Via Ew.com:

Let’s say you fired a beam of light into the sky at the exact moment J.J. Abrams said yes to directing the launch of a new Star Wars trilogy. As of right now, it would still be traveling through the vast emptiness of space, more than a year from the nearest star to our own.

When you think about it that way, the makers of The Force Awakens were moving a lot faster than lightspeed.

In that same three-year period, Abrams and his cast and crew ventured through unfathomable timespace to an entirely different galaxy – and back again. They bring with them the start of a new saga that pretty much our entire pop-culture- consuming planet is awaiting.

The good news: It’s almost here. The bad news? As Yoda says, “Patience you must have.”

While you’re waiting for Dec. 18 to arrive, Entertainment Weekly has you covered with a special double issue this week devoted to Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

These collector editions feature four different covers: Han Solo striking a familiar pose with his blaster, Rey wielding her staff, Finn on high alert, and R2-D2 and C-3PO (basically chilling.)

Here’s just some of what you’ll find inside:

Behind-the-scenes of The Force Awakens
From the origins of George Lucas handing off his saga to a new generation, to how the artists and storytellers unleashed their imaginations to come up with new creatures, locations, and characters. This story talks to the major players and reveals never-before-seen images from the film.

We go light on spoilers, but Abrams does tease a few character details, including background on Lupita Nyong’o’s alien pirate Maz Kanata, what name Princess Leia is known by now, and what we need to know about Starkiller Base, the planet-sized weapon glimpsed in the movie’s poster.

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