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The Importance of Superbowl Trailers for Superhero Movie Success

Every year, fan gets treated to a new slew of comic book movie trailers during the Super Bowl. This year, the hype seems to be gone. What happened?

Love it or hate it, the Super Bowl is an event you probably sit down to watch every year, whether you actually watch the game or are just hanging out with friends. According to the Huffington Post, the Super Bowl is not only the most watched thing on television, but last year broke huge records. Last year's Super Bowl reached new heights as 111 million tuned in to watch the Green Bay Packers beat the Pittsburgh Steelers.What does this have to do with the world of comic books though?

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How many people have you heard say "I just watch the Super Bowl for the commercials?" Answer: probably just as many that watch the big game for football. People watch the commercials mainly for the humor but just as many are tuning in to see trailers for that year's films. It's all about the hype for the upcoming year in cinema, and more importantly, for comic book fans, it's a chance to catch a first glimpse at upcoming comic book films. Last year, the Super Bowl had some pretty big movie trailers coming out for some pretty exciting films.

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In 2011, fans got to see their first glimpse of Chris Evans as Captain America, running down the street and throwing that iconic shield. They also witnessed Cowboys and Aliens and then were hit over the head numerous times with a Transformers 3 trailer as well as the many Transformers tie-ins commercials. It was a decent year for comic book films, and a great year for Super Bowl trailers. This year, however, isn't looking on the up and up.

Normally, we here at Comic Vine know about the trailers being released during the Super Bowl, and you guys do too. Once a company announces their plans for a new trailer release, everyone on the web knows about it. However, aside from the Avenger's trailer we reported on earlier this week, which you can watch a teaser of here, this year, there haven't been any real announcements about whether or not we'll be seeing any new trailers. The question begs to be asked: "Where's the hype?"

This upcoming year has some HUGE comic related films coming out: Dark Knight Rises, The Avengers, G.I. Joe Retaliation, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, and The Amazing Spider-Man. Yet we haven't heard anything about whether or not we'll be seeing new trailers for these films, aside from the Avengers. Recently, a new G.I. Joe Retaliation trailer was released. Why not wait for the Super Bowl, when more people will see it? We've also already had two Dark Knight Rises trailers (including this one), and an Avengers trailer. As for Ghost Rider, we've seen numerous trailers because the film comes out February 17th. The only thing missing is The Amazing Spider-Man, which is set for July 3rd, according to Imdb. Could it be possible that fans will get a sneak peek at this new film during the Super Bowl? Well, there have been no announcements as of yet, so we'll all just have to sit back and wait.

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It's a big odd that there isn't more hype around Super Bowl Sunday trailer premiers. Most films already released trailers on the internet or in the theater, so if we see anything, it will most likely be repeats. It seems a tad bleak for fans for this upcoming Super Bowl Sunday. While comic fans may know every piece of information that gets tossed onto the web, the common person doesn't, so their knowledge of when these movies are going to be released and what they are is minimal compared to the savoy comic book internet surfer. If you want to get butts in the seats, you got to promote.

Maybe that's the thing though. Maybe the production companies are releasing a few trailers that day and just don't want everyone to know about it so fans are surprised and it makes it that much better. What do you guys think? What trailers are you looking forward to? Do you think that there's a lot less hype for comic book movies this year? Will they have an effect on this year's superhero movies?

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29 Comments

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KINCARTS_WIFE

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Edited By KINCARTS_WIFE

cool

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GothamRed

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Edited By GothamRed

so is it uncool to have your movie poster show your cast nowadays? It seems only a logo or vague image makes up all these promos.

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Cafeterialoca

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Edited By Cafeterialoca

What's worse? The Avengers trailer is only 30 seconds long. The teaser trailer was 10 seconds!

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Hot_Karl

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Edited By Hot_Karl

Because this year, I actually care about football, not just the advertisements.

Also, absolutely nothing I've seen of either The Amazing Spider-Man or The Avengers has gotten me remotely excited (but I'm still going to see The Avengers when it comes out, because the idea is awesome). I also just don't want to see any more Dark Knight footage- rather go in blind and be wowed when it comes out in July.

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They Killed Cap!

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Edited By They Killed Cap!

I want a new batman trailer

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Mr.Hulk_Smashin'!

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WB and SONY both said they aren't releasing trailers for the Superbowl.

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Video_Martian

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Edited By Video_Martian

too much hype

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feargalr

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Edited By feargalr

Me and buds watched the Superbowl last year and maybe its an american thing, but I could not get into the game, there were ad breaks every other second, and we weren't even getting the american ads so it was just the bbc stuff.. really annoying..

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Watcherg6

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Edited By Watcherg6

@They Killed Cap!: i'm Sure we will get another batman trailer before the movie comes out. Heck the last one had like 12 tv spots

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The Impersonator

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Edited By The Impersonator

Hmmm....Feb. 16th is my birthday and the Ghost Rider movie comes on the 17th. Might as well have to watch it. =P

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PrinceKalEl

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Edited By PrinceKalEl

Let me find a sophisticated way to say this hmm.....HULK IS A BEAST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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RedheadedAtrocitus

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You do make a good point here. Hmmm, maybe they are saving all the hype for a bunch of awe-inspiring programming with commercials when the game comes on Sunday? Who knows really. At any rate, I know I'm ready to see all the movies regardless of hype.

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pspin

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Edited By pspin

I think they are keeping TDKR as underwraps as pssible, but I am surprised about the lack of ASM trailers. I really want to see the Avengers one. GO PATS!!!!

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Icon

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Edited By Icon

I think the reason Sony isn't releasing an ASM teaser during the superbowl is because the ASM previews are this Monday. Why release a teaser the day before that when you want people to pay attention to the previews in select cities on Monday? That's my guess anyway.

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deactivated-578ee3f81c5e1

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if anything I think their using revere-hype. With holding more information than normal to get people more curious. there are plenty of examples of what I call reverse hype. Cloverfield, all the paranormal activity films, that exorcsism movie, and now chronicle. It works and im sure will factor into sales when they release

also, whats the avengers budget? that hulk was the realist yet, seems hsrdly cgi, closer to firigno

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Wonder Princess

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Edited By Wonder Princess

I just wish they would release a Batman trailer with some Catwoman footage. :)

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LordRequiem

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Edited By LordRequiem

I think lots of people are excited for the Hulk's appearance in the Avengers. Me, not so much, for the simple reason that it was absolutely excellent in the incredible Hulk and I don't think that will be bested in this instance.

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bladewolf

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Edited By bladewolf

Honestly, I think it makes little difference to most people who watch Superhero films whether it is advertised at the superbowl or not. During the Summer, people look for exciting action films and probably wouldn't even remember if they heard about them on Superbowl Sunday.

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sesquipedalophobe

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I don't even watch foosball.

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SpidermanWins

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Edited By SpidermanWins

@sesquipedalophobe said:

I don't even watch foosball.

I'm not sure if anyone watches foosball...

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GrimoireMyst

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Edited By GrimoireMyst

I'd like to see more trailers with the Hulk being center stage for once. lol

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Wattup

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Edited By Wattup

Maybe the studios realize that they'll get more buzz from internet releases of trailers rather than spending a ton of money on a SB spot.

Besides, it's not like a lack of a Super Bowl commercial is really going to cut into the movie's profit or anything. Box offices powered by nerds!

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Mr Mofo

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Edited By Mr Mofo

@Wattup: I agree. Why would WB spend millions on buying an ad slot for THE DARK KNIGHT RISES when everyone that saw Mission Impossible already saw it. I also saw another post here during the week about a bunch of Batman toys they're getting ready to put out. People are going to be talking about the movie even if they don't read comics. Seems crazy to pay Superbowl commercial prices for 30 seconds.

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GC8

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Edited By GC8
@GothamRed said:

so is it uncool to have your movie poster show your cast nowadays? It seems only a logo or vague image makes up all these promos.

It's not a question of coolness or not - it's the way Hollwood works these days. The marketing departments usually start making up the ad campaigns and promotional material as soon as the deal is made - before the films are even cast.
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jaredbright

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Edited By jaredbright

I remember watching the Superbowl in 2003 and all the commercials for Matrix Reloaded and the Hulk. I can't remember what other movies were commercialized, but it seemed like they were both disapointments. Matrix Reloaded made a lot of money but it was obvious they only had so much material for these sequels and had to add characters and have big reveal that didn't make any sense. I think people still view it as a disapointment but watch it on DVD/Blu-Ray because of its look and it has a couple good fight scenes. The Hulk itself was made like an art film.

I think the Avengers will work if its word of mouth on the net is good.

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Omega Ray Jay

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Edited By Omega Ray Jay

That trailer, Oh yes.

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XNaphryz

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Edited By XNaphryz

@LordRequiem said:

I think lots of people are excited for the Hulk's appearance in the Avengers. Me, not so much, for the simple reason that it was absolutely excellent in the incredible Hulk and I don't think that will be bested in this instance.

ILM will bring the goods. ;P

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cmaprice

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Edited By cmaprice
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wdchefdave

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Edited By wdchefdave

"We have a HULK!"

(And, some flying robot things that look too much like Ultron.)

Gonna have to see this one one a big screen. Can't wait.