Sony just dropped its official trailer for Uncharted and Marvel may want to take note and copy Sony’s marketing strategy. Sony’s highly anticipated film Uncharted is set to hit theaters February 18, 2022 and will mark Sony’s latest video game adaptation. The film stars Tom Holland as a young Nathan Drake alongside a cast that includes Tati Gabrielle, Mark Wahlberg, and Antonio Banderas. Sony’s trailer does a brilliant job bringing to life the PlayStation classic. Moreover, it showcases the film’s ability to capture iconic gaming moments players will recognize from the franchise.
PlayStation’s Uncharted franchise began in 2007 with the release of Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune and has come to encompass a total of six video games. Each game features third-person gameplay that follows the adventures of renowned treasure hunter Nathan Drake. Drake is often compared to Indiana Jones and Lara Croft and has become an iconic pop culture character. Together with his allies, Drake searches for mysterious relics and legendary lost cities while clashing with rival fortune seekers and thieves. The critically acclaimed Uncharted video game franchise has often been praised for its innovative gameplay and captivating story which provides a cinematic playing experience.
Consequently, it was only a matter of time before Sony capitalized on the popularity of the franchise and brought it to the big screen. In addition to Easter eggs, the Uncharted trailer includes marketing for PlayStation 5’s Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves, a remastered edition of two popular Uncharted games. Including a promotion for this remastered game means Sony was able to market two of its properties at once to a vast audience. Marvel can learn from Sony’s marketing strategy and advertise comics at the end of their MCU trailers.
PlayStation Studios is involved with Sony's Uncharted film, which explains the trailer’s inclusion of a video game promotion. This sort of collaboration is something sorely lacking between Marvel Comics and Marvel Studios despite the 20+ MCU films based on Marvel properties. In fact, Marvel Studios does nothing to actively promote the comic book arm of the company. This seems to represent a missed opportunity given the millions of views garnered by each MCU trailer. By including comic book promotions, Marvel would be able to target new audiences and cultivate new readers.
Just as the Uncharted gaming franchise has inspired the film, Marvel comics have been the inspiration for many of the MCU films. These comics deserve to be promoted alongside the MCU’s films. For example, Disney+’s Hawkeye seems to be inspired by Matt Fraction and David Aja’s 2012 comic book run and has over 15 million views. Marvel/Disney could put a tag at the end of the trailer advertising these trade paperbacks and encouraging audiences to get to know Clint Barton and Kate Bishop a little better in anticipation of the series.
While the argument could be made that each Marvel film is one long comic book ad, they lack the call to action found in real marketing. This is why direct promotions are helpful with drawing in new readers who may watch the MCU films and television shows but have never picked up a Marvel comic. The MCU maintains the ability to capture the attention of new readers with the right marketing. Ultimately, Marvel Studios would do well to copy Sony’s Uncharted collaboration efforts with PlayStation Studios and implement a similar collaboration with Marvel Comics.