Kenny Baker, who became an international star for portraying R2-D2, the lovable iconic droid in the Star Wars franchise, has died after fighting a long illness, according to CNN. He was 81.

Like Peter Mayhew, David Prowse, Anthony Daniels, or even James Earl Jones in a way, the British-born Baker became a household name to the immense legions of Star Wars fans, who span almost 45 years of generational adoration for the franchise by donning the instantly recognizable R2-D2 costume. Not many people knew what the diminutive actor looked like in real life, but Star Wars fans wore a proud badge of honor knowing that it was Baker inside the R2 unit, a sort of early trivia nugget before the trivia boom started in the 1980s and never let its grip on popular culture.

If you haven’t seen Star Wars: The Force Awakens yet, then I suggest you turn back now, because this new report about how the script changed from its inception to now will reveal a critical SPOILER.

One of the major criticisms of the film was how convenient it was for the characters at the right place at the right time. The Force Awakens blends the old generation with the new, and what J.J. Abrams, Lawrence Kasdan, and Michael Arndt did was they had the characters from the old trilogy reprise their respective roles. Even the droids came back. But given that there is so much mystery wrapped around this film, we didn’t know how much of a role C-3PO or R2-D2 had. We hadn’t seen much of the droids except in the trailers, but now the writers are revealing R2-D2’s mystery role, as well as a few others.

Again, SPOILERS ahead, so now is your chance to turn back.

Check out what they had to say here below.

It was Star Wars night on Jimmy Kimmel Live last night, in anticipation of one of the biggest movie (and fan obsession) nights of the year – Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Kimmel interviewed director/writer/producer J.J. Abrams, who answered some compelling questions. Some of the cast faced off against a 3rd grade Star Wars expert, and Chewie and Harrison Ford squashed a feud.

Check out the clips below.

I wanted to share with you one of the most fabulous Christmas gifts I received this year — the Star Wars R2-D2 Carry-On Luggage!!!

It’s a carry-on suitcase with an R2-D2 design and it’s so adorable! It’s airline regulation size, has a retractable handle, and 360-degree swivel wheels.

The rolling bag is available now through ThinkGeek for $79.99.

We Star Wars aficionados grab onto anything related to this expansive universe whenever possible. Since Disney’s purchase of Lucasfilm, more and more items involving Star Wars have begun popping up online. Disney Store has been leading the way in offering an assortment of merchandise that will make you want to exhibit your fervor even further.

Here are 10 of my picks as must-have Star Wars products for not only you, but also potentially members of your Star Wars family.

ThinkGeek has unveiled their latest exclusive geeky gadget — the Star Wars R2-D2 Measuring Cup Set.

To say “WANT!” would be an understatement. This is a MUST-HAVE, gimme, gimme, gimme!!!!!!!

This set includes 4 measuring cups — 1/4, 1/3, 1/2, and 1 cup — as well as nested measuring spoons — 1/4, 1/2, 1 tsp, and 1/3 tbsp.

Check out the video of this R2-D2 measuring cup set in action, as well as some photos of the product.

We’ve heard a lot of rumors since Star Wars: Episode VII was announced, most of them involving which characters will be featured and which actors from other Star Wars movies may be reprising their roles.

But now comes the first official announcement of one character you will in fact be seeing in the movie. It’s being reported that R2-D2, the little astromech droid that could, will definitely be showing up somewhere in Episode VII. Even cooler, he’ll be made by fans.

R2-D2, where are you?

Back in 2009, after the release of Star Trek, the reboot of the Trek universe helmed by J.J. Abrams, it was discovered that popular Star Wars droid R2-D2 had made a cameo in the film. The little blue and white astromech droid could be seen floating in space during one of the battles (see photo above, which shows the droid in 2009’s Star Trek).

Now, R2-D2 has been spotted in the sequel, Star Trek Into Darkness, which is coming to DVD and Blu-ray on Tuesday, September 10, 2013.

Check out the screenshot here below of R2 in Star Trek Into Darkness, posted by io9.

The $10 t-shirt deal of the day over at RIPT Apparel today is a Star Wars-themed shirt called “Bad Unit” by subpop2000. The design, which reads “Bad Droid” and features droid R2-D2, is a take on Star Wars: Episode VII director J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot production company logo.

The shirt went on sale at RIPT today, Saturday, February 9, 2013, at midnight CST, and will continue for 24 hours from then, and once it’s over, it will not be sold on the site anymore.

The t-shirt is available in men’s (through 3XL), women’s, and youth sizes for $10 each in black. Kids sizes are $15 (Girls, Toddlers, and Onesies in black); Hoodies for $38 (in Men/Unisex sizes in black). You can also get the design on coasters for $25; iphone (4/4s) cases for $18; and prints (18″x24″) for $20.

Every day here at Doom HQ we receive tons of tips from our readers about really cool stuff from the world of geek, as well as promotional materials for new films, comic books, collectibles, and much more. While we do our best to bring you as much of it as possible, we don’t always have enough geek manpower available to cover it all on a daily basis. But we hate the idea of all of this really cool stuff wasting away in our inbox. How could we NOT cover it? Hence why we’ve resurrected our long-defunct column Bits Of Doom, now rebranded and revamped as Doom Digest, a collection of easily digestible bits of news, videos, photos, and other goodies.

Today: Comic book artist Alex Ross to receive prestigious alumnus award, a custom R2-D2 coffeemaker complete with sound, celebrate Roller Coaster Day today at your nearest theme park, Leonard Nimoy talks Star Trek, and Universal Studios Orlando theme park’s Superstar Parade, plus Bits Of Doom.