Quendrith Johnson

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by Quendrith Johnson, Los Angeles Correspondent

Ever since STAR WARS time immemorial, or 1977, depending on how tuned-in to George Lucas’ space saga you are, there’s been one constant: a massive fan base. In fact, stealing from the tech world, you could even say “all your fan base are belong to us.”

Us being George's LucasFilm Ltd, Kathleen Kennedy his key producer, and every single actor who’s been on board, from Harrison Ford to Daisy Ridley through four generations now.

Why is STAR WARS so huge? Because it resides at the intersection of Space and Nerd, and serves to legitimize the longing we all have to believe that the night skies hold something other than floating super-hot rocks and dead asteroids.

And there's a bunch of cool robots saying snarky things, with R2D2 homaging the Marx Bros' Harpo in space with his whistles.

R2D2 Is Harpo Marx in Space!

Or maybe it's just because we grew up with this franchise, all of us. Call it the wishful thinking of terrestrial folks to join the galactic ranks, or just a perfect form of escapism in the CGI era, whatever it is about this franchise, super fans can’t get enough even though this isn't set to launch until 12/15.

Now you can join them in a first-look at THE LAST JEDI trailer from yesterday, April 14, in Orlando, Florida, at the 40th STAR WARS CELEBRATION.

Behold… seated in a theater, far, far, away… you are transported there...

The party also included surprise moderator and Star Wars superfan Josh Gad, fans in attendance were treated to an exciting look at the next episode in the Saga for the first time, as you just saw. Gad was then  joined on stage by Kathleen Kennedy, director Rian Johnson, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Mark Hamill, BB-8 and making her first appearance on the Celebration stage, Kelly Marie Tran.

Trailer courtesy of STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI Celebration.

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