Marvel has really tried to shift tone in recent years. As DC has gone darker and darker, to ill effect, Marvel has embraced a lighthearted, silly tone, aiming to be the enjoyable junk food middle between a highbrow entrée and DC’s street vendor hot dog. This has never been clearer than with their two most recent trailers, Spider-Man: Homecoming and Thor: Ragnarok.
The trailer for Spider-Man: Homecoming premiered at CinemaCon two weeks ago and, if I’m being honest, isn’t as good as that awesome first one. Sure, it plays up the action scenes-one involving a boat seemed remarkably overdone while still remarkably awesome-and the roles of Robert Downey, Jr. (starting to become old hat) and Michael Keaton (yeeeeeeeeessssssssss gimme gimme gimme), but it lacks the very high school feel of the first trailer, feeling instead like the interchangeable superhero films that have plagued us for the past ten years. Still, it’s a strong cast, and that first trailer was so incredibly good, I still have faith in the final product. You can watch the trailer below, and see the film when it comes out July 7th.
Meanwhile, the weirdest trailer in a long time has to be the one just released for Thor: Ragnarok. The most ironically serious of any of the Avengers, the Thor movies have always had an air of self-seriousness, almost mock Shakespearean. That seems long gone as director Taika Waititi, the genius behind What We Do In The Shadows and Hunt for the Wilderpeople, as well as writing an early script (and helping bring aboard the movie’s scene stealers) for Moana, has changed the tone completely. If you’re wondering if this is going to be a tongue-in-cheek nonsense film like Waititi’s other romps, that question is answered within thirty seconds when there’s freeze-frame and Chris Hemsworth declaring, “I know what you’re thinking: ‘how did this happen?’ Well, it’s a long story…” which is the go-to spoof of any 90s sitcom or really sh*tty action movie. We are then treated to awesome images of Cate Blanchett, Tessa Thompson, and Jeff F*cking Goldblum to the tune of “Immigrant Song.” Finally, it culminates in a dumb, Waititi-ian joke about Thor and rival gladiator (watch it to understand) Hulk being “friends from work.” This is gloriously dumb and fun and I’m 100% onboard. This is already the most watched trailer in history, so you’ve probably already seen it, but if you haven’t, the trailer is posted alone. Hopefully it gets you as pumped as I am for November 3rd.
Add Comment