The big game is almost here. Super Bowl LIX kicks off at 6:30pm ET / 3:30pm PT in New Orleans with the Kansas City Chiefs aiming to snag their third Super Bowl win in a row, and the Philadelphia Eagles looking to stop them, and get payback for their 38 – 35 loss back in 2023.
Of course, the championship game is just one part of the fun. There’s also a halftime show featuring hip-hop megastar, Kendrick Lamar, and a plethora of ads and movie trailers to watch. You can watch some of those movie trailers before the big game. Here are nine TV spots you can enjoy before the game begins. 30-second ad spots reportedly cost $8 million per this year, so these don’t come cheap.
You can also check out my weekend streaming guide for other shows and movies to watch this weekend after the Super Bowl.
Captain America: Brave New World
The highly-anticipated new Captain America movie hits theaters this coming weekend (I have my tickets to the Thursday night preview show) and is the second-to-last Phase 5 MCU film. After this we have Thunderbolts and then Phase 6 kicks off this summer with Fantastic Four: First Steps. Anthony Mackie stars as Sam Wilson/Captain America and Harrison Ford takes on the role of president Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, who also happens to be Red Hulk. The film hits theaters February 14th. It’s the perfect Valentine’s Day date movie!
Sinners
Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan team up on this supernatural horror-thriller about twin brothers (both played by Jordan) who return to their hometown only to find that trouble awaits, and a terrifying evil. This is a great trailer, and I’m excited to see the blending of period drama and horror. Sinners hits theaters on April 18th.
Fantastic Four: First Steps
Overall, I think this is a pretty good trailer and I’m excited to see the Fantastic Four join the MCU. I dig the retro-futuristic vibe. But as I noted in this post, something is a little off about it to me, and I’m not sure if it’s the casting or if the aesthetic doesn’t quite work or what. The film kicks off Phase 6 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe on July 25th.
M3GAN 2.0
I liked the first M3GAN but called it too “bloodless” in my review. It was certainly funny, but it never quite reached its potential and I ended up finding all of it a bit too predictable and safe. We’ll see if the sequel can up the ante when it hits theaters on June 27th.
Jurassic World Rebirth
Jurassic Park remains one of my favorite movies of all time, but none of its sequels have really stuck the landing, and that includes Jurassic World, which was certainly fun but proves, once again, that bigger isn’t always better. I admit, I didn’t watch any other Jurassic World films after the first one, so I’m a bit out of touch when it comes to Jurassic World Rebirth. The cast for this one might win me over, however. Scarlett Johansson and Mahershala Ali? Sign me up. The Gareth Edwards film sends an extraction team to the dangerous island research facility for the original Jurassic Park, where massive dino-monsters await. It hits theaters on July 2nd.
Superman
This summer is really shaping up to be a summer of big, bombastic blockbusters. James Gunn’s first film in the new DCU lands on July 11th, with David Corenswet taking over as the Man of Steel (much to the dismay of hardcore Henry Cavill fans). Rachel Brosnahan plays Lois Lane and Nicholas Hoult will play a young Lex Luthor. I think it looks pretty good, but I remain skeptical about DC movies.
Final Destination: Bloodlines
Speaking of movie franchises that I have not kept up with, Final Destinations: Bloodlines is the latest in the long-running, and long-dormant, horror series. I saw the first one when it came out in 2000 but never went back for any of the sequels despite enjoying the premise (avoiding your scheduled death just means death will keep coming for you in increasingly outrageous ways). I have to admit, this is a pretty great trailer that really sets the tone. What a way to go! Bloodlines hits theaters on May 16th.
Novocaine
Jack Quaid of The Boys stars in this action-comedy superhero movie about a guy named Nate who can’t feel pain and uses this superpower to rescue the girl of his dream from kidnappers. I can’t really tell from the trailer if this is going to be good or not, but I’m intrigued. Novocaine hits theaters on March 14th.
Smurfs
I think I’ve definitely become a grumpy old man, because whenever I see a new trailer for movies like Smurfs or Trolls I just roll my eyes. I know these are kids movies but I’m just not interested in the animation or the pop music or the fact that Rihanna is in it. But hey, that’s just me. This could be a fun family movie for you and your kids to go to when it lands on July 18th.
There will be other TV spots and hopefully at least a few funny commercials during Super Bowl LIX. I suspect we’ll get some real duds as well, and the worst of the worst, the dreaded corporate “social justice” spots, where big companies like Airbnb or Microsoft or P&G preach some kind of cause because they care, don’t you know, and you can too if you buy their products. Or something. All I can think of when I see these is Bo Burnham’s brilliant Social Brand Consultant sketch from his Netflix special, Inside.
In any case, the Super Bowl touches down soon. What movies are you looking forward to this year? Also, go Eagles!
