'Rogue One' trailer broken down shot by shot (pictures)

Warning: if you don't want "Rogue One" spoilers, don't watch this trailer or scroll through this gallery.

On Thursday, Lucasfilm and Disney released the latest trailer for "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story," which hits theaters worldwide on December 16. This first image from the trailer shows a ship landing on an unknown sandy planet. What is it with Star Wars and sand?

Director Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn) approaches, accompanied by a group of Death Troopers, the elite troops of the Empire who appear for the first time in "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story."

We finally see "Hannibal" actor Mads Mikkelsen in "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story." Mikkelsen plays Galen Erso, the scientific genius who came up with the plan for building the Death Star. Galen is also the father of Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones), the hero of the film.

In this flashback sequence, father Galen Erso tells a young girl, "Jyn, whatever I do, I do it to protect you." Jyn then hides from the Death Troopers in the tall weeds. Clearly, the upcoming mission will be very personal for her.

Jyn, now an adult, is detained in a prison cell, but not for long as Rebel Alliance soldiers help her escape.

Galen Erso, Jyn's father, meets with Orson Krenner on a dark platform. Galen has been working on the construction of the Death Star under the employ of the Empire all these years.

Even though the Death Star's a symbol of mass destruction, this shot of the mobile space station
orbiting the planet Jedha makes it look almost beautiful. But Jyn already knows, thanks to the rebels on Yavin 4, that it must be found and destroyed at any cost. "If my father built this thing, we need to find it," Jyn tells Captain Cassian Andor (Diego Luna).

Aboard the ship U wing, pilot Bodhi Rook (Riz Ahmed, pictured) communicates by radio that the group name is "Rogue One." Finally, an explanation for the film's title.

Darth Vader enters the scene, though he says nothing in the trailer. He listens to Orson Krennic, who says, "The power with that we are dealing with here is immeasurable," as they see a demonstration of the strength of the Death Star.

"If the Empire has this kind of power, what are our chances?" a rebel asks of leader Mon Mothma (Genevieve O'Reilly), as they look upon a projection of the Death Star.

Jyn Erso never backs away from a challenge, and in a moving speech at the Rebel Alliance meeting on Yavin 4, she reminds them that, "We have hope. Rebellions are built on hope."

This shot shows the Death Star focusing on a planet to destroy. Will it be Jedha, the spiritual home of the Jedi Knights? The shot is almost identical to the one from the 1977 film "Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope" where the Death Star destroyed Princess Leia's planet of Alderaan.

The fight between Imperial Stormtroopers and Rebel soldiers wages on in the endless maze of streets and alleyways of the planet Jedha.

The trailer then introduced Saw Guerrera (Forest Whitaker), an original character first introduced in the animated series "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" (2008-2014). Guerrera is a rebel who fought the Empire for 20 years and is considered a terrorist. The trailer shows its robotic foot that replaced the foot he lost in combat.

Scarif is a tropical planet with blue beaches and palm trees, but this paradise is patrolled by Imperial forces called shoretroopers. This structure shown in the trailer could be the base of the Empire on Scarif.

In classic Star Wars fashion, our rebel heroes -- Capt. Cassian Andor (Diego Luna), Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones) and droid K-2SO (voiced by Alan Tudyk) -- disguise themselves as the enemy to infiltrate the Imperial base on Scarif. "They have no idea we're coming," Jyn says.

Here's a quick glimpse of the new character Edrio "Two Tubes," a mercenary pilot. Edrio is nicknamed Two Tubes for the mask he uses to breathe in atmospheres with oxygen.

Chirrut Imwe (Donnie Yen) shows off his martial arts skills in this scene. In "Rogue One," Chirrut is blind but able to channel the Force, making him a very powerful fighter.

Here we see a thrilling night attack by the Rebel Alliance, with ships facing against Imperial TIE fighters.

Another shot shows Capt. Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) taking shelter during an air raid as the rebel ships are destroyed by the Imperial troops.

Rebel Alliance X-wing starfighters attack a structure in outer space. But what is it?

This rebel pilot isn't wearing the classic orange suit as seen in "Star Wars: A New Hope," but instead dons a gray suit.

Originally a member of the Imperial forces, Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) captured and reprogrammed droid K-2SO to serve the rebel forces. In the picture, K-2SO takes the wheel to help the rebels in battle.

Darth Vader sure knows how to make a dramatic entrance. In this scene, Vader enters a room from a cloud of smoke to probably yell or kill Orson Krennic.

Does the Death Star actually succeed in destroying Jedha, or is this merely typical battle damage? The planet is the spiritual home of Jedi Knights. So it makes sense that the Empire would want to destroy it to prevent the rebirth of the Jedi faction.

Here we see Galen (Mads Mikkelsen) kneeling, but to whom? Is he showing his alliance to Orson Krennic or Darth Vader? This doesn't look good for the architect of the Death Star. Will Galen survive the movie?

The trailer ends with Saw Gerrera (Forest Whitaker) yelling, "Save the Rebellion! Save the dream" on the rebel ship as it crosses the line of fire of two giant AT-AT vehicles in the Battle of Scarif. Fingers crossed they all survive!