Mark Watney’s plight on Mars inspires unity back home in new The Martian TV spot.
Although Andy Weir’s The Martian is largely focused on astronaut Mark Watney’s struggle to survive on Mars, the book also focuses on the grounded NASA scientists trying to save him.
One of the most uplifting aspects of the story is how scientists around the world attempt to put aside their differences in order to help one man, who has inspired compassion and unity — because, as it turns out, all humanity ever needs is a common enemy in order to band together. In The Martian, that enemy is space!
In the new TV spot promoting Ridley Scott’s epic, Matt Damon’s Mark is the focus of a TV news report, showing how people on Earth are reacting to his struggle:
Although we like to think this entire faux news story will be shown in the movie (it’s amazing), we’re probably looking at a lot of shots filmed specifically for the trailer.
Lots of evocative imagery is at play here: the American flag, social media campaigns, police hugging civilians, strangers joining together as one.
We’re happy to see that Scott is putting such a big focus on the repercussions of Mark Watney’s situation (as much as we’re looking forward to him sciencing the sh** out of everything).
Related: Neil deGrasse Tyson hosts in-universe The Martian TV spot
Of course we’ll need to put in some Earth time, considering the fantastic group of actors stranded there: Kristen Wiig, Sean Bean, Donald Glover, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Jeff Daniels and Mackenzie Davis all play NASA employees.
Meanwhile, in space (our favorite sentence), Watney’s crew members make up the rest of the cast: we’ve got Rooney Mara, Sebastian Stan, Jessica Chastain, Michael Peña and Aksel Hennie all vying for screen time. Oh, and then there’s Matt Damon himself… how long is this movie, again?