Every Single Important Detail About Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Disney announced the title of the next installment in January, and we have a few ideas for what The Last Jedi could refer to.

The poster was revealed as part of the franchise's 40th anniversary celebration.

The three-minute-long clip released at Disney's D23 Expo features glimpses of new cast members, the late Carrie Fisher's final days of playing General Leia Organa, and shots of Rey (Daisy Ridley) hanging out with Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) on the remote, craggy island where we last saw them in The Force Awakens.

A ton of the cast from The Force Awakens is returning, including Daisy Ridley, Oscar Isaac, and John Boyega. You can see the full cast here (so far)!

Not only are a bunch of your new favorites returning, but we're getting Benicio Del Toro and Laura Dern! Director Rian Johnson told Vanity Fair that Del Toro's role is as a "shady character of unclear allegiances" who doesn't have a name but has been dubbed "DJ" by the production team. "You'll see — there's a reason why we call him DJ," he said. Maybe the character is the DJ Khaled of space? Details about the Big Little Lies star's role in the film are a little less mysterious, since it was also revealed in Vanity Fair that she's playing Vice Admiral Holdo, "a prominent officer in the Resistance" who dresses head to toe in pink.

Meanwhile, Finn (Boyega) will be teaming up with a maintenance worker named Rose Tico, played by About a Boy actress Kelly Marie Tran. While Rose helps the stormtroooper-turned-Resistance fighter on their dangerous new mission, her sister, Paige Tico (played by Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny's Veronica Ngo), stays behind to learn from fighter pilot Poe Dameron (Isaac).

In March, Disney shareholders got to see some top-secret footage from the movie, and Los Angeles Times reporter Daniel Miller basically live-tweeted a play-by-play. Luke asks Rey who she is, there are scenes in mountains, oceans, forests, deserts, there is a "shot of an X-wing wobbling mid-air, under attack inside a giant ship," and while General Leia Organa was shown, she didn't speak in the footage.

In a 2016 interview with Vogue, John Boyega let on that Finn will have even more action sequences in the upcoming film. "My part in the next film will be much more physical so I might be in the gym a bit more," he said. He also divulged that Episode VIII will be "much darker."

At Star Wars Celebration Europe, Boyega also revealed that "the characters have been pushed in a new direction in a very, very cool way."

After Carrie Fisher's sudden and tragic death in December 2016, many couldn't help but wonder what it meant for the future of General Leia. Luckily, Fisher wrapped Episode VIII back in July, so we'll get to see her step into that iconic role one last time. While speaking to Vanity Fair in May, Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy confirmed that they don't plan on using CGI to re-create Leia in future films, saying, "We don't have any intention of beginning a trend of re-creating actors who are gone."

Rian Johnson is writing and directing Episode VIII. If his name is familiar, it's because he directed the 2005 indie thriller Brick and 2012's psychological crime drama Looper, both of which starred Joseph Gordon-Levitt. (Let's all hope for a surprise cameo from his buddy!)

In the behind-the-scenes footage released at Disney's D23 Expo, Daisy Ridley called Johnson's vision for the second film in the trilogy "unexpected but right," and John Boyega said he's made "Star Wars feel fresh and new."

During Star Wars Celebration Europe, director Johnson revealed the films he considers inspiration for Episode VIII: Twelve O'Clock High, Letter Never Sent, and The Bridge on the River Kwai, all war movies.

Yes, it's all fine and great that a bunch of the cast will be back, but what about Han Solo? He dies in The Force Awakens, but hope is not lost. Producer Kathleen Kennedy said that all the cast members at the premiere of The Force Awakens will also be in Episode VII, and Harrison Ford was present. Sure, she could have overlooked him, but Han might also appear in a flashback. There are ways around death in the Star Wars universe!

While in the past, most of the stories have had a particular time jump in between films, it's been confirmed that the next movie will take place right where The Force Awakens left off with Rey and Luke Skywalker. "For the first time, this movie is going to start where the last one left off," said director Johnson, during Star Wars Celebration Europe. He also called Ireland's Skellig Michael, that place Luke appears in Episode VII, "a very mystical, magical place."

Johnson also revealed during Star Wars Celebration Europe that there will be some unexpected cameos: Rogue One director Gareth Edwards will appear in costume (since he had Johnson make a cameo in Rogue One as a Death Star operator), as will the Han Solo spinoff's former directors, Phil Lord and Chris Miller.

The new movie was shooting scenes in Dubrovnik, Croatia for a while, but Mark Hamill confirmed on Twitter that production had wrapped nearly two weeks ahead of schedule on July 10, 2016.

The movie will be released on Dec. 15, 2017. Here's when the rest of the Star Wars movies and spinoffs will come out.