The Revenant trailer: What to expect from Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hardy's dramatic Oscar hopeful

DiCaprio plays vengeful fur trapper Hugh Glass in the upcoming movie from Birdman director Alejandro G Inarritu

Expect plenty of bloody violence Leonardo DiCaprio's next film The Revenant (20th Century Fox)

Leonardo DiCaprio is heading back to the big screen, raring to bag his first Oscar in upcoming 19th century drama The Revenant.

The first full trailer for Birdman director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s next film has dropped online, offering fans a stronger glimpse of what they can expect when it hits cinemas in early 2016.

DiCaprio plays fur trader Hugh Glass, who embarks on a quest for redemption and revenge after being left for dead by his comrades following a brutal bear attack in the American wilderness. Based on a real life story, the plot sounds exciting enough, but will The Revenant meet building expectation among critics?

Here’s what we learned from the latest clip:

It’s going to look absolutely stunning

Cinematographer Emmanual Lubezki shot The Revenant entirely in beautiful natural light, making for a difficult shoot heavily dependent on weather conditions. Whether or not his efforts have paid off remains to be seen, but judging by the trailer, it’s going to be visually impressive.

Leonardo DiCaprio shooting The Revenant on location (20th Century Fox)

It’s a ‘man versus wilderness’ movie

Clearly male-centric, there’s a risk that the film could cover well-trodden ground and fail to offer much cinema-goers haven’t seen many times before. The jury is out and The Revenant has certainly attracted some huge names, so wll no doubt fill cinema seats.

Leonardo DiCaprio plays a fur trapper lost in the freezing wilderness (20th Century Fox)

Drums play a starring role..

If you want to build tension in a movie, bring in the drums. The soundtrack to The Revenant is likely to feature pounding beats to accompany our racing hearts as we follow Leo on his survival mission, blazing fires and charging horses and all.

(20th Century Fox)

...but really it's all about Leo

All eyes will be on the 40-year-old actor's performance, as he eyes a Best Actor gong at next year's Academy Awards. Nominated four times (The Aviator, Blood Diamond, The Wolf of Wall Street and What's Eating Glibert Grape?), DiCaprio will not want to be leaving empty-handed once again. But will he have done enough to beat off the expectedly tough competition?

(20th Century Fox)

Cast your verdict on The Revenant when it hits UK cinemas on 15 January.