San Diego's Comic Con is in full swing, and on Friday comic book nerds, sci-fi geeks, and movie buffs alike were treated to the ultimate surprise during the panel for the upcoming J.J. Abrams' flick—and latest in the iconic Star Wars franchiseStar Wars: The Force Awakens. The panel, which saw a massive turnout (but are we really surprised?) from fans, received a special screening of never-before-seen, behind-the-scenes footage from the upcoming film.

The emotional montage revealed all sorts of exciting sneak peeks at the highly anticipated film, including looks at various character designs (many of which, it seems, will bypass CGI for good ol' fashioned prosthetics, puppetry, and animatronics), special effects and set designs, and even a few glimpses at some of the core cast in costume—including some very familiar faces.

In the clip, we see Harrison Ford reprise his role as Han Solo, Carrie Fisher reprise her role as Princess Leia (marking the first full look we've seen of Leia in this film), and Mark Hamill reprise his role as Luke Skywalker. During a particularly tender moment, Hamill, sitting on set and sporting some very Obi Wan Kenobi facial hair, wistfully explains to the camera, "You've been here, but you don't know this story. Nothing's changed, really. I mean, everything has changed, but nothing's changed. That's the way you want it to be, really."

Aside from being featured in the reel, the trio also joined the rest of the cast and crew onstage at the panel, which also included newcomers John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, and Adam Driver—who skillfully dodged questions about his much-speculated character. (Seriously, is he going down the dark side route or not!?)

Dust off those lightsabers, people: Star Wars: The Force Awakens opens December 18, 2015.

See These Celebrity Pilots

More From 93.7 WBLK