no way to signal his astronaut colleagues, or mission control back on Earth, that he's still alive. I guess that's what he gets for trying to leave Matthew McConaughey behind in Interstellar

Earlier this year we got an unconventional first look at the set of The Martian thanks to a Super Bowl bet that Damon made with author Andy Weir. (Find out more about that here.) But now we actually have an official first look photo from the film with Damon in full astronaut gear.

UPDATE: A couple more of The Martian first look photos have surfaced, and we've added them after the jump.

Here are the photos from The Martian straight from Empire:

We've all seen astronauts before, and the suits they wear don't differ drastically in design and appearance. However, the helmet on Damon's spacesuit does seem to be bigger than other astronaut suits we've seen before, so I wonder what function that serves. Perhaps it just ensures that we'll be able to see his face. Interestingly enough, the color scheme is similar to the suit he wore in Interstellar, though this new one has much more orange. Hopefully he doesn't use it to headbutt another astronaut again in an attempt to escape Mars.

Anyway, with this photo surfacing from a magazine, and the film slated to arrive this fall, we'll likely be getting a much better look at the film very soon. I'm betting that since this is a 20th Century Fox film that the first trailer will arrive in August with Fantastic Four, but we'll see what happens.

The Martian, written by Drew Goddard (Cabin in the Woods), also stars Jessica Chastain, Kate Mara, Michael Peña, Kristen Wiig, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Jeff Daniels, Mackenzie Davis, Sean Bean, Donald Glover and Naomi Scott. Here's an official description of the story:

Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars.

Now, he's sure he'll be the first person to die there.

After a dust storm nearly kills him and forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded and completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he's alive—and even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone long before a rescue could arrive.

Chances are, though, he won't have time to starve to death. The damaged machinery, unforgiving environment, or plain-old "human error" are much more likely to kill him first.

But Mark isn't ready to give up yet. Drawing on his ingenuity, his engineering skills—and a relentless, dogged refusal to quit—he steadfastly confronts one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after the next. Will his resourcefulness be enough to overcome the impossible odds against him?

The Martian hits theaters on November 25th this fall.