Teaser posters are crucial to a film's successful marketing campaign. The best of them pique the audience's interest in the movie without revealing too many details about the plot, characters, or even the setting. A great teaser poster offers the bare minimum but in a sufficiently appealing way to make audiences take a second look and wonder.
The 21st century has produced some of the best and most memorable teaser posters in cinematic history. From blockbusters to psychological thrillers, these films had incredible teaser posters that have aged better than the final posters, and it's easy to see why.
10 'Spectre'
Daniel Craig's fourth film during his Bond tenure, Spectre, featured the return of one of 007's most timeless and iconic villains. Along with Blofeld, the film re-introduced the Spectre organization into Craig's Bond's world, bringing along its famous iconography.
Spectre's octopus logo is front and center in the film's teaser poster. Using a bullet hole to mirror the organization's infamous octopus against a black background, the teaser poster is a simple and effective way of communicating the film's themes without so much as showing Bond. Spectre is far from Craig's best outing as Bond, but this teaser poster is 10 out of 10.
9 'Cloverfield'
Matt Reeves's 2008 monster flick Cloverfield conducted a masterful promotional campaign surrounded by secrecy. The film opted for a subdued approach, revealing almost nothing about the film's plot other than the fact "some thing" wreaked havoc in New York City.
The now-iconic teaser poster shows a destroyed NYC with a headless Statue of Liberty as the focal point. Haunting and instantly memorable, the poster became fixated on audiences' minds -- how could it not, when the city's most recognizable landmark was defiled before their eyes? Cloverfield remains the best example of a successful viral marketing campaign; everything about its promotion was perfection, including this timeless teaser poster.
8 'Shin Godzilla'
And speaking of successful monster movies, the King of the Monsters, Godzilla, underwent a resurgence in popularity during the 2010s. Warner Bros. successfully revitalized the character with its surprisingly good Monsterverse, while Toho Pictures did the same with their 2016 kaiju picture Shin Godzilla.
The film's teaser poster is a thing of beauty. Showing nothing but Godzilla's snout against a striking blood-red background, the poster was powerful and evocative while doing the bare minimum. Godzilla is such a pop culture icon that everything about it is recognizable. However, Shin Godzilla chose the perfectly, portraying the monster's might in a simple yet effective and haunting way.
7 'Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge Of The Sith'
The Star Wars prequels had their well-earned redemption with the epic and satisfying Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith. The film brought the prequel trilogy to a glorious climax, finalizing Darth Vader's story and providing audiences with some much-needed catharsis.
The film's promotional campaign centered around Anakin's eventual turn to the dark side, starting with the teaser poster. Using Anakin's cape to mirror Vader's iconic mask, the poster was a bit on the nose, but how can anyone argue against using one of cinema's most iconic villains? Vader is an indelible figure in sci-fi whose presence is always welcome; seeing him again decades after his last appearance was an event in and of itself.
6 'Logan'
James Mangold's Logan is a riveting and thought-provoking drama and one of the best neo-Westerns of the 21st century. Featuring one of Hugh Jackman's best performances, Logan brings Wolverine's story to a tragic but rewarding close, finally giving him the peace he has longed for.
The teaser poster for Logan is a work of art. Featuring Wolverine's iconic clawed hand held by that of a child -- his child, no less --, the poster is commanding from the get-go. Striking and evocative, the poster paints one of the fiercest and most savage superheroes in a more tender light, hinting at the intensely emotional plot that would make Logan the best film in the FOX X-Men series.
5 'Ant-Man'
The Ant-Man series has always been the most forgettable in the MCU. With a fun but unimpressive hero and a lighthearted tone that keeps the stakes ridiculously low, Ant-Man is a cute but puzzling entry into the larger-than-life franchise, the superhero equivalent of "this could've been an e-mail."
However, the trilogy has always excelled with its poster game, and the Ant-Man teasers were a stroke of genius. Featuring the minuscule hero atop some of Marvel's most famous items -- Cap's shield, Iron Man's helmet, and Mjolnir --, the posters are hilarious and unforgettable and the perfect way of conveying the film's silly approach to superheroism.
4 'Mother!'
Darren Aronofsky is well-known for his traumatizing movies that blend thought-provoking themes with mortifying imagery. However, he reached a new level of shock with his deranged and unforgettable 2017 psychological thriller mother! starring Jennifer Lawrence in a career-best performance.
With a highly symbolic plot that mixes religious and mystical themes, mother! is a visceral experience, and its teaser poster perfectly captures its creepy uniqueness. Showing Lawrence's character offering her freshly ripped-out heart, the poster is unsettling yet stunning, thanks to the hand-drawn artistry of the talented James Jean. mother! is a modern masterpiece, and its teaser poster a one-of-a-kind mixture of horror and beauty.
3 'The Amazing Spider-Man'
Sony's reboot of the Spider-Man franchise was well-intentioned but uninspired, and not even Andrew Garfield's ridiculous charm could save it. Still, The Amazing Spider-Man is an above-average superhero flick, thanks to Garfield's chemistry with Emma Stone and a spot-on marketing campaign that got audiences more than excited to see the web crawler in cinemas again.
The film's teaser poster was especially great. Simple but clever, it features Garfield's blurred figure crawling up a wall, with his shadow projecting a spider's silhouette. Spider-Man's iconography is iconic and easy to reinterpret; this poster is the perfect example. Straightforward but far from boring, the poster succeeds where many others have failed, making itself look effortless -- possibly the hardest thing to achieve.
2 'The Favourite'
Yorgos Lanthimos' deliciously wicked black comedy The Favourite is among the best and funniest films of the 2010s. Starring the mighty Olivia Colman alongside Rachel Weisz and Emma Stone, the film is the ideal and seldom-seen balance between Lanthimos' biting sensibilities and the mainstream's tolerance for zaniness.
The Favourite's teaser poster is the product of this balance. Showing Stone and Weisz's character quite literally playing with Colman's emotional and vulnerable Queen Anne, the poster is morbidly funny and somewhat confusing, irreverent and intelligent at once. Not quite outrageous yet still eccentric, the poster perfectly represents everything The Favoruite stands for.
1 'The Dark Knight'
The Dark Knight's stellar marketing campaign should be studied for years to come. Christopher Nolan's masterpiece of the superhero genre was a game-changer for its genre, revolutionizing it and redefining its limits and possibilities.
The film's marketing mainly revolved around the Joker, from the tagline to the posters. The teaser was particularly haunting, showing the Joker behind a smoky glass using blood to draw a smile and paint his timeless quote: "Why so serious?" Chilling and impossible to forget, the teaser set the tone for The Dark Knight's campaign and the film itself, further cementing its reputation as the all-time best comic book adaptation.