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Watch the first trailer for 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens'

Watch the first trailer for 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens'

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It's finally here: a first look at the new Star Wars. The teaser trailer runs 88-seconds long and is available to watch online and in theaters starting today. Here's all you need to know: it looks really, really good. The trailer gives a first glimpse at a lot of the new and returning stars, but it also shows just how great a job director J.J. Abrams' appears to have done in putting back together the Star Wars universe. A great score from John Williams elevates that even further. This isn't much for now, but it ought to get fans' hopes way up.

Read next: every scene from The Force Awakens trailer

While this is only a short glimpse at The Force Awakens, this is the first look that we've gotten at all. That's partly because Disney has been incredibly secretive about the production of Episode VII, but it's also for a much simpler reason: the movie still isn't done. Filming wrapped at the beginning of the month, but the movie is still a long way from completion. That'll be especially true for its special-effects shots, which are likely far from complete at this point — and certainly not at a stage where most can be shown off.

The film is still a year away

This teaser is more about getting fans excited and putting Star Wars back on everyone's radar than about actually introducing this new film. There's a lot more to see — and we certainly will — but there's still a ways to go before the film comes out next year on December 18th.

The Force Awakens has all of the core cast from the original Star Wars trilogy returning, including Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, and Harrison Ford. It'll also be setting up a brand new crew for this coming trilogy, largely comprised of younger, newer actors — John Boyega and Daisy Ridley are two in particular who you should be looking out for. But the film really has a great cast across the board, also including Lupita Nyong’o, Oscar Isaac, Adam Driver, Gwendoline Christi, and Andy Serkis. We're looking forward to seeing even more of what they do with the series.

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