Based on what we’ve seen so far, Ridley Scott’s The Martian looks like it’s going to be a reasonably serious sci-fi film. Matt Damon is starring as an astronaut who gets left behind on Mars when the other members of his space-crew are forced to leave the planet during a space-storm. He then has to use his classic Matt Damon charm and wit to not only survive, but also to notify people back on Earth that he’s still alive. It’s a thrilling premise, and it made for an exciting book, but a new clip promoting The Martian undercuts most of the drama by revealing that all astronauts—or at least all of the astronauts involved in this mission—are secretly goofballs.
The promo is based around interviews with the crew members after they just underwent 10 days in isolation as part of their training program. Instead of, say, reflecting on what they might do if they accidentally leave someone behind on Mars, they all apparently used their time to come up with good jokes. Michael Peña’s character, for example, created exciting new masturbation techniques. Aksel Hennie’s character did something orderly and efficient, because he’s a German guy. Kate Mara’s character just napped or whatever, because she’s like, totally chill and stuff. Jessica Chastain stoically remained badass, and Matt Damon contemplated important mysteries, like why Aquaman can communicate with whales even though they’re mammals.
So, yeah, the exercise probably didn’t prepare them for Mars at all, but it is a pretty funny clip. The Martian will be in theaters on October 2.