New trailers: three Netflix and Marvel series, Ava DuVernay's Queen Sugar, Suicide Squad, and more
All the shows and movies you should be looking out for
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OMG IT'S COMIC-CON WEEK. No, like seriously, that all caps intro is deserved and emotionally how I feel. Please, if you will, imagine all of this in capital letters, and italics, and maybe bolded or underlined and also strikethroughed, because it's COMIC-CON WEEK and things, on the entertainment front, are crazy. Seriously, Netflix has already released THREE Marvel trailers. And Friday has barely started.
Here are 13 of the best trailers from this week... so far. There's a lot of huge Comic-Con stuff, but also some smaller films and shows that seem like they're worth knowing about. Stay tuned for much more over the next few days.
Marvel's The Defenders
Netflix has been promising this for years, and I almost thought that maybe it was never gonna happen. But apparently The Defenders — Netflix's small screen answer to The Avengers — is coming next year. This first teaser doesn't have even a second of footage of Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, or Iron Fist, but it sets a vibe that feels just right.
Luke Cage
Speaking of Luke Cage, we finally have a first real look at Netflix and Marvel's Luke Cage, and there's really only two words to describe it: relentlessly badass. Click play. Enjoy the Ol' Dirty Bastard soundtrack, and look forward to September 30th.
Iron Fist
Oh, you thought Netflix and Marvel were done? The duo have one more for us this week: a first look at Iron Fist. It's a rough first look, but so is that beard. There's no release date just yet.
Snowden
What you see above is a trailer for Snowden, the biopic coming out later this year from Oliver Stone. I'm not going to write about the trailer because just hours ago I got to watch an early screening of the movie, so instead I'll just tell you, quite briefly, about that: it's an extremely educational film, dedicated to explaining each spy program and considering the many points of view and arguments that pop up along the way. Think The Big Short, but for mass surveillance and about a huge nerd. It comes out September 16th.
A Tale of Love and Darkness
No, this isn't a Comic-Con trailer, but yes, you should still watch it. A Tale of Love and Darkness is Natalie Portman's directorial debut (she also stars in it!), and it looks gorgeous. From this trailer, it looks like she's set up a really interesting contrast between the dream world her character and her son enter and the reality of living amid conflict in 1940s Jerusalem. It'll be out August 19th.
The Girl on the Train
This looks like a seriously scary thriller. The Girl on the Train is a voyeuristic mystery that has Emily Blunt playing witness to a couple's deteriorating relationship and some sort of incident that leads to the woman's disappearance. It also makes better use of Kanye West's "Heartless" than 808s & Heartbreak. It'll be out October 7th.
The Rocky Horror Picture Show
I don't know that the unending phenomenon of The Rocky Horror Picture Show can really be recreated, but it seems like Fox has some interesting ideas that should make this remake pretty fun. For one, the audience is built right in, which is kind of a weird choice, kind of a great homage, leaves room for some interesting jokes, and also means you can experience the fun of Rocky Horror without having to leave your house and hang around college students. It premieres this Halloween.
For the Love of Spock
Adam Nimoy directs this loving celebration of his father's iconic character, Spock, and if you're even the slightest bit a Star Trek fan, you probably won't want to miss it. Seriously, I don't even know that much about Star Trek, and I'm getting emotional here. It'll be out September 9th.
Queen Sugar
This looks beautiful, and emotional, and many other very positive adjectives. Queen Sugar is a sprawling family drama set on a sugarcane farm in the Deep South, and this first full trailer shows just how big it's going to be, filling its world with strong and struggling characters. Oprah executive produces, and Ava DuVernay, who also executive produces, directed the first two episodes. The series starts September 6th.
Suicide Squad
Warner Bros. knows that Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn is what everyone is looking forward to in Suicide Squad, so it went ahead and dedicated an entire trailer to her. And fair enough, because Robbie's Quinn seems amazing. But this trailer is also a very clear warning of how easily DC could push this character's playful / hypersexualized nature too far — it may be part of the character, but her personality can't end there. The film comes out August 5th.
The Edge of Seventeen
Fair or not, I am always skeptical of movies from STX. But this insanely long trailer (seriously, it's over four minutes long) for The Edge of Seventeen makes it look full of personality in a way the studio's other films do not. The film has Hailee Steinfeld playing a supremely awkward but actually very funny teenager struggling with basically everything, as one does in high school. It comes out September 30th.
Better Things
Pamela Adlon and Louis C.K. are teaming up again, only this time, C.K. is on the production side and Adlon is the star. And so far, from this first trailer, Adlon's new sitcom looks great. Better Things has her playing a struggling actress and single mother looking after three daughters, with all four of them acting wonderfully immature. The show starts September 8th on FX.
London Road
I often ask myself if there's anything with Tom Hardy in it that I wouldn't write about. And the answer remains no. I honestly don't even know what this is. It's a British musical, but also it's a murder mystery, and also Tom Hardy is maybe only in it for two seconds. Also it was a stage play like five years ago. Now it's a movie. And it comes out September 9th.