Daisy Ridley offers a behind-the-scenes glimpse of her martial arts progress, two British princes are linked with cameo roles in "Star Wars: Episode VIII," and R2D2's true purpose is revealed by the franchise's creator.

- Ridley's Wushu magic -



An instant superstar after her turn as lead character Rey in "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," Daisy Ridley is to reprise her role for December 2017's "Star Wars: Episode VIII" and, presumably, "Star Wars: Episode IX" in 2019.

In a video posted to Instagram, and with Chinese stunt trainer Liang Yang holding the camera, Ridley demonstrated some of her newly acquired proficiency.

Yang played Finn's melée-focused battlefield opponent in "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," held the camera for Ridley's video and, according to the actress, is a "Wushu fricking master."

"I always try to get him to teach me things," she said, praising both him and the 2017 film's stunt team.

- Royal cameo -



British princes William and Harry recently visited the "Episode VIII" set, and even marked the occasion by dressing up as Stormtroopers.

The Daily Mail now reports, with spoilers for their scene's details, that the siblings also have cameo roles for "Episode VIII" -- though it won't be easy to identify them behind those First Order suits of armor.

"Star Wars: The Force Awakens" had its fair share of cameo appearances, with Daniel Craig as its own not-so-secret celebrity Stormtrooper.

- R2-D2, interstellar raconteur -



Newly obtained information about the "Star Wars" universe claims that the entire epic is being retold by its enduringly faithful bacon-saving device, three-legged droid R2-D2.

That's according to Chris Taylor, author of "How Star Wars Conquered the Universe," recounting a conversation between "Star Wars" creator George Lucas and "Episode III" animation director Rob Coleman.

"The entire story of Star Wars is actually being recounted ... a hundred years after the events of 'Return of the Jedi' by none other than R2-D2," reads the excerpt recently retrieved by io9.