While the mental journey to Comic-Con 2012 started on the very last day of Comic-Con 2011 for some of us, an actual physical journey is kicking off this weekend: The Course of the Force, an Olympic-style charity relay run from the Santa Monica Pier to the gates of Comic-Con — with a Lightsaber as the torch — begins its real-life epic journey this Saturday.

To kick off the kick-off, a new short film featuring Nerdist Chris Hardwick shows the origins of the journey— and reveals that the ILM lot is inhabited by real Ewoks, Boba Fett tools around in a van and one particular comics superstar likes to see people on their knees singing “Yub nub.”