6 Major Concerns From Ready Player One Trailer

Ready Player One's writing team were always going to have difficulty establishing a particularly-interesting protagonist since the Oasis is the real star (and the book's version of the Wade Watts character wasn't particularly noteworthy either), but it's difficult to ignore just how bland and uninteresting Wade seems to be, especially in comparison to the incredibly interesting world that surrounds him.

The book sets up Wade as a Charlie Bucket-like underdog that comes from hardship to become a key player in this massive competition. It's definitely a worthy backstory, but Wade as a character isn't really all that interesting. The flair and intrigue comes from the craziness within the Oasis that he must endure, but it's never really him that's the interesting part. It's the unfortunate framing of Cline's source novel, and it doesn't seem like it'll be much different for the film.

Tye Sheridan is a talented young actor, but so far, it doesn't seem like he has a strong archetype to work with that'll help him add much memorability or charisma to the role (since Wade is supposed to be a nerdy, overweight kid who doesn't socialize well).

Here's hoping he can avoid being the dull centerpiece in a heavily-flashy overall experience.