New Trailer for DOCTOR STRANGE Starring Benedict Cumberbatch

I don't know much about Doctor Strange, but I'm beginning to feel like the only one who is kind of "meh" on the whole thing. Having not read many comics much less those of Marvel's Sorcerer Supreme I come at director Scott Derickson's (The Exorcism of Emily Rose, Sinister) take on the Marvel hero and his entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe the same way I came at Thor-intrigued, but slightly concerned. This is clearly somewhat new territory for the company given Doctor Strange very much exists in a magical reality. While Thor exists among the Gods and the Guardians of the Galaxy exist among the cosmos it feels as if Doctor Strange has the biggest potential to come off as cheesy and/or slightly corny. Say what you will, but that's how that tag joke struck me-cheesier than anything else. Do I actually think Doctor Strange will be the movie that sinks the Marvel ship? Absolutely not-this company is a juggernaut with no end in sight, but do I feel like Strange will make a cultural impact the way the Guardians did or that Benedict Cumberbatch will completely own the titular role the way that say, Chris Hemsworth or Robert Downey Jr. do? No, not really. That feels crazy to say given the incredible cast this thing has assembled and being a fan of Derickson's previous work in the horror genre I'm optimistic about what he might do in the realm of the astral plane, but something just feels lacking in the footage we've seen so far. More interesting though is that it seems Derickson and his team haven't had to adhere to as many story points as Thor's first outing which gives hope that we might really be allowed to dig in and get to know this character without having to worry about extraneous plot strands. While this full-length trailer didn't do much for me I'm still excited to see what the feature brings to the MCU and have enough faith in Derickson, his long-time collaborator and screenwriter C. Robert Cargill, as well as Jon Spaihts (Prometheus) to hope for the best. Doctor Strange also stars Rachel McAdams, Tilda Swinton, Mads Mikkelsen, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Stuhlbarg, Benedict Wong, Scott Adkins, and opens on November 4th, 2016.

New Trailer for THE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE

With Comic-Con going strong and Warner Bros. dropping no less than five big trailers today it was inevitable that we'd also get a look at the spin-off of 2014's massive hit The Lego Movie that stars one of Comic-Con's brightest: Batman. While we were lucky enough to get a glimpse of what Ben Affleck's Dark Knight might be up to in Zack Snyder's Justice League film with The Lego Batman Movie Will Arnett reprises his role as the caped crusader in the form of interlocking plastic blocks to give audiences a lighter side of the iconic character. Directed by Chris McKay who was an assistant director on The Lego Movie and has worked on several animated series in the past (including Robot Chicken) the guy clearly has a handle on the tone and style that Phil Lord and Chris Miller established in the original Lego film. In this extended look at the film McKay and writer Seth Grahame-Smith (Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies) offer their take on Batman as a parent and their version on how the young, what I'm assuming is still Dick Grayson, comes to be the Boy Wonder himself, Robin (voiced by Michael Cera). We also get a first look at Zach Galifianakis playing The Joker which I'm probably more excited about than I should be with the film also looking to beat Zack Snyder's team-up movie to the punch as we get a glimpse of a hero shot with Batman leading the charge surrounded by super friends Superman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Cyborg, Green Lantern, Aquaman, and Green Arrow. All of that said the most important part of the trailer is that it is consistently funny and seems to be keeping up quite nicely with the irreverent tone The Lego Movie so effortlessly pulled off. The LEGO Batman Movie also stars Rosario Dawson as Batgirl/Barbara Gordon, Ralph Fiennes as Alfred, Mariah Carey as the Mayor of Gotham, and opens on February 10th, 2017.

Comic-Con Trailer for FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM

Director David Yates is a busy man. Not only did he direct one of the more surprising and solid blockbusters of the summer in The Legend of Tarzan, but he also has seemingly just completed both his and Warner Bros. return to the wizarding world with the adaptation of J.K. Rowling's 2001 novel Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them. The book was published under the pseudonym Newt Scamander and purports to be Harry Potter's copy of the textbook that was on his list of necessary school supplies in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Our protagonist here is Scamander himself and given the screenplay was the first penned by Rowling herself I'm assuming this is an original story that will give audiences insight into how Mr. Scamander came to be experienced enough to pen an entire textbook on magical creatures. With the film now only four months away from release it makes sense that WB would not only premiere a full length trailer at Comic-Con, but that they'd also be game to show off more of the completed money shots that likely haven't been available for very long. With this latest (and hopefully final) look at the film we are given a more immersive look into this new era of the wizarding world that this installment seems to be leaning on as a means to justify its existence. While this new film won't deal with "The Boy Who Lived" exclusively, the idea of being able to return to such a world, and in November no less, is something of pure bliss for my generation in particular. The look of the film is certainly engaging and I like that Yates is here to secure a continuity of tone if there can't be much of it elsewhere. While part of me gets more nervous the closer we get to this thing I can't help but to be excited given how big a part of my childhood Harry Potter and his wizarding world was. Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them stars Eddie Redmayne, Katherine Waterston, Dan Fogler, Alison Sudol, Ezra Miller, Samantha Morton, Jon Voight, Ron Perlman, Carmen Ejogo, Jenn Murray, Faith Wood-Blagrove, and opens on November 18, 2016.

First Trailer for KING ARTHUR: LEGEND OF THE SWORD Starring Charlie Hunnam

Does there need to be another movie about King Arthur and his Knights of the round table? No. Do I mind that there is another King Arthur movie coming out that stars Charlie Hunnam (Sons of Anarchy) and is directed by Guy Ritchie (Snatch, RockNRolla, Sherlock Holmes)? Not at all. In fact, it is for this reason that I am excited to see what this new iteration of the classic character holds. It is clear from this first look trailer that this is undoubtedly a Guy Ritchie movie as the grittiness and the obviousness of the editing is front and center. Though there is little given about what quest or adventure this particular story might tell the trailer does a good job of highlighting the familiar beats of the legend we've all heard and seen versions of before while at the same time making the more modern tone and approach to the material very apparent. More than anything else it seems like the cast is having a grand time playing on these tropes for which their characters have been recognized by for years and both upending them as well as elaborating on them. This looks to be especially true of Jude law's Vortigern AKA the guy who killed the titular characters father and brother. As with Kong: Skull Island it seems as if something like an epic King Arthur film should debut in the midst of the summer movie season, but with an early March release the third month of 2017 is shaping up to be a fairly major one. King Arthur: Legend of the Sword also stars Astrid Bergès-Frisbey, Eric Bana, Djimon Hounsou, Aidan Gillen, and opens on March 24th, 2017.

First Trailer for KONG: SKULL ISLAND Starring Tom Hiddleston

Well, Warner Bros. is certainly knocking it out of the park today in terms of quantity as not only have we seen trailers for their upcoming DC slate, but now they have released the first look at their re-imagining of the King Kong myth that they intend to make a part of another extended universe by pairing the King of the Apes up with the Godzilla from the 2014 film. While it has been just over a decade since Peter Jackson's three-hour epic that brought Kong back to the big screen WB has now pulled in Kings of Summer director Jordan Vogt-Roberts (in the tradition of Marc Webb, Colin Trevorrow, and Gareth Edwards) to once again launch a franchise of sorts by hopefully bringing some of his independent mentality to large scale blockbuster filmmaking. While it feels odd that something as big as this trailer makes the film look will be opening in March rather than the middle of summer that is also something of a compliment in that the film looks like a full throttle action/popcorn flick that will be easy to enjoy and difficult to dislike. With this first trailer for the film largely being a sizzle reel of sorts (it's absolutely stunning by the way) we get very little indication of what the story will be other than the standard "team of explorers ventures deep into uncharted territory," and that we get little to no dialogue from any of the principal cast gives very little sense of what types of characters we'll be dealing with as well, though Samuel L. Jackson certainly seems to once again be enjoying himself by hamming it up in another (see Tarzan) action tentpole that ironically feels like something from a bygone era. Tom Hiddleston, Brie Larson, John Goodman, John C. Reilly, Tian Jing, Corey Hawkins, Jason Mitchell, John Ortiz, Thomas Mann, Shea Whigham, Toby Kebbell, and Eugene Cordero join Jackson for the ride as Kong: Skull Island opens on March 10th, 2017.