I hope the “Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens” craze hasn’t worn off you yet. The movie juggernaut has been setting box office records left and right ever since its release last December and with its release in China just this month, everyone is waiting for it to break the box office record set by “Avatar” on being the highest grossing film of all time.

But the story today is not about that film franchise started by George Lucas, and now owned by Disney, that has captured the hearts and minds of the movie-going audience since 1977. It is about a U.S. Marine, Sgt. Matthew Callahan, who has created a series of photographs called “Galactic Warfighters.”

In a series of photos, you see the Clone Troopers which formed the Republic’s Army during the Clone Wars.  They are the precursors to the Imperial Stormtroopers and seen in Star Wars Episodes II and III, in action fighting battles, which perhaps as part of the expansion on what is to be known as the Empire ruled by Emperor Palpatine and enforced by Darth Vader.

But what is fascinating about these photos is that the Sgt. Matthew Callahan used action figures for those realistic shot. And with a great eye for creating realistic-looking photos using toys, he came up with the fine “Galactic Warfighters” series which have garnered a big following on Instagram. But how did a U.S. Marine become a photographer of Clone Troopers?

According to War Is Boring, Callahan was recovering from a snapped leg which he got whilst on patrol in Afghanistan. During his recovery and rest period, he learned photography which was part of his public affairs training at Maryland’s Defense Information School. One class assignment he had was to capture motion with blur and freeze. Using his friend’s 6-inch Star Wars Stormtrooper toy for the photos, he liked the results of his assignment and decided to do even more.

Experimenting scenes with action figures, and given his training as a Marine with actual experience in combat, Callahan has created haunting photos, mainly captured in black and white, of Clone Troopers going about their missions. There is drama, there is tension, there is anxiety, and of course a more realistic way of treating the Clone Troopers like soldiers of present. Each photo has a caption of the scene and what goes in the trooper’s mind.

Wanting to see more of his photos? You can visit his website and Instagram page for updates.