The first trailer for CBS's anticipated reboot of MacGyver, which stars Lucas Till in the place of Richard Dean Anderson as the titular inventive secret agent, did not exactly get many people excited. There was a strain of self-seriousness that could be eyed immediately that did not signal either a good time or a long shelf life. That's when CBS called in the big guns, namely series producer James Wan, to direct a new pilot for the action series.

macgyver-lucas-till-pilot
Image via CBS

And from the looks of the new trailer for MacGyver, which you can take a look at below, Wan fixed the whole thing. The new footage looks both far more bright and savvy, but also a lot more entertaining, strewn with action set-pieces and physical gags to power a series that includes a whole lot of technical talk. This is a major 180, and MacGyver now looks to be a satisfying action series rather than a monotonous intrigue-heavy drama, which was the tone of the original trailer.

Give credit first and foremost to Wan, a tremendously talented director who fashioned at least two new horror classics - The Conjuring and Insidious - and made the best Fast & Furious volume thus far. Though there's no telling just how much of what we see in the trailer is Wan's footage, one can unmistakenly see marks of his style in these shots. Unlike before, I am now quite impatient to see how this all turns out when the new series premieres on September 23rd.


Here's the new trailer for MacGyver:

Here's the official synopsis for MacGyver:

A reimagining of the classic series, CBS’ MacGyver is an action-adventure drama and revolves around 20-something Angus “Mac” MacGyver (Till), who creates a clandestine organization within the U.S. government where he uses his extraordinary talent for unconventional problem solving and vast scientific knowledge to save lives. Joining his team on high-risk missions around the globe is maverick former CIA agent Jack Dalton (George Eads). At home, MacGyver is entertained by his ambitious roommate, Wilt Bozer (Justin Hires). Under the aegis of the Department of External Services, MacGyver takes on the responsibility of saving the world, armed to the teeth with resourcefulness and little more than bubble gum and a paper clip.

macgyver-image
Image via CBS
lucas-till-macgyver
Image via CBS

macgyver-lucas-till-image
Image via CBS