Whether you love American football or not, there’s always been an extra reason to keep an eye on the Super Bowl – the smattering of blockbuster previews that fill up those high-value advert breaks. This year didn’t disappoint, with fresh glimpses of Avengers: Endgame and Captain Marvel, a nightmarish new look at Jordan Peele’s Us (and his Twilight Zone TV reboot), as well as spots for Toy Story 4, Alita, and plenty more. Even better, if you aren’t a fan of chucking around the ol’ pig-skin, you can catch up on all the Super Bowl 2019 trailers and TV spots right here, without wading through the big game itself. Enjoy.
Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs And Shaw
The high-octane hijinks of the Fast franchise are often pimped during the big game, the thinking being that fans of the pigskin might also enjoy the pumped-up heroics and car clashes. This year, for the spin-off (which we really will only call Hobbs And Shaw from here on out) is taking a new approach, banking on Dwayne Johnson's social media clout to launch the main trailer (above), with a shorter spot appearing in one of the commercial breaks. You can also read our trailer breakdown of the big version featuring writer Chris Morgan talking up all the punchy punchy, smashy smashy goodness.
Us
Writer/director Jordan Peele took a technological approach for the second trailer of his new horror, launching on his Monkeypaw production company's Subreddit (parents, ask your kids). It's a smart move, and means that more can be put in a trailer than, say one aimed at TV event where the whole family could be watching.
Wonder Park
Talking of families, Paramount went big for its new animated adventure Wonder Park, putting out the trailer the morning of the game. An original tale, this one comes without the benefit of truly huge star names (though the likes of Jennifer Garner, Mila Kunis and John Oliver all feature), it promises cheerful meanderings and wacky animal characters, aimed squarely at the younger crowd.
Alita: Battle Angel
It might seem a little late for Fox to roll out a TV spot for Alita, with reviews already out and its release date just over a week away. Still, it's another chance for the filmmakers – James Cameron and Robert Rodriguez, no less – to get their cyborg epic up in front of a huge audience.
Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark
This terror-tinged adaptation of a YA novel series teased something chilling during the game, and, with the backing of Guillermo del Toro, it put out three TV spots. Very short spots indeed, but they do give a flavour of the scary stuff we're promised by the movie.
Avengers: Endgame
Dread it... Run from it... The Avengers: Endgame spot was going to arrive all the same. "Some people move on," says Cap. "But not us." Lots of shots of a post-snap world, populations mourning those who have turned to dust. And, of course, lots of shots of our heroes. Are we seeing how Tony Stark escapes his fate in space? Thor heading to wherever Thanos went? There are certainly moments of Hawkeye in action. And what the hell are the Avengers looking at outside their building? It's another tease that doesn't spoil much of anything, and that's still an impressive achievement.
Captain Marvel
Before she gets anywhere near the thorny Thanos problem, we'll have to be introduced to Carol Danvers, AKA Captain Marvel. Disney and Marvel wasted no time, filling the very next advert break with a "Higher, further, faster" spot for her solo movie. Mostly a cut-down version of the various trailers, there was some new footage to be found. Oh, and the first clip from the movie is also online.
Toy Story 4
It was beginning to look like Marvel's stablemates Pixar wouldn't be premiering a spot for Toy Story 4 – but after the game wrapped up, Woody, Buzz and Bo Peep made their appearance. As with previous trailers though, the focus here is on new characters Ducky (Keegan-Michael Key) and Bunny (Jordan Peele).
The Handmaid's Tale
Taking inspiration from a 1984 Reagan political ad, this tease for the next season of the dystopian drama is looking to have America wake up. Timely and haunting, it fits the show's usual style.
Hanna
Last year, Netflix pulled off a trick by premiering a trailer for The Cloverfield Paradox which revealed that the whole movie would be available to watch once the game was over. Amazon is attempting a similar idea, albeit on a slightly smaller scale with its serialised adaptation of Joe Wright's assassin action-thriller Hanna. A trailer landed on Wednesday announcing that the first episode would be available to Amazon Prime members post-game. But it's only going to be up for 24 hours before it's removed, ahead of the first season launching in March.
Game Of Thrones
One of the more surprising ads of this year's game, what appeared to be just another commercial in Bud Light's run of medieval spoofs was suddenly invaded by the forces of Westeros. To whit, the Bud Knight having his eyes popped by The Mountain and then a dragon turning up to burn it all down. No footage of the new season, of course (you were expecting big spoilers?), but a clever reminder that Winter will well and truly be here... In April.
The Twilight Zone
As with the Thrones ad, the first commercial for Jordan Peele's (him again) new version of the classic Rod Serling anthology series offered no actual footage from the show, but worked on a subversion of Super Bowl norms, appearing to take over the transmission (though that was usually more The Outer Limits' speciality). Peele was on the pitch, and some of the iconography of the show popped up – hypnotic swirls, the white door etc. It was atmospheric, even if we're still waiting to see anything from the series itself.