SDCC 2019 highlights: The 12 best TV and film trailers

Charlotte Whyatt • 24 Jul 2019 Features

The four-day geek extravaganza gave us all kinds of new trailers, here's our pick of the best.

Watchmen season 1 

This shiny new trailer for Damon’s Lindelof’s Watchmen series, which will tell a brand-new story set in the world of the classic comic, is what every trailer should aim to be, getting us hyped for the show without really giving anything away. There’s an angry cult-like group who’ve adopted Rorschach as their symbol, an older Ozymandias (Jeremy Irons), Regina King’s masked vigilante and Dr Manhattan on Mars. 

Westworld season 3

HBO’s glossy sci-fi will be back to confuse, annoy and delight us in equal manner sometime next year but in the meantime we’ve got new footage to enjoy. Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood), aka the busiest host on the planet, is plotting yet another rebellion with whichever personality now resides in the body of Tessa Thompson’s slimy executive Charlotte, while our personal favourite Maeve (Thandie Newton) is in everybody’s favourite park Nazi Germany world. 

The Witcher season 1

The desperate scrabble to create the next Game of Thrones is on and Netflix’s champion is this adaptation of Andrej Sapowski’s fantasy series. Despite the internet’s typical outpouring of nerd rage over the casting, we’re cautiously optimistic. Star Henry Cavill seems like a great choice for the moody, tortured Geralt of Riveria and it’s an incredibly interesting world to build a series around. 

His Dark Materials season 1

Yet more cautious optimism is being extended toward the BBC’s upcoming take on the first installment of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy which, after the awful 2007 film, looks absolutely brilliant. Save that terrifying monkey, all of the daemons are irresistibly cute, the casting top-tier (Ruth Wilson is a fantastic choice for Mrs Coulter) and there’s a war-mongering polar bear wearing armour. Roll on Winter 2019.

The Walking Dead season 10 

Another Comic Con, another Walking Dead trailer. The zombie series is effectively unstoppable at this point and is likely to continue even after the inevitable nuclear war when all that’s left are cockroaches to exclaim “I heard it’s supposed to get better this time.” Danai Gurira has confirmed she’s to exit this season as Daryl (Norman Reedus) and his band of survivors continue to face-off against the creepy Alpha (Samantha Morton) and her Whisperers. 

It: Chapter 2

Our expectations are sky-high for It: Chapter 2 which, we humbly think, has everything needed for it to be another incredible horror film. The now-adult versions of the Losers Club have been expertly cast with James McAvoy, Jessica Chastain and Bill Hader, some of the best and creepiest book scenes look to have faithfully recreated and Bill Skarsgård is still nightmare inducing as Pennywise the Dancing Clown. 

Star Trek: Picard season 1

Patrick Stewart returning to the iconic role of Jean-Luc Picard for a new TV series is basically just incredibly expensive fan-fiction. This trailer is a mix of hardcore nerd nostalgia with plenty of little nods to classic Star Trek, including the surprise return of fan-favourite Data (Brent Spiner), and glossy, thoughtful new adventure series. Dahj (Isa Briones) is the most important new character, a Borg with potentially world-destroying powers (think Eleven or Jean Grey). 

Terminator: Dark Fate

More of a behind-the-scenes featurette with new footage than a straight up trailer,  it seems more like an apology for Salvation and Genisys. James Cameron and the cast, which for the first time since 1991’s T2 features Linda Hamilton, repeatedly assures fans that Deadpool director Tim Miller has perfectly captured the tone of those first two beloved films. “It’s R-rated, it’s grim, it’s gritty, it’s fast, it’s intense” promises James Cameron, a very slight hint of desperation in his voice.

Top Gun: Maverick 

Why not make a sequel to a thirty-three-year-old film? Tom Cruise returns to the leather jacket and aviators which made him a global superstar and heartthrob, weird as that seems today. Thundering music and Ed Harris’s gravelly voiceover stating Maverick’s ability to avoid dying suggest a whole host of impressive action sequences as well as beach football, motorcycle riding and the return of rival Iceman (Val Kilmer). 

Snowpiercer season 1

The first series of Snowpiercer looks like it’ll retell the film’s original revolution storyline whilst taking a deeper dive into the politics of the train’s strict class system and exploring the stark reality of life inside each one. Daveed Diggs seems to be taking on Chris Evans’s role as the quiet, focused leader of the rebellion while Jennifer Connelly’s mysterious new Head of Hospitality is primed to offer ominously calm status updates and plenty of icy stares. 

Harley Quinn season 1

It’s not exactly clear when this will arrive in the UK due to it being *sigh* an exclusive to yet ANOTHER new streaming service (DC’s own DC Universe) which is yet to launch here. We’re hoping it’s soon though, because Harley Quinn’s crazy, colourful trailer is brilliantly bonkers following the Joker’s former flame (Kaley Cuoco) as she joins up with cynical BFF Poison Ivy (Lake Bell) and an array of other DC villains.