Rogue One carries no "Episode X"-style branding, as this is the first standalone Star Wars film produced that sits in parallel to, but is not intimately connected to, the larger Star Wars story of the rise (and fall) of the Sith, the fall (and rise) of the Jedi and the Skywalker family.

Things you need to know: it is set immediately prior to the events of Star Wars, Episode IV: A New Hope and chronicles the theft of the Death Star plans which was referenced in that film.

Things you will need to do if you are a Star Wars fan: it looks insanely good, but put on your waterproof undies before you read on; a whole bunch of things will make you wet yourself with excitement.

1. Y'avin a good time yet?

If this looks familiar to your weary old, prequel-depressed Star Wars eyes, it should. We're in the landing bay of the rebel base on the moon of Yavin IV. We were last here in the original 1977 Star Wars as this was the site of the final assault on the Death Star. Of course, the Empire's sinister armoured space station isn't here yet, it's presently elsewhere, under the watchful eye of Governor Tarkin, who we're presuming is in the film, but of whom there has yet been no glimpse. Being frogmarched across the bay is Jyn Erso, played by Felicity Jones. She is, by all accounts, a bad, bad girl, and she's been recruited by the Rebel Alliance for a big, big task.

2. I, Rebel

It's a long list of charges to her name: forgery of imperial documents, possession of stolen property, aggravated assault, resisting arrest. Welcome to the Rebel Alliance, Jyn Erso, you're our kind of people. In the olden days of the Star Wars saga those spiffy Death Star generals used to refer to "rebel scum" and now we're getting to see it properly: the infancy of the Rebel Alliance wasn't all medal ceremonies and tiara-wielding princesses, it was rough and desperate, and they recruited who they could. In this case, a kid who has been on her own since she was 15 and is described as "reckless, aggressive and undisciplined."

3. Meet the dashing sidekick ...

His name we don't know yet, but meet the dashing sidekick played by Diego Luna. Perhaps the most brilliant thing about the post-Lucas Star Wars universe is that this is no universe for old men. Star War, Episode VII: The Force Awakens brought us in Daisy Ridley's Rey a proper female lead. Which is not to deny Princess Leia was anything less than awesome, but prior to that there was a tendency for men to lead the Star Wars narrative. In Rogue One we have another strong female lead and, curiously, a guy who has a wee echo of Oscar Isaac playing another of those broody, handsome, rebel guy-types.

4. The time for our attack has come ...

Now here's a big reveal for Star Wars fans: the supreme commander of the Rebel Alliance, Mon Mothma. In the original Star Wars story cycle we didn't meet her until the third story, Return of the Jedi. Rogue One places her now on Yavin IV around the time of the original film (or at least just prior to it). It's a fantastic piece of story continuity and a genuinely unexpected one - by this time, most of the Star Wars cognoscenti were expecting to see either Grand Moff Tarkin or Darth Vader. This scene plays with a noticeable echo of an earlier (actually later) one, with words to the effect of: the Empire has made a critical error, and the time for our attack has come.

5. Star Destroyers and (6) stormtroopers and (7) Death Stars, oh my!

There it is: a sequence of Star Wars money shots to flutter the hearts of any diehard Star Wars fan. The majestic and terrifying Star Destroyers, the main line of the Imperial fleet back in 1977's Star Wars, the white-armoured Imperial stormtroopers, and, of course, the star of the film, the formidable and infamous Death Star. Here we see the funnel-shaped superweapon of the station - the planet-destroying laser - being fitted into its final position before the station is sent off to blow up planets like a schoolyard bully demanding lunch money. These are stirring images and make no mistake, every element in the trailer is here for a reason. These three moments anchor us back in 1977's Star Wars.

8. Game on!

And herewith is the heart of the film's plot: Jyn Erso and As Yet Unnamed Hot Guy must infiltrate the Empire and retrieve the data plans for the Death Star in the hope that the Rebel Alliance can find a weakness. (Yeah, yeah, we all know how that goes.) In this scene, we see them power-striding across the Yavin IV landing bay, surrounded by little touches that will have Star Wars fans weeing their pants: X-Wing pilots (and an old-style X-Wing fighter), ground crew in uniforms which are similar to the Hoth ground crew uniforms and, of course, our old friend the boxy Power Droid. Hands up who had that Kenner action figure as a kid? (Hand goes up.)

9. New bad guys ... 10. new good guys ... and 11. this guy ...

First guy looks very General Hux, so we're thinking Imperial general, overseer of the Death Star project, a kind of pre-Tarkin underling who, to the tune of that creepy Death Star klaxon, is about to be schooled in a whole lot of Rebel Alliance plan-stealing drama. He also appears to be played by Ben Mendelsohn. Great. First awesome Aussie actor in a Star Wars lead role and he's killing people. We'll be popular. Our second guy is played by Forest Whitaker, and he's full of Jedi-like wisdom. Could this be this film's answer to the Yoda/Maz Kanata trope, guiding, prodding and teaching the young heroes. And last guy is badass: it's Donnie Yen wielding a polearm better than most Jedi wield their lightsabers.

12. Oh, and this shuttle.

Which is a little perplexing, actually. The Imperial shuttle of the original Star Wars era was the Lambda class shuttle, which we met several times, but most noticeably when one carried Darth Vader to the Death Star Mark II in Return of the Jedi and a slightly more battered one took the Rebel strike team down to the planet Endor. This shuttle is actually more in the style of Kylo Ren's shuttle from The Force Awakens, though his was (of course) jet black - because he's a bad guy, geddit? - and this looks more like your factory floor, no-extras model. It also doesn't appear to be holding up well against laser fire.

13. I have a bad feeling ...

... and well you should, because nothing going on in this scene can be good for the good guys. First, the little red chappies are known as the Emperor's Royal Guard, the personal bodyguards of Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid). Which means he must be lurking about here somewhere. The figure in the foreground is your typical black-cloaked type but before everyone goes all "Oh my Yoda, it's Darth Vader!" it looks, perhaps, like a mid-ranked Imperial functionary, one of those creepy Palpatine sidekicks, rather than our much loved Dark Lord of the Sith himself. Which is not to say we're not going to get Darth Vader in Rogue One - smart money says we will - it just means that it's unlikely they blew that reveal in the first trailer.

14. ... and Walkers!

Few of the images from the original Star Wars art palette have been as impactful as the AT-AT walkers which we first met in The Empire Strikes Back. They're like giant, mechanical dogs. From a military engineering standpoint they verge on the ridiculous, but golly they're awesome, particularly during epic ground battles and planetary evacuations. "The first transport is away! Hoots!" And here they are, in all their glory, and seemingly at the height of their giddy powers. The Force Awakens may have been a commercial colossus but there was always something frighteningly potent about Rogue One and its ability to not merely copy the 1977 Star Wars but actually return us to the moment, or one close to it. This glimpse will have fans screaming for joy.

15. "If you continue to fight, what will you become?"

Ominous words and with Jyn Erso clad in an Imperial uniform it is most likely a red herring intended to make us think there is more at stake here than the retrieval of the Death Star plans. Or is there a clue in the title: does Jyn Erso go rogue on the Rebel Alliance? Or are we already over-thinking a film which isn't released until Christmas? So, what's to come? Darth Vader, surely, and more detail about that sinister black-cloaked demi-Vader we glimpsed in the trailer. And Grand Moff Tarkin? Who knows, maybe even a teen-aged Princess Leia? (We can dream.) And what do we know? This is badass. So badass it's goodass. And it might be as brilliant, perhaps even more brilliant than The Force Awakens because for the first time we're unshackled from those troublesome Skywalkers (I mean go away already, and take your Force dramas with you) and at large in the bigger, more fascinating Star Wars universe.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is set for release in December.