Image via Universal Pictures // 

The film is slated for release next July…

Following years of teasers and rumours, we’ve finally gotten the first trailer for Christopher Nolan’s upcoming historical drama, Oppenheimer, and it’s safe to say our expectations have been heightened. Starring frequent Nolan collaborator, Cillian Murphy, in the titular role, the film follows iconic scientist Robert Oppenheimer in his journey to create the atomic bomb, and the inevitable fallout of its detonation.

The nuclear anxiety that permeated the end of WW2 is fully tangible in the trailer, with Murphy’s Oppenheimer narrating in a voiceover, “We imagine a future and our imaginings horrify us,” Murphy’s Oppenheimer says in a voiceover as footage of explosions and nuclear fusion appear on screen. They won’t fear it until they understand it. And they won’t understand it until they’ve used it.”

The visuals of the trailer shows an noticeably gaunt and troubled Murphy as he works to create the bomb. The brief flashes of nuclear fusion help to interweave the sci-fi nature of the film with its historical roots. It all culminates in a close up of a hand trembling above a red button, which is no doubt a reference to the detonation of the bomb.

Oppenheimer is set to be released in theatres July 21st, 2023. Check out the full trailer below.