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This week is the geek pop culture equivalent of the day before your birthday and also Christmas/Hanukkah/your gift-giving holiday of choice. It’s the week of San Diego Comic-Con, a.k.a. when all the trailers for the movies and TV shows you most want to see start to come out, whetting your appetite … and then crushing you with the realization of how long you’ll have to wait before you can actually experience them.
For your convenience, we’ve collected all the most important trailers of the Con here, so you can get all of your torturous anticipation in one convenient place. Here’s what to look forward to:
Movies
Thor: Ragnarok
Thor: Ragnarok has everything you could want in a Thor movie: Loki, Tessa Thompson, and Cate Blanchett assuming what is doubtless her true form as a goddess of death. Plus, judging from this trailer, the Hulk has picked up some new vocabulary, and Thor himself gets off a few decent zingers as well.
Justice League
DC’s planning to give Marvel’s Avengers a run for their money with Justice League. This is the third trailer they’ve released so far, this time with an early glimpse of the villain and plenty of screen time for record-breaking champion of the box office Wonder Woman.
Ready Player One
Steven Spielberg’s latest, based on the novel by Ernie Cline, takes place in a future where dispossessed youth can only find meaning in virtual reality. The new trailer is highly referential — see how many pop culture Easter eggs you can spot in just two minutes — and guarantees as many high-speed chase scenes as can fit into a single action movie.
The LEGO Ninjago Movie
The latest outing from the franchise that brought you The LEGO Movie and The Lego Batman Movie promises LEGO dragons, a training montage, and a really cute cat.
Kingsman: The Golden Circle
That surprisingly charming little 2014 action flick gets a sequel, this time with bonus Channing Tatum and a lasso. This is the red band trailer: super violent (not gory, but potentially NSFW), and super fun.
Pacific Rim: Uprising
Another sequel, this one to the beloved 2013 robot action movie Pacific Rim. John Boyega plays the son of Idris Elba’s character, and whether that casting move is an upgrade or a downgrade must be decided entirely by you.
Brigsby Bear
This melancholy little charmer was one of the big hits of the Sundance Film Festival, and the trailer offers a glimpse into why. People who have seen the movie will tell you this trailer is absurdly spoiler-ridden, but I (who have not) only learned that I will certainly see this movie, and it will certainly make me cry.
Bright
Netflix doubles down on its commitment to developing original movies with this Will Smith vehicle. Smith is a hardboiled cop just trying to get through another day on the job; also, there are fairies. Sure.
TV
Doctor Who
Peter Capaldi’s last episode will see him joining forces with David Bradley’s take on William Hartnell’s First Doctor in a Christmas special that’s sure to be all sorts of timey-wimey — and that will set the stage for Jodie Whittaker to make history as the first female Doctor.
Westworld
In its second season, Westworld promises to include Jeffrey Wright standing over a dead tiger and Evan Rachel Wood gleefully shooting a gun while on horseback, and all our lives are a little richer for it.
Stranger Things
It looks like Will is still feeling the effects of his time in the Upside Down, and Eleven isn’t in the safest of places since she disappeared at the end of last season. But in happier news, the kids seem to have discovered and fallen in love with Ghostbusters.
Teen Wolf
Teen Wolf is approaching its final episodes, which apparently will kick off with some random stabbing of Liam in the hand with a pen. (Hey, I get the impulse.) No sign here of fan favorites Stiles and Derek, but the producers have confirmed that they’ll be returning, and they appeared briefly in a previous promo.
Star Trek: Discovery
Star Trek: Discovery may have lost showrunner Bryan Fuller, but this trailer — which teases a conflict with a resurgent Klingon Empire — promises a visual flair all its own, with some truly gorgeous effects.
Marvel’s The Defenders
Marvel’s small-screen answer to The Avengers — featuring Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist on a single team — is one of the most hotly anticipated shows of the year. If you are like me, you are anticipating it mostly for because you want to see Jessica Jones side-eying everyone else, and if so, this trailer will bring you joy. Plus, there’s some A+ Sigourney Weaver villain monologuing.
DuckTales
Disney XD’s reboot of the beloved ‘80s cartoon features Doctor Who’s David Tennant as the world-weary Scrooge McDuck, off to continue making his fortune with his many nephews. The trailer sees him setting off for the lost city of Atlantis, sure to make it there in no more than 16 hours. What could go wrong?
The Gifted
Fox’s upcoming X-Men TV show has a cast full of already beloved actors from cult favorite shows: Amy Acker of Angel and Person of Interest, looking uncharacteristically blonde; Bunheads’ Emma Dumont (she was Melanie, the tall one); Stephen Moyer, better known as Trueblood’s vampire Bill; Sean Teale of Reign and Skins; and Jamie Chung, who was Mulan on Once Upon a Time. We’ll have to see if The Gifted — which premieres October 2 — is worthy of so many hard-hitters.
Fear the Walking Dead
Fear the Walking Dead is promising a water crisis, someone getting stabbed in the eye, plus ominous murmurings about how some must die so that others must live. That’s never a good sign.
Black Lightning
Most of this trailer is an extended tribute to The CW’s extended DC comic book universe, but you do catch a glimpse of the forthcoming superhero Black Lightning, in full costume with lightning blazing.
Marvel’s Inhumans
Premiering September 1 in IMAX theaters — and then September 29 on ABC — the latest addition to Marvel’s ever-expanding television portfolio will focus on the Inhuman Royal Family. Come for the fight scenes, stay for the giant teleporting bulldog named Lockjaw.
Krypton
This Syfy series, slated to premiere next year, is a Superman prequel set 200 years before the destruction of the hero’s home planet. Few details are available beyond the fact that the show centers on the Man of Steel’s grandfather, Seg-El, as he “fights to redeem his family’s honor” — hence the teaser’s invitation to “discover the lineage of a legend.”
Rocko’s Modern Life: Static Cling
Here’s two and a half minutes of pure ‘90s nostalgia for you: Beloved Nickelodeon cartoon Rocko’s Modern Life is getting a TV movie next year. Judging from the trailer, Rocko and company have some pretty mixed feelings about our post-’90s world.
American Horror Story: Cult
If your day was missing footage of a clown menacingly vomiting a column of bees at the camera, boy have you come to the right place! This season of American Horror Story allegedly ties into the election, but the two promos released thus far have only revealed circles of clowns making ominous gestures, a couple of blue-haired ladies, and oh yeah, those bees. (Rude.)
The Walking Dead
In The Walking Dead’s eighth season — premiering October 22 on AMC — many people will hold weapons and look sad. Also, Ezekiel’s tiger will be back! (Wouldn’t it be fun if The Walking Dead decided to get creative with the big cat by taking a cue from Zoo?)
Game of Thrones
Game of Thrones has already begun airing its seventh season, but that’s not stopping it from releasing a “weeks ahead promo.” This one offers the sage advice that “every possible series of events is happening all at once.” Indeed.
Preacher
AMC’s Preacher, which has unexpectedly evolved into one of the best shows of the summer in its second season, promises to continue its winning streak in its new trailer: lots of comic book fighting, but through a witty, effortlessly likable filter.
Stargate Origins
This early look at the new prequel entry to the Stargate franchise is just a teaser, so things are staying vague for the time being. Safe to say that some stuff happens in Egypt in the 1920s!
