Defending Jacob: Watch the trailer for the new series starring Chris Evans

Chris Evans has officially hung up his shield as Captain America and is free to move on to new projects. Today, Apple TV Plus released the first trailer for his new show, Defending Jacob.

After Avengers: Endgame finally premiered in April of 2019, Chris Evans finally had a chance to step out of his role as Captain America and move on to other projects. After some rumors and comments that he didn’t want to act anymore and just wanted to focus on directing, Evans appeared in last year’s massively popular Knives Out.

Apple TV Plus released the first trailer for its new show starring and executive produced by Evans. Based on a William Landay novel of the same name, Defending Jacob follows the parents of their 14-year-old son who has been charged with the murder of his classmate.

The series premieres on Apple TV Plus on Friday, April 24.

My initial reaction to this trailer is that it looks like a cross between David Fincher’s Gone Girl and Denis Villeneuve’s Prisoners. Both are excellent films. If Defending Jacob can take good lessons from these two films, it will be in good shape creatively and story-wise.

Its problem, though, is that it will be streaming on Apple TV Plus.

This service launched in the beginning of November 2019 to a virtually nonexistent reaction. People in the entertainment business knew that it had launched, but there was little marketing, and therefore little awareness once it officially came into our homes. People didn’t even know how to access the app.

Apple TV Plus even features shows starring big names like Oprah, Jennifer Aniston, Steve Carell, Jason Momoa, and Octavia Spencer, as well as filmmakers such as Stephen Spielberg and M. Night Shyamalan. Yet, the only project that came even remotely close to mainstream consciousness was The Morning Show.

So what does this mean for Defending Jacob? Can it make any sort of impact on current pop culture?

Evans being so heavily involved is a good first step. For one thing, he has a huge fanbase that would likely tune in just for him. The show was trending on Twitter after the trailer, and many of the tweets were just about Evans. He alone does have the kind of star power to bring in extra viewership that a show like this would need. Plus, seeing a New England native act in a New England-based project is always entertaining.

The show also has J.K. Simmons and Jaeden Martell, who is making a real name for himself with the IT franchise as well as Knives Out.

Hopefully, this show is good and is able to generate much-needed viewership for the viability and reputation of a platform such as Apple TV Plus. I will definitely at least check it out because of the actors involved alone.

Stream the first episode of Defending Jacob on Apple TV Plus on April 24!