The thrilling full trailer for Star Wars: The Last Jedi has been unveiled and fans are overjoyed.

The first official trailer follows a teaser trailer that whetted appetites for the next instalment of the sci-fi franchise earlier this year.

The new clip, which premiered on ESPN during halftime of the Monday night football game between the Minnesota Vikings and the Chicago Bears, was teed up with a new poster which was released on social media on Monday. 

The rather ominous trailer picks up from the final scene in 2015's The Force Awakens and shows Rey (Daisy Ridley) and Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) meet on the rugged cliffs of Skellig Michael.

Rey wields a lightsaber but her power frightens rather than impresses him. "I've seen this raw strength only once before," an unsettled Luke says. "It didn't scare me enough then. It does now."

Meanwhile, Rey tells Luke: "Something inside me has always been there. But now it's awake. And I need help."

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The 154-second clip also sees Leia, played by the late Carrie Fisher, looking worried as she stands in the control room of a spaceship, Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) in a starfighter seemingly on a mission of destruction,  and there are also glimpses of Finn (John Boyega) and Poe (Oscar Isaac).

The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson took to Twitter before the trailer's release to warn fans who wanted to avoid spoilers to steer well clear of the new promo.

However, reaction on social media has been hugely positive.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi will be released in Irish cinemas on December 15.