At Sunday’s MTV Movie Awards, the biggest news for superhero fans didn’t have anything to do with the awards themselves. Instead, it was the release of both a brand new trailer for Warner Bros.’ Suicide Squad (above) and new footage from Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War. Both companies are trying to up the hype for their summer offerings.
Suicide Squad looks a lot more fun in its new trailer. So does Captain America: Civil War.
Alex Abad-Santos is a senior correspondent who explains what society obsesses over, from Marvel and movies to fitness and skin care. He came to Vox in 2014. Prior to that, he worked at The Atlantic.
Suicide Squad is in a precarious position. Warner Bros.’ most recent superhero film, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice didn’t wow critics the way executives expected it to, and the common complaint from critics was that it was too dark and self-serious for its own good. What’s more, it doesn’t look like the film is going to hit the $1 billion box office goal it’s aiming for, according to Variety.
There have been reports of reshoots for Suicide Squad to make it lighter and more humorous — a possible reaction to the negative critiques of Batman v Superman. And those reports have been refuted by its director, David Ayer, who has said the reason for the reshoots was to include more action. But this new Suicide Squad trailer is decidedly lighter and less serious than the film’s previous trailers. It contains a lot more humor and deadpan jokes, and showcases more of Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn.
Captain America: Civil War’s new fight scene shows off Scarlet Witch
If there’s one movie that benefits from the lackluster response to Batman v Superman, it’s Captain America: Civil War — the second 2016 release where iconic superheroes are teaming up to fight other superheroes. The new clip highlights that setup as Captain America (Chris Evans), Falcon (Anthony Mackie), and Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) do some vigilante superheroing together:
The clip is more about action and special effects than it is about Civil War’s plot. We don’t know what these three are doing or who they’re fighting in this moment. All we know is that they’re doing some cool stuff. And there’s a nod to Marvel comic book fans as Scarlet Witch and Captain America perform a riff of what’s known as a “fastball special” — she uses her telekinesis to launch Captain America up a few stories and into a building.
Captain America: Civil War. (Marvel)
Captain America: Civil War hits theaters on May 5, while Suicide Squad will be released on August 5.
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