Star Wars: The Force Awakens characters have been unveiled

The Oscar-winning actress will play CGI character Maz Kanata, while Girls star Adam Driver is confirmed to be playing the hooded bad guy Kylo Ren, seen wielding the next-generation three-pronged lightsaber in the teaser trailer.

Harrison Ford, who will reprise his role as Han Solo, graces the cover of the June issue of Vanity Fair alongside John Boyega, Daisy Ridley and Chewbacca in photos taken by Annie Leibovitz.

The magazine also features photos of Oscar Isaac as Resistance pilot Poe Dameron with an X-Wing aircraft and Daisy in character as heroine Rey.

Stars whose characters we have yet to get a sneak peek at include Andy Serkis and Domhnall Gleeson.

JJ Abrams, who is directing the seventh instalment in George Lucas’ sci-fi series, admitted he had considered killing off controversial character Jar Jar Binks.

“I have a thought about putting Jar Jar Binks’s bones in the desert there. I’m serious! Only three people will notice, but they’ll love it,” he said.

The filmmaker also talked about watching Harrison step back into Han’s boots again.

“He was excited to get back in those shoes again, which was really interesting because I thought he hadn’t been a fan. I kept hearing those rumours when I was a kid,” he said.

JJ even gave some notes to the star: “I knew that he had done in some movies a kind of more growly thing, and I didn’t want Han to be growly. There was a fire in his eyes that you see in the movie.”

Star Wars: The Force Awakens opens in cinemas on December 18.