10. “Top Gun: Maverick” (posted July 18) — Tom Cruise introduced the clip at San Diego Comic-Con, and we quickly learn that Peter “Maverick” Mitchell (Cruise) is still a captain, despite the fact that, as his superior played by Ed Harris puts it, he “should be at least a two-star admiral by now.” There’s flying and partying and drones. Oh my.
9. “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” (posted April 12) — “Star Wars” fans had heard pretty much nothing about the plot of Episode IX, and this trailer released at a Star Wars Celebration convention in Chicago offered few clues, including what the actually title meant.
8. “John Wick: Chapter 3” (posted Jan. 17) — With a $14 million bounty on his head, John Wick (Keanu Reeves) has to allude assassins trying to collect that sum. But this time, Wick has some help from Halle Berry, brings with her a pair of attack dogs of her own. And if you think John Wick might’ve lost a step, the assassin gets into several sword and gun fights atop motorcycles and horses, or in the middle of the desert.
7. “Frozen 2” (posted Feb. 13) — In the near two-minute video, Elsa faces off with the ocean before ultimately reuniting with Anna, Kristof and his reindeer. This time, their quest begins in the fall foliage. Still pretty, and the seasonal crispness never bothered them anyway. (Well, maybe Olaf the snowman.)
6. “It Chapter Two” (posted May 9) — In a chilling extended sequence, Jessica Chastain’s Beverly is all grown up and she’s returned to Derry to visit her childhood home. There, she finds the past waiting for her, with a little old woman who appears to be possessed by that demonic clown. Yes, Pennywise was back and there to say hello to the Losers Club.
5. “Toy Story 4” (posted March 19) — This trailer for “Toy Story 4” tries to answer those burning questions everyone had the first time around about the new character Forky, like his existential crisis and reason for existing. But it also grapples with Woody’s own purpose as a toy. Oh, and it’s all set to the tune of “God Only Knows” by the Beach Boys.
4. “The Lion King” (posted April 10) — Young Simba gets competing lessons from Chiwetel Ejiofor’s Scar and James Earl Jones’ Mufasa in the first full trailer, which promised lush, extremely realistic CGI. The clip also features a brief snippet of Seth Rogen’s warthog Pumbaa and Billy Eichner’s meerkat Timon singing “Weemoway.”
3. “Joker” (posted April 3) — Arthur, played by Joaquin Phoenix, talks with his therapist about how his mother told him to always put on a happy face. But life beats him down as he is constantly assaulted during his day job as a clown and his night job as a failed comedian. Eventually, the horrors of Gotham break him, as he transforms into the infamous Clown Prince of Crime, who accelerates Gotham City’s descent into nihilistic madness.
2. “Spider-Man: Far From Home” (posted May 6) — The trailer still clearly held back some of the film’s twists — especially about Quentin Beck, a.k.a. Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal) — but it has enough serious-sounding references to “Endgame” that it came with a spoiler warning.
1. “Avengers: Endgame” (posted March 14) — This “Avengers: Endgame” trailer makes a number of nods to the Marvel Cinematic Universe that came before it, opening with clips from the original “Iron Man” movies that started all this off back in 2008 as the present-day Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) ponders the path he’s taken that ended with him getting marooned in space in the wake of “Infinity War.”
