If you have yet to see Star Wars: The Force Awakens, please be aware that some of what follows may be considered spoilers. For the rest of us, though, it gives a chance to take a closer look at what has quickly become an incredibly popular movie.

First Official Look at Two Old Characters

Well in advance of the movie's release, we knew that Academy Award-winning actress Lupita Nyong'o (12 Years a Slave) would be appearing, but it took a while before we learned that she would be giving a motion-capture performance. It's a surprise to realize that she's the actress behind Maz Kanata, officially described as "more than a thousand years old, a diminutive being with vast experience at surviving in the underworld." Here's the first official look at the character, via EW.com.

Andy Serkis was confirmed in the first cast photo in April 2014, though his particular role as the mysterious Supreme Leader Snoke was not revealed until a year later, when it was also confirmed that it would be another motion-capture performance for the actor. Serkis had already demonstrated his motion-capture talents in a slew of movies, dating back to Gollum in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001). Here are the first official photos of his character, also via EW.com.

Behind-the-Scenes Photos from Director of Photography

For a different look at The Force Awakens, we turn to director of photography Dan Mindel, who has been sharing photos from behind the scenes on his Instagram account (via ScreenCrush). Here are a couple of his shots from a fascinating series that's well worth exploring.

Script Details Revealed, Unofficially

A hardcover version of Alan Dean Foster's official novelization of Star Wars: The Force Awakens goes on sale tomorrow but there are no plans yet to release the screenplay itself. According to Slashfilm, however, copies of the script have been sent to members of the Writers Guild of America for awards consideration, and the site claims to have laid hands (unofficially) on a copy. Note that major spoilers are detailed below.

Having that in mind, take the following revelations with a grain of salt.

-- What Rey (Daisy Ridley) sees in a vision after she touches the lightsaber belonging to Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) is detailed fully, confirming the location of one of the scenes (Jedi Training Academy) and that that the figures surrounding Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) are six other Knights of Ren.

-- In addition, the script identifies junk dealer Unkar Plutt (Simon Pegg) as the one holding onto Rey as a child as she watches a spaceship blast off. Did he become her guardian for a time, or was that a one-time occurrence of help?

-- Kylo Ren has conflicted feelings after his deadly encounter with Han Solo.

-- Rey has conflicted feelings during her battle with Kylo Ren.

-- Luke Skywalker's planet is named Ahch-to.

-- Luke Skywalker knows who Rey is and why she has come.

Some of these details are alluded to or presented in a slightly different form in the novelization, which was based on an earlier draft of the final script.