Aliens bring drama to Apple in the first trailer for Invasion
Did they really end this trailer with a Jurassic Park reference?
TV News Invasion
We’ll get to Sam Neill and his cute little hats in a minute, but first: Does this trailer for Apple TV’s new sci-fi drama really and truly end with a Jurassic Park reference? “Hold on to your humanity” isn’t as catchy as “hold on to your butts,” but we might as well give this trailer for Invasion points for trying. To bring it back around to Sam Neill, it just feels redundant—like yes, we know about Jurassic Park, and yes of course we noticed that this hat does in fact bear a striking similarity to that iconic Sam Neill look of yesteryear.
Briefly spotted in yesterday’s Apple TV+ summer preview, Invasion is a new sci-fi series written and produced by Simon Kinberg (of the X-Men franchise and Deadpool) and David Weil (Hunters), and directed by Jakob Verbruggen, whose credits include the exquisite Gillian Anderson drama The Fall. Debuting on October 22, Invasion takes place across multiple continents and explores an alien invasion from various perspectives, including that of Sam Neill in what appears to be Kevin Costner cosplay (not a complaint, mind you). The trailer doesn’t offer much in terms of plot—aside from an epidemic of nosebleeds among schoolchildren—but it does sort of declare a general tone and give us a quick peek at some alien legs.
Co-starring Shamier Anderson (Awake), Golshifteh Farahani (Paterson), Firas Nassar (Fauda), and Shioli Kutsuna (Deadpool 2), Invasion is described as a “sweeping, character-driven” series from an acclaimed producing team that includes Audrey Chon (The Twilight Zone), Amy Kaufman (When They See Us), Katie O’Connell Marsh (Hannibal), Elisa Ellis, and Andrew Baldwin (The Outsider)—who also serves as a series writer. The first three episodes of Invasion will arrive on Apple TV+ on October 22, followed by new episodes each week on Friday.
29 Comments
This is the only Jurassic Park reference I get after watching that trailer:
The series screams like some one railed a bunch of coke and came up with the idea “BRO…WE DO A MICHAEL TV SERIES…BUT, LIKE, SERIOUS ABOUT STUFF AND THINGS IN IT.”
my only regret is that i do not have more stars to give
I think I would’ve really enjoyed that trailer if they cut the something-something-humanity’s-purpose super-generic monologue. Like, just show me those scenes slowly building to the final reveal, and don’t hit me over the head with Sweeping Orchestral Space Movie Music.
This whole trailer had me uttering “Oh I don’t know….”
Look, I can’t be the only one who gets pissed off at the little intros consisting of highlights of what’s in the fucking trailer that now play before every fucking trailer, right? Along with that “TRAILER…STARTS NOW” bullshit.Yes. I’m aware I’m watching a trailer. And that “STARTS NOW” bullshit is even more annoying. One, because you’ve just reminded that – HAHA – you don’t feel the need to start the actual content of your video at the start of the video. Oh no. You’re too good for that. Two, I am more than capable of discerning when a trailer starts. Three, we wouldn’t need that “STARTS NOW” bullshit if you just fucking started the actual trailer at the beginning of the video.
i looked it up and its mobile optimization. as people are scrolling through their social media feed, the 3 second clip that plays is supposed to snag their attention and get them to watch the whole thing. i assume that splitting the underlying youtube trailer into a mobile vs desktop friendly version would mess up their engagement numbers or cost more
The above is exactly correct.
Besides being a mobile eye-catch, my assumption is that it’s also to try and get as much info as they can in front of you before the 5 seconds run out and you’re able to skip to whatever you actually want to watch.
You are incorrect to be “pissed” at this. The data proves this is effective marketing. Trust the algorithms, the algorithms know all.
The pre-trailer trailers are objectively the worst.
Teaser for trailer announcement are the worst
Youtube, etc., usually let people skip an advertisement after 5 seconds or so, so the advertiser needs to put enough in the 1st five seconds to get people to watch the rest instead of skip.Normally people aren’t deliberately seeking out an advertisement to watch.
Very disappointed to find out it’s not a reboot of the 2005 show of the same name with William Fichtner.
It really deserved to get a second season back in the day
Just as well… It was terrific the way it was. Just enough hint of Hurricane Karina and internet conspiracy theories, and I didn’t even notice that it was a version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
Came here to say exactly the same thing! That was a one-and-done season, wasn’t it? I really enjoyed how every thing Fichtner’s character (sheriff?) said could be taken as a loaded comment. Was he an alien? I can’t remember if we ever found out.
He definitely was – I have a vague recollection of them finding his disembodied old head but could be imagining that.
The world always needs more Billy Fichtner. Best part of GTAs Vice City and San Andreas. Neurotic. Cokehead. Jewish. Mob Lawyer.
Fichtner is great. He was one of the two really good things about Drive Angry, playing a hit man for Satan called The Accountant who may or may not be Judas Iscariot. (The other great thing, IMO, was Amber Heard singing along to “Fuck the Pain Away.”)
Remember when 9 million viewers made your TV show an also-ran rather than more popular than football?
The Fall was ‘exquisite’? It was OK but certainly dragged out way too long.
That reminds me, we need more Tarsem Singh. Dude’s a genius.
I may be in the minority, and that’s fine, but I’ve been vernally very impressed with Apple TV Plus’s offerings. This looks cool.
You’re only impressed in the springtime?
Damn, I have no idea what autocorrect did there….
Same. I kinda see it as if HBO (not MAX, though I have no issue with MAX), started today. The quality bar is seriously high, even if the actual number of productions is relatively low.As part of Apple One I just see it as some nice content blended with an easy interface for Apple TV (hardware).
I think a better question is “Did they just start a trailer with a teaser for the trailer?”
There’s a chance the show could be good, but my god that is an abysmal trailer.