Ranking the Superbowl LVI Trailers

The Superbowl LVI experience was an excellent one.

The game itself was terrific, certainly making up for the overall snoozefest of a game we were treated to last year. (Thankfully, we had The Weeknd’s epic halftime show to make things somewhat bearable). The theme of the NFP post-season has been last minute dramatics and this game was no different as Los Angeles Rams bested The Cincinnati Bengals thanks to the heroics of Matthew Stafford, Cooper Kupp and Arnold Donald.

The game’s experience was bolstered by two things — the historic, crowd-pleasing halftime show and the sheer number of film and television trailers we saw. However, the bulk of the trailers came during the pre-show, not during the game which was fairly unusual (and we do apologize if we missed any of them).

Keeping with tradition we we will rank the Superbowl LVI Trailers we saw. Please note that we never rank the trailers for shows that appear on the actual network itself. In this instance, this includes NBC’s streaming platform, Peacock. That means the trailers for Law & Order, The End Game, Marry Me and Joe and Carol are not going to be included on this list.

12. Uncharted
Release Date: February 18, 2022
Starring: Tom Holland, Mark Wahlberg, Antonio Banderas, Tati Gabrielle, Sophia Ali
Directed by: Ruben Fleischer (Zombieland)
Thoughts: A quick ‘meh’ trailer for a film that seems to be the definition of ‘meh.’ Despite its all-star cast and its popular source material this movie looks like a lukewarm version of National Treasure.

11. The Lost City
Release Date: March 25, 2022
Starring: Sandra Bullock, Channing Tatum, Brad Pitt, Daniel Radcliffe, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Bowen Yang
Directed by: The Nee Brothers (Band of Robbers)
Thoughts: I guess Paramount thinks this going to clean up? If they didn’t they wouldn’t be dropping serious dollar to air this trailer during the game. Personally, don’t see this being a time film even with the star power. The trailer feels like a mid rehash/update version of Romancing the Stone and Jewel of the Nile (’80s films starring Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner and Danny DeVito). The trailer ruins the surprise of both Daniel Radcliffe and Brad Pitt and just falls flat at every turn.

10. Sonic the Hedgehog 2
Release Date: April 9, 2022
Starring: Ben Schwartz (voice), Idris Elba (voice), James Marsden, Jim Carrey, Colleen O’Shaughnessey, Tika Sumpter, Adam Pally, Natasha Rowell, Lee Majdoub
Directed by: Jeff Fowler (Sonic the Hedgehog)
Thoughts: This is a big whatever. The Superbowl spot was a chopped version of the trailers we’ve seen for this film already. Jim Carrey was fun here and you cannot deny the fun Ben Schwartz and Idris Elba seem to be having with their vocals. Otherwise this is a nothing-burger.

9. Ambulance
Release Date: April 8, 2022
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Eiza Gonzalez
Directed by: Michael Bay (The Rock)
Thoughts: You blink and you miss this spot. Again, an odd choice to promote during the Super Bowl. You’d think Universal would drop the trailer for the new Fantastic Beats movie or the new Minions film like that they did two years ago (and still haven’t released). Ambulance feels like the type of action movie that gets dumped during the late summer or in this case, April 8. The idea of Jake Gyllenhaal and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II acting together is a fantastic idea, but not here and not this way. This feels better as a Netflix release and not a theatrical-only.

8. Winning Time
Release Date: March 6, 2022
Starring: John C. Reilly, Quincy Isaiah, Jason Clarke, Solomon Hughes, Gaby Hoffman, Sally Field, Adrien Brody, Michael Chiklis, Jason Segel, Tracy Letts, Julianne Nicholson, Gillian Jacobs, Wood Harris, Rory Cochrane.
Directed by: Adam McKay (Vice)
Thoughts: One of this writers most anticipated shows of 2022. Cannot wait to check out McKay moving out of the world of heavy-handed satire and moving onto something that seems like it could be extremely well-performed and extremely funny. The A-List cast is mind boggling and the source material is fascinating.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqbWwKx1nBU

7. Moon Knight
Release Date: March 27, 2022
Starring: Oscar Isaac, Ethan Hawke
Directed by: Mohamed Diab, Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead
Thoughts: The Superbowl spot for Moon Knight was a truncated version of the one we saw a few weeks ago. However, unlike all the “chopped up” trailers we saw during the game, this one actually heightened the excitement.

6. The Adam Project/Netflix in 2022
Release Date: March 11, 2022
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Jennifer Garner, Mark Ruffalo, Walker Scobell, Catherine Keener, Zoe Saldana
Directed by: Shawn Levy (Stranger Things)
Thoughts: Definitely torn on this one. It was clever for Netflix to combine the very cool “movies every week” trailer we’ve seen the past few years and then pivoting to a spotlight of the soon-to-be-released sci-fi actioneer The Adam Project. However, I think the full trailer for this film would’ve been way more impactful as a release since it tells a more emotional arc. Regardless, I applaud Netflix for teasing the hell out of another big time movie year for them.

For those of you watching Netflix instead of the big game, we promise this is the only time of the year we’ll interrupt you with an ad. pic.twitter.com/ziRXV3xe7O

— Netflix (@netflix) February 13, 2022

5. Jurassic World Dominion
Release Date: June 10, 2022
Starring: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Jeff Goldblum, Sam Neil, Laura Dern, Campbell Scott, BD Wong, Daniella Pineda, Justice Smith
Directed by: Colin Trevorrow (Jurassic World)
Thoughts: The Jurassic World movies are fast food restaurants. Sure, they aren’t good or high quality, but man oh man they still are a siren song when you’re looking to be satiated. This film brings the original Jurassic Park cast into the Jurassic World … world. The trailer is the stuff of popcorn film heaven and I’m kicking myself for wanting to see it even though it’s going to be complete fluff.

4. DC In 2022
The Films: The Batman, Black Adam, The Flash, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom
Thoughts: This makes the list even though I don’t remember seeing this from my viewing from 4 p.m. to the end of the game. However, it could’ve aired when I missed it as it did air during the Olympics after the game (which many commercials reran during). All that aside, this was an awesome preview of the year in DC. It was a great hype video and it economically featured four films fans have chomping at the bit for — in particular the long-awaited (and beleaguered) releases of The Flash and Black Adam films.

3. Dr. Strange in The Multiverse of Madness
Release Date: May 6, 2022
Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Elizabeth Olsen, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Benedict Wong, Xochitl Gomez, Rachel McAdams, Michael Stuhlbarg
Directed by: Sam Raimi (Spider-man)
Thoughts: Marvel does it again. They took the original Strange trailer, gave it a little caffeine and did their classic “go online for the full trailer.” That full trailer? Oh boy, that was all killer, no filler. So many questions — and that’s the point. This is a multiverse that is going to make us question everything we know about Strange and his world. 100% here for this.

2. The Lord of the Rings: The Ring of Power
Release Date: September 2, 2022
Starring: Robert Aramayo, Owain Arthur, Nazanin Boniadi, Morfydd Clark, Ismael Cruz Córdova, Markella Kavenagh
Directed by: J. A. Bayona (Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom)
Thoughts: On paper, the concept of another Lord of the Rings adaptation was not something that was a huge needle mover. The Hobbit films were fine for what they were and honestly can anything top Peter Jackson’s original films? Welllllll …. this series on Prime might have a shot. The trailer is a breathtaking step back into Middle Earth that is fantastical and wildly intriguing as we’re going back further than both the original LOTR and Hobbit films. This is a big risk for Amazon, let’s see if it pays off.

1. Nope
Release Date: July 22, 2022 (Theaters)
Starring: Daniel Kaluuya, Keke Palmer, Steven Yuen
Directed by: Jordan Peele (US)
Thoughts: Wow. The teaser we saw at the big game is nowhere near as amazing as the full trailer. The trailer creates an atmosphere of sheer terror yet this undeniable feeling that we need to know everything happening in this film despite how scary it may be. That is the beauty of a Jordan Peele trailer. It was the same feeling we got Get Out and US. This has the potential, based on this trailer, to be one of the biggest films of 2022.