After much anticipation, Star Wars fans on Friday (Apr 12) finally got their first look at Star Wars: Episode IX, titled ‘The Rise of Skywalker’.

The teaser trailer dropped during the Star Wars: Episode IX panel at Star Wars Celebration Chicago 2019, which was hosted by comedian Stephen Colbert.

Carrie Fisher, who died in 2016, will still appear in the movie as Princess Leia, using previously unseen footage from The Force Awakens, reports BuzzFeed.

"You don't recast that part and you don't suddenly have her disappear," director JJ Abrams said at the panel Friday. "The weird miracle of having a number of scenes from Force Awakens that had got unused... there was actually a way to use those scenes and continue her story."

The iconic character of Lando Calrissian, played by Billy Dee Williams, will make his return to the Star Wars saga for the first time since Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, which was released in 1983.

Abrams said at the panel that the new film does not immediately follow the events of 2017's Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

"Some time has gone by," he said. "This is an adventure that the group goes on together."

Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Lupita Nyong’o, Domhnall Gleeson, Joonas Suotamo, Keri Russell, and Richard E Grant are among the actors also starring in the film, and will be joined by Mark Hamill.

Fans are hyped about the first teaser trailer for the film, and understandably so.

“Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” is slated to hit theaters on Christmas Day, Dec 25.