Divergent Offers Up A Familiar Looking Poster

By Brent McKnight | Published

This article is more than 2 years old

DivergentThe movie may not open for more than four months, but if Summit Entertainment has anything to say about it, you’re not going to be allowed to forget about their upcoming adaptation of Veronica Roth’s Divergent, not even for a second. There have been teasers, featurettes, photos, a Comic-Con panel, and even a collection of heavily tattooed character posters. A new trailer drops tomorrow, but before that, a new poster has appeared.

There certainly seems to be almost as much promotional material for this as for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire which actually does open in less than two weeks. Then again, that’s probably the point. At this point it should be obvious that the studio wants to position Divergent to be the next big thing in dystiopian YA movie franchises, and the two properties are going after the same demographic, so it makes sense to do everything possible to connect them in viewer’s minds.

At first glance, the image in this poster looks remarkably like those generic ones World War Z kept recycling, where they would superimpose the same picture of Brad Pitt over different backdrops. Don’t be surprised if similar looking pieces start popping up again down the line. This particular one shows the heroes of the film, Beatrice “Tris” Prior (Shailene Woodley) and the hunky Four (Theo James), with a gleaming Chicago sprawled out in behind them. It must be the wheel, but heavily airbrushed background has a sort of circus feel to it. The setting is supposed to be all grim and depressing, but you walk away with a warm, almost happy vibe that belies the scowls on the faces of the characters. There’s also a touch of the back-to-the-camera motiff that’s so popular these days.

Set in the near future, Divergent imagines a world where society is broken up based on the dominant personality traits of the populace. When you hit 16, you take a test, and are shuffled off to one of five groups—Dauntless (brave), Erudite (smart), Abnegation (selfless), Amity (peaceful), and Candor (honest)–and these factions serve as your defacto family. On occasion someone slips through the cracks, and comes back Divergent. This is bad because these people can’t easily be ruled, and it throws the whole system into chaos, so they’re dealt with. Tris is one of these, and because being a teenager doesn’t suck enough, she’ll face all manner of challenges, hardships, and opposition that your usual adolescent doesn’t have to deal with.

What makes the Divergents so dangerous, you ask? Well that’s exactly what Tris has to figure out before it’s too late. There are two ways for you at home to find out on your own. First, you could read Roth’s book, which will most likely give you a pretty good idea. Or, you can wait until March 21, 2014, when Divergent actually opens and watch a movie about it.