'Independence Day' Sequel: 1st Trailer Hints at Big, Bad Alien Things

Twenty years after saving Earth from an alien invasion, it looks like Independence Day's David Levinson (Jeff Goldblum) is going to have to help us again.

A menacing alien ship looms in scenes from the first trailer of "Independence Day: Resurgence," as narration (taken from the first film) promises to make the American holiday a liberation day recognized worldwide.

"That is definitely bigger than the last one," says Levinson while he is standing in a spacesuit, gazing at the spaceship.

Levinson's exploits in the first "Independence Day" are outlined on the site Warof1996.com, a 20th Century Fox project that shows the events of the first film.

The site also, according to media reports, explains why Steven Hiller (Will Smith) isn't in the rebooted franchise. In the real world, Smith didn't sign on to the film. In the "Independence Day" universe, Hiller died in a 2007 crash while piloting an alien hybrid fighter.

Most remember the original "Independence Day" for Hiller's wise-cracking observations, such as yelling "Welcome to Earth" while punching an alien's lights out. The new trailer, however, strikes a more somber tone, with a focus on the battle to save our home planet.

"We always knew they'd come back," the trailer states. "But nothing could prepare us for when they arrive."

The trailer shows U.N. trucks driving across an empty plain, dozens of human war planes heading out for war and the shadow of an alien spaceship moving across the moon. And it looks like there's a human base on the moon, with Goldblum's Levinson donning a spacesuit to take a visit.

While the aliens in "Independence Day: Resurgence" have yet to be revealed, the trailer promises no lack of battles with their fighters when the film hits theaters next summer.

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