This weekend saw the release of the latest (and most likely
FINAL) movie trailer for Justice League. Although there will likely be a slew
of TV spots in the weeks leading up to release, I think we’re at a good point
to review and discuss how Justice League has been marketed.
More specifically how it has evolved since the Justice League
marketing started and how much of it (appears) to be in reaction to Batman v
Superman’s marketing campaign.
Overall, I think Justice League has been marketed much
better than Batman v Superman from start to finish. Some of this is likely a
result of the lessons learnt from promoting BvS.
BATMAN V SUPERMAN MARKETING
To give that a bit of context, let me explain what I believe
went wrong when marketing BvS. Firstly, the posters were just ok, you had the
vandalised propoganda style character posters, which honestly just felt like an
imitation of some similar Joker led marketing for The Dark Knight. Then you had
the more traditional character movie posters, which were just the leads
standing in front of generic blue / grey backgrounds. Not terrible, but not
particularly exciting or attention grabbing either, see a few examples below.
The real problem came with Batman v Superman’s movie
trailers, starting with the teaser...
It was clear from the off this movie was going to be a sombre
and serious affair and the first teaser trailer really lent into that, with news
reporters debating the pros and cons of Superman, gloomy shots of the character
with dark narrations. Yes, this was just a teaser and you don’t expect to see a
lot from the movie, but I remember specifically not feeling hyped after seeing
this, and more questioning the tone they were going for.
This was followed by the San Diego Comic-Con trailer in 2015,
that whilst over 3 minutes long didn’t really explain why Superman and Batman
were fighting or the overall narrative of the film. It also doubled-down on the
gloomy tone of the movie, with the heroes brooding their way through, this is a serious movie!
The social media and general reception to this trailer wasn’t over-whelmingly positive and this is when I think alarm bells at Warner Bros started sounding. As a result Trailer 2 seemed to over compensate and showed way too much. It start well with the meeting of Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent, setting up the rivalry and introducing us to the fact Lex Luthor may be manipulating the situation. It then results in the full reveals of Doomsday and Wonder Woman, I still think to this day how much better the cinematic experience of BvS would have been without knowing Doomsday was in it, or not seeing Wonder Woman in action.
Worse of all for me is it shows Batman and Superman working
together. Yes, this was always going to happen, but to show this in a trailer
for a movie which is marketed primarily around them fighting, really undermines
the premise.
The final trailer for BvS is actually very good. You get a
decent amount of Batman action, the rivalry is greatly set-up and Wonder Woman
is also effectively introduced. Interestingly Doomsday is not included, it's like the
marketing team were now trying to keep it a secret – but the damage was already
done.
Ok, that’s a lot of text about Batman V Superman for a
blogpost that’s supposed to be about Justice League movie marketing. But I think
it’s important as I believe Justice League’s marketing has countered both the
movie posters and movie trailer problems of BvS directly. Let me explain…
JUSTICE LEAGUE MOVIE POSTERS
The first posters for Justice League still felt very BvS. Yes,
you had the sunrise brighter background, but they are predominantly characters
stood in front of gritty and dull backgrounds. The tag line “UNITE THE LEAGUE”
is used heavily. I wasn’t exactly hyped, this still felt very BvS in tone.
However, the real change came at San Diego Comic Con 2017
when the Alex Ross inspired banner dropped. All the characters are bright
primary colours and they really pop off the slick black background. Heavy
emphasis is also placed on the iconography of the individual heroes symbols.
This image really pops and grabs you attention. At this
stage, it wasn’t clear if this was an SDCC exclusive type poster or whether
this was the new marketing theme going forwards. But now we have these new
character posters, which I absolutely love and carry on the theme. They’re truly
great and very different to anything we’ve seen before. The new tagline “ALL IN”
seems to be what they’re running with on the lead up to release.
We also got some character profile posters, which aren’t quite
the same theme but again really stand out and look quite special.
JUSTICE LEAGUE MOVIE TRAILERS
The approach taken for both the SDCC 16
& 17 previews and the first movie trailer have been consistent. All the trailers
have focused on Bruce Wayne and Wonder Woman getting a team together, intercut
with quirky banter / one liners, exciting action and fun rock music.
Already you have a clear story premise, without ruining the overall film narrative, and they’ve set a tone that seems more fun and enjoyable than BvS.The marketing team (or movie trailer department), have a consistent approach to the trailers and they’ve kept to it. This in turns creates a much stronger marketing message.
The final trailer released this weekend follows suit, and to be honest I think this trailer actually gives even less away. I'm surprised, as most movies spoil the whole film with their final trailers, but I'm glad they haven't. This hopefully leaves a lot of surprises for the final film in the cinema now (something that BvS didn't).
Even the new trailer was announced with new colour scheme, bright colours popping on slick black background.
I’m conscious I’m writing a lot less about the Justice League trailers (than BvS) above, but I think that’s because there’s less to point out and less stark changes being made part way through marketing the film.
NO SUPERMAN
What makes all of this even better is that we haven’t seen
Superman (I don't count the dream sequence of Clark Kent in the final trailer).
Yes, we know he’s in the movie and to be fair he’s been in a
few banners, but we have not seen any actual movie footage of Superman, and
this is great. It gives us something to be excited about, it gives us a reason
to see the film in the cinema and it feels like we haven’t seen everything.
This is extremely rare for a movie of this scale to hold back showing one of
the lead characters, but I absolutely love that they’ve done it.
We’ve also seen very little of the villain Steppenwolf, nor
do we know the overarching story of the film outside of Batman and Wonder Woman
are working to pull the Justice League team together to prevent an imminent threat.
There's lots to be excited about...
EVEN MORE JUSTICE LEAGUE MOVIE POSTERS - UPDATED 09/11/17
Since originally writing this blogpost, even more Justice League movie posters have been released. All of them are very good and most of them take on a new hand-drawn style, which are exclusive to key partners. For the purpose of completeness, I've included the additional posters below...
OVERALL THOUGHTS
There's lots to be excited about...
EVEN MORE JUSTICE LEAGUE MOVIE POSTERS - UPDATED 09/11/17
Since originally writing this blogpost, even more Justice League movie posters have been released. All of them are very good and most of them take on a new hand-drawn style, which are exclusive to key partners. For the purpose of completeness, I've included the additional posters below...
OVERALL THOUGHTS
Obviously a film's marketing is only part of the puzzle, and by no means is it representative of the films quality. I have concerns based on
the behind the scenes changes that could mean we should be worried about Justice League as a film in general. But I think the marketing campaign for
Justice League has been particularly strong and therefore I hope the final film
lives up to it.
Bring on November when Justice League is released in theatres.
SUPERMAN'S INCLUSION - UPDATED 21/11/17
Following the release of the Justice League in cinemas around the world, the core marketing posters and banners have been updated to now include Superman. Rather than posting separately, I've included below...
I've also now seen the movie, so you can read my Justice League movie review here.
Bring on November when Justice League is released in theatres.
SUPERMAN'S INCLUSION - UPDATED 21/11/17
Following the release of the Justice League in cinemas around the world, the core marketing posters and banners have been updated to now include Superman. Rather than posting separately, I've included below...
I've also now seen the movie, so you can read my Justice League movie review here.
Written by @RossBishop for MoviePush. Follow Ross on Twitter.
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