Star Wars: Nine major moments in the final Rise of Skywalker trailer

Disney / Lucasfilm Rise of SkywalkerDisney / Lucasfilm

The final trailer for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, the last film in the current Disney trilogy, has been revealed.

It's packed with action, adventure and vague hints of what might unfold over the upcoming movie's two-and-a-half hour running time.

The trailer shows old favourites back to help or haunt the heroes of the film and introduces a few new faces.

And these are some of the most important moments from it.

1. Rey and Kylo Ren team-up

Disney / Lucasfilm Daisy Ridley, Adam DriverDisney / Lucasfilm

Gone is the cross-universe sexual tension between Star Wars' big-hitters seen in previous instalment, The Last Jedi. This new trailer sees Rey (Daisy Ridley) and Kylo (Adam Driver) first fight face-to-face and then side-by-side.

There's lots of speculation online about what the blade is that Rey is seen holding in this clip - which could hold some clues to the plot of the new movie and possibly clear up who's related to who.

2. C-3PO's last stand?

Disney / Lucasfilm Anthony DanielsDisney / Lucasfilm

"What are you doing there, 3PO?" Oscar Isaacs, as Poe Dameron, asks everyone's favourite pompous protocol droid.

"Taking one last look sir... At my friends," he replies.

And boom - the stakes are raised and the tissues are out.

3. Top billing for Carrie Fisher

Disney / Lucasfilm Carrie Fisher, Daisy RidleyDisney / Lucasfilm

Carrie Fisher (who first played Princess Leia in the original Star Wars movie in 1977) died in December 2016, between the releases of The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi.

She will appear for her second Star Wars appearance after her death in The Rise of Skywalker with filmmakers using archive footage shot, but not used, for previous movies.

Carrie also gets first-billing on the movie poster.

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She's just above Mark Hamiil, who plays Luke Skywalker and does not appear in the trailer, having seemingly died at the end of The Last Jedi.

4. Secondary characters sidelined?

Disney / Lucasfilm Dominic Monaghan, Billie Lourd, Kelly-Marie TranDisney / Lucasfilm

There's loads of Rey, Finn (John Boyega) and Poe in the trailer but other key players on the good side of the franchise don't get much of a look-in here.

Kelly Marie Tran, (Rose Tico) and Billie Lourd (Lieutenant Connix) feature just once in this trailer, despite being two of the few survivors of The Last Jedi.

Kelly Marie was subjected to fierce abuse online after her Star Wars debut, drawing a backlash from some fans who took aim at her ethnicity and appearance.

5. Old faces, new battle

Disney / Lucasfilm Billy Dee WilliamsDisney / Lucasfilm

The last of the old guard, Lando Calrissian (Billy Dee Williams) - the galactic gambler who was the original owner of the Millennium Falcon - makes his return for the last of the current trilogy.

He appeared in Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of The Jedi (1983), part of the original Star Wars trilogy.

With Han Solo having been dispatched by Kylo Ren in The Force Awakens, Luke Skywalker turning to nothing in The Last Jedi and the expected on-screen demise of Princess Leia in this film, Billy will be hoping his character fares a little better than his old-school counterparts.

6. New faces, some of whom ride space-horses

Disney / Lucasfilm New characters in Rise of SkywalkerDisney / Lucasfilm

Not only do we see mysterious, masked character Zorri Bliss (bounty hunter Boba Fett for a new generation) siding with the Star Wars heroes, we also see new name Jannah riding tusked space horses into battle with Finn and physics-defying robot BB-8.

Not much is known about these new characters, but they both appear to have picked the same side.

7. A showdown to end all showdowns

Disney / Lucasfilm Star Wards shipsDisney / Lucasfilm

It wouldn't be a Star Wars movie without a big space battle at the end between the forces of good and an onslaught of moderately competent Stormtroopers.

And this shot (led by fans' favourite "bucket of bolts", the Millenium Falcon) looks set to fill the screen with more Rebellion ships than fans have seen together in previous movies.

As budgets have increased over time, so have the special effects for these final showdowns, thankfully.

8. Welcome back, grandpa

Disney / Lucasfilm Ian McDiarmid, Daisy RidleyDisney / Lucasfilm

"Long have I waited and now your coming together is your undoing."

Chronologically speaking, Emperor Palpatine was last seen in Return of the Jedi being lobbed down an exhaust chute into the Death Star's reactor - which then blew up.

But Ian McDiarmid is back for another go around as the worst person in the Star Wars universe, seemingly wanting to take down both Rey and Kylo Ren, and taunting them with spooky voiceovers and sparsely decorated throne-rooms.

9. New holiday spots for the Jedi and their pals

Disney / Lucasfilm Star Wars planetsDisney / Lucasfilm

A stormy water planet. A sprawling forest planet. An eerily still ice planet.

Star Wars movies don't like to stay in the same spot, and once again it looks like viewers will be whisked around a new selection of computer generated planets.

Nothing good happens on that iceberg, does it.

Here's the full trailer, The Rise of Skywalker will be released on 20 December 2019.

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