Once upon a time, everyone knew to expect very little of what they saw in a Marvel movie trailer actually making it into the final film. Then something changed, and in the last few years we have become accustomed to having Marvel Studios play by the rules of revealing more than necessary across several trailers and leaving very little to be discovered on the movie’s release. That is something that apparently changes withThunderbolts*, as despite releasing multiple, long trailers,David Harbourhas revealed that Kevin Feige’s marketing team have been pulling the wool over audiences' eyes by including a lot of footage that they won’t see when the movie debuts this week.
Everyone remembers that incredible shot of the Avengers ensemble rushing towards the camera in the trailer forAvengers: Infinity War, complete with Hulk and several other characters who would not appear exactly as portrayed in that footage. In fact, that footage was purposely created just to misdirect audiences – and it worked perfectly. Now it looks likeThunderbolts*has been picking up the torch and running with it. Harbour toldDigital Spy:
“It’s been fun to watch the marketing too because there is so much stuff on the cutting room floor that maybe the marketing team just picked up – little moments that aren’t in the movie that they are just taking. There was so much footage of us just messing around that makes for a really fun trailer beat, but doesn’t quite make it for the movie. There was a ton of good stuff.”
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There are some fans who get quite annoyed when things they see in the trailers are omitted from the final movie – we all remember thatlawsuit over Ana de Armas’ absence fromYesterdaydespite being in marketing material. While no one has sued Marvel Studios for lying to them in trailers, there are some people who have their expectations raised to unattainable levels by the footage that serves the purpose of either misdirecting where a story is going, covering up characters that Kevin Feige doesn’t want audiences to know about in advance, or simply because the footage doesn’t fit in the final movie.
From Harbour’s comments, it seems that the footage used in the trailers doesn’t necessarily misdirect audiences about the main plot points, but does include some small jokes and ensemble moments that simply won’t appear in the film. However, these are exactly the kind of deleted scenes that will appear later inThunderbolts’*home release in a few months’ time.
Movies can live and die because of their marketing, and several low-budget movies such as Longlegs orthe upcoming chiller, Weapons,have proven that making subtle, obscure trailers that leave audiences not really knowing exactly what they are going to see when they walk into the cinema is working. While everyone really knows what they are getting with a Marvel movie, it has become a little too easy for trailers to show too much. In the end, it’s an MCU movie, and several trailers spoiling several reveals is not going to get more bums in seats than one good trailer that gives away just enough to leave people wanting more. Maybe withThunderbolts*,audiences will get to see a movie without feeling they have already seen the movie.
Source:Digital Spy
Thunderbolts*
