Star Wars Celebration: The 5 best things we learned

Held in London, the three-day event featured panels on upcoming Star Wars movies Rogue One, Episode VIII, and the untitled Han Solo film

It's been nothing short of a whirlwind weekend for Star Wars fans.

For those attending London's Star Wars Celebration Europe 2016, certainly; gathered in their thousands to share the joy, spend their life savings on merchandise, and take some pictures with sexy Ewoks (no, really). Yet, there were plenty of thrills in store even for those not in attendance at the three-day event.

Though Disney held back on anything as major as a new film announcement, or even the much-anticipated title of Episode VIII; the weekend was still packed to the brim with some fascinating reveals and morsels of information that would send any dedicated Star Wars fan wild with anticipation. Here's the very best of what we learnt.

1. Alden Ehrenreich was FINALLY confirmed as Han Solo by Disney

It's slightly unfortunate that Star Wars Celebration's major reveal had been spoiled by the Hollywood rumour mill months previously; yet, still, it was thrilling merely to get confirmation that Hail, Caesar!'s Alden Ehrenreich will indeed be taking on the role of a young Han Solo in Phil Lord and Chris Miller's yet-to-be-titled spin-off movie.

Ehrenreich himself came out to greet the crowds, and it seemed immediately apparent why the actor was chosen for the role. A man with easy charm, and enough of a passing resemblance to Harrison Ford to make the character work; Ehrenreich was actually the first actor Lord and Miller ever auditioned for the role, though they eventually saw over 3,000.

A fact both comforting and, clearly, comically exasperating for the directors; yet, Lord and Miller made it clear they weren't prepared to take any risks when it came to recasting such an iconic role. Though Ehrenreich's obviously got his work cut out here; he's an actor preparing for what he confessed was the wildest of childhood fantasies come true, sharing a photo of his old Han Solo toy that his mother sent to him as soon as he told her the news.

2. We had our first look at Darth Vader in Rogue One - but for the audience only

We've known for a while that the classic Star Wars villain would be making a return in Gareth Edwards' spin-off Rogue One, resulting in major speculation as to whether he'd be revealed in any of the upcoming trailers.

The answer, in short, is yes; though the new trailer shown at the Rogue One panel was strictly for Celebration audience eyes only. Amongst plenty of new footage establishing the new film's gritty, more sombre, war-like tone; nestled a final shot that sent the crowd absolutely wild.

Darth Vader; or more accurately, a reflection of Darth Vader haloed in a reddish glow, taking in a single breath. Sure, this reveals essentially nothing about Vader's role in the film's narrative; yet, it's merely exciting to see the character once more in concrete form.

3. We had our first look at Rogue One characters, Galen Erso and droid K-2SO

With Episode VIII only just wrapped filming, and the Han Solo film without even a complete script; it was only natural the spotlight would fall on this year's Rogue One, with the film's panel by far being the most revealing in its content.

Though we've already glimpsed the majority of the film's central characters in the initial trailer; two individuals seemingly kept hidden were Mads Mikkelsen's Galen Erso and new droid K-2SO, with both now getting full reveals at the film's panel.

Though we'd already learnt Mikkelsen would be playing Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones)'s father, the panel gave final confirmation of the fact; whilst revealing a first image of the actor in costume, alongside a very tantalising quote as to why the character has so far been kept such a mystery. Mikkelsen teased that Galen, “once invented something so beautiful, so fantastic that it could change the universe.”

Those in attendance also saw a brief clip of droid K-2SO, played by Alan Tudyk in a motion capture performance, with the revelation that he was an Imperial droid reprogrammed by the rebellion.

"Cassian reprogrammed him, and did like a data wipe," Tudyk explained. "When he reprogrammed him, he’s not quite all there. He speaks his mind and says things, I don’t know, that can be unsettling. He’s very honest. If you know any old people, he’s like that; he just says whatever he thinks. It was great. It was really great to play him."

4. There was plenty of new Rogue One footage thanks to a Celebration Reel for the film

Though the new trailer revealed to the Celebration audience won't be dropping online anytime soon, director Gareth Edwards still had a bounty of new footage to show elsewhere thanks to a special behind-the-scenes reel for the film.

What's immediately obvious is what a visual shift Rogue One will be making within the Star Wars universe; the film boasting a muted, sombre colour palette that's fitting to its identity as more of an offshoot war film than a piece of the main storyline. Not that Rogue One is about to lose its central cinematic DNA, with the reel all leading up to Jyn uttering that magic phrase, "May the force be with us".

5. A HUGE Rogue One spoiler may have accidentally be revealed

There was always going to be a danger that someone would let something slip, even if every cast member lived constantly under the watchful eye of Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy. So, the fact we may have accidentally been told a fairly major Rogue One spoiler shouldn't be much of a surprise - *DON'T read ahead if you want to avoid any potential spoilers for the movie - you've been warned!*

While Jiang Wen - who plays Baze Malbus in the film - discussed his character in the upcoming film, he let slip; "I pretend [to all the characters to do a very, very big mission. I cannot say [anything more about] that. And [he gestures to Donnie Yen], when this guy dead I do something better. Maybe I believe by my action - he's thinker, I'm doer so-"

A statement which seems to quite clearly reveal that Donnie Yen's Chirrut Îmwe dies over the course of the film; especially considering host Gwendoline Christie interrupted saying, "I think we need to leave it here. I think you've got to leave it there."

Wen had previously apologised for his limited English, so it's possible the statement was just a miscommunication; presumably something we'll only find out when the film itself is released in cinemas.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story hits UK cinemas 16 December 2016; with Star Wars: Episode VIII expected 15 December 2017, and the Han Solo film on 25 May 2018.