2015 has definitely been the year of Star Wars, that’s obvious, but over the last handful of weeks it feels like the galaxy has revolved around everything Star Wars. From the final trailer to character posters to a number of juicy interviews, the Star Wars universe has been at the top of the, well… Universe.

Today, a boat-load of new information hit the web thanks to Entertainment Weekly and their Star Wars: The Force Awakens centered issue. You can see all that juicy information here. In addition to the fantastic interview with J.J. Abrams, a TON of new images were released for the highly, highly anticipated film.

Other than the final trailers, these new images are by far the most exciting looks of the character we’ve gotten to this point. We’ve seen many of these shots in the trailers, but these images give us a fresher look from a different angle and in a much different light, even revealing a few interesting story points along the way. As an example, we see that John Boyega’s Finn and Oscar Isaac’s Poe Dameron do in fact meet very early in the film; Finn is still suited up as a Stormtrooper and it looks like this may be before/after Dameron is interrogated by Kylo Ren (shot from the final trailer).

Along with the just AMAZING new images, a few interesting tidbits were released alongside them. The EW piece starts with The First Order troopers and how they’ve been fed information from the events of the Original Trilogy:

Boyega says soldiers raised from childhood to serve this remnant of the scattered Imperial forces are fed propaganda about the heroes of the Rebellion. Unlike Rey, he has learned a lot about Luke Skywalker — but he has been taught he was a villain who destroyed the benevolent Empire.

The issue then continues with Rey, as it reveals that Daisy Ridley’s character was abandoned by her family as a child (I wonder who her family is…):

Rey was ditched on Jakku by her family when she was a child and has no idea why — or why they never returned. “She’s been alone for a long time,” Ridley says. “When something occurs when you’re 5, you know what went on but you don’t understand the reasoning. She’s hopeful for what lies ahead, whether that involves the past or not.” So why hasn’t abandonment made her bitter, angry, and… prone to the Dark Side? “Hope makes people good, a lot of the time,” Ridley says. “You hope for a brighter future, and resentment is outweighed.”

It also has a little bit of information on the film’s main villain, as Adam Driver says Kylo Ren’s motivation is something more universal:

“When you break all of those things down, really it’s just because someone wasn’t loved enough or felt betrayed. That’s what makes those movies so universal. I think they can get in your mind in big and sweeping ways.”

I am absolutely LOVING everything I’ve been hearing in the last 24 hours. From the interview with J.J. Abrams to all the goodies that will drop with EW’s all Star Wars issue, it’s everything it should be. And as for the images, straight nerdgasm. Like I said above, they are the most exciting looks at the film and its characters up to this point. They tease so much, but give little to nothing away. Kylo Ren vs. Rey and Finn in the snow. Finn and Poe Dameron’s friendship or maybe rivalry? Captain Phasma. Han Solo. “General” Leia. Chewie. BB-8. And even some badass looking Stormtroopers. JUST GET HERE ALREADY.

J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars: The Force Awakens hits in a galaxy near you on December 18th, 2015.