Trailers are some of the most exciting things about being a fan: they often show up after a long wait, audiences starved for any sort of content while they wait for their beloved movie to come out. The Star Wars franchise even has an entire convention panel dedicated to its trailer drops.
Fandom wouldn’t be much without the trailer savants picking apart each and every millisecond of the teaser and analyzing it on the internet. Below are some of the most ’liked’ trailers on YouTube, ranging from Marvel, Marvel, more Marvel…and some more Marvel.
Avengers: Infinity War
The Infinity War trailer lands at the top of the list for its whopping 3.5 million likes on YouTube. This Avengers trailer dropped in 2017, hyping up 234 million viewers. Some fans may be surprised that this trailer beat Endgame in likes, but as the first of the two epic movies, this was likely heavily anticipated, and rewatched after Endgame came out to remind viewers of the connections between the two.
While Thor meeting up with the Guardians at the end is a fun moment, arguably the most exciting reveal of the trailer is finally seeing and hearing Thanos, especially as he dons the Infinity Gauntlet toward the end of the trailer–a truly spine-tingling moment.
Avengers: Endgame
Not far in like count from its cinematic sibling, the Endgame trailer clocks in at 3.2 million likes on YouTube. Its uniqueness comes from its slow, melancholic pace for the first minute of the two minute and twenty-five-second trailer: Tony sits in space counting down his last moments of breath.
After the Marvel title card smashes onto the screen, the trailer picks up, setting up the fiery drama of the finale of the two movies and inspiring hopes in the viewers who just saw their beloved heroes snapped away to dust. The best moment is when Scott Lang shows up–human proof that you can survive the quantum realm. Proof that there’s still hope.
Spider-Man: Far From Home
The first post-Endgame Marvel movie was always going to have a lot of pressure on it: how do you follow up what’s arguably the biggest finale in modern cinema history? The Far From Home trailer sets the tone for this post-war world–and does so successfully–garnering 1.8 million likes on YouTube.
The trailer packs in a lot: it addresses the specter of Iron Man hanging over the world, the post-snap rules, Peter’s high school drama, and Mysterio. But the most salient moment is Michelle bluntly telling Peter that he’s Spider-Man, and she knows it. There’s no use trying to get anything past her!
Black Widow
The official teaser trailer for the new Black Widow movie dropped earlier this year to 1.5 million likes and over 40 million views. Black Widow will appear in her own first feature on May 1st of this year, and the trailer generated plenty to be excited for: David Harbour’s character, the casting of Florence Pugh and Rachel Weisz, and finally the complete picture of Black Widow’s history.
Easily the best moment of the trailer is the quick-handed fistfight between Black Widow and a new character, only for the two of them to greet each other as sisters, hinting at a complicated past and likely an intricate future.
Detective Pikachu
Few things compare to the day we all heard Pikachu speak words for the first time in 2016 with the release of the Detective Pikachu game: he sounded like a disgruntled, middle-aged New Yorker. When the trailer dropped for the movies, fans were treated to the slightly more fitting voice of Ryan Reynolds, gleaning 1.4 million likes from Pokèmon fans around the world.
Seeing all of the little monsters come to life in a live-action format was breathtaking, but perhaps the most head-turning moment was finding out the texture of Jigglypuff: they’re fuzzy. Fans argued about different Pokèmon textures all day and night–much to their delight. As one of the only non-superhero movies on this list, it definitely earned its many views for being a standout blockbuster.
Joker
The first Joker trailer to drop was the teaser in April of 2019, and fans quickly approved with 1.4 million likes. Joker has never had a standalone live-action film before, so no doubt fans were eager to see the first portrayal of Gotham’s crime menace since Jared Leto’s Mr. J in Suicide Squad. Audiences have also never really seen Joker’s origin story–so this fresh narrative was a welcome one.
Seeing Arthur, the Joker’s alter ego, without his clown make-up on was a first, and was a scintillating thing to see. The best moment in the trailer is seeing Arthur change from an unhinged misanthrope to the Joker, culminating in what is now the famous dancing on the stairs scene - he has gone from mad and lost to mad and the Joker, which is a scary–but intriguing–sight indeed.
Venom
Another superhero that has never had a standalone movie, Venom’s trailer generated 1.4 million likes and has over 80 million views. Seeing the cast bring the comic characters to life was a highlight of the trailer, what with the acting prowess of Tom Hardy and Riz Ahmed.
The most poignant–and “memed”–part of the trailer is no doubt when someone asks, “What are you?” and Venom, taking over the host body, hisses, “We are Venom” before splaying out his disturbingly long tongue. This trailer set up anticipation–and fear–before the release of the movie.
Captain Marvel
The Captain Marvel trailer’s 1.1 million likes show an eager market for standalone female superhero movies, which bodes well for Black Widow out later this year. The trailer has a lot to love, from glances at a young, two-eyed Nick Fury, to Carol’s amazing powers, to the adored Agent Colson. But without a doubt, the trailer’s most clever moment is the introduction of the time period at the beginning, where our heroine smashes through the roof of a Blockbuster, the infamously bankrupt DVD store chain that thrived in the 90s.
The most memorable moment is the emotional montage of Carol rising throughout her past, fists clenched–ready to fight.
Toy Story 4
With 1 million likes, this Toy Story sequel proves there’s still an audience for the beloved film series, even after its famously conclusive third movie. Seeing the gang all back together taking care of the young Bonnie is a warm enough sight, but meeting Forky was a highlight of the trailer. Fans have only ever met the beloved manufactured toys, but Forky was a realistic portrayal of kids’ imaginations and need to create.
The true peak of the preview was Bo Peep skidding in sideways, her days of just being the pretty doll on the shelf over.
Lion King
The first live-action Lion King film preview received 735,000 likes on YouTube. Being a remake, it would have been easy for the filmmakers to recreate the original Lion King trailer, but they made it unique. They still pulled inspiration from the original–such as the invocation of the Pride Rock symbolism–but it had its own unique touch to it.
Hans Zimmer’s gorgeous score is easily the highlight of this preview, which is also an amazing feat of CGI craftmanship.
