New Captain America And Amazing Spider-Man Trailers Compete For Our Hearts

Instead of watching the Super Bowl this year, I had the immeasurable benefit of having one night to finish a video I made for one of the nonprofits that I volunteer for. So instead of watching what is being considered by many as the worst Super Bowl of all time, I had my face buried in a computer (but what else is new?)

Aside from not being able to watch the game itself, I was equally distraught at having to miss out on the commercials, though I heard those didn’t fare well either. Still, I was anxious to watch two commercials in particular that were bound to be good (at least one had to, right?)

My wish was fulfilled and then some because both trailers were amazing, despite my immense displeasure with the first “Amazing Spider-Man” and my worry that Captain America would have nothing interesting to do in a sequel without Downey Jr. or the God of Thunder. Or Mark Ruffalo. Or Colson.

See, I was pretty worried, and although a trailer is only a halfway decent benchmark for anticipating the success of a film (critically, that is), I am happy to report that both movies look to be promising superhero flicks that will satisfy our itch for escapism once the weather warms up.

But which was better?

If you had asked me on Saturday, I would have met you with a resounding laughter. “Captain America, obviously.” is one of the 14 phrases I would have uttered. But with this latest look at The Amazing Spider-Man 2, I actually have to think about this, and I hope you help me decide.

Normally, I break down trailers individually with funny captions and litter them with interesting side notes about the upcoming film. I already did that for Captain America, and I was too disinterested to give Spider-Man more than a Tweet.

So this time, I’ll be comparing the two trailers side by side. Let’s get started!

You know what I love about being Spider-Man? Everything.

Yeah, really profound Andrew.

I liked this trailer a lot more than the first one, which reeked of Spider-Man 3’s villain overload. But what we learned from the first Amazing Spider-Man movie is that there are more problems with the handling of Spider-Man than introducing a lot of villains. The Lizard was the only villain, and the movie was still terrible, for instance.

But it looks like the sequel will be giving it the old college try at redeeming its creative decisions in the first movie. Most importantly: the costume is perfect. He actually looks like Spider-Man now, and his arms are no longer blinking.

Next, it’s comforting to know that the movie will focus more on the heroism of Peter Parker’s alter ego, rather than just focusing on his revenge quest against his uncle’s killer and his uninteresting girl problems with Gwen Stacey. This trailer gave us a glimpse of Spider-Man actually saving people and fighting crime, a small detail that has been overlooked since Spider-Man 2 (the best one).

I have to admit that the Max Dillon/Electro/Jamie Foxx plot makes little sense so far. The trailer explains that he is a villain because a brief encounter with Spider-Man encouraged him to gain powers. But when he did do that and became Electro, Spider-Man forgot his name, which set him off on a rampage.

That just seems…silly. For now, I guess we’ll just chalk this up to the fact the guy is wickedly unstable.

Finally, as much as I am excited to see the Sinister Six being hinted at and built up, I can’t help but feel like the Harry Osborn/Rhino thing is being crammed into the movie. The trailer doesn’t flow, as a result, and I feel like that may be a sign of pacing problems the movie is bound to have.

Still, the action looks far more creative and fun to watch than the last movie, with even CGI effects looking crisp and imaginative. Here’s to Spidey and Sony trying to make good on second chances.

Now, let’s take a look at the new trailer for Captain America: The Winter Soldier and compare:

If they’re shooting at you, they’re bad.

Yeah, really profound, Chris.

The first trailer did a good job of introducing us to another side of S.H.I.E.L.D. that is similar to the TV show, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, in that it features the “Black Ops” aspect of hunting down dangerous, god-like individuals. It’s setting the stage for Secret Avengers, a plot avenue that makes perfect sense for Captain America (and Steve Rogers).

Cap isn’t the most powerful Avenger. He’s not the smartest, or even the most good-looking (thanks to Black Widow). But he is the bravest of them. He’s a soldier, and his role as the “Captain” is something that this new trailer is willing to explore.

Unlike the first trailer, this featurette focuses more on the antagonist, The Winter Soldier. Many of you probably already know who he really is thanks to comic books and the Internet being terrible at keeping secrets, but please do not spoil the surprise for anyone who doesn’t know.

That said, we got a more full glimpse of the action behind this new villain and why we should actually be afraid of him. 1 point goes to Captain America for having a much more interesting and streamlined villain (which is surprising).

It was also great to see more of The Falcon joining the action, particularly when the two are being shot at toward the end. Between Falcon, Black Widow, and Fury all vying for Cap’s attention, it now makes sense why Hawkeye probably won’t get brought up this time around.

A point goes to both trailers for giving us some good action to rejuvenate our childlike lusts for violence and explosions, but I’m giving Spider-Man another point for costume design. Maybe it’s because it’s such a fantastic improvement over his last one, but it’s also because Cap’s helmet is just plain awkward.

Captain America gets 1 more point, however, because of Scarlett Johansson, but that is met by another point to Spider-Man for having more comedic moments. The “washing the American flag” bit, along with the chimney thing, actually had me laughing, while the Captain America trailer’s only attempt at humor fell extremely flat for me.

Thanks to Emma Stone, Spider-Man gets the last point, which means I actually pick The Amazing Spider-Man 2 trailer over Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Never in the history of the last few months did I believe such a thing was possible, but here we are.

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