The Fallout Season 2 Teaser Proves It's Still Possible To Make A Trailer The Right Way

Fans of Amazon Prime Video's "Fallout" adaptation have no doubt already devoured the cool new trailer for the show's upcoming sophomore season. The "Fallout" season 2 teaser trailer once again proves that the state of video game adaptations is better than ever, and stars Ella Purnell, Walton Goggins, and Aaron Moten appear to be in prime form. Post-apocalypse aficionados get to see a whole host of interesting new visuals and fun little gags, as well as a good look at the season's New Vegas setting. We even catch a glimpse of the game series' most iconic monster, Deathclaw — not to mention an excellent look at Justin Theroux's Robert House,  the enigmatic New Vegas power player and a key instigator of the show's take on the apocalypse.

Here's the twist, however: No matter how much the trailer seems to reveal, it actually gives almost no new information about the show's post-apocalyptic timeline. Sure, there are some fun nuggets of Cooper "The Ghoul" Howard's (Goggins) backstory, but there's still virtually nothing here that observant fans didn't already know. The ending of "Fallout" season 1 confirmed that New Vegas is coming and teased the appearance of Deathclaws by showing the skull of one. We even knew that Mr. House was coming, thanks to his prominence in the video games' "Fallout: New Vegas" storyline — as well as the fact that he already appeared briefly in season 1, played by Rafi Silver.

As such, Theroux's casting is the sole major revelation in the trailer, which nevertheless manages to come across as interesting and fresh. This is a rarity in today's spoiler-heavy environment, and it's worth highlighting this as a stellar example of the way trailers can be made when the people involved care about the project.

Every movie and TV buff has bumped into trailers that give away too much. Many sci-fi trailers have spoiled everything the project has to offer, which is a travesty considering how much the genre relies on outlandish twists. In 2017, Matthew Vaughn was even vocally unimpressed with the "Kingsman: The Golden Circle" trailer spoiling a major character death. Similarly, superhero film trailers habitually spoil supposedly surprising characters and key events; one of the trailers for "Spider-Man: Far from Home" actually included a spoiler warning, while a "Deadpool & Wolverine" trailer gleefully revealed the return of Dafne Keen's X-23.

The other end of the spectrum makes things as secretive and strange as possible to keep actual plot elements under wraps. This has the potential to entice the audience — the previews for Zach Cregger's "Weapons" and the majority of Christopher Nolan trailers, take a bow. Unfortunately, it can also lead to movies getting deeply misleading trailers, like the one from 2011 that did its level best to make Nicholas Winding Refn's prestige crime drama "Drive" look like a "Fast & Furious"-style action film.

Sure, trailers are marketing tools that are subject to immense studio pressure, and no doubt copious notes, and are therefore liable to include more major beats from the movie or show than its makers would prefer. Still, it always seems to me that there's a way to do this that doesn't involve spoiling half the plot or making the trailer overly esoteric or misleading. By offering just a single actor reveal and otherwise simply expanding on previously-teased aspects of the upcoming story arc, it looks like the "Fallout" season 2 trailer has managed to crack this code. Now, if others would only pay attention ... 

"Fallout" season 2 begins streaming on Prime Video on December 17, 2025.