“This is the story of a boy with scissors for hands,” says the unmistakable voice of Winona Ryder at the start of Cadillac’s commercial for Super Bowl LV, before adding, “No, not that one.” Yes, thirty years after Winona starred in Tim Burton’s Edward Scissorhands, fans are treated to a semi-sequel that sees Winona’s Kim Boggs raising a scissorhanded son named Edgar, portrayed by Timothée Chalamet. With tousled hair and sunken eyes, Edgar is just as hauntingly beautiful as the titular Edward (portrayed by Johnny Depp) was in the original 1990 film, and like the first Scissorhands, Edgar has his own share of troubles.
Public transportation, science class, and playing football (ironic, considering this is a Super Bowl ad) are troublesome for young Edgar. Much like how Edward was a master of topiary, haircuts, and shaving ice into snow, Edgar’s hands do quite the culinary artist – at least, when it comes to getting a salad at a fast-food place. Unfortunately, this doesn’t bring much joy to Edgar, and when his mother sees him using VR goggles just to experience the joy of driving, she hatches a plan.
Enter the All-Electric Cadillac LYRIC. With his mother at his side, Edgar engaged the hands-free cruise control, experiencing a joy many take for granted. “And Edgar went on to drive all over the country,” Winona’s voice over said, “even if he still hasn’t moved out, which was fine with his mom. Really.”
“It’s rare when a work you’re proud of continues to live on and evolve with the times, even after 30 years,” Tim Burton — who approved the concept for the new ad — said a press release. “I’m glad to see Edgar coping with the new world! I hope both fans and those being introduced to Edward Scissorhands for the first time enjoy it.”
“We love the creative concept of Super Cruise and the LYRIQ opening up Edgar’s world and bringing confidence to his daily life,” added Melissa Grady, Cadillac’s chief marketing officer, in that statement. “At a time when people are looking for an escape from the challenges of the past year, it was a privilege to revisit the beloved story of Edward Scissorhands in a fresh, modern way and showcase Cadillac’s electric future during the biggest game of the year.”
This commercial – which gives an idea of what would have happened had Tim Burton gone into advertising instead of directing – was first teased on Feb. 4 with a clip of the first few seconds of the shot. It was enough to get fans hyped, and somewhere, a studio executive is hard at work at the soft-reboot/remake movie. The question now is which will be made first? Edgar Scissorhands or the long-rumored sequel to another one of Tim Burton’s iconic movies, Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian?
This marks Winona’s second consecutive year appearing in a Super Bowl commercial. In 2020, she partnered with Squarespace to create essentially an episode of Fargo, but with none of the violence and more of the quirk. Winona visited Winona, Minnesota. She used the webhost and e-commerce service to build a website about Winona to draw attention to the town. “Winona represents a lot of small towns and cities that aren’t talked about as often or don’t get as much attention,” she said in a press release. “Helping to give a voice and a platform through Squarespace to this town is really wonderful.”