With each passing year – and as nerd culture becomes more simply ‘culture,’ – the San Diego Comic-Con seems to cater more heavily to movies than, you know, comics. That mean we get trailers. (Specifically, lots of superhero trailers) Being the thoughtful netizens we are, we’ve made you handy list of all the previews for new movies and TV shows (we’ve omitted returning shows). We’ll keep it updated for anything that may pop up on the last day of the convention. Finally, a woman-led superhero movie. Not to mention one of the greatest superheros of all time. Appreciated feminist tones aside (“what I do is not up to you”), the movie takes on a lighter color palette than other DC movies. It looks gritty, but not in the might-as-well-be-black-and-white monotone of movies like ‘Batman v Superman. ‘Wonder Woman was probably the best part of that movie anyway, so things are looking good. After the mess of ‘Batman v Superman,’ we’re a bit wary of Zack Snyder being at the helm of a superhero flick as important as this one, but this “special footage” reel (Warner Bros. isn’t calling it a trailer) actually looks quite good.
While Snyder still doesn’t seem to like colors very much, the reel takes on a lighthearted, humorous tone as Batman goes about collecting his teammates. On the more villainous side of things, we have another trailer for Suicide Squad, which comes out in a couple of weeks. Lego Batman was probably the best part of ‘The Lego Movie.’ I’ll let the trailer speak for itself. DC is on a roll. King Kong gets rebooted again in this trailer from the producerss of the most recent Godzilla. The Wizarding World has come to New York. This is the most detailed trailer for the movie we’ve seen yet, although it still reveals very little in terms of overall plot. Moving to a different kind of magic, there was this awesome trailer for Doctor Strange. Probably the most visually inventive and trippiest trailer of SDCC, here we see the Sorcerer Supreme learning the ways of magic, and lots of ‘Inception’-like folding cities. As for Marvel’s TV offerings, here’s the first teaser for Iron Fist, set to be released in 2017.
Luke Cage – one of the main characters in the fantastic ‘Jessica Jones’ – gets is getting his own show. The above two heroes are teaming up with Jessica Jones and Daredevil for The Defenders. This teaser doesn’t show any actual footage, but we do here what seems to be ‘Stick’ from ‘Daredevil’ talking in the background A cryptic teaser for the new CBS show (well, Netflix show if you’re outside the US). Discovery also happens to be the name of the starship for this series, which takes place in the timeline as the original series – not the one in the new movies. Is it just me, or is there a bit of a Battlestar Galactica vibe to this teaser too? I think it’s the percussion.Sega announced not one, but two Sonic games for the Blue Blur’s 25th anniversary. First up, Sonic Mania is an extremely retro take on a new game. It literally looks like it belongs on a Genesis – and I mean that as a compliment. The title screen is probably the best part.
Meanwhile ‘Project Sonic 2017’ seems to follow the Sonic Generations, featuring both the ‘classic’ Sonic from the 90s and the modern Sonic from recent games. UPDATE 3:38 PM 7/24: Some more trailers for you. It looks like things are about to get mighty serious in Sherlock’s next series, arriving in 2017. We’ll keep this list updated if more cool trailers show up. 4 must-have summer tech accessories for epic road tripsFor those who have been wanting to see the exclusive Season 6 clip of LEGO Ninjago from San Diego Comic Con 2015, LEGO has upload that particular clip to YouTube as an unlisted video. I’ve been asked many questions about the panel on social media about the video and now you can see it for yourself. The video doesn’t show much but as you can see from the clip below, the Ninjas are now wanted by the police and are on the run. There were also subtle hints after the panel that next season will have Pirates included as well.Over the past month, the official Star Wars Youtube channel has been sharing a series of shorts to build excitement for the upcoming release of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
All of the shorts were created with stop-motion animation, using the actual Star Wars toys that you can find online and on store shelves. SEE ALSO: Please don’t drill a headphone jack into your iPhone 7 Although the story doesn’t exactly mirror that of the spinoff hitting theaters in December, it does follow a group of toys as they search for the building instructions to the LEGO Star Wars Death Star set before the Empire can find it. It’s incredibly cute, exceptionally well-animated, and, as of this Monday, officially concluded. You can watch all four chapters of Star Wars Go Rogue below: The Empire has misplaced the building instructions to the Death Star. Jyn Erso has followed an Imperial search team to the markets of Jedha hoping to recover the instructions first. With increasing pressure from Director Krennic, Jyn must join forces with the Rebels on Jedha to take on enemies of all shapes and sizes. Will they escape Jedha with the Empire’s building instructions?
Or will Krennic’s Death Star be back on plan? In Chapter 3, the Rebels seek the second instruction book on rain-soaked Eadu, but the Empire has beaten them to the prize. Will they be able to outsmart the scheming Director Krennic to escape with the instructions and their lives? In the exciting conclusion, the Rebels must rely on their wits, courage and building skills to rescue one of their own from Director Krennic and escape with the LEGO building instructions. The fate of the Galaxy hangs in the balance. Lelo, a self-described purveyor of “high quality Pleasure Objects,” has decided to make a movie—and no, not the kind of movie you’re thinking of. You don’t need to go down a seedy alleyway in order to see Beyond the Wave, their feature-length film starring Starship Trooper‘s Casper Van Dien. In fact, you won’t even feel dirty after watching it. You can even check out the movie’s website at work and keep your job. Lelo’s film is just the latest in what seems to be an increasingly popular trend: branded movies.
After the massive success of The LEGO Movie, it’s not surprising to see other brands jumping on the bandwagon—we just didn’t expect it to be one that sold “intimate lifestyle products.” Surprisingly, the film is purported to have come out of a genuine concern for the current state of relationships and the ambiguous role of Lelo’s products. According to the feature’s website, Beyond the Wave follows one man’s experience in a “post-apocalyptic world where men and women choose to live apart.” Van Dien’s explanation for why he joined the film, given through a press release, speaks to the movie’s legitimate concerns: “When I read the script, the project spoke to me on a personal level. I think many people in 2015 can feel lonely and disconnected even when someone is right beside them. Beyond the Wave shows the importance of not only relying on yourself, of not just communicating or spending time with someone, but genuinely trying to understand your partner’s perspective.”
You might assume that Lelo would use their movie to show their products in some steamy sex scenes. After all, a film is an amazing platform for both garnering large audiences and sneaking in product placement. The trailer for Beyond the Wave, for instance, already has over a million views since its release on February 10. Yet not a single one of those viewers got a glimpse of Lelo’s toys. In reality, the only direct connection that the movie has to “Pleasure Objects” is its title. The word “Wave” refers to Lelo’s “Ina Wave” device, which was launched in late 2014. In a roundabout way, the product actually helped to inspire the film. As Steve Thomson, Lelo’s head of marketing, explained in the press release, “The backstory is that many testers commented that the Ina Wave™ was ‘better than sex’ or ‘there was no need for relationships anymore.’ That really got everyone at LELO thinking hard about our brand’s responsibility.” As a result of the company’s findings, Lelo’s goal for Beyond the Wave was to show how necessary deep and emotionally connected relationships are—especially when it comes to intimate moments.
“What we want from this movie is to go beyond what people expect from a sex toy company and help them get closer to their partner,” said Thomson. “We want to show that physical connections will be even more satisfying if you also invest time in understanding your partner’s perspective.” Since Lelo sells toys that are made to be used as a couple, it only makes sense that their movie trailer should be watched with a partner as well. Cue PlayTogether, an interactive viewing experience. In order to play, couples need to put their phones side by side. After sharing the original trailer on either Facebook or Twitter, they can go on a sort of “choose your own own adventure” style journey with the film’s stars. The next steps in order to actually make it into PlayTogether, however, are more of an exercise in inter-partner communication than they should be: After putting in a variety of passwords, couples essentially view a trailer on their iPhones, each with one half of the image.
This seems like a lot of effort for little reward. Lelo’s head of marketing gave an explanation to Marketing Land: “Our goal with Beyond the Wave is to encourage couples to connect both with the story, and through the act of watching, the movie itself,” said Thompson. “It brings couples closer together and encourages them not merely to sit in the same room but to engage with each other’s point-of-view and to spark a unique interaction.” Lelo isn’t marketing through trailers alone, though. On their YouTube channel they have a playlist of 69 (seriously) videos that feature behind-the-scenes footage, as well as descriptions of their sex toys. One of my favorites, while it doesn’t describe a “pleasure object,” gives a more in-depth description of the movie’s plot. Lelo isn’t the only company to branch into the feature film game. JamWix has already adapted a horror movie called The Banshee Chapter for the virtual reality headset Oculus Rift. Check out the trailer, if you dare.
Personally, I’m glad that I don’t have to watch a movie about mind control in 3D. A certain beverage company that gives you wings has also gotten into the movie-making industry. Red Bull, the purveyor of energy and adventure, has its own fully-featured media house. Its range of productions are impressive. The people at Red Bull have made features that cover everything from break dancing to the dangers of corporately sponsored newscasts. And of course Lego’s LEGO Movie is the crown jewel of the genre. The fact that movie critics thought it was snubbed by the Academy, and that average movie-goers were so upset about it, is the best example of how well-done branded films can be respected and loved. Lelo’s Beyond the Wave is set to be released this summer. If it’s successful, it will be just one more reason for other companies to start hiring their own film crews. And if The LEGO Movie has shown us anything, it’s that companies can create branded content that both promotes their product and is wildly entertaining.