So this isn’t exactly gaming news but it fits within the same kind of nerd kingdom so it’s all good. Anyway, Gareth Edwards’ upcoming Rogue One: A Star Wars Story received a new “celebration reel”, which is just fancy talk for a trailer that contains a couple of new scenes from the film as well as a behind-the-scenes look at a lot of practical effects and set designs used to help bring Rogue One to life.

The trailer clocks in at just under three minutes, featuring Edwards and others talking a little bit about what it takes to bring a new kind of Star Wars film to life while also paying deep respects for the history of the series and the brand. It’s pretty impressive and you can check it out below.

I almost instantly fell in love with the fact that the sets are actual sets and not green screen. It’s so cool seeing on-location shooting because it makes it feel like the production is trying to capture that classic, Hollywood magic that helped make some movies legendary.

Some of the action scenes also looked like they came right out of Saving Private Ryan. It’s a very different feel from a lot of the other Star Wars flicks. The on-set explosions, debris and rubble flying everywhere also helps give it a far more grounded feel than what was promised (and what was delivered) from the prequels.

Now this isn’t to say that this is going to be some grand-fantastic film, but I’m already a lot more excited about this movie than what I was for Star Wars: The Force Awakens and whatever Episode VIII is supposed to be called.

Also, I’m super excited that my boy Donnie Yen has what appears to be more than just a passing cameo in the film. It looks like he’s some kind of blind, Rebel warrior. I’m down with that. Hopefully he just doesn’t die like a punk because all the good will and brownie points the movie has built up would be lost if Yen dies like a punk.

My only major gripe so far is that Disney is scrubbing all of the previous canon that involved Kyle Katarn getting a hold of the Death Star blueprints. It was a major part of Star Wars lore for the longest and helped legitimize the Dark Forces series (which later became the Jedi Knight series).

Tech Times did a pretty cool article covering the history of the Death Star plans being stolen, dating back to the days when the radio story was told over NPR, up to the latest canonical entry that involved Kyle Katarn in the mid-to-late 1990s getting a hold of the plans (which has been the story ever since).

The Tech Times still holds out hope that Disney may still include Katarn in some way, the mercenary who eventually becomes a Jedi, but based on what’s been showcased and how they’re all-in on the diversity train, it seems unlikely that they would honor any part of the Star Wars canon they decided scrubbed after taking over the brand. A real shame.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is due for release on December 16th, 2016.