The new trailer for Glass is officially released online. It was only last year M. Night Shyamalan's Split was regarded as a strong return-to-form for the director, who bounced back from disasters like The Last Airbender and After Earth. Not only did Split operate as a tense thriller on its own merits (with an acting tour de force by James McAvoy), it genuinely surprised audiences when the last scene revealed it took place in the same universe as Unbreakable - Shyamalan's fan-favorite superhero drama from 2000. As audiences left the theater buzzing, Shyamalan quickly put the pieces in place for a sequel to both films.

Speedily moving through production, Glass pits Bruce Willis' David Dunn (who apparently goes by the name The Overseer) against Kevin Wendell Crumb/The Beast (McAvoy) and his old nemesis, Mr. Glass (Samuel L. Jackson). Just three months remain until the movie makes its way into theaters, meaning it's time for Universal to kick start the marketing campaign in earnest. The studio brought the first Glass trailer to San Diego Comic-Con this year, and now a new preview is available.

Serving as the culmination of a week's worth of teasers focusing on the three main characters, Universal unveiled the latest Glass trailer today. You can check it out for yourself in the space below:


As expected, the trailer provides some more details about the story, which sees Elijah Price locked up in an institution of some kind where he's heavily sedated so the doctors maintain an upper hand against him. Things change when David and Kevin become patients there too, under the care of Dr. Ellie Staple (Sarah Paulson), who has developed a so-called cure for what she perceives to be a "disorder" where individuals believe they have super powers. Elijah, mastermind he is, has other plans and teams up with The Beast in order to break out and show the world who they really are. An ulterior motive of Mr. Glass' looks to be helping Dunn reach his full potential; Elijah has always been fascinated by David's condition and in Unbreakable pushed him to become a superhero.

All in all, the trailer is quite successful in setting up the bare bones of the narrative, providing a surface level outline of the plot. If the previous films in this series are anything to go by, there will surely be deeper subtext and themes Shyamalan explores through these characters. But with anticipation already high for Glass, there's no need for marketing materials to reveal too much at once. Shyamalan commonly uses twists, so it'll be interesting to see if he came up with any surprises this time. Of course, even if Glass is just a straightforward drama, it seems like it'll be a rewarding and worthwhile theatrical experience.

Glass (2019) release date: Jan 18, 2019