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WATCH: Ryan Gosling and Simu Liu’s Ken dolls “beach” each other off in the very gay ‘Barbie’ trailer

By · 15 comments · Updated on January 26, 2024
Ryan Gosling as Ken in the 'Barbie' movie
Image Credit: ‘Barbie,’ Warner Bros. Pictures

We sincerely hope you didn’t have any other plans today, because a new Barbie trailer has dropped—in addition to a whole Barbie’s DreamHouse worth of character posters—and it’s all anyone can talk about.

By now, you already know the film inspired by the iconic doll is going to be the movie event of the summer. Ever since those first promotional photos of Margot Robbie and an ab-flashing Ryan Gosling (as Barbie and Ken, respectively) dropped, Barbie has become the internet’s entire personality.

Directed by Lady Bird and Little Women‘s Greta Gerwig (and co-written with her indie filmmaker boo, Noah Baumbach), precious few details have been revealed about the movie. However, today’s trailer gives us our most in-depth look yet at the cinematic trip to Barbieland…

And, you know what? We’re still not sure what the plot of this thing is going to be. But when it looks this fun, does plot really matter?

We’re treated to a grand tour of Barbie’s brightly colored world, and even a visit to the beach, where she says hello to her fellow Barbies (Issa Rae, Emma Mackey, and Alexandra Shipp among them). Ken’s there, too, flashing those abs again, but he seems a little miffed.

Related:

That time Mattel made a gay Ken doll then freaked out when everyone else freaked out

“We’re not in the business of putting c*ck rings into the hands of little girls!” Lisa McKendall, Mattel’s head of marketing and communications, said at the time.

From what we can glean, Ken’s identity crisis might actually be what drives the plot along. Is he having an identity crisis? Maybe it’s because he doesn’t like being one of many Kens (we also get to see Simu Liu, Ncuti Gatwa, and Kingsley Ben Adir’s versions of the iconic doll), or maybe it’s because he’s tired of playing second fiddle as Barbie’s arm candy.

Whatever it is, Ken is in desperate need of getting his mojo back—his Ken-ergy, if you will—and it seems it’s inspired him to tag along with Barbie, hopping in her pink Corvette as she takes a trip to “The Real World.”

Of course, the standout moment comes at the end, where Gosling’s Ken and Liu’s Ken get a bit antagonistic at the beach, where they threaten to “beach” each other off. If you weren’t already convinced this movie was for the gays, girls, and theys, here’s your proof.

Anyway, we’ll stop yammering and let you watch the trailer for yourself:

As mentioned, the trailer actually dropped a few hours after Warner Bros. gifted the internet with a whole slew of character posters, which actually tell us more about the plot of the movie than the teasers thus far, and confirm a few exciting casting rumors.

My goodness, where do we begin? There’s pop star Dua Lipa as a mermaid Barbie, trans icon Hari Nef as a doctor Barbie, Scott Evans (a.k.a. Chris Evans’ gay brother) as a cowboy hat-sporting Ken, Bridgerton breakout and ally Nicola Coughlin as a diplomat Barbie, Michael Cera as Ken’s sidekick Allan, and Will Ferrell as…. mother?

We also have to give a special shoutout to queer comedy star Kate McKinnon as a Barbie who is “always in the splits.” As pointed out by tastemakers Tom & Lorenzo, it seems she’s playing a very familiar version of the doll: The one who is “self-styled,” scribbled on, and always in mismatched clothing.

As you might expect, Gay Twitter™ is having a field day with all of this—we can hardly keep up with all the memes, hot takes, and general excitement. Here are just a few of the reactions to what we’ve seen of the Barbie movie thus far:

Barbie opens in theaters everywhere on July 21, so mark your calendars! (As if you didn’t have them marked already).

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