Judging by the 2023 lineup of trailers, blockbusters are in great shape. There was the first substantial glimpse of Ezra Miller’s feature-length appearance as The Flash, while Marvel Studios didn’t miss its chance to introduce the next step in their Phase Five, and the Fast & Furious franchise continued to give fans an actual look (as opposed to a “legacy trailer,” because what even is that?) at its upcoming 10th installment. Read on for a round-up of the notable film trailers of Super Bowl LVII, and what we learned from each of them.
Release date: 17 February 2023
“Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” is an upcoming superhero film based on the Marvel Comics characters Ant-Man and the Wasp. It is a sequel to the 2018 film “Ant-Man and the Wasp” and the third film in the Ant-Man series. In “Quantumania,” Scott Lang teams up with Hope van Dyne and Hank Pym to embark on a new mission. They are joined by a new character, the villain Kang the Conqueror, who is portrayed by Jonathan Majors. The film promises to bring even more action, humor, and excitement to the Ant-Man franchise and continues the story of the characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
02) Creed III
Release date: 3 March 2023
“Ready or not,” intones Lauryn Hill of the Fugees in an ominous tone in the Creed III spot that aired during the big game. Using a cool trailer-y effect, the “III” title frames our first glimpses of the Michael B. Jordan-starring, Michael B. Jordan-directed Rocky sequel. Creed III sees Jordan’s Adonis Creed squaring off against a childhood friend-turned-rival, played by the magnificent Jonathan Majors. Of all the films providing previews at this year’s Super Bowl, this one might be the best, seeing as it most closely resembles the live-action in between those commercial breaks.
03) Shazam! Fury of the Gods
Release date: 17 March 2023
“Shazam! Fury of the Gods is a superhero film based on the DC Comics character Shazam. It is a sequel to the 2019 film Shazam!. It managed to keep the story of the hero Shazam, directed by David F. Sandberg, starring Zachary Levi as Shazam, Asher Angel as Billy Batson and Mark Strong as Dr. Sivana. Shazam will face challenging new situations and battles as he continues to hone his powers and learn what it means to be a hero. The film is guaranteed to bring additional humor, soul, and movement to the franchise while exploring new components of the Shazam mythology. Shazam! Fury of the Gods is currently in production and will be released in 2023.
04) John Wick 4
Release date: 24 March 2023
“John Wick: Chapter 4” is an upcoming American neo-noir action film that is part of the John Wick film series. Keanu Reeves returns as the titular character, the legendary assassin John Wick. Not much is known about the plot of “John Wick: Chapter 4,” as the details are being kept under wraps. However, fans of the franchise can expect more high-octane action, intense gun-fu fights, and a continuing exploration of the assassin underworld that John Wick inhabits. “John Wick: Chapter 4” was originally scheduled to be released in May 2021, but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is now released in 24 March 2023.
05) Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3
Release date: 3 May 2023
The least surprising but most appreciated part of the new trailer for Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 is its spot-on soundtrack: Rainbow’s cover of Argent’s “Since You’ve Been Gone” totally rocks, dude, yet contains emotional depth, making it another fitting choice for this particular extraterrestrial franchise. Thanks to December’s teaser, it’s also not a surprise to see James Gunn’s final Guardians installment will include creepy baddie the High Evolutionary, a talking otter, and Gamora-but-not-the-Gamora-of-Volumes-1-and-2.
06) Fast X
Release date: 19 May 2023
Most of what we now know about Louis Leterrier’s FasTen Your Seatbelts has been discerned from the official trailer of two days past: Jason Momoa joins the fray as a flamboyant baddie, Paul Walker—either computer-generated or archival—makes a return appearance, and Rita Moreno and Brie Larson are joining Charlize Theron and Helen Mirren as the latest Oscars winners to give this franchise an upgrade. But the “big game spot” above does include new footage, a peek at a pretty epic action set piece involving a fiery explosion atop a dam.
07) Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts
Release date: 9 June 2023
Fair warning: this newly released Transformers 7 glimpse doubles as a Porsche commercial, in one of the Super Bowl’s most quintessential examples of capitalistic synergy. While the teaser from a few months ago showed us Mirage the Autobot, it’s only now that we’re hearing him—thanks to the vocal talents of one Pete Davidson. Joining him in this Bumblebee sequel, featuring robo-animals inspired by computer-animated spin-off series Beast Wars, are Anthony Ramos, Dominique Fishback, Tobe Nwigwe, Peter Cullen, Ron Perlman, Peter Dinklage, Michaela Jaé Rodriguez, and Michelle Yeoh.
08) The Flash
Release date: 16 June 2023
As dramatic reveals in Super Bowl trailers go, Andy Muschietti’s The Flash may have everything else on this list beat. (For a more in-depth breakdown, click here.) YouTube’s “trailer reaction” posters are surely having a field day, between the above clip and the TV spot: In addition to Ben Affleck, we have Michael Keaton hamming it up again as Batman! Michael Shannon is back as General Zod! And instead of a Superman in all this multiverse madness, we have Sasha Calle’s Kara Zor-El, a.k.a. a Supergirl for the big screen! We’ll see how what is apparently double the amount of Barry Allens—more, not less, of a leading actor bogged down in criminally bad PR—changes the course of the evolving DCEU.
09) Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny
Release date: 30 June 2023
Unlike most other TV spots on this round-up, the 30 second-glimpse of Indiana Jones 5 provided plenty of new visuals following the trailer. Unlike that longer version, here Indy asks Nazis to verify they’re Nazis before punching Nazis. There’s also a purported rescue from Phoebe Waller-Bridge (who looks more like the one who needs rescuing) and John Rhys-Davies as Sallah urging our hero to “give ’em hell,” which seems more than worth the price of admission.