10 Best Superhero Movie Trailers Of All Time

It is no doubt because of how fun of a superhero spot the first full Suicide Squad trailer proved to be, that many of us dismissed the horrible reviews and headed to the theater in 2016. The music choice of Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” — narrated by a remorseful murderer — is a perfect choice thematically. The editor makes good use of the song, particularly with the funny pause for Captain Boomerang’s (Jai Courtney) beer break.

It’s become standard practice that whenever fandom reacts negatively to news of a specific casting choice for a comic book movie, a lot of other fans with better memories will point out the horrible backlash that came from the news of Heath Ledger being cast as the Joker in The Dark Knight. Watching this now — the one that made “Why so serious?” famous — I can’t help but wonder if it was this superhero movie trailer’s release that turned around the naysayers. You see bits and pieces of everything that was fantastic about Ledger’s performance in the trailer, and the late actor is utterly unrecognizable.

While most of the picks on this list are full superhero trailers, the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever teaser was more impressive than any of the full trailers that followed. With Tems’ cover of “No Woman No Cry,” the editor of this teaser elicited as many tears as they did chills. In a short time, we learn volumes about Namor (Tenoch Huerta), the pain of T’Challa’s family, and at the same time the identity of the new Black Panther is hinted at, but never revealed.

We can quibble back and forth on whether or not Joker counts as a “superhero” movie, but regardless the teaser ranks among the best trailers of all the comic book adaptations out there. On one hand, it does prove to be the kind of trailer that tells you the entire story from start to finish, but from the beginning it was clear Joker wasn’t the kind of movie you were going to ruin with spoilers.

James Gunn‘s first superhero work with DC Studios, 2021’s The Suicide Squad, had a whole host of trailers and the best of them was the “Rain” trailer, — named for the track in the spot by by Grandson & Jessie Reye. Just like the movie itself, the trailer gives us each of The Suicide Squad‘s large cast with their own special moments, ending with King Shark and Rick Flag’s hilarious exchange.

Almost a decade ago, Marvel superhero movies were already hugely popular, but nevertheless when the first trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy dropped, a lot of fans didn’t know what to make of them. A raccoon? A tree? The guy from Parks & Recreation making like Space Indiana Jones?

Not to mention the use of the song “Hooked On A Feeling” by Blue Swede, which no doubt made many fans think of the very un-Marvel movie Reservoir Dogs. Thankfully, this memorable trailer helped convince us all to give it a chance.

Another superhero movie trailer that essentially tells the whole story, it’s nevertheless impossible to watch this preview of Man of Steel without getting shivers, even a decade later. Even if you were one of the fans unimpressed with Zack Snyder’s interpretation of Superman, as this trailer unfolds, you have to feel the promise.

Of all the superhero movie trailers on this list, it was toughest choosing which Logan trailer belonged. I ultimately went with the first one because of the inclusion of Johnny Cash’s cover of “Hurt.” However, the second one which opens with Laura (Dafne Keen) casually stealing from a gas station, which you can still find on YouTube, is pretty great as well.

I am not only not a fan of Zack Snyder’s work, I’m of the opinion that the very idea of a cinematic adaptation of Watchmen was doomed from the start. But even though the very mention of Zack Snyder in my presence will inspire a tirade about the overuse of slow-motion, even I have to admit the first trailer for Watchmen is brilliant, and each viewing makes me want to keep rewatching it.

This may be a controversial choice for the best superhero movie trailer, but it remains my go-to. Yes, I know it obviously includes a lot of clearly unfinished footage; including Colossus (Daniel Cudmore) taking a swing at a Sentinel that isn’t there, and Storm (Halle Berry) flanked by lightning effects that look like they were pulled out of an eighties movie, but I don’t care. The first trailer for X-Men: Days of Future Past has stayed with me for so long, I cannot hear a person — on the screen or in real life — say “What’s the last thing you remember” without instantly returning to Patrick Stewart’s line that opens the preview.

In particular, the trailer makes glorious use of its mixture of John Murphy’s “Sunshine (Adagio in D Minor)” and Gavin Greenaway”s “Journey to the Line.”