The Revenant trailer: Leonardo DiCaprio hunts Tom Hardy in dramatic first look at Oscars bait

You aren't going to want to cross Hugh Glass on a dark night in the forest

Leonardo DiCaprio as fur trapper Hugh Glass in The Revenant (20th Century Fox)

Leonardo DiCaprio's next stab at an Oscar has been unveiled in a heart-pumping first look at his next film The Revenant.

The Golden Globe-winning actor is seen dressed in snowy furs, staring up at an intimidating mountain and declaring himself no longer afraid to die in Mexican director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's follow-up to Birdman.

"I've done it already," fur trapper Hugh Glass growls, clearly thinking himself pretty much invincible, as Leo often does in his movies.

Cue fearsome, bloodied scenes of violence in the forests and lots of heavy breathing as drumbeats begin to pound, men charging on horse and fires blazing, as the clip allows the action to do all the talking.

When Glass' assumed hunting comrade John Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy) robs him and leaves him for dead after he is mauled by a bear, he becomes hell-bent on getting his brutal revenge and begins a journey of more than 200 miles through a merciless winter in search of redemption.

In official words, he's "deserted, defenceless and furious".

Inarritu, who four Oscars earlier this year, co-wrote The Revenant based on Micheal Punke's novel about frontiersman Glass and his battle for survival in the early 19th century American wilderness.

Cinematographer Emmanual Lubezki shot the film in beautiful natural light and it reaches UK cinemas on 15 January 2016 just in time for the Academy Awards race.

DiCaprio has been nominated for Best Actor three times, but has missed out on the Oscar for his performances in The Aviator (2004), Blood Diamond (2006) and The Wolf of Wall Street (2014).