New 'Star Wars' Teaser Introduces New Characters

It's been a really great week for Star Wars fans. In conjunction with their unveiling landscape and portrait videos and images, Lucasfilm has also released a brand new Star Wars: The Force Awakens teaser on Instagram. While the video isn't long at all — it was released on Instagram, meaning it can only be 15 seconds long, total — the short clip shows three of the series' new characters in an intriguing light, and features a single voice ominously pronouncing that "there has been an awakening." Sinister music plays, and the overall tone is as foreboding as it is enticing. It also features a previously hinted at face-off featuring Adam Driver's Kylo Ren and John Boyega's Finn — specifically, we see the controversial hilted lightsaber wielded by Ren.

These two characters, in addition to Daisy Ridley's Rey — who also appears in the teaser — are among the most anticipated characters in the upcoming film. While veterans of the franchise including Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, and Mark Hamill will be returning in the new installment, The Force Awakens has continued the tradition of hiring relative unknowns in lead roles. We already know quite a bit about these intriguing new characters, and it seems pointed that they are included in this trailer. If you need a refresher on these mysterious faces, here's what we know about them so far.

Rey

Rey, who will be played by newcomer Ridley, is a human scavenger from the planet Jakku. She is tattered and ragged, at least when first meet her, and she uses part of a stormtrooper's helmet as a shield against the desert. She lives in a ship graveyard, according to Ridley (via ScreenRant) and she has been described as solitary and self-sufficient. Her last name has not been disclosed.

Kylo Ren

Played by Girls' Adam Driver, Ren is the mysterious bad guy of the upcoming film. He is not a Sith like previous Star Wars villains, but a part of the Knights of Ren, a mysterious new order. He built his hilted light saber from scratch, according to J.J. Abrams in Variety . He reports to Supreme Leader Snoke, played by Andy Serkis, who provides the voiceover in the teaser.

Finn

John Boyega plays Finn, a stormtrooper who is stranded on the planet Jakku. Since he uses the lightsaber of Luke and Anakin Skywalker, many have speculated that he might have the force. His last name has also not been revealed.

Check out the brief trailer in full; while there are lots more new characters — most notably Oscar Isaac's Poe — who are not featured in it, these three have definitely proven to be intriguing.

Images: Lucasfilm