Troy (2004)
To see how much Hollywood has changed over the past two decades, just contrast the current marketing campaign for Christopher Nolan‘s The Odyssey to the Super Bowl teaser released in 2004 for Troy. Greek mythology takes a back seat to dreamy movie stars, as the names Brad Pitt, Eric Bana, and Orlando Bloom flash on screen, proceeded by shots of each respective A-lister staring out from behind locks of hair. Troy‘s less-than-legendary box office receipts aren’t what killed the movie star, but the clip sure seems like it comes from a different era.
Batman Begins (2005)
In 2005, Batman‘s name was mud. Okay, we nerds loved the Dark Knight, but the average cinema goer still had the bad taste of George Clooney in Batman & Robin in their mouth. In fact, when this writer found himself at a Super Bowl party that year, he had to demand that everyone be quiet as soon as the teaser for Batman Begins started playing. Yes, there were chuckles and snickers, but between the bits of the Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard score and images of Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne assembling the iconic bat-suit, something changed. By the time 30 seconds had ended, Batman had gone from a big joke to something that everyone wanted to see.
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)
When the first Transformers movie released in 2007, Paramount didn’t even bother buying a Super Bowl ad for the update of the ’80s toy franchise. Two years and $709.7 million in box office returns later, the studio wasn’t going to repeat the mistake. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen got a full press push, including a Super Bowl spot that highlighted returning stars Shia LaBeouf and Josh Duhamel, but especially the incoherent action that director Michael Bay provided throughout the 2000s.
Star Trek (2009)
To this days, Trekkies continue to bemoan how J. J. Abrams turned the voyages of the starship Enterprise into something that felt like a space dogfight out of Star Wars. Whether or not that’s a fair assessment of Abrams’s approach to the franchise, it sure describes the way Paramount advertised the 2009 reboot Star Trek. The 30-second spot is all cut after cut, pausing a moment for someone to say something meaningful or recognizable so we know that we are indeed looking at Kirk and Spock and Bones, but then moving onto the next action set piece. Nerds might have hated what they were seeing, but regular folks sure were thrilled.
Fast & Furious (2009)
Traditionally, the Super Bowl is the domain of jocks. But, as this list shows, Super Bowl movie ads are for nerds. No franchise brought the two together like The Fast and the Furious, especially after its reassurance with 2009’s Fast & Furious. The TV spot for that Justin Lin-directed fourth entry doesn’t foreground the excess and absurdity that would become hallmarks of the series. However, it does invite the viewers to celebrate the return of Paul Walker’s Brian O’Conner and especially Vin Diesel as Dom Toretto, who had been largely absent since the original movie.
Avengers (2012)
Superhero movies certainly existed and did well at the box office before the MCU. But 2008’s Iron Man ignited a passion for cape and cowl pictures, even if the average moviegoer couldn’t quite imagine a shared universe movie. If Marvel Studios felt the weight of expectation, you can’t tell by their Super Bowl ad for The Avengers. The clip is all celebration, giving the viewers looks at their new favorites together for the first time, and even teasing a bit of the great oner of all the Avengers assembled. By the time the clip ended, there was no question that Marvel would rule the cinemas for the rest of the decade.
