Justice League To Stranger Things: 25 Big Comic-Con Trailers Ranked

The point of a good Comic-Con-tailored trailer is less to tell a tale, and more to evocatively tease.

The pop-culture convention offered dozens of fresh Hollywood trailers, and their ability to effectively tease ran the gamut.

So while we still wait for that Avengers: Infinity War Comic-Con trailer to go public, here's how we size up the event's top 25 significant teasers:

1. Stranger Things

Vincent Price was an inspired choice to narrate Thriller three decades ago, and it's doubly so to hear him here, for a "man in the mirror inside another mirror" sense of pop-culture refraction. Brilliant. Bring on Season 2.

2. Ready Player One

Steven Spielberg's trailer wowed Comic-Con's crucible that is Hall H. This dazzling OASIS could be the most attractive action fantasy of the holiday season.

3. Justice League

After Wonder Woman, Warner Bros. and DC Comics hope to keep the winning streak going with this film, which has a smartly structured trailer that concludes with a little mystery: Is a resurrected Superman, or a cinematically resurrected Green Lantern, about to return?

4. Marvel's The Defenders

If you liked at least three of the four Marvel/Netflix series leading up to this team-up, then you're already in, regardless of the trailer and Sigourney Weaver's regal presence.

5. Westworld

The visual callbacks, the catch-up teaser images and the soaring strains of Sammy Davis Jr. all blend beautifully in this quick and bloody-efficient trailer. Bravo.

6. Thor: Ragnarok

Cate Blanchett's Hela chews up the CGI scenery, but deliciously. Amp up the winking humor - this trailer feels true to the franchise's tonal shift.

7. Preacher (Warning: graphic language)

Punches, punchlines and Herr Starr: This trailer stylishly sells just what it has to offer.

8. My Friend Dahmer

The trailer deftly captures some of the angles that are emblematic of the graphic novelist Derf Backderf's style. Ross Lynch shows he might be able to make the dramatic leap to this type of adult fare. 9. Riverdale

If you caught the startling "Who shot Fred Andrews?" cliffhanger that ended Season 1, then face it: You stuck with this dark and treacherous "Riverdale" long enough to be hooked. Now Season 2 seems to ask: Just how much more emo can Jughead get?

10. Rocko's Modern Life: Static Cling

"I don't think we're in the '90s anymore." Energy drinks, iPhones and food trucks are spoofed, as is this franchise's own taste for a reboot, in this winning trailer for Nickelodeon's "Rocko's Modern Life" TV movie.

11. American Horror Story: Cult

FX and Ryan Murphy give us an intriguingly opaque tease for a season said to be inspired by the 2016 presidential election. For now, let the army of insane clowns pique your intrigue.

12. The Orville

Our hopes are elevated, given the high potential upside here for sly parody. The trailer does its job: We'll give the Seth MacFarlane/Jon Favreau Fox show a shot.

13. The Lego Ninjago Movie

Not as immediately impressive as the "Lego Batman" trailers, but still awfully fun.

14. Bright

Netflix showcases this holiday release that should answer the question: What can Will Smith and director David Ayer accomplish when they don't have to follow the overlords of DC Comics, a la "Suicide Squad." The trailer smartly leads with buddy-cop humor between Smith and an orc (Joel Edgerton) before going full CGI/sci-fi morality adventure.

15. The Walking Dead (Warning: graphic/profane language)

The rotting flesh is weak and the narrative spirit is still willing. "We've already won," the rallying cry comes. Indeed, Kirkman and Co. already have won; at this point, dear viewer, you're either still in or you're out. The Dead return the week before Halloween.

16. Doctor Who: Twice Upon a Time

Farewell, Peter Capaldi, and thank you for your noble service. We're in.

17. Game of Thrones

Winter has already arrived this summer. You don't need a teaser into Season 7 to have already returned. Two episodes in, thar be dragons and Daenerys. Enjoy.

18. Star Trek: Discovery

Philosophical platitudes intoned over slick effects of impressive scale. The arc of the CBS All Access show's trailer may not hit the heights, but the montage of images creates a sufficient picture - a mosaic of size and scope and self-seriousness.

19. The Gifted

Mutants as family drama? Fox and Bryan Singer bring youthful gloss to the familiar dynamic. The Strucker kids and convincing special effects should be enough here to draw in potential fans. 20. Jigsaw

"You know his name. You know his voice." Indeed we do, and the trailer needs to do little more than show a little buzz-saw blood and the prominent franchise name "SAW" to draw viewers come Halloween. The trailer, in other words, hardly has its work cut out for it (ahem).

21. Pacific Rim 2: Uprising

"Join the Jaeger uprising." And say farewell to subtle sales pitches. Bottom line: You either loved the first "Pacific Rim" or you didn't. 22. Arrow

We're still here for you, Oliver. Come Season 5, your journey just gets bigger.

23. Marvel's Inhumans

The series hits Imax theaters with two episodes before its late-September debut on ABC. Before then, though, Marvel may need to do some damage control, as this trailer wasn't particularly well-received at Comic-Con.

24. Vikings (Warning: Graphic violence)

Violence worthy of "Braveheart" meets intrigue worthy of "Game of Thrones" - all on a History Channel budget. Serviceable for a new season.

25. The Last Ship

The trailer is fittingly just as serviceable as TNT's marine dystopia series itself. Steady as she goes.
 
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