London comes in for a pounding in the new trailer for Independence Day: Resurgence

“On this day in 1996, the world escaped the clutches of extinction.”

Yes and it also bought a shi*load of popcorn.

In the latest trailer for Independence Day: Resurgence, anniversary celebrations between mankind’s survivors turn out to be a little short-lived when the military receives what it believes is a distress signal from extra-terrestrial forces. Evidently, it turns out to be worse than that, with returning frazzled scientist Dr Brakish Okun (Brent Spiner) warning: “they’re not screaming, they’re celebrating.” Gulp.

And bad news if you have an Oyster card - as the inevitable fiery destruction rains down it appears London in particular comes in for a hell of a pounding, with Tower Bridge and London Eye just some of the landmarks seen obliterated in this trailer, while epic dogfights between humans in spaceships forged with alien tech acquired last time around do battle with baddie crafts down the Thames.

Much like the original, the real knockout stuff still appears to be the human element, interloping character strands and grandstanding speeches. Delving deeper into the stories of those affected since the last time alien nasties came a-knocking, we see stalwart David Levinson (Jeff Goldblum) tell fighter pilot Dylan Hiller that his dad, famously played by Will Smith, was the bravest man he’d ever seen.

We see more of Bill Pullman’s ex-President, clearly still haunted by demons the first time around, whose daughter wants to take him to the anniversary celebrations ("we wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for him").

And we’ve a good feeling those intergalactic bastards are still as ugly as ever.

Independence Day: Resurgence is in cinemas & IMAX 23 June