Spectre trailer: James Bond returns as Daniel Craig locks eyes with villain Christoph Waltz

Sam Mendes is directing the 24th instalment of the secret agent franchise

Daniel Craig reprises his role as James Bond for the fourth time in Spectre (Sony Pictures)

Martinis at the ready James Bond fans. The first full trailer for 24th movie Spectre has finally dropped ahead of its UK release on 26 October and, by the looks of things, it's going to be awesome.

7 things we learn from the Spectre trailer

Daniel Craig is back in the lead as the iconic secret agent 007 in a much-hyped film that follows 2012's hugely successful Skyfall - the biggest Bond of all time that took a massive $1.1 billion at the global box office.

Sam Mendes is back in the director's chair for what he claims will be the last time on a Bond, with Christoph Waltz, Ralph Fiennes, Monica Bellucci among the star-studded cast.

Opening as promised at Mexico's Day of the Dead festival, the clip sees Bond meet his new Aston Martin before some hair-rising footage involving a burning plane and Madeleine Swann (Lea Seydoux) reluctantly relying on the spy to save her life.

Waltz is chilling as his villain Franz Oberhauser asks Bond "What took you so long?" and declares himself "the author of all your pain" ahead of some seriously fast-paced car chases.

The official synopsis hints that a "cryptic message from Bond’s past sends him on a trail to uncover a sinister organization". He meets Lucia Sciarra (Bellucci), the "beautiful widow of an infamous criminal" in Rome.

M (Fiennes) is busy battling political forces to keep the secret service alive despite Centre for National Security head Max Denbigh (Andrew Scott) doubting the relevance of MI6, as Bond is left to "peel back the layers of deceit to reveal the terrible truth behind Spectre".

We know the name's Bond, and now we're also pretty sure that Spectre will be one of the best.