Kevin Hart Conquers the World in the Trailer for His New Stand-Up Film ‘What Now?’

The trailer for the upcoming Kevin Hart stand-up film What Now wants everyone who sees it to be fully aware that Kevin Hart is successful. Not just comedian-successful, but like rock-star successful. The first forty seconds of the trailer are dedicated to communicating just how famous Kevin Hart has become, with boastful statistics about his comedy tour — which was the biggest of all time, sorry Andrew Dice Clay — flashing across the screen. In fact, the entire trailer is characterized by this braggadocio, with the gold-chain-rocking Hart flexin’ on the crowd like a rapper who’s just gone platinum. When he takes the stage and announces, “In my city, I made history,” it might sound a little bit like he’s full of himself.

But the next sentence puts all of this bluster into a compelling new context. Hart follows up with, “We sold a football stadium out tonight!” and his shift from the singular first-person to the collective first-person says it all. So much of Hart’s success comes from his everyman persona; for most of the folks in the audience, he comes across like your funniest friend from high school, or college, or just back in the neighborhood.

Hart’s success is something he wants to share with everyone who’s ever supported him, and so in seemingly elevating himself through boasts about his gigantic tour, he’s actually celebrating everyone who’s gotten him there. And in case it wasn’t clear, the racial component makes this exultation of black excellence even more cathartic. Stand-up concert movies are generally hit-or-miss — Kevin Hart fans will go to see it, people who aren’t won’t — but this one feels a little more ceremonious.