Tom Cruise is ready to rocket from here to Oblivion.
The resurgent star, whose $694 million–grossing Mission: Impossible—Ghost Protocol reinvigorated his box-office mojo, jumps back into action-hero mode in a futuristic thriller that finds him returning to a desolate Earth...that may not be as abandoned as it seems.
Here are five things we gleaned from the film's intriguing new trailer. A tip: Be careful where you step.
1. Better Call Off That Vacay to New York City: "Sixty years ago, Earth was attacked. We won the war, but they destroyed half the planet," Cruise says in an ominous voice-over as we see vistas of Manhattan reduced to a desolate wasteland—complete with a crumbling Empire State Building. (So much for the view.) In the film, Cruise plays Jack Harper, a worker sent back to Earth for "drone repair" after humans hightail it and build a new civilization high above the abandoned planet.
2. He's Not Alone: The planet may be a postapocalyptic no-man's-land, but there's something else out there. "Everyone's been evacuated...nothing human remains," Cruise's character says, foreshadowing the arrival of menacing creatures that whoosh past our hero, who promptly whips out his gun and opens fire. Based on quick glimpses of them, this much we can gather: They've got one fiery red eye, they gallop on all fours and they move very, very fast. That's your cue: Run.
3. There Are Humans, All Right—and They Might Not Be on Your Side: So that whole "everybody's been evacuated" bit? Big fail. Turns out, there's a band of human marauders living on Earth, led by Morgan Freeman as some kind of badass, cigar-chomping freedom-fighter leader. Sold already? We are! "Don't ask too many questions," he warns Harper, revealing that all isn't quite as it seems on the surface.
4. Conspiracy Theory: As Harper's steely colleague (played by Andrea Riseborough) orders him to return to base, he suddenly discovers pods containing humans, including a beguiling brunette (Olga Kurylenko) who somehow figures into mysterious memories and flashbacks that he has. Could Freeman's rebel leader be onto something here? We'll give you one guess.
5. Watch Where You Step: As things come to a head, Harper's search for the truth detonates a shockwave of face-offs, blowouts and high-speed air chases involving sleek, orb-shaped spacecraft that blow up like splatter balls. He may be close to an answer: In one of the trailer's final shots, a claw shoots up from the ground and grabs hold of Harper, dragging him all the way to, well, oblivion. Where's he headed? Try not to get too antsy: We'll find out soon enough when the film hits theaters on April 13.