There have been moments in recent boffo budget superhero films that acknowledge the logistical issues of stopping a train with one’s face. In the 2005 Fantastic Four adaptation, for example, a thrilling set piece on a crowded New York City bridge pitted the Four against the New York City Fire Dept., who were just trying to do their jobs as the Thing and Mr. Fantastic blew out girders and dangled cars over the edge. Super-Man 3 handled it differently, transforming Spider-Man into the local celebrity that any high-flying dude firing webs from his wrists would certainly be. And now we have what might be the purest form of self-aware superheroism film, Will Smith’s upcoming Hancock. Dude can stop locomotives with his face, too. But does he even want to?

The trailer rocks some some decent gags — Hancock destroying a freeway sign while in pursuit of a bad guy; Hancock “saving” a beached whale by hurling him back into the sea…where the enormous mammal smashes into a sailboat — and Jason Bateman returns to the A-list in his usual role as the sardonic, mildy-exasperated straight man. The Hancock trailer doesn’t give us the full scope, at least not yet. But Will Smith has been on a role, the effects look sick, and in a media culture that increasingly sees self-aware commentary as the newest way to subvert old forms, this one might have some train-stopping legs. — Johnny Loftus

Tags: Hancock, Will Smith, Jason Bateman, Fantastic Four, Spider-Man 3