Anghus Houvouras with his five best trailers from this weekend’s San Diego Comic-Con…
What a weekend. When Marvel Studios announced they wouldn’t have much of a presence at this year’s Comic Con, I wondered how much impact the events in Hall H would have. The annual pissing contest between studios has become one of the most interesting aspects of the annual convention with everyone vying for a sliver of our collective pop culture attention span. However, even with Marvel bowing out, there was a ridiculous amount of jaw dropping presentations. Here’s the best of the best with some lingering doubts to provide perspective.
For example: San Diego Comic-Con provided us with a plethora of amazing geek culture moments this weekend…
Lingering Doubts: …but after the initial thrill wears off I remember that it’s basically mecca for uninspired redundancy.
Here are the five most intriguing trailers from this week’s Comic Con:
1. Star Wars: The Force Awakens
It wasn’t really a trailer, but a behind the scenes video, that had everyone spinning. You could almost feel the temporal shift as middle-aged fanboys reverted back to their eight year old selves, tightly clutching their Darth Vader action figures and ecstatic over the concept of a new Star Wars movie that isn’t terrible. Something we haven’t seen since 1983. The behind the scenes footage captured everything right about the Star Wars saga. J.J. Abrams seems intent on making a Star Wars movies that will have something for everyone. New fans and old alike.
Lingering Doubts: None. I can’t find a single bad thing to say about this, other than remarking on how terrible the plot to Star Trek Into Darkness was.
2. Suicide Squad
While it didn’t generate the same amount of nostalgia, the Suicide Squad trailer was an absolute masterpiece. The choral version of the Bee Gees ‘I Started a Joke’; brilliant. Viola Davis as Amanda Waller: exceptional. Jared Leto’s Joker: creepy as hell. Everyone has been sheepish about what David Ayer was doing with the most obscure movie in the DC Cinematic Universe, and with this trailer he made it abundantly clear: He’s knocking it out of the park.
Lingering Doubts: Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn seems far more sedate than her comic-book counterpart.
3. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
This trailer felt like an embarrassment of riches. After a stoic and emotionless first trailer, fans were gifted with this three-minute plus preview of 2016’s most anticipated movie. Unlike the first trailer which focused too heavily on the iconography of the characters, the second gave us some very human moments and raw emotions. I like Superman wrestling with his place in this world. I love that Metropolis getting leveled is a motivating plot point and won’t just be swept under a very big, city sized rug. Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman looks amazing. I like that Snyder is making a version of Batman who feels very small in a world where Gods are beginning to run rampant. Speaking of ‘feeling small’, my only minor criticism would be Jesse Eisenberg who feels minute in comparison to heavyweights like Affleck & Jeremy Irons. Still, a brilliant trailer.
Lingering Doubts: Remember how pumped we all were over the Man of Steel trailer?
4. Ash vs Evil Dead
Ah nostalgia. You are the harshest of mistresses. The Evil Dead, Evil Dead 2, and Army of Darkness are some of my favorite movies. Seeing Bruce Campbell strap on the old chainsaw as the kooky, groovy Ash is the kind of geek moments that seem to be far more prevalent in this era of reboots and reimaginings. Still, the blood soaked, gore filled trailer did the job giving us equal doses of hemorrhaging and humor. This one looks like it could capture the spirit of the originals i.e. stupid fun.
Lingering Doubts: Is this trip back to the well going to be worth it?
5. Deadpool
Ryan Reynolds’ bid at superhero redemption looks promising. The Deadpool trailer had all of the trademark ‘Merc with a Mouth’ moments. This movie looks incredibly faithful to the source material, and the idea of an “R” rated superhero movie feels timely. Just hearing a superhero use the word ‘fuck’ casually made me grin. Deadpool could bring some much-needed violence to a genre of films where enemies are often robots, super robots, or aliens bereft of personality.
Lingering Doubts: Are they going to take the character too seriously? Deadpool’s back story isn’t all that interesting. Is there enough here to carry an entire movie?
There you have it. The five most interesting trailers of Comic-Con. What were yours?
Anghus Houvouras is a North Carolina based writer and filmmaker and the co-host of Across the Pondcast. Follow him on Twitter.
https://youtu.be/IWWtOQOZSTI?list=PL18yMRIfoszEaHYNDTy5C-cH9Oa2gN5ng
Originally published July 12, 2015. Updated November 29, 2022.
