The theatrical trailer for director Ron Howard’s The Da Vinci Code follow-up Angels & Demons is now online.

Tom Hanks returns as symbologist Robert Langdon for this prequel story, that has the Harvard professor up against the ancient secret society, The Illuminati, which has returned for revenge against the Catholic Church.

Ewan McGregor and Stellan Skarsgård also star in the film, which will be released May 15, 2009.

Watch the trailer here below or in high definition at MSN.

There hasn’t been a ton of production news for the sequel to the mediocre movie based on the massively popular book, The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. But now comes the first teaser trailer to Angels & Demons.

The teaser is definitely a teaser, but it shows a good amount of stuff to get fans of the books and first movie excited — especially Tom Hanks and his seemingly slightly toned down hair!

Joining Hanks will be a new cast including Ewan McGregor and Stellan Skarsgård. The film is again directed by Ron Howard and will be released May 15, 2009.

Check out the teaser trailer and official synopsis here below.

USA Today has posted the first official images from director Ron Howard‘s Angels & Demons, the prequel to 2006’s The Da Vinci Code.

The film, based on the best-selling novel by Dan Brown, sees the return of Tom Hanks as Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon, whose last adventures led him through Europe following an intricate trail of codes in order to solve a murder and expose a centuries’ old religious conspiracy.

This time around, Langdon assists in a murder investigation which turns into another code-cracking adventure through crypts, catacombs, and cathedrals where the Harvard professor must stop the Illuminati from destroying the Vatican City.

You’ll notice from the photos that while Hanks is back, his weird slicked-back lengthy hairstyle is gone, as is a few extra pounds. Hanks’ Da Vinci Code look was nothing like I imagined Langdon (always pictured Bill Pullman in the role), who is described in the book as having a swimmer’s build. It seems like the filmmakers finally took that into consideration…