As excited as we all are about the Avengers: Age of Ultron (and let's face it, we're all pretty excited), I cannot help but feel a little disappointed in how the whole 'leak' played out.
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By now, Marvel is synonymous 'event'. Everything they do is not just big, but bigger. The MCU, the universe in which all the characters are connected to one another, has worked so well that it's threatening to ruin the rest of cinema. We all get pumped for the next release, even if it's a little unknown property about a space raccoon (which is currently the highest grossing film of the year). More than any other studio, Marvel has made it fun to go back to the theater and spend endless months beforehand thinking, arguing and learning all we can. Getting excited about an upcoming Marvel film is almost as thrilling as the movie itself.
So, I was thrilled when it was announced that the Avengers: Age of Ultron trailer would be debuting with Agents of SHIELD next week (and most likely appearing on Big Hero 6, another great looking comic film from the House Of M). I was thrilled not only because it could potentially bring eyes back to SHIELD, which has gotten really good and is threatening 'greatness', especially with the renewed focus on all the female characters currently running laps around the boys, but because it was something to savor, to anticipate.
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This will sound a lot like an old man yelling at clouds, but back in my day, we had to wait. We had to imagine. We read about an upcoming movie in Premiere magazine (god rest its soul) and we bought tickets to Meet Joe Black to finally see the Episode I trailer (which is still the best thing about that movie). Chances are we skipped out afterwards, even if some theaters got hip to that noise and put an end to it. But I remember waiting for it all the same, like a delayed reward for good behavior.
So I felt a little of that old excitement in me when Marvel planned to debut the trailer next week. Something to look forward to! Something to buzz about, to talk about the withertos and the whyfors with my friends and colleagues.
And then the trailer gets leaked unceremoniously online and the whole world's seen it. No pomp, no circumstance, just another video leaked onto the internet. To Marvel's credit, they didn't scream bloody murder; at least, not at the leakers (they pointed their swords towards Hydra). The company even capitulated and, knowing that once something is up, it will stay up forever, even posted the full trailer on their website. If you're going to watch this trailer, then by god, you're going to watch it in full HD!
But it is all so ho-hum, so very typical. Secrets don't stay secret very long, and doubly so for anticipated film related media. I've watched the trailer far too many times now, I've poured over every detail of Ultron's ugly, beautiful mug. I've entirely gorged myself on it. Yet there is still this small void, this part of me that is disappointed. Not because the trailer isn't good (it's fantastic), but because I didn't get to experience it the way it was meant: with the whole world watching a single piece of entertainment. Because the way it all went down was run of the mill and symptomatic of our very impatient culture. I'm all for surprises, but did we really need the Ultron trailer now? Could we not have waited a few more days to get our fix?
We're just going to have to wait longer now anyways.
But at least we have that trailer to keep us company in the meantime.
