Thanks in part to the growth of social media, movie trailers, in general, have garnered greater attention and curiosity in the last 20 years. With superhero movies particularly, the release of a new trailer has become nearly as anticipated as the film it promotes, resulting in greater pressure to give away more of the plot as companies want as many eyes on their videos as possible.
Teaser trailers, on the other hand, are traditionally shorter and have one primary objective: generating excitement. What they lack in footage, they make up for in feeling, often hinting at a film's tone while still preserving the secrets for audiences to discover when it's finally released.
Batman Begins & Hulk
After the Caped Crusader's fourth Hollywood adaptation, Batman Begins to be marketed very methodically to re-establish some much-needed goodwill.
2003's Hulk, on the other hand, represented the green giant's first big-screen adaptation, something fans were eager to see. In order to communicate the character-driven direction each film was taking, the teasers elected to focus on the actors and not their alter egos, as voice-over narration hinted at the beast hiding within. The similar marketing styles were utilized for wholly different reasons, to excellent results.
Spider-Man
The early 2000's were chock full of trailers that were hyperactive and action-packed. Spider-Man's first teaser embodies this style slightly but with a unique twist, as director Sam Raimi crafts a standalone action sequence that doesn't appear in the movie.
A group of thieves rob a bank and escape in a helicopter but before they can get too far, their helicopter becomes entangled in something high above the ground. A slow-pan reveal shows they're trapped in a giant spider-web strung between the Twin Towers. The trailer then cuts to preliminary footage of Spidey in action. Though conceived and released before 9/11/2001, the trailer was pulled for obvious reasons and a new one was released later that year.
The Batman
In February 2020, Batman fans everywhere received their first look at Matt Reeves' movie The Batman. The red and black-tinted teaser features Robert Pattinson in early test footage alongside Michael Giacchiano's new Batman theme.
Despite the lack of any substantial footage or dialogue, the ominous teaser manages to accomplish its most important goal of generating excitement and curiosity. Giacchiano's dark score immediately gives The Batman an identity, while the new Batsuit resembles something militaristic yet homemade. The bat emblem in the center appears to be manufactured from a weapon, leading to speculation it could be made from the gun that killed Bruce's parents.
X2: X-Men United
The X-Men is...strange. Combining action cuts over blaring techno music, the trailer does little to convey the more serious undertones of the film. Thankfully, X2: X-Men United went in another direction.
This teaser smartly opens on a game of chess between Charles Xavier and Erik Lenscherr/Magneto, immediately hinting at the more mature storylines to follow. The pair muse over the escalating war between humans and mutants before the viewer catches brief character introductions, including Brian Cox's William Stryker. As the X-mansion gets overrun and Professor X becomes trapped in Magneto's plastic prison, Erik ominously proclaims "the war has begun."
Man of Steel
Hollywood has increasingly shifted away from the "less-is-more" trailers of old, with newer teasers revealing more footage than ever before. Despite this shift, Man of Steel offers a throwback look at America's first comic book superhero in this old-fashioned trailer from Zack Snyder.
Snyder's movies tend to produce very profound, visually striking trailers. The teaser opens on a gloomy seaside town and glimpses of Kal-El, played by Henry Cavill, being a nomad. Then, a young Clark Kent is seen playing on his farm while his Kryptonian father, Jor-El, narrates the themes of leadership the film entails. Before cutting to black, the trailer gives fans their first look at this new Superman in flight as he explodes into the sky.
The Avengers
Despite heroes like Batman and Spider-Man landing in their own movies in the same year, 2012 would undoubtedly belong to Iron Man to discuss the Avenger Initiative, this was the event fans had long been waiting for.
By 2011, Marvel was becoming well-known for their post-credit stingers, which often set up the story of the next MCU entry to come. The ending of Captain America: The First Avenger takes it one step further, providing the first teaser trailer for The Avengers. The clip first seems like a continuation of Steve Rogers' story as it features a conversation between him and Fury until quickly jettisoning to an exciting mini-trailer of the superhero team-up to come.
The Dark Knight
In a year that saw its fair share of exciting blockbusters, was an event unlike anything audiences had seen before. Behind the acclaimed movie was a wonderfully creative marketing campaign that took place a year prior that effectively teased the greatness to come.
In 2007, the company 42 Entertainment began an interactive viral marketing campaign that engaged fans in a scavenger hunt to unlock images of the Joker as well as a hidden teaser trailer. The brief video manages to tease the film's themes (anarchy vs. order) and color palette (light blue and black), but the real reward comes at the end as Heath Ledger's Joker is finally heard. The symbolism cannot be ignored as Ledger's laughter resonates while the Bat symbol slowly crumbles away.
Spider-Man 3 & The Dark Knight Rises
Another tie, this time between two trilogy finales which happened to follow two of the greatest superhero movies of all time. In the mid to late 2000s, Spider-Man 2 and The Dark Knight re-wrote how amazing comic book movies could be, making the build-up to the inevitable sequels all the more excruciating.
Anticipation was searing by the time the teasers dropped for the third installments, and both trailers interestingly highlight similar themes. Each begins with a text crawl, followed by a tease of the darkness that's to follow. Viewers then get brief flashes of footage over intensely rising music until each trailer concludes with the evil facing off against the hero. In Spider-Man's case, it's his black-suited self, and in Batman's case, Bane.
Avengers: Infinity War
After The Avengers became a global sensation, Marvel was left in a strange position. On the one hand, they'd succeeded in creating an exciting shared universe that could continue being expanded upon, but on the other hand, they now had to try to do it again, and do it better. With the sequel, Avengers: Age of Ultron, already on its way, Marvel decided to double down on their efforts with a very special announcement.
Towards the end of their Phase 3 introduction , Kevin Feige showed fans a cryptic teaser, featuring an amalgamation of clips from the previous Marvel movies. Voice-over narration from multiple cast accompanied the elevating musical score until fans suddenly witnessed Thanos wielding the Infinity Gauntlet, complete with every stone. The words "Infinity War" flashed onto the screen, followed by "Part I" & "Part II."
Superman Returns
Before The Avengers, before The Dark Knight, before shared universes and superhero fatigue, there was the return of Superman. After a big-screen absence of nearly two decades (following 1987's embarrassingly bad Superman IV: The Quest For Peace), Bryan Singer elected to reboot the franchise in continuity with the original two-part story of Superman and Superman II.
The trailer opens on Marlon Brando's iconic voice filling the dark void, followed by footage of an adolescent Clark Kent crashing to the ground. John Williams' quiet Superman theme is heard as we cut to an image of the Kent farm in the warm glow of sunlight. Honestly, the trailer could've ended there and would've been perfect. Brief clips of iconic set-pieces and characters follow as Williams' theme builds towards a crescendo. Singer's love and appreciation for the romantic majesty of Richard Donner's original films is palpable, and Superman truly had returned.
