History HarsherInHindsight / HonestTrailers

** This would also extend to the Honest Trailer for the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse as well, as one of their punchlines is that, using rock documentaries as a comparison, it would peak in Phase 3 while Phase 4 would have it be "[[SeasonalRot puking in the gutter wondering where it all went wrong]]". To say that this aged very poorly would be an understatement for the actual reception of Phase 4 in the years to come.

* In the Honest Trailer for ''Film/TheSocialNetwork'', the Narrator expresses pleasant surprise at the movie being much more entertaining than he expected it to be, noting that he wouldn't mind watching ''another'' movie about Website/{{Facebook}}. Since that video was released, Facebook has been at the center of several major scandals related to its business practices (most notably [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambridge_Analytica_data_scandal the Cambridge Analytica data scandal]] and [[https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/05/technology/haugen-facebook.html the Haugen leak]]), which arguably make the events depicted in ''The Social Network'' look pretty tame by comparison. With that in mind, it's not hard to imagine that there could actually '''be''' another movie about Facebook someday.

* In the Honest Trailer for ''WesternAnimation/TheLEGOMovie'', the narrator denotes some [[FridgeHorror horror in the fact that Finn and The Man Upstairs could destroy their sentient LEGO universe at any time.]] In ''WesternAnimation/TheLEGOMovie2TheSecondPart'', such horror is realized when [[spoiler:Finn is forced to destroy the LEGO universe by putting it into storage as punishment for ruining his sister's creation]].

* In the ''Film/DragonballEvolution'' trailer "Starring" gag, [[WebVideo/DragonBallZAbridged Abridged!Vegeta]] refers to Creator/ErnieHudson as "Nobody's Favorite Franchise/{{Ghostbuster|s}}". In November 2014, Hudson wrote [[http://insidemovies.ew.com/2014/11/05/ghostbusters-ernie-hudson/ an essay]] in ''Entertainment Weekly'' detailing how he and his character was forced into this role from a rather major one due to ExecutiveMeddling and the bitterness that haunts him to this very day.

** This would also extend to the Honest Trailer for the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse as well, as one of their punchlines is that it would peak in Phase 3 while Phase 4 would have it be "[[SeasonalRot puking in the gutter wondering where it all went wrong]]". To say that this aged very poorly would be an understatement for the actual reception of Phase 4 in the years to come.

* In the video for ''Film/GIJoeTheRiseOfCobra'' and ''Film/GIJoeRetaliation'', Creator/BruceWillis is described as doing the least to collect his check. This joke became uncomfortable with the revelation, less than a year later, that Willis was forced into retirement due to aphasia, a disability that interferes with his speech.

* In the episode for ''Film/CaptainMarvel2019'', Epic Voice Guy expresses some anger at the Skrull's AdaptationalHeroism and says that this means that there won't be an adaptation of ''ComicBook/SecretInvasion'' in the MCU. In late 2020 it was announced that actually that storyline is being adapted into a Disney+ TV show in the MCU. Unfortunately, the Honest Trailer for [[Series/SecretInvasion2023 that show]] doesn't make it seem much better than a non-existent adaptation; it dismisses the series as "a spy thriller without any tension," inconveniently released after most of the public forgot about ''Captain Marvel''.

* In the video for the GI Joe movies, Bruce Willis is described as doing the least to collect his check. This joke became uncomfortable with the revelation, less than a year later, that Willis was forced into retirement due to aphasia, a disability that interferes with his speech.

* In the episode for ''Film/CaptainMarvel2019'', Epic Voice Guy expresses some anger at the Skrull's AdaptationalHeroism and says that this means that there won't be an adaptation of ''ComicBook/SecretInvasion'' in the MCU. In late 2020 it was announced that actually that storyline is being adapted into a Disney+ TV show in the MCU. Unfortunately, the Honest Trailer for [[Series/SecretInvasion2023 that show]] ended up dismissing it as "a spy thriller without any tension," inconveniently released after most of the public forgot about ''Captain Marvel''.

* The ''WesternAnimation/Frozen2013'' Honest Trailer refers to the movie as the first good Disney musical since ''WesternAnimation/{{Pocahontas}}''. Eight years later, the ''Pocahontas'' Honest Trailer would instead refer to its subject as, "an absolute stinker that kicked off more than a decade of garbage (specifically referencing ''WesternAnimation/{{Tarzan}}'', ''WesternAnimation/HomeOnTheRange'', ''WesternAnimation/BrotherBear'', ''WesternAnimation/ChickenLittle'', ''WesternAnimation/MeetTheRobinsons'', and ''WesternAnimation/{{Bolt}}'')."

* The ''WesternAnimation/Frozen2013'' Honest Trailer refers to the movie as the first good Disney musical since ''WesternAnimation/{{Pocahontas}}''. Eight years later, the ''Pocahontas'' Honest Trailer would instead refer to its subject as, "an absolute stinker that kicked off more than a decade of garbage (specifically referencing ''WesternAnimation/{{Tarzan}}'', ''WesternAnimation/HomeOnTheRange'', ''WesternAnimation/BrotherBear'', ''WesternAnimation/ChickenLittle'', ''WesternAnimation/MeetTheRobinsons'', and ''WesternAnimation/{{Bolt}}'').

* The ''WesternAnimation/Frozen2013'' Honest Trailer refers to the movie as the first good Disney musical since ''WesternAnimation/{{Pocahontas}}''. Eight years later, the ''Pocahontas'' Honest Trailer would instead refer to its subject as, "an absolute stinker that kicked off more than a decade of garbage."

* Before ''Film/SuicideSquad2016'' premiered, the ''Film/Batman1989'' Honest Trailer commented that previews of Creator/JaredLeto as the Joker made him seem potentially superior to Creator/JackNicholson, and posterior Honest Trailers genuinely looked forwards positively about ''Suicide Squad'' overall, such as when the ''Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice'' Honest Trailer ended with an excited "But at least ''Suicide Squad'' looks good!" despite ''Batman v Superman'''s polarizing reception. In the eventual ''Suicide Squad'' Honest Trailer, they have nothing nice to say about the 10 minutes ultimately shown in the movie of Leto's performance, and besides the performances of Will Smith, Margot Robbie, and Jai Courtney ("of all people," as they note, as Courtney's acting being perceived as bland by them made him a sort of SitcomArchNemesis to Honest Trailers), nothing nice to say about the movie ''at all''.

* Before ''Film/SuicideSquad2016'' premiered, the ''Film/Batman1989'' Honest Trailer commented that previews of Creator/JaredLeto as the Joker made him seem potentially superior to Creator/JackNicholson (whom they already admitted didn't come as close as Creator/HeathLedger and Creator/MarkHamill did to becoming the Joker's definitive actor), and posterior Honest Trailers genuinely looked forwards positively about ''Suicide Squad'' overall, such as when the ''Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice'' Honest Trailer ended with an excited "But at least ''Suicide Squad'' looks good!" despite ''Batman v Superman'''s polarizing reception. In the eventual ''Suicide Squad'' Honest Trailer, they have nothing nice to say about the 10 minutes ultimately shown in the movie of Leto's performance, and besides the performances of Will Smith, Margot Robbie, and Jai Courtney ("of all people," as they note, as Courtney's acting being perceived as bland by them made him a sort of SitcomArchNemesis to Honest Trailers), nothing nice to say about the movie ''at all''.

** While doing ''Film/PacificRim'', the narrator is looking forward to the sequel. Fast forward to 2018 and the narrator felt that the sequel, ''Film/PacificRimUprising'', was such let down that they combined it with ''Film/TombRaider2018'' (another film seen as non-remarkable and by-the-numbers) in one Honest Trailer.

** In the combined trailer for ''Film/TombRaider2018'' and ''Film/PacificRimUprising'', the similarities include "end[ing] with a tease for a sequel that'll probably never come." At least for the former, he couldn't have been more right: A sequel ''was'' in development, but it suffered delays by the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic and Creator/AliciaVikander's pregnancy, before it was entirely scrapped when MGM lost the rights to the IP in May 2022.

** The Honest Trailer for ''Film/{{Taken}}'' joked a little about how the film made Europe look dangerous and said the message it sent was "Don't go to Europe", while showing a skyline shot of Paris. It was released on January 6, 2015. One day later, the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Hebdo_shooting Charlie Hebdo shooting]] occurred, and the following November, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/November_2015_Paris_attacks Paris was subject to its worst terror attacks]] since World War II, killing over 100 people and causing the French government to declare a national state of emergency.
** The Honest Trailer for ''WesternAnimation/TheEmojiMovie'' remarks that Gene is played by the personification of the "meh" emoji, Creator/TJMiller. While this was probably a reference to his brand of anti-humor, the months following the release of the Honest Trailer saw a number of bad actions come to light about Miller, including sexual assault accusations, transphobia, and calling in a fake bomb threat. Needless to say, the original joke is rather generous about Miller's character now.
** On August 11th, 2020, the Honest Trailer for ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' was released, and included an apprehensive acknowledgment that a live-action adaptation was in the works. ''The very next day'', the creators of the franchise announced that they were dropping from the live-action series project because Creator/{{Netflix}}'s ExecutiveMeddling instilled CreativeDifferences.

** In the Honest Trailer for the second season of ''Series/TheMandalorian'', the narrator predicts that Cara Dune might get written out of the show due to her actress Creator/GinaCarano's controversial social media activity. Only 8 days after it was first uploaded, Lucasfilm fired Carano after she shared a post many perceived as anti-Semitic, which was the final straw the studio had with her.
** In TheStinger of ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises'' trailer, the Narrator, who disliked the film, muses "I'm really worried about ''Film/ManOfSteel'' now." ''Man of Steel'' ended up becoming even more divisive than ''TDKR'', and received worse reviews from critics.
** In the ''Film/DragonballEvolution'' trailer "Starring" gag, [[WebVideo/DragonBallZAbridged Abridged!Vegeta]] refers to Creator/ErnieHudson as "Nobody's Favorite Franchise/{{Ghostbuster|s}}". In November 2014, Hudson wrote [[http://insidemovies.ew.com/2014/11/05/ghostbusters-ernie-hudson/ an essay]] in ''Entertainment Weekly'' detailing how he and his character was forced into this role from a rather major one due to ExecutiveMeddling and the bitterness that haunts him to this very day.
** The ''Game of Thrones'' trailer mentions memorable characters "who were still alive at the time this trailer was written." Right as he says it, the shot is of [[spoiler:Barristan Selmy, who died in Season Five.]] Aww…
** The ending of the ''Film/{{Avatar}}'' trailer has the trailer guy saying, "Ugh, we get it, we'll recycle! Please, just make another ''Franchise/{{Terminator}}'' already!" Another ''Terminator'' movie (albeit not directed by Cameron) was released, but as discussed in one of the ''WebVideo/MovieFights'' episodes, and eventually in its own Honest Trailer, ''Film/TerminatorGenisys'' isn't actually that good either.
** Among the many things derided in ''Film/TheHobbitTheBattleOfTheFiveArmies'' are the obvious presence of a stunt double performing in Creator/ChristopherLee's stead during the White Council fight, and the trailer concludes that [[MisBlamed everything was Jackson's fault]] and that [[MoneyDearBoy he did the film for the money]]. Anyone who had been keeping up with Christopher Lee in the last few years could see that Lee's health was clearly in decline (Lee couldn't even fly to New Zealand to film at his age, and had to be accommodated in London to participate in the trilogy, [[AwesomeDearBoy which he was excited and eager to do]]), preventing him from actually performing the fight scene himself, and the actor would pass away several months after the film's release; and in Jackson's case, there's the news that came out later of Warner Bros. ExecutiveMeddling, the TroubledProduction and that said things combined nearly led Jackson to have an on-set breakdown, which were confirmed by the cast and crew.
** One of the complaints that gets lampooned in the [[https://youtu.be/hR5HuQK5fYY Honest Teaser]] for the first teaser of ''Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice'' is "Eh, they should have shown more." When [[https://youtu.be/yViIi3gie2c a full trailer was later released]], it ended up being criticized for spoiling that Doomsday would appear in the movie.
** Before ''Film/SuicideSquad2016'' premiered, the ''Film/Batman1989'' Honest Trailer commented that previews of Creator/JaredLeto as the Joker made him seem potentially superior to Creator/JackNicholson (whom they already admitted didn't come as close as Creator/HeathLedger and Creator/MarkHamill did to becoming the Joker's definitive actor), and posterior Honest Trailers genuinely looked forwards positively about ''Suicide Squad'' overall, such as when the ''Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice'' Honest Trailer ended with an excited "But at least ''Suicide Squad'' looks good!" despite ''Batman v Superman'''s polarizing reception. In the eventual ''Suicide Squad'' Honest Trailer, they have nothing nice to say about the 10 minutes ultimately shown in the movie of Leto's performance, and besides the performances of Will Smith, Margot Robbie, and Jai Courtney ("of all people," as they note, as Courtney's acting being perceived as bland by them made him a sort of SitcomArchNemesis to Honest Trailers), nothing nice to say about the movie ''at all''.
** The Starring section in the Honest Trailer for ''Film/TheMummy2017'' ended mentioning Creator/BrendanFraser, followed by a black screen with the words "FOOTAGE NOT FOUND", which led a disappointed Epic Voice Guy to ask "Where is he these days?" As [[https://www.gq.com/story/what-ever-happened-to-brendan-fraser an interview]] with ''GQ'' months later after the trailer was released revealed, not doing very good.
** During the ''Film/BladeRunner'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWaJCOyORvI Honest Trailer]], the narrator comments on how Deckard has no problem with forcing himself on Rachel, showing a clip of Han Solo (also played by Creator/HarrisonFord) during ''Film/TheForceAwakens'' and saying "That's not how consent works!", a play on a phrase Solo says during the movie. This was the last Honest Trailer produced before a stream of sexual harassment and abuse allegations against Andy Signore, creator of ''Honest Trailers'', were made public. The show took a hiatus after the fact, making many fans think Andy's ousting had brought an end to it.
** Deliberately invoked at the end of the ''Film/JumanjiWelcomeToTheJungle'', where "Mouse" explains how a whole herd of vicious, carnivorous albino rhinoceroses were chasing after them, accompanied by a news article of how the entire species itself was now at risk of complete extinction with the passing of the last surviving male white rhino in the world not even a full week before the trailer was released.
--->'''Epic Voice Guy:''' Good news, Creator/{{Kevin|Hart}}. We've got them on the ropes. Umm... Yay?
** In the Honest Trailer for ''Film/TheLastJedi'', one of the narrators asks the question: "Should we do this again for ''Film/{{Solo}}''?" which is answered "Nah... I'm not gonna see that crap". Later that year ''Solo'' was released and became the first ''Franchise/StarWars'' movie to [[BoxOfficeBomb lose money at the box office]]. Made even harsher with the title at the end:

** In the trailer for ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'', they doubt that any of the deaths in the film will be permanent, using several examples from the comics where characters were brought back. Among them: [[Film/AvengersEndgame the death of Tony Stark]].
** In the Honest Trailer for ''Film/AntManAndTheWasp'', they say that Sonny Burch (Creator/WaltonGoggins) is such an IneffectualSympatheticVillain that even ComicBook/IronFist could take him down, referring to the fact that [[Series/IronFist2017 the character's Netflix series]] had then recently been cancelled after two seasons. At the time, ''Iron Fist'''s cancellation didn't come as a huge surprise since the series was the worst critically received Netflix Marvel series in both of its seasons. However, after that, Netflix went on to cancel ''Series/{{Luke Cage|2016}}'' and ''Series/{{Daredevil|2015}}'', and later ''Series/{{Jessica Jones|2015}}'' and ''Series/{{The Punisher|2017}}'' as well, all of which were much better received critically, leading some to suspect that the cancellations were part of a pattern rather than the result of poor reviews; a theory is that it has something to do with Disney's then upcoming streaming service, Creator/DisneyPlus, which will compete with Netflix.
** Their Honest Trailer for ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron'' jokes about the emotional toll that the movie's production apparently took on Creator/JossWhedon, leading him to deactivate his Website/{{Twitter}} account and temporarily drop off Hollywood's radar. As the narrator puts it: "Uh... Guys? I think we broke Joss Whedon. He needs a hug..." That comment seems even more apt now, since his marriage also fell apart shortly after that video was made.

** In the Honest Trailer for ''WesternAnimation/TheLEGOMovie'', the narrator denotes some [[FridgeHorror horror in the fact that Finn and The Man Upstairs could destroy their sentient LEGO universe at any time.]] In ''WesternAnimation/TheLEGOMovie2TheSecondPart'', such horror is realized when [[spoiler:Finn is forced to destroy the LEGO universe by putting it into storage as punishment for ruining his sister's creation]].
** During the Honest Trailer for the first three ''Film/MenInBlack'' films, the Narrator makes it clear that he's not looking forward for the fourth film, ''Film/MenInBlackInternational'' (which was about to be released at the time of the video's release), citing as a reason what he sees as "diminishing returns" as the first three movies progressed, at one point even straight-up asking "Are we sure we want more sequels to this thing?" His comment seems even more apt now, since ''International'' ended up being poorly received, complete with [[https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/behind-sonys-lackluster-men-black-relaunch-rewrites-infighting-no-urgency-1218949 reports]] of TroubledProduction, ExecutiveMeddling, and CreativeDifferences.
** In the Honest Trailer for "Every Streaming Service", Epic Voice Guy compares Quibi to a sick dog that needs to be put down, saying that "Someone should take old Queebs for a run around the block before it's too late". Exactly one month later, Quibi was officially euthanized.
** In the Honest Trailer for ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar'', the narrator criticizes the movie for a lack of lasting stakes, stating that Steve's apology letter at the end of the movie makes everything good again between him and Tony and by extension the rest of the Avengers. ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'' opens with revealing that Steve and Tony still have not talked since the end of Civil War and their lack of contact is a major contributing factor for the movie ending with TheBadGuyWins as the heroes were divided between Wakanda and Titan. Granted, Tony ''was'' going to call Steve early in the movie before being interrupted (by Ebony Maw and Cull Obsidian's arrival), but it still would have been 2 years of no contact, a ''far cry'' from "no lasting stakes".
** In the Honest Trailer for ''Film/TheSocialNetwork'', the Narrator expresses pleasant surprise at the movie being much more entertaining than he expected it to be, noting that he wouldn't mind watching ''another'' movie about Website/{{Facebook}}. Since that video was released, Facebook has been at the center of several major scandals related to its business practices (most notably [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambridge_Analytica_data_scandal the Cambridge Analytica data scandal]] and [[https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/05/technology/haugen-facebook.html the Haugen leak]]), which arguably make the events depicted in ''The Social Network'' look pretty tame by comparison. With that in mind, it's not hard to imagine that there could actually '''be''' another movie about Facebook someday.
** In the video for the GI Joe movies, Bruce Willis is described as doing the least to collect his check. This joke became uncomfortable with the revelation, less than a year later, that Willis was forced into retirement due to aphasia, a disability that interferes with his speech.

** The ''Film/{{Hulk}}'' Honest Trailer invites the viewer to "travel back to a time when Creator/KevinFeige could still f*ck up a superhero movie." Later Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse Honest Trailers would treat the Multiverse Saga as the return of such a time, expressing dissatisfaction with such movies as ''Film/{{Eternals}}'', ''Film/DoctorStrangeInTheMultiverseOfMadness'', and ''Film/ThorLoveAndThunder''.
** The ''WesternAnimation/Frozen2013'' Honest Trailer refers to the movie as the first good Disney musical since ''WesternAnimation/{{Pocahontas}}''. Eight years later, the ''Pocahontas'' Honest Trailer would instead refer to its subject as, "an absolute stinker that kicked off more than a decade of garbage."