The 5 Dumbest Things Comic Book Movie Trailers Have Shown Us Within The Past Year

The 5 Dumbest Things Comic Book Movie Trailers Have Shown Us Within The Past Year

There have been a lot of great comic book movies this past year, and lots of great trailers advertising them. A few of these trailers contain questionable creative decisions. Want to know why anyone would whine about a trailer? Hit the jump to find out!

Editorial Opinion
By BobbyDrakeApproaches - Sep 10, 2014 09:09 PM EST
Filed Under: Comics

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!

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huckfinnisher
huckfinnisher - 9/11/2014, 12:11 AM
Agreed! Less plot in trailers please!
huckfinnisher
huckfinnisher - 9/11/2014, 12:12 AM
Also good Editorial keep it up!
Snotzo
Snotzo - 9/11/2014, 1:34 AM
This is exactly why I don't watch trailers if I know I'm going to see the movie in theaters. However, I was very skeptical about GOTG so I did watch the very first trailer, and that sold me it was going to be great.

I'll have to watch FF reboot trailer because I am super skeptical about that one.
Ace101
Ace101 - 9/11/2014, 4:19 AM
tell me about it. what about the trailers that show winter soldier without the mask, spoiling the reveal that hes bucky.
ThedamnBatman
ThedamnBatman - 9/11/2014, 4:26 AM
Very good editorial, I completely agree with all that was said here. Advertising a movie is one thing, showing us the whole plot, or key moments in the trailer, is another
ThedamnBatman
ThedamnBatman - 9/11/2014, 4:26 AM
gave you your first thumbs up, I'd suggest others do the same
DellRusk
DellRusk - 9/11/2014, 5:20 AM
@Ace101

They weren't trying to keep it a secret. It was more for Cap then the audience.
RoyRodgersMcFreely
RoyRodgersMcFreely - 9/11/2014, 5:26 AM
There was also the winter soldier trailer that showed nick fury alive telling cap he's giving the orders now. That spoiled any thought that fury was actually dead .
Pedrito
Pedrito - 9/11/2014, 5:30 AM
Nice editorial!
The most spoilery part of Winter Soldier trailers was the "Looks like you're calling the shots now, Captain" line. It's a pretty memorable line, but then when you watch the movie Nick Fury dies without saying it.

Another major spoiler in recent memory was the Hulk catching the falling Iron Man in the Avengers trailer. Again it was an awesome moment that you is still coming, so when it happens it's not the surprise it's meant to be. However, that's ok because it made for such an incredible shot in the trailer. It was almost worth it.
BaronZemo
BaronZemo - 9/11/2014, 5:42 AM
Mmmm yeah, you are so right about the cap one. The Prof X thing is a plot hole tho
Bekss
Bekss - 9/11/2014, 5:54 AM
I agree that there is a lot of spoilers in trailers sometimes, but I think the problem is that they do the trailers thinking on the general audience. And they dont see every trailer like we do and don't remember every scene in the trailers when they're watching the movie.
My father thought Fury was really dead because he didn't remember the trailer, the trailers were good enough to make him see the movie but they weren't important to him to remember everything
MightyZeus
MightyZeus - 9/11/2014, 7:07 AM
I agree there has been a lot of spoiler's in movie trailers and movie clips which is why i avoid watching more than two or one trailer for the film. I just don't want to be spoiled while watching a film.

I actually miss the days when people went to a theatre and would sit and watch movie trailers.
cipher
cipher - 9/11/2014, 8:30 AM
I don't really watch a lot of the trailers they're putting out these days. One or two is usually enough for me.

I tend to just skip the TV spots entirely, y'know? Preserve the mystery an' all that shite.
GinjaNinja
GinjaNinja - 9/11/2014, 8:31 AM
The captain america one wasn't that bad. I mean sure it was the lsat line but it didn't have much to do with the story in the trailer. The TASM was literally the ending sequence that people thought would happen in the movie. I agree though with most of what your saying, I just think when its a one liner that is taken out of context for the film it doesn't matter... "When do we start, we just did" is just a good line for a trailer. idk maybe i'm off.
cipher
cipher - 9/11/2014, 8:31 AM
My girlfriend told me that McAvoy's Xavier reminds her of me.

I'm still trying to figure out if she meant that as a good, or bad thing.
cipher
cipher - 9/11/2014, 8:32 AM
Has anybody ever watched the trailer for Carrie? The original one, I mean? Heh.. narrates the whole bloody thing.
Tainted87
Tainted87 - 9/11/2014, 8:57 AM
The trailer for GoldenEye completely ruins Alec's surprise revelation. Thankfully, I watched the movie first.

The Guardians of the Galaxy trailer ruined 'Hooked on a Feeling' for me. I wouldn't mind it if they didn't play the chorus twice.
EhMaybeSays
EhMaybeSays - 9/11/2014, 9:00 AM
Im never watching trailers again. Firstly they can be misleading and secondly they reveal too much.
SauronsBANE
SauronsBANE - 9/11/2014, 9:27 AM
I don't think the Days of Future Past complaint is all that troublesome, since the movie basically makes it clear right from the very first scene that deaths won't matter in that film. That's MUCH more tension-killing than anything spoiled in the trailers.

The 2nd point isn't really all that specific to TASM 2...ALL movies pretty much have images or lines of dialogue in their trailers that are missing from the final product. It's not necessarily being "deceptive", it's just what happens over the course of filming and editing a movie. Remember, they release trailers and stuff MONTHS ahead of time. Things get dropped. Other stuff gets added in. Happens all the time.

And I don't know about anyone else, but from the trailer for The Winter Soldier, I actually got the impression that the Helicarrier being destroyed was a BAD thing, so it wasn't really all that spoilery to me.

I do 100% agree with how some trailers showing the VERY LAST SCENE of the movie. That's so ridiculous and unnecessary.
SauronsBANE
SauronsBANE - 9/11/2014, 9:29 AM
I know this was limited to the last year of movies, but I would say that the trailer for The Two Towers that showed off Gandalf coming back from the dead...THAT must be in the top 10 or 20 of all-time dumbest things to spoil (for non-book readers) in a trailer.
ScottMontgomery
ScottMontgomery - 9/11/2014, 2:57 PM
I don't even watch trailers anyway... What is the point?
IAmNotGr00t
IAmNotGr00t - 9/14/2014, 3:14 PM
Good article! Totally agree
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