I have been obsessed with Star Warsfor as long as I can remember. I’ve read about 100 of the over 300 (now non-canon) Star Wars books written, and I’ve spent more hours than I can count on StarWars.com and Wookieepedia. I’m not gonna say there aren’t bigger fans than me out there - I know there are - but in my circle of friends, I’m one of the leading experts. So, from someone who’s been counting down the days until Star Wars: Episode VII premiers on December 18^th, here’s what you absolutely need to know about "The Force Awakens."

THE PLOT. I actually don't want to know any concrete facts about the plot, so I'm not going to go through crazy fan theories here. What we do know about the movie is simple: the First Order (a remnant of the Empire) and the Resistance (akin to the Rebel Alliance) are facing off 30 years after "The Return of the Jedi." That's it. That's all you need to know.

THE CAST. The cast list was released quite a while ago, but we’ve learned bits and pieces about the main characters since then. I’m sure you’ve heard that Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, and Carrie Fischer are all reprising their beloved roles, but we have more than a few new main characters to get to know.

Who: Daisy Ridley

What you've seen her in: Nothing, really. This newcomer has been in a few British productions, but Star Wars will be her breakout role.

Character: Rey, a space scavenger from the planet Jakku (the sandy planet that you probably thought was Tatooine in the first teaser). Rumor has it that she may be Han Solo's daughter.

What you've seen him in: Boyega has relatively few acting credits to his name, but he did have a recurring role in the TV show "Becoming Human."

Character: Finn, a stormtrooper. We know that he's a main character and probably deserted his unit, but beyond that, we don't know much.

Who: Oscar Isaac

What you've seen him in: "Ex Machina," "Inside Llewyn Davis," and many others.

Character: Poe Dameron, a pilot for the Resistance. Just LOOK at the resemblance to Luke Skywalker in the original trilogy. I'm obsessed.

Who: Domnhall Gleeson

What you've seen him in: "Ex Machina," the Harry Potter series as Bill Weasley, "About Time" (which made me fall in love with him & you should see it if you haven't).

Character: General Hux, a high-ranking official of the First Order.

Who: Adam Driver

What you've seen him in: "Inside Llewyn Davis," Lena Dunham's TV show "Girls"

Character: Kylo Ren, the fearsome lightsaber-wielding enigma from the first teasers who belongs to the dark side group the Knights of Ren.

Who: Gwendoline Christie

What you've seen her in: "Game of Thrones"

Character: Captain Phasma, the most badass female Stormtrooper in the First Order. HURRAY for strong female characters!

Who: Andy Serkis

What you've seen him in: A better question is what haven't you seen him in? Andy Serkis is a god to geeks everywhere, but his largest roles have been as Gollum/Smeagol in "The Lord of the Rings" and Caesar in the "Planet of the Apes" reboots.

Character: Supreme Leader Snoke, the mysterious leader of the First Order. As you can see in the picture, Serkis is playing this character through motion-capture, so I'm interested to see what he'll look like.

THE TIE-INS. As I mentioned before, Disney has declared that all previous Star Wars stories will now be considered non-canon (which means not officially part of the story) and filed under the heading "Legends". While that makes me incredibly sad and a little bit mad, I am very excited about the new stories coming out. The new series Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens is a set of stand-alone books (plus one comic series) that tie directly into the new movie.

Three of the new books are devoted to the original heroes: "The Weapon of a Jedi" (Luke), "Smuggler's Run" (Han and Chewbacca), and "Moving Target" (Leia).

The other two books and the comic series focus on new characters. "Lost Stars" details the story of two lovers on opposite sides of the galactic conflict in Episodes 4 through 6. "Aftermath" is the first book in a trilogy that bridges the 30 year gap between "Return of the Jedi" and "The Force Awakens." "Shattered Empire" (the comic book) tells the story of Poe Dameron's parents.

I don't know about you, but I am SO excited to read these new stories and theorize about how they relate to the movie.

IMPORTANT UPDATES.

J.J. Abrams has confirmed that he has finished the final cut of the movie, which is enough to make me scream and jump up and down in excitement. However, Disney does hold the rights to make any changes they wish to Abrams' cut...so let's hope they keep their hands off of it.

The first full-length trailer will possibly be premiering on October 19th, which is EIGHT DAYS AWAY. That's the day when IMAX tickets go on pre-sale, so many people have been speculating that the trailer will drop then. This is so important. If you want to catch up and watch the previous teasers, watch here:

So there it is: the absolutely essential facts about the new movie. Get psyched, fellow Star Wars fans. I'll see you at the premier, and you sure as hell better believe I'll be dressed up.