Honestly, the hype leading up to The Legend of Tarzan preview back in 2016 was a bit of a whirlwind. People weren't just looking for another guy in a loincloth swinging from a green-screen vine; they wanted to see if David Yates—the man who basically lived at Hogwarts for years directing Harry Potter—could actually breathe new life into a character that felt, well, a little dusty.
Tarzan is old. Like, 1912 old.
When those first trailers and sneak peeks dropped, the vibe was surprisingly dark. It wasn't the bright, colorful jungle of the Disney animation or the campy energy of the old black-and-white films. It looked gritty. It looked like a period piece drama that just happened to have a guy who could talk to gorillas.
What the first looks actually showed us
The The Legend of Tarzan preview footage didn't start in Africa. That was the first big shocker for most of us. Instead, we saw Alexander Skarsgård looking incredibly stiff and uncomfortable in a high-collared Victorian suit in London. He was John Clayton III, Lord Greystoke. He was drinking tea. He was a member of Parliament.
It was a bold move.
By starting the story after he had already left the jungle, the preview promised a "fish out of water" story in reverse. We weren't watching a man become a beast; we were watching a civilized man try to suppress the beast within while being dragged back into a colonial nightmare in the Congo. The contrast between the cold, gray streets of London and the explosive, oversaturated greens of the African rainforest was a massive selling point in those early teasers.
The visuals that sold the tickets
Let's talk about the physique. Because, let’s be real, you can’t have a The Legend of Tarzan preview without people talking about Alexander Skarsgård’s abs. He reportedly spent months on a brutal diet and training regimen to look less like a bodybuilder and more like a functional predator. He looked lean, wiry, and genuinely dangerous.
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The cinematography by Henry Braham also stood out. They used a lot of natural-looking light, or at least a very high-end digital version of it.
CGI and the "Uncanny Valley" gorillas
One thing that split the audience during the early looks was the animals. Since no real Great Apes were used in the filming, everything was 100% CGI. The preview highlighted the Mangani—the fictional species of apes from Edgar Rice Burroughs’ novels—and they looked terrifying. They weren't the friendly gorillas you see at the zoo. They were massive, aggressive, and felt heavy.
Some critics at the time felt the CGI in the preview looked a bit "floaty," especially during the vine-swinging sequences. It’s hard to make a 220-pound man swinging through trees look like physics is actually involved, but Yates opted for a sweeping, almost "Spider-Man" style of movement that gave the film a superhero feel.
Christoph Waltz and the villain trope
You can't have a big summer blockbuster without a recognizable villain. The The Legend of Tarzan preview leaned heavily on Christoph Waltz as Leon Rom. Now, look, Waltz is incredible, but even back in 2016, people were starting to wonder if he was getting typecast as the "quietly polite but murderous European guy."
He played Rom with this chilling, understated menace. In the preview, we saw him using a rosary made of Madagascar spider silk as a weapon. That's a specific, weird detail that stuck in people's heads. It signaled that this wasn't just a movie about a man vs. a lion; it was a movie about the horrific exploitation of the Congo by King Leopold II of Belgium.
Samuel L. Jackson as the "Modern" eyes
Including George Washington Williams, played by Samuel L. Jackson, was perhaps the smartest thing the production did. In every The Legend of Tarzan preview, Jackson served as the grounding force. He was the audience surrogate.
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While Tarzan was this stoic, almost alien figure, Williams was cracking jokes and struggling to keep up with the physical demands of the jungle. But more importantly, Williams was a real historical figure. The real George Washington Williams was a Civil War veteran and a minister who actually traveled to the Congo and became one of the first people to speak out against the atrocities happening there.
Adding that layer of historical weight made the movie feel more "important" than your average summer popcorn flick. It wasn't just about a legend; it was about a very dark period in human history.
Addressing the "White Savior" controversy early
Even before the movie came out, the The Legend of Tarzan preview sparked a lot of debate. People were rightfully skeptical. Could you really tell a Tarzan story in the 21st century without falling into the tired "White Savior" tropes of the past?
The marketing team tried to counter this by showing Margot Robbie’s Jane as a powerhouse. She wasn't just a damsel in distress. She spoke the local languages, she fought back, and she clearly had a deep, long-standing relationship with the Kuba people. The preview made sure to show that Tarzan wasn't "saving" Africa so much as he was a weapon being used by the local people and George Washington Williams to help stop a genocidal regime.
Whether the final movie succeeded at that is still debated today, but the intent was clear in the early footage. They wanted to modernize the mythos.
The music and the mood
The sound design in those previews was haunting. They used a lot of heavy percussion and choral arrangements that felt grand and operatic. It didn't have the "Tarzan yell" in the way people expected. In fact, the preview teased the yell but never fully gave it to you, which was a clever way to build anticipation. It treated the yell like a primal, scary event rather than a cheesy catchphrase.
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Why the preview still matters for fans today
Looking back at the The Legend of Tarzan preview cycle, it’s a masterclass in how to rebrand a character that many people thought was irrelevant. It sold a version of Tarzan that was more "Batman" than "Jungle Jim."
It focused on:
- The internal conflict: A man torn between two worlds.
- The historical context: The real-world stakes of the Congo Free State.
- The visceral action: Primal combat that felt more violent and "animal" than previous iterations.
It’s interesting to note that the film ended up making over $350 million at the global box office. That's not a flop, but it wasn't the massive franchise-starter Warner Bros. was probably hoping for. Still, the preview did its job—it convinced a modern audience that Tarzan could be cool again, even if just for a couple of hours.
Actionable insights for fans and collectors
If you're revisiting the film or exploring the lore after seeing the old previews, here are a few ways to dive deeper into the actual history and the "Tarzan" phenomenon:
- Read the real George Washington Williams' Open Letter: To understand why Samuel L. Jackson’s character was so vital, look up the actual letter Williams wrote to King Leopold II in 1890. It is a staggering piece of history that adds immense weight to the film's plot.
- Compare the "Lord of the Jungle" novels: The movie takes massive liberties with the original books. If you want to see where the "civilized Tarzan" concept came from, Tarzan and the City of Gold is a great place to start.
- Watch the "Behind the Scenes" on the Mangani: The creature work by Framestore is genuinely fascinating. Check out the VFX breakdowns of how they used movement actors to simulate the weight of the apes, which was a major highlight of the The Legend of Tarzan preview reels.
- Explore the filming locations: While a lot was shot on soundstages in the UK, many of the sweeping aerial plates were filmed in Gabon. Looking at the real-life landscapes of the Ivindo National Park gives you an appreciation for the scale the movie was trying to capture.
The 2016 film might not have launched a ten-movie cinematic universe, but the The Legend of Tarzan preview remains a great example of how to take a 100-year-old character and make him feel like he belongs in the modern world of high-stakes action cinema. It moved the needle from "kitsch" to "prestige," and for a character like Tarzan, that was no small feat.