That scrolling intro accompanied by the blast of John Williams’ score following “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away….” will for the first time not be in a Star Wars movie. That is because Rogue One is a standalone movie, and not one from the main Star Wars cannon – so don’t mistake this for Episode VIII after The Force Awakens.

Even though the original trilogy had a strong female character, it was never Princess Leia’s story but Luke Skywalker’s. What we love about the new Star Wars movies by Disney is that they are putting female protagonists (we got Rey in The Force Awakens) at the centre of the story, and it’s a brave and commendable step for Hollywood filmmaking. Jyn Erso is played by the talented British actress Felicity Jones, and we believe she will do the character justice.

And speaking about Princess Leia… Remember at the start of the very first Star Wars movie, Episode IV: A New Hope, Princess Leia had to stow the stolen Death Star plans into the droid R2-D2? Rogue One, set between Episode III and IV, tells the story of how a group of rebels stole the plans from the evil Empire, up to the point where the plans landed in her hands. So… the question is will we see a young Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) at the end of the movie or will her name just be mentioned? Watch to find out!

The biggest star (literally) of all the Star Wars movie is the Death Star, a super weapon and space station the size of a planet which is built to destroy cities and worlds. Rogue One‘s plot centres on how the rebels try and stop the building of the Death Star by stealing its plans and finding its weakness. With the current CGI technologies, we can expect to see amazing space battles amidst the gigantic space station.

Everyone loves the roguish charms of Harrison Ford’s Han Solo, because even though he’s a criminal smuggler, we know that he has a romantic heart of gold. Captain Cassian Andor, the main male lead character in Rogue One, is however quite different from Han. He’s the brooding hero who seems to have a troubled past… but that makes him all the more mysterious and sexy. It helps that Mexican actor Diego Luna who plays Cassian has the chiseled features and accent to match his character’s appeal.

We all love C-3PO, the adorable golden droid from the original trilogy, and also BB-8 from The Force Awakens, but the new droid in Rogue One does not look as cute at first glance (maybe because he’s a reprogrammed Imperial droid)… K-2SO however makes it up with his wit, voiced brilliantly by actor Alan Tudyk. So in every scene where K-2SO appears, listen out for his lines.

There were some very minor roles in the original Star Wars movies played by Asians but their appearances were so fleeting that you would miss them if you blinked. In Rogue One, we finally see galactic diversity embraced, with Asian actors Donnie Yen and Jiang Wen, playing Chirrut Imwe and Baze Malbus respectively, as part of the main cast.

We are most excited to see Donnie Yen again on the big screen (if you’ve watched the Ip Man films you would understand why everyone can’t get enough of his martial arts moves). He plays a blind warrior monk named Chirrut Imwe in Rogue One. We learnt that he is not a Jedi, but is connected to the Force somehow. That probably explains his incredible fight scenes.

Most of the Jedis were killed off in Episode III. And that is why Rogue One will not feature any Jedis or lightsaber fights. Do go into the movie knowing this, or you might be disappointed!

One ex-Jedi does make an appearance, and it’s the one thing which has Star Wars fans the most excited about Rogue One. We do not know yet if the Sith Lord will fight, or he will just appear in talking scenes. But knowing how Star Wars movies always keep many surprises, we just might see Darth Vader wield his iconic red lightsaber… hopefully!