By now, most everyone who is going to see Star Wars: The Last Jedi in the theater, has seen it. Which means Disney and Lucasfilm are ready to start getting fans excited about the next Star Wars film, Solo: A Star Wars Story. In fact, word has it that the first trailer will debut during the college football National Championships on ESPN this Monday, Jan. 8. So, we figured it was a good time to scour the net and compile all the official news and juicy rumors we could find about this movie that details Han Solo’s early exploits.

This film has had a bit of a bumpy ride to the big screen. In July 2015 directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller (The Lego Movie) were brought on to helm this Han Solo origin film. Disney were clearly looking to inject more humor into the galaxy far, far away. However, after reportedly continuously clashing with co-writer Lawrence Kasdan and Lucasfilm boss Kathleen Kennedy, Lord and Miller were dismissed last June. They were replaced by Hollywood veteran Ron Howard, the franchise’s first ever Academy Award-winning director. Although Howard was brought in to finish up the film, he ended up doing considerable reshoots. Regardless of all this, Lucasfilm has managed to maintain their original May 25 release date.

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Below we have outlined any and everything that might get you hyped up about the second entry in the Star Wars standalone series. And thanks to Howard being social media savvy and fan-accessible, we luckily have quite a bit to share.

ENSEMBLE CAST

With apparently more than a thousand actors trying out for the role of young Han Solo, relative newcomer Alden Ehrenreich (Hail, Caesar!) came out on top. He beat out names like Miles Teller (War Dogs), Taron Egerton (The Secret Service: The Golden Circle) and Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Godzilla). While some have complained that he doesn’t look the part, recent promo art (above) makes us believe he could be Harrison Ford’s blood relation. Donald Glover’s casting as a youthful Lando Calrissian, on the other hand, has been universally praised. The third character from the original trilogy that will play a significant role in this film is, of course, Chewbacca. The Wookiee will once again be portrayed by Joonas Suotamo. The Finnish actor and basketball player also donned the iconic suit in The Last Jedi and was Peter Mayhew’s double in The Force Awakens.

As for the rest of the cast, the only solid details we have are the fact that Woody Harrelson (War For The Planet of the Apes) will play Han’s mentor named Beckett, and that Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones) is the female lead, Qi'ra. It’s worth noting that Christian Bale (The Big Short) recently divulged in an interview that he had been in talks with Lucasfilm to play Han’s mentor, before the role went to Harrelson. It has also been confirmed that UK screenwriter/actress Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Fleabag) will play a motion-capture character. It has been speculated that she will be a droid, as the part was compared to that of Alan Tudyk as K-2SO in Rogue One.

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Lastly, Thandie Newton (Westworld) and Paul Bettany (Captain America: Civil War) have both been cast in unspecified roles. What we do know is that Bettany was brought in to replace Michael K. Williams (The Wire), who had filmed scenes as a motion-capture alien. Due to scheduling conflicts, Williams could not take part in reshoots when Howard took over directing duties. So, the filmmakers created a new human character for Bettany to portray. At the Rhode Island Comic Con in November a fan asked the British actor the name of his character and he responded, "I'm not sure. I might get sued is the answer to that one. I can't answer that. But obviously, I am a very cool intergalactic gangster." Behind-the-scenes photos seem to suggest he is some sort of wealthy and unscrupulous hoarder, not unlike The Collector from Guardians of the Galaxy.

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HARD FACTS

It was just revealed last week that Star Wars mainstay John Williams will compose the Solo theme, while conductor John Powell (Ferdinand) will handle the rest of the score. Williams' compositions are considered the sound of the Star Wars franchise, and his involvement should please fans.

We also know that since Howard took over he has reshot the majority of the film and steered it away from Lord and Miller’s comedic tone. It will be interesting to see if the inevitable “Making of” featurette reveals what Howard kept from the directing duo’s footage.

Through Ron Howard’s Instagram posts, we have also gleaned that Solo will feature some recognizable elements from the original trilogy, like an R2 Unit, Imperial Navy troopers (the guys in the black dimpled helmets), and Lando’s capes.

RUMORS WE WANT TO BE TRUE

Ron Howard has not been shy about sharing behind-the-scenes shots on his Instagram and Twitter accounts, but he hasn’t included a lot of info with these goodies. So, as you would expect, the speculation has taken on a life of its own. The most persistent (and likely) rumor came from a photo of what appears to me a mine with the caption, “Spicey?” Fans were immediately sure it must be an allusion to the spice mines of Kessel. And if we see this location that was first mentioned by C-3PO in A New Hope, we will most certainly get to see the Millennium Falcon complete the Kessel Run in 12 parsecs. Woohoo!

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The next rumor is based on an Easter egg in The Last Jedi. You may have heard that the golden dice in the Millennium Falcon that Luke takes and gives Leia originally appeared in A New Hope. Many believe that the filmmakers put so much emphasis on the dice because they will play a major role in the upcoming Solo film. These die have been confirmed to be the pair Han used to win the Millennium Falcon from Lando in a game of “Cornelian Spike” sabacc.

There has also been word floating around that we'll see the Millennium Falcon fresh off the assembly line. Apparently in its original condition the ship includes a cargo unit that slots into the forked front end.

Now, we saved the best for last because we know everybody loves the Dark Lord of the Sith. Yes, in the fall a source close to the production told That Hashtag Show that Darth Vader had been seen on set. Since we know the Empire will have a presence in this film, a Vader cameo wouldn't be out of place.

SCRUFFY CAMEOS

Star Wars films are known for being full of Easter eggs and cameos, and it seems like Solo will definitely carry on the tradition. First, fans of Dark Horse Comics' line of Star Wars comic books are likely to be ecstatic about the inclusion of Tag and Bink. Even when the Expanded Universe was still canon, these two bumbling Imperials were not. In a series of four comics released in the early to mid-'00s, writer Kevin Rubio and artist Lucas Marangon told the story of a pair of Stormtroopers who just happened to be present at every important event from the first six films. Howard revealed that these cult-favorite characters would appear in Solo with a Twitter pic showing first assistant director Toby Hefferman in costume as Tag and the film’s co-writer, Jon Kasdan, as Bink. What do you think they will witness in Solo?

It should come as no surprise that Warwick Davis will make a cameo. He has been in four Star Wars films since he first played Wicket in Return of the Jedi and played multiple characters in The Phantom Menace. It was reported back in September that Davis will play a power droid with armaments called Fight Droid 2 -- that rumor has yet to be confirmed, though.

Another actor whose cameo shouldn’t be a shocker is Clint Howard. Ron Howard’s little bro has appeared in 16 of his films to date. We have no idea which character he will play but considering his history in Star Trek, an alien could be fitting.

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It would be remiss not to mention that last Spring news broke that buzzing young star Ian Kenny (Sing Street) had been added to the cast. While his role still remains shrouded in mystery, we expect it will be more substantial than Daniel Craig and Tom Hardy's Stormtrooper cameos.

CORELLIAN GRAFFITI

Ron Howard worked with George Lucas and Harrison Ford on a movie about the ‘60s filled with roadsters and drag racing called American Graffiti, released in 1973, four years before Star Wars: A New Hope hit. This is relevant because Howard has dropped hints about speeder racing showing up in Solo. He posted a black and white photo of the steering wheel and hands wearing racing gloves on Instagram in September, and then on New Year’s Day he gave us a color shot of another speeder dashboard on Twitter. Paparazzi also caught the Solo crew while filming what appeared to be Ehrenreich double driving a muscle speeder (pictured above). We’re looking forward to seeing how this homage to Lucas and Ford plays out.