The trailers for these movies were so misleading...
Suicide Squad's trailers made the movie look like a wild, stylish adventure film that would be packed with colorful characters, memorable music, and all-out chaos. The marketing was energetic and perfectly captured the appeal of the cast, but the movie was criticized for its thin plot and weak villain. The film's editing, with its exposition-heavy flashbacks, also disrupted the natural flow of the story. | © Warner Bros. Pictures/DC Films
Downsizing's trailers made it look like such a clever and hilarious science-fiction comedy about people shrinking themselves to make life more affordable. Its interesting premise seemed perfect for a fun satire film, but the movie eventually lost focus the longer it went on. The story shifted toward much darker and more serious themes, making the film feel quite different from what the marketing promised. | © Paramount Pictures
Terminator Genisys set itself up as a fascinating new chapter in the long-running franchise. The trailers teased the return of Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Terminator timeline seemingly being rewritten. The marketing also contained some major surprises that generated plenty of discussion. In the end, the film turned out to be quite mediocre. The film's plot was too convoluted, and its cast — despite their individual talents — lacked on-screen chemistry. | © Skydance Productions/Paramount Pictures
The trailers for Wonder Woman 1984 promised an extremely colorful superhero adventure set against the backdrop of the 1980s. Complete with the new villain Cheetah and the surprise return of Steve Trevor, the movie had plenty of ambitious ideas and some memorable moments. Unfortunately, the film's lengthy runtime, bizarre story choices, and uneven tone made it such a disappointing sequel compared to the first film in the series. | © Warner Bros. Pictures/DC Films
The trailers for Gods of Egypt went all-in on making the fantasy film look like a massive spectacle. It showcased gigantic gods, enormous battles, and a colorful fantasy version of ancient Egypt. Sure, it somewhat looked ridiculous, but it had the potential to be an entertaining blockbuster. Sadly, the movie was a major letdown. It received criticism for its dialogue, visual effects, story, and casting choices. It's definitely worth just watching the trailer and calling it a day. | © Summit Entertainment/Lionsgate
The trailers for 47 Ronin promised an epic combination of samurai action and fantasy, with Keanu Reeves leading an army against supernatural enemies. There were plenty of impressive battles and elaborate costumes on display, but the movie itself struggled to turn those ingredients into a memorable adventure that's worth the two-hour-long investment. | © Universal Pictures
The idea of Batman and Superman finally sharing the big screen was enough to make Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice one of the most anticipated superhero movies ever. Its trailers teased an epic clash between two of DC's iconic heroes, but the finished movie's lengthy runtime, complicated story, and messy execution left many people disappointed. | © Warner Bros. Pictures/DC Entertainment
Seeing dinosaurs roaming freely around the world was already an exciting premise for Jurassic World: Dominion. On top of that, the trailers also confirmed the return of the franchise's original cast. Unfortunately, the movie struggled to balance its dinosaur storyline with its huge roster of characters. The result was a bloated science fiction film that not only didn't live up to the hype, but failed to do the premise justice. | © Universal Pictures/Amblin Entertainment
Fans of Avatar: The Last Airbender had so many reasons to be excited when the first trailers for this live-action adaptation film arrived. They promised impressive bending effects and a chance to see the beloved animated story brought to life, but alas, The Last Airbender was heavily criticized for its weak storytelling, heavy exposition, and terrible treatment of the source material. | © Nickelodeon Movies/Paramount Pictures
Even though it was released in 2015, Jupiter Ascending is a film that hardly anyone remembers. Directed by the same people behind The Matrix, the science fiction film starred Channing Tatum and Mila Kunis. The trailers made it look like an enormous adventure, as they showed strange alien worlds, massive spaceships, and spectacular action sequences. But the film failed to live up to expectations. Its complicated plot, strange acting, and poor character development made it so hard to appreciate the film. | © Village Roadshow Pictures/Warner Bros. Pictures
Tom Cruise battling an ancient supernatural threat looked like the perfect recipe for a big-budget monster movie. The trailers for 2017's The Mummy promised action, horror, and the beginning of a massive shared universe featuring Universal's classic monsters, but the film struggled to balance all of those ambitious ideas and establish a convincing foundation for the franchise. | © Universal Pictures
The trailers for The Snowman certainly created the impression that it would be a film about a dark investigation of a missing woman and a disturbing killer. A serial-killer mystery based on a popular novel starring Michael Fassbender and Val Kilmer sounds like the ingredients for a gripping crime thriller. Unfortunately, the 2017 movie was criticized for its confusing narrative and choppy editing. It's reported that the film's rushed production schedule resulted in many of these problems. | © Universal Pictures
Few things about Mortal Engines looked ordinary. Its trailers, featuring gigantic, moving cities that crawl across a post-apocalyptic world, immediately grabbed people's attention. The concept and visuals also suggested that people could expect an enormous fantasy adventure. Sadly, the film's predictable story and underdeveloped characters prevented it from becoming the epic that its marketing promised. | © Universal Pictures
The first trailers for 2015's Fantastic Four presented a darker take on Marvel's famous superhero team. The serious science-fiction tone and impressive visuals suggested that the reboot could finally give the characters a fresh start, but persistent production problems and a poor narrative plot resulted in a movie that fell well short of those expectations. The film was also guilty of relying on worn-out tropes and clichés. | © 20th Century Fox/Marvel Entertainment
The trailers for Morbius presented Jared Leto's titular character as a dark and mysterious antihero with connections to a much larger superhero universe. While the film has gained a cult following since its release in 2022, there's no escaping that it's one of the worst Marvel projects of all time. The script is incoherent, the editing is choppy, and the CGI is awful. There genuinely aren't a lot of positives to say about this film. | © Columbia Pictures/Marvel Entertainment
A great trailer can make almost any movie look like a must-watch. Sometimes, though, the finished film fails to live up to all the excitement it had created. That said, the trailers for these 15 films made them look far better than what audiences actually got.
