Next month, the official teaser trailer for Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” is expected to be attached to copies of James Cameron’s “Avatar: The Way of Water,” and with it, the first look at the famed British filmmaker’s big-budget take on Homer’s famed myth.
But that won’t exactly be the first look. Back in early July, Universal Pictures released a very brief teaser attached to copies of “Jurassic World: Rebirth” and showing off several scenes from the film. Sadly, that clip has still not gone online officially.
These very early teasers, usually dubbed the ‘Announcement Teaser’ and clocking in at around one minute each, have become a staple of Chris Nolan films. Aside from “The Prestige,” every Nolan film since “Batman Begins” in 2005 has released a very early teaser around one year before the film’s release – even as production on the movie is often still ongoing.
“Tenet,” “The Odyssey,” “Oppenheimer,” “The Dark Knight,” “The Dark Knight Rises,” “Dunkirk” were out one full year earlier, while “Inception,” “Interstellar” and “Batman Begins” were nearly eleven months before release. Today, it has come time to rank them.
He’s a breakdown and, where possible, an inclusion of the clip that was released at the time:
1. The Dark Knight
Trailer Release: July 27th 2007
Film Release: July 18th 2008
Arguably the most famous of all. This concept trailer never debuted in cinemas; rather, it premiered online right in the middle of San Diego Comic-Con in 2007 and ended up stealing plenty of attention from a bunch of other studios that paid to have big panels there. Marvel, with its first unveiling of “Iron Man” footage, was about the only one who could compete with a first reveal of Heath Ledger’s voice as The Joker.
2. Batman Begins
Trailer Release: July 27th 2004
Film Release: June 15th 2005
The moody piece about a rich kid getting revenge in the far corners of the world doesn’t even let on that it’s a Batman film until its final moments. Premiering at Comic-Con the year before, it marked a massive contrast to the last time we had seen a live-action Batman with the neon shenanigans of Joel Schumacher’s “Batman & Robin”
3. Interstellar
Trailer Release: December 13th 2013
Film Release: November 7th 2014
The Nolan film that has gone up for many in estimation with time, this teaser was a curiosity more than anything at the time. It mostly offered a “Star Trek”-style inspirational speech about mankind striving to go further, albeit one voiced by Matthew McConaughey. Mostly consisting of classic NASA footage, there’s only a hint of the film to come, but even today, that score remains dreamy.
4. The Odyssey
Trailer Release: July 1st 2025
Film Release: July 17th 2026
Still not available online, this one is interesting in that it paints a picture of a dark and grounded take on Homer’s tale, even though we know this will be Nolan’s first real attempt at fantasy with the cyclops, sorceress Circe and various Greek Gods all to be depicted. None of that is shown here, the focus on Jon Bernthal at a feast ranting about Odysseus’ own myth making to his men while Odysseus’ son (Tom Holland) has to listen – interspersed with shots of Matt Damon’s character entering a cave and floating on a makeshift raft.
5. Oppenheimer
Trailer Release: July 28th 2022
Film Release: July 21st 2023
This was more famous for the way it launched rather than the clip itself, as the entire clip was broadcast on a loop and incorporated a real-time and always-changing countdown clock timed to the film’s theatrical release a year away. It showed very little, mostly a lot of the film’s famous screensaver-style fireball swirls, but the excellent choice of dialogue and soundtrack really sells it.
6. Inception
Trailer Release: August 24th 2009
Film Release: July 16th 2010
One of the most revealing of all these Announcement Trailers, this one actually showed off a bunch of footage – even if it’s mostly just DiCaprio’s face, and was the first to tease the anti-gravity hallway fight that would become synonymous with the movie.
7. Dunkirk
Trailer Release: August 4th 2016
Film Release: July 21st 2017
Set to a rapidly increasing heartbeat and ticking clock, this works well as a mood piece and offers something arguably even bleaker than the eventual film itself as it shows scores of young soldiers – boys mostly – on the French beaches during WW2 where they were awaiting evacuation and fear being mowed down by the Luftwaffe.
8. The Dark Knight Rises
Trailer Release: July 19th 2011
Film Release: July 20th 2012
After “The Dark Knight”, anticipation for Nolan’s trilogy closer was massive and excitement for the teaser was high, but with the clip having been assembled just a few days into shooting, it was expected that they couldn’t show much. All we got was Gary Oldman in a hospital bed, some prison shots, and some fancy logo art – the clip saved by its final shot of Bane advancing on Batman. A rather famous letdown at the time.
9. Tenet
Trailer Release: August 2nd 2019
Film Release: August 26th 2020
Easily the weakest of the teasers, the clip was essentially just a lot of close-ups of John David Washington’s face in various situations with no real hint to come beyond the opening shot being a reverse of the way it was originally filmed.
