December 2018 Trailers That'll Get You Excited
As long as there will be new, mega-hit blockbusters on the horizon, there will be trailers showcasing small pieces of those mega-hit blockbusters months in advance. While December saw its fair share of high-profile film releases, it also saw the releases of more than half a dozen incredible new trailers for upcoming films. Socrates once said that life is a delicate balance of gratification and expectation, and we feel ya, Soccy. Because we're super gratified that we've been given so much to expect in 2019.
What are we talking about here? We're talking about superheroes, magnificent monsters, and nuanced social commentaries masquerading as terrifying horror movies. Based on December's trailers alone, 2019 is already shaping up to be a great year to be alive.
Avengers: Endgame, Captain Marvel, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, and Hellboy all released new trailers, and that's just the beginning. Here are the best trailers from December for films that are sure to blow you away.
Iron Sky The Coming Race — January 16
Nobody would ever call 2012's Iron Sky a classic. It barely even fits the criteria for a cult classic. And yet, here we are with a sequel — and not just any sequel, but a sequel funded with more than $650,000 of fans' money through an Indiegogo campaign. Did anyone need it? Nope. Did anyone want it? Well... based on the trailer, yeah. Maybe we did want it, even if we never realized it.
The first Iron Sky, for those who never felt like watching it, was about Nazis from the moon who invaded Earth. It's a little fun and a little cheesy, the kind of B-movie that comes out of the gates looking like Sharknado but then reveals a twist in the form of a pretty clever script and surprisingly decent special effects.
Iron Sky The Coming Race, on the other hand, took every sphere in a closed room and tried to throw them outside. It's balls-to-the-wall. It's beautiful. The trailer showcases such visual treats as Nazis riding dinosaurs, space battles, people jumping through the air kicking Nazis riding dinosaurs, and lizard Hitler. Or maybe that's dinosaur Hitler. Who can tell? Even better question — who cares? We're watching this, and nobody can stop us.
Captain Marvel — March 8
In 2016, Oscar winner and acting powerhouse Brie Larson announced that she'd made the lucrative decision to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe as a costumed superhero. Aside from some leaked set photos, a trailer released in September offered the first look at Captain Marvel in all her superpowered, granny-punching glory, revealing that the film would be set in the '90s and would focus on a Carol Danvers with amnesia who teams up with a young Nick Fury with depth perception to fight the shapeshifting Skrulls.
The second trailer, released in December, builds on that premise with even more Skree on Krull action and a whirlwind montage of Danvers flying things and reading files about her past. Action! Intrigue! Backstory! And okay, a few of the lines suggest that Larson maybe draws a little too much on her United States of Tara role, but she's got amnesia — give her a little slack! We're excited. Aren't you? Take a look when Captain Marvel flies into theaters on March 8.
Us — March 15
It's been two years and change since Jordan Peele's surprise smash hit Get Out taught us all that it was finally okay to be terrified of Bradley Whitford, and fans have been clamoring for a follow-up film ever since. Well, the first trailer for Peele's sophomore effort is here, and it's even more promising than we'd hoped.
The Us trailer cranks up the terror almost immediately, briefly introducing us to a family on vacation at the beach before tossing them into a... well, into a horror movie. First, their son runs off and meets a creepy bleeding man on the beach. Then, a group of masked strangers show up at their house in the middle of the night and reveal themselves to be the family's evil doppelgangers. If the trailer's any indication, Us is shaping up to be one of the scariest movies of the year. Also, can we all agree that scissors are the scariest horror weapons imaginable?
Hellboy — April 12
Guillermo del Toro's two Hellboy films are great adaptations of the offbeat comic series. They're atmospheric, action packed, funny, and imaginative, and Ron Perlman fits the character like a glove made of stone. Then, del Toro somehow managed to do the near-impossible: make the sequel even better than the original.
So a fresh take on Hellboy, while inevitable, is also a little jarring for a lot of fans, and the trailer that was released in December doesn't restore a lot of hope for the franchise. From the upbeat music to the jokes that don't quite land, 2019's Hellboy looks like it'll completely change the tone of the story... and not in a good way.
Still, it's too early to write it off entirely. Director Neil Marshall has helmed some of the best episodes of both Game of Thrones and Westworld — not to mention 2005's The Descent — so fingers crossed the trailer is just an example of bad marketing decisions rather than bad filmmaking decisions. We'll find out when Hellboy arrives on April 12.
Avengers: Endgame — April 26
At this point, Marvel probably doesn't even need to release trailers for the next Avengers film and it'll still pack theaters, break every record, and make a billion dollars. Does that mean the trailer train is going to stay in the station? Not a chance, and December gave fans the first glimpse of what's to come for Earth's Mightiest Heroes. Er, what's left of them, anyway.
As we expected, everybody's really sad in the first trailer for Endgame. Half of the universe is gone, Iron Man's dying, Captain America's crying, and Hawkeye's so grief-stricken he's stabbing people in the rain. The world is screwed... and yet, there's hope! Ant-Man's back, for one. He probably has some quantum tricks up his sleeve to throw at Thanos. Even better, Captain Steve has a plan, which can only mean good things.
But most importantly, directors Joe and Anthony Russo are once again steering the ship. The brothers haven't disappointed anyone since they abandoned Community in Season 4, and it's doubtful their winning streak will break with the biggest movie of 2019. The game ends on April 26.
Brightburn — May 27
A horror-themed spin on Superman's origin story doesn't immediately smack of box office success, but bear with us here. Brightburn is being executive produced by James Gunn, who's no stranger to both indie horror and crowd-pleasing adventures. Before Guardians of the Galaxy catapulted him to fame, Gunn wrote and directed the underrated horror comedy Slither, and in 2017 he wrote and produced the much less underrated (but still pretty fun) The Belko Experiment.
Brightburn's trailer is fully aware of its Smallville inspirations, which only makes its dark turn into horror all the more satisfying. The story sees a baby crash-landing on Earth and being adopted by a husband and wife who live on a rural farm. As the boy grows, he begins to manifest creepy, otherworldly powers — like Superman if he'd been just a little more related to Satan. Take a look when Brightburn lands in theaters on May 27.
Godzilla: King of the Monsters — May 31
Amidst all the superheroes and nunnery in today's cinematic universes, the biggest one of them all has somehow snuck in on quiet feet: Godzilla. Starting with 2014's Godzilla, Warner Bros. has been building a connected cinematic monster world that still doesn't feel as big as what Marvel has been doing with a few puny human-sized humans and a bookshelf-sized Titan.
But from the looks of it, all that might change with Godzilla: King of the Monsters. The latest trailer reveals an epic film that sees the big daddy lizard beast going head-to-head with a menagerie of kaiju while the fate of humanity rests in the balance. Mothra, Rhodan, and King Ghidora all get some facetime in the latest trailer, promising a city-sized smackdown that will change everything. Well, at least until the next Godzilla movie. In the meantime, here's hoping Ghidorah gets a shot at Godzilla's Godzisticles. Like the good old days.
Godzilla: King of the Monsters smashes into a theater near you on May 31.
Men in Black: International — June 14
Chris Hemsworth, Tessa Thompson, and Liam Neeson are each, in their own right, box office gold. They've all headlined blockbuster franchises, they've each proved their worth in critically acclaimed movies, and none of them are too shabby to look at for two hours.
Still, we'd be remiss if we didn't mention our reservations about Men in Black: International. As Simon Pegg once said about Star Trek, the Men in Black franchise has a tendency to only be good every other movie. The first one was a '90s Will Smith treasure, the second one was a shameless cash-in on the first, and the third one breathed a little life back into the whole shebang. That should mean that the fourth installment, International, is destined to be whatever Tony Shaloub's version of an alien turkey is.
The first trailer honestly doesn't offer much evidence to change our minds, but to their credit, Sony also makes pretty terrible trailers. We really want Men in Black: International to blow us away, and we'll get the chance to find out if it does on June 14.