It’s opening day of Star Wars Celebration in Anaheim, CA, and today’s events started with the J.J. Abrams and Kathleen Kennedy panel, where we learned tidbits about Star Wars: The Force Awakens and were the first to watch the new breathtaking teaser trailer before it came online and see new images.

But even with all of the cheering and fan questioning at the popular panel, it just wouldn’t be a true celebration without having the old guard pass the baton (or should I say lightsaber) to the new guard. After the new cast was introduced — including the new ball droid BB-8), Abrams welcomed in Anthony Daniels (who plays C-3PO), Carrie Fisher (who plays Princess Leia), Peter Mayhew (who plays Chewbacca), and Mark Hamill (who plays Luke Skywalker), as well as the droid R2-D2. After the jump see what they had to say about being a part of the franchise.

A pair of actresses have joined the cast of Star Wars: Episode VII, the next installment in the franchise being directed by J.J. Abrams.

The first actress is Lupita Nyong’o, who recently took a big step into the spotlight by winning an Oscar for her supporting role in 12 Years a Slave. The second actress is Gwendoline Christie, who is best known for her role as Brienne of Tarth on HBO’s Game of Thrones.

Most of us have heard, “May the fourth be with you” at least once today. That’s right: it’s Star Wars Day! And what better way to celebrate than to take a trip down memory lane? Check out here below these photos of the original cast members of the original Star Wars trilogy, from then and now.

After the one announcement that Girls star Adam Driver would be one of the new faces of Star Wars: Episode VII, we all expected that official casting announcements would start coming piece by piece soon. This is not the case.

Instead, it has been decided to announce the ENTIRE cast in one fell swoop so you can all decide right away if you approve or dislike the choices that were made.

It’s most certainly an interesting cast with a nice mix of new and old, and you can see every name as well as an image of the cast reading the script together below.

This week, actor Peter Mayhew, who played the Wookiee Chewbacca in the Star Wars saga, uploaded to Twitter a bunch of set photos from the original Star Wars film trilogy. Many of the photos feature main stars Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia), Harrison Ford (Han Solo), and Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker) having fun on set, as well as a great one of Mayhew holding up Fisher, Fisher with an 11-year-old Warwick Davis, and much more.

Check out a few of the photos embedded here below.