John Boyega wields lightsaber in new Star Wars Instagram teaser

The new teaser for Star Wars: The Force Awakens is as notable for its aspect ratio as it is for its meagre new content.

The 15-second clip landed on the official Star Wars Instagram feed, and shows mostly images seen in previous trailers, with one notable exception.

At the end of the clip we see John Boyega, as Finn, holding a lightsaber, the iconic weapon of the Star Wars franchise. He appears to be facing off against villain Kylo Ren, played by Adam Driver.

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Boyega's lightsaber is bright blue — the same as the one built by Anakin Skywalker, and later used by Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker.

Finn also carries a blue lightsaber in a promotional poster released last week. Astute fans noted that the hilt of the blade resembles Anakin's model. Luke Skywalker fought with it in his duel with Darth Vader in The Empire Strikes Back, but it was lost in the midst of that battle.

Blue lightsabers are generally associated with Jedi, in opposition to the red lightsabers used by the series' villains (including, presumably, Kylo Ren).

Instagram goes widescreen

Just as notable, though, was the video's aspect ratio: a film-friendly widescreen mode, which was previously unseen on Instagram. The social media platform has used a square sizing for all of its photos and videos since it launched.

Instagram made the announcement that it will now include the option for images and videos to be posted in portrait and landscape formats.

"We're especially excited about what this update means for video on Instagram, which in widescreen can be more cinematic than ever," the company wrote on its blog today.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens is scheduled for release on December 18.