BURBANK (REUTERS) - Just weeks before the global release of the The Last Jedi, Disney and Lucas Films teased the legions of Star Wars fans on Monday (Dec 4) with the release of a short online video highlighting the stunts training on the set of the new film.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi picks up where the Star Wars: The Force Awakens left off with the mysterious force-wielding Rey (Daisy Ridley) coming face to face with the central Jedi of the original trilogy, Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill).

Returning to the franchise are John Boyega as Finn, the late Carrie Fisher as Leia, Adam Driver as Kylo Ren, Andy Serkis as the menacing Snoke and Oscar Isaac as Poe Dameron alongside some of the more quirky characters in the franchise, C-3PO, R2-D2, BB8 and Chewbacca.

Three major characters have been added to the franchise, including Kelly Marie Tran as Rose, Laura Dern as Vice Admiral Amilyn Holdo and Benicio Del Toro as an unknown character called DJ.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi has been written and directed by Rian Johnson. Back in July, both Johnson and Hamill told Reuters to expect surprises as there are some "unexpected choices" in this second film of the new trilogy.