Here we are, on the morning of what is the domestic debut of Captain America: Civil War. Between November 25, 2015 and May 3, 2016, there have been 2 full-length theatrical trailers and approximately 42 television commercials. And, with the film's release upon us, I can safely say that Disney and Marvel kept the vast majority of the film out of the marketing. I didn't necessarily feel that way by the time Age of Ultron came out, and certainly not when Dawn of Justice and Deadpool debuted (respectively). But in this case, the saturation marketing keeps most of the movie out of the public arena.
Were there bits and pieces in those first two trailers that I wish I hadn't seen before seeing the film? Absolutely, especially as the film occasionally falls victim to "Okay, this movie has to go here because I haven't seen moment X from the trailer" disease. Are there bits and pieces in the deluge of television spots that had me going "Aww, I wish they hadn't given that away"? Not really. The vast majority of the television spots use the same chunk of footage and the same quips. The big second act finale is mostly left out, and there are next-to-no real hints about the third act of the picture.
Oh, and Spider-Man is almost nowhere to be found. I gave Disney some light ribbing back when the second trailer dropped, but it's hard to argue that the blink-and-you-miss-it moment that closes out the second trailer wasn't worth it regarding a day's worth of "win the Internet" free publicity. As Mark Hughes correctly noted at the time, Spidey's cameo was a light and kid-friendly/parent-reassuring touch to end what was a pretty grim trailer up to that point.
But I am also hopeful that said Spidey beat would be the only thing consumers would see of said added value element until the film opened. I was almost right. I politely sighed in would-be defeat when Marvel and Disney dropped the 30th and 32nd TV spots which contained yet more Spidey gags. But that was the beginning and (as of today) the end of pre-release Spidey reveals. It was just those three bits, totaling around 12 seconds of footage.
You've got the now famous five-second trailer epilogue of Peter Parker (in the costume of course) snatching Steve Rogers's shield and introducing himself. You've got that 30th television spot which features Spidey swinging around and cracking a joke about Bucky's metal arm. That's four seconds right there. And then you've got one of the last television spots with the web-slinger introducing himself before being cut off my Robert Downey Jr. That's four seconds of new footage.
So all told, give or take the accuracy of my wristwatch, you've got between 12 and 14 seconds of Spidey spoilers heading into opening night.
Sure, I wish Marvel had just held everything Spider-Man related before opening night. Heck, the excitement and buzz around the third Captain America movie is such that they didn't need to give away the fact that Spider-Man was even in the picture. But I won't pretend that acknowledging Spider-Man's presence in the film wasn't itself a massive marketing boom and made fans and casual moviegoers even more excited for the movie.
Sometimes I have to remind myself that marketing folks don't get bonuses for respecting the sanctity of the initial theatrical experience but rather to get butts in the seats on opening weekend at all costs. I hate that the (entertaining) marketing for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Deadpool gave away the entirety of their respective films in the marketing. They clearly were successful at getting lots of people to buy an opening weekend ticket.
But consumers have seen just enough of Spider-Man to confirm that A) he's in the movie and B) he makes jokes and sounds like a young teenager. I can confirm that Spider-Man is in the film a lot more than Wonder Woman was in Batman v Superman, so the various unspoiled Spidey bits will be the sort of buzzy watercooler/social media-friendly moments that will help fuel a positive narrative heading into the second weekend.
Being able to open your big movie without giving away the game (The Dark Knight, Frozen, Gravity, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, etc.) has a huge benefit of improving audience word-of-mouth and keeping the momentum going past the debut weekend. And the relative restraint in regards to the marketing campaign overall, both in terms of spoiled Spidey sequences and the rest of the movie, will pay off past opening weekend. I just wanted to take a moment to tip the hat.
