This should be the last trailer I share from San Diego Comic Con 2016, but that doesn’t make it any less exciting. Yet it’s the first trailer that’s not from Marvel Studios or DC Entertainment, but again, that doesn’t make it any less exciting. It’s also the second trailer in a row featuring Benedict Cumberbatch, which does always makes it very exciting!
On SDCC’s final day, BBC revealed their trailer for Sherlock Season 4, airing in the States on January 2017.
Things have certainly been amped-up to 11! “The game is afoot” would be the normal Sherlock Holmes (Benedict Cumberbatch) expression, but as this Molly Hooper (Louise Brealey) reminds us, “For Christ’s Sake, Sherlock, it’s not a game!”
More cinematic, with an obviously higher budget (helicopters and special effects galore!), the intensity has also increased with a trailer that promises to threaten the lives of all the characters we’ve grown to love over the (many) years.
Sherlock and Dr. John Watson (Martin Freeman), the greatest duo on the BBC, are back in action, facing a brand new villain played by Tony Jones and perhaps… Moriarty (Andrew Scott)? Moriarty, Sherlock’s greatest foe was killed at the end of the 2nd Season, but at the end of the 3rd Season we learned he could be back? Then again last year’s Christmas Special, The Abominable Bride, involved Sherlock coming to terms with the fact that his greatest foe cannot be back after witnessing Moriarty blow his brains out. So is he?
Something is Coming… it may or may not be Moriarty, but we do know to expect Toby Jones! Jones is a fantastic actor and will make a formidable opponent for clever Sherlock, but what’s most interesting to me is that Jones would have made a perfect (if more conventional) Moriarty.
The game is… wait, it’s not a game? Something is coming then, I suppose, and it may or may not be a 4th Season of Sherlock!
“You [DC] show them something, we’ll show you something better,” sayth Marvel! And it was great.
Joining Arnett is his Arrested Development co-star, Michael Cera as Robin, bringing a refreshing combination of more wide-eyed excitement and innocence than the traditional Dick Grayson. Ralph Fiennes is the perfect sarcastic Alfred (though I love what the DCEU has going with Jeremy Irons), and though we have yet to hear dialog, Zach Galifianakis has the Joker laugh down.
Let’s build up to the most exciting trailer shall we? (Justice League, duh!). So we’ll start with Suicide Squad, a movie for which we have many trailers already, though the new one still offers quite a bit of new footage. While not going as far as the Batman V Superman trailer that spoiled Doomsday, the villain is revealed more than before in this latest trailer, and there are a lot of new scenes that will wet your appetite. If you are already at footage overload, don’t feel too bad about skipping the San Diego Comic Con 2016 Suicide Squad trailer. The film may feel fresher on August 5th without it.
That’s the poster, obviously. Now here comes the trailer:
Which brings us to the most Marvel-y trailer of all, the 1st teaser for Justice League! The trailer focuses on Batman recruiting the Justice League as Bruce Wayne, always out of the suit, which is a very interesting choice. In fact, because Justice League is still being shot, we’re treated almost entirely to recruitment scenes without costumes or special effects, but it still looks great, despite being handled by Zack Snyder who ruined Batman V Superman.
From what I have seen thus far, Marvel’s Netflix series (which are part of the official MCU of Marvel Studios Movies & Television – one shared universe) have been of the highest quality, standing toe to toe with the best films that feature any combination of Avengers’ Members. Daredevil raised the bar as far as what a superhero on TV could be, how dark Marvel Studios would go, and further proved the company can make any character interesting. Then the Studio doubled down with Jessica Jones, stepping back from the Superhero Genre into the shadows of Film Noir/ Detective Genre, all while upping the ante as far as darkness and reinventing a nearly unknown comic character. And while Daredevil is good, Jessica Jones is great, even featuring one of the top 3 villains in all of the MCU; Kilgrave (David Tennant) alongside Loki and Baron Zemo.
This new, full Luke Cage trailer carries on the tone of Marvel’s “Defenders” shows (more on The Defenders in a bit), with a hallway action sequence that brings Daredevil Season 1’s famous shot to mind, but presents a completely fresh tone in a Guardians of the Galaxy or Ant-Man manner. Existing more as a scene than a full “theatrical” trailer (they actually do call longer TV Show Trailers that now), the San Diego Comic Con trailer for Luke Cage may be the best trailer the studio has cut in either medium. It does appear to lean more toward the Superhero Genre than Jessica Jones, though.
Iron Fist doesn’t look nearly as good as Luke Cage, Daredevil, or Jessica Jones, but it is just a 51 second teaser showing me glimpses at characters and powers I don’t recognize. After all, Iron Fist is the hardest sell, as the most unknown of the characters appearing on Netflix similar to Guardians of the Galaxy, while also being the least grounded and hardest to sell, like Thor.
