There is nothing quite as exciting as a trailer for a comic book movie that has just been released online. Often times, I will drop everything and just enjoy three minutes of pure awesomeness.
Unfortunately, it has become a growing trend to show more than necessary in trailers these days. The studios are so determined to grab the attention of the general audience that they allow the people who make trailers to use footage that shows way too much content from the film.
Of course, not all of these things are spoiler-heavy, some are just down-right stupid. I have listed five of them, in no particular order. You should keep in mind that this list contains spoilers for The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and X-Men Days of Future Past. If you have seen all of those movies, feel free to continue!
Death In A Trailer
This entry will be fairly brief, as I have already complained about this in another article. I am aware that the preceding video is not actually a trailer, but it is fitting, as it includes plenty of footage shown in multiple trailers and tv spots. The two most important shots are at 1:08 and 1:35, where we see the deaths of Storm and Iceman, respectively.
Okay, we technically do not see their deaths, but we see a second before they are killed by Sentinels. I wonder, why did we need to see how two major characters died in the trailer, or tv spot? There is plenty of great footage that has been used to advertise this movie, spoilers are not necessary.
I Have A Question Of My Own
This one is not a spoiler, but nonetheless very puzzling. At 0:52, Harry Osborn tells Peter that Oscorp has had Peter under surveillance. Peter asks, “Why?”
Harry replies, “Isn’t that the question of the day?”
Did I miss something, or does this hint at a subplot that was left out of the movie entirely? This exchange seems to imply that Oscorp knows Peter’s secret identity. That kind of makes sense, as he got his powers from Oscorp, and it would seem inconceivable that there would be no security cameras in that room. However, I do not like the idea of a major corporation knowing Peter’s identity, as that could lead to narrative issues in the future.
Another possibility is that Oscorp has been watching Peter because his father used to work for the corporation. This does not really make sense, though, because I cannot think of a reason why Oscorp would consider Peter a threat. It is possible they wanted to recruit him, as he is fairly brilliant, but it would make far more sense to offer him a scholarship, not stalk him.
No matter what, this trailer teased a subplot that was not in the movie, which is kind of deceptive.
What Happens Next? Find Out In Two Years
You probably had similar feelings when watching the final shots of Captain America: The Winter Soldier and The Amazing Spider-Man. Oh, okay, we have already seen this part in the trailer, what happens next? Where do Cap and Falcon search for Bucky? Does that pothole break through the Rhino’s armor?
And then the movie ends. Seriously? What is the point of showing the last shot of the movie while advertising it? If you want to re-live the memory, go to 2:25 in the first video, and 1:23 in the second video. Neither of these clips are actually spoilers, since they do not tell you the plot of the movie, but they are annoying nonetheless. They make you believe that you are going to see more, but it turns out that is all you get to see, at least until the sequel.
The trailer for The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is definitely worse than the trailer for Captain America: The Winter Soldier. At least with the scene between Cap and Falcon, we do not really know what they are talking about, so we assume they are talking about something that has to do with the film’s plot. With the case of Spider-man swinging toward the Rhino, we are made to believe that a visually spectacular battle between the two is going to take place, when no such battle occurs on screen.
It is fine to tease things that happen in the movie in a trailer, after all, that is the purpose of trailers. When the movie is just as much a tease as the trailer is, then there is a problem.
Wolverine Is Not The Only One With False Memories
I cannot help but wonder if this clip was shot solely to be used for a trailer. At 2:16, the older version of Professor X says to the younger version, “You’re afraid. I remember.”
Anyone who has watched the movie, or read the comic book storyline it is based on, can tell you why that line makes absolutely zero sense. When Wolverine’s mind was sent back in time, he created a new timeline, changing the past. The future will only catch up after Logan wakes up. So, suffice to say, the Professor remembers things that did not actually happen to him.
The only other option is that older Charles is talking about things that happened to younger Charles before Wolverine showed up. I can see how being a drunk, a recluse and a drug addict would be frightening, but I hardly see how they are relevant to the whole “saving-the-world-from-evil-robots” thing.
Repair One, Then Destroy Three
This is probably the biggest spoiler on this list. At 2:12, we see a burning helicarrier fall into the water. It was not doing this to put out the fires, it was doing this because it was shot to pieces and destroyed. Captain America was partially responsible for that, which seems ironic, since he was partially responsible for keeping a helicarrier in the sky in the Avengers. (Tony Stark also played a role in keeping that helicarrier afloat, yet one of these new helicarriers was going to kill him. How ungrateful!)
It certainly makes for an impressive money shot for the first trailer. What is the problem? You might recall that a great deal of the plot of this movie revolves around destroying these helicarriers. You could say that showing the destruction of one does not guarantee the same for the others, but the movie makes it quite clear that this is not the case. Their systems can only be hacked if all three are compromised.
Basically, Marvel showed this to us so that we would not have to worry if our heroes are successful or not. Who needs suspense, anyway?
You have reached the end of my list! Do you agree with my complaints? Do you have any other complaints involving trailers? Let me know in the comments!