The eagerly, eagerly, eagerly awaited first trailer for Joss Whedon’s The Avengers finally came out this week, and after we all watched it a few dozen times and the dust settled, one question needed to be asked.
What was that?
Awesome, that’s what. But let’s take a closer look at our first glimpse of the most highly anticipated superhero movie of all time.
SHOT #1: New York City
We’re with you so far.
LOKI: “You were made to be ruled.”
Dude, you don’t even know us. Unless… Wait, you’re a god. Did you make us? Did you make us to be ruled? Aw crap, we’re in trouble.
There are lots of shots in this opening sequence and interspersed throughout the trailer of characters looking upwards, and shooting upwards, appearing pretty darned concerned. Although we still haven’t seen any villains outside of Loki, this repeated visual motif does seem to imply an alien invasion, as rumored. Still no indication of whether we’re looking at Skrulls (the most likely candidate), Kree or hell, even the Badoon, but one thing’s for certain: they don’t want us to know yet.
That, or they’re really not done making them all via CGI.
LOKI: “In the end, it will be every man for himself.”
This line of dialogue might sound trite, since it’s basically a cliché, but it’s actually very important. (Besides, we’ll bet that Tony Stark has an appropriately snarky response to it afterwards.) It establishes, at the start of the trailer, that this will not only be a union of heroes but that it will also pit them against each other… as we shall see later on.
The wall of flame and debris rampaging down the streets of New York isn’t just a summer blockbuster mainstay, it also evokes memories of 9/11. The implication is that this will be an attack on New York and, as Tony Stark implies later in the trailer, our whole planet. And given the glimpses we see throughout this teaser and a line of dialogue Tony later says to justify the film’s title, it helps set up the idea of that the villains make the first, unexpected strike, and that their victims will need some serious avenging.
AGENT COULSON: “What do we do?”
COLONEL NICK FURY: “We get ready.”
Plotwise, there’s little to glean from this. Obviously it’s a “let’s get this trailer started” moment. It does imply that a future enemy attack is expected, so a chunk of the film will probably include a calm before the storm to build suspense. Standard action movie stuff. Did you ever see Zulu? That’s the best one ever.
Some of us seem to be a little more interested in this sign in the background. We’ve tried to “enhance” it, but that doesn’t work so well outside of 24. It appears to say “Joint Dark Energy Mission,” or possibly “Joint Stark Energy Mission.” We eventually came to the conclusion that it’s probably not a major plot point, but feel free to speculate away.
COLONEL NICK FURY: “There was an idea to bring together a group of remarkable people, so when we needed them they could fight the battles that we never could.”
Whose idea was that? “Mitch, over in accounting. Dude’s really going places.”
We assume that after the whole Hydra thing in Captain America: The First Avenger, the government was seriously considering signing up anyone even remotely superhuman for clandestine missions against superpowered badasses. It would be interesting to see if this is explored further, but we’re not holding our breaths.
The plot point is followed by quick reminders of who the hell is actually in this movie, specifically designed to make the geek centers of your brains spurt out huge loads of adrenaline. It works, doesn’t it?
One notable bit is with Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner, the one character from the trailer whom we haven’t seen before (or at least this incarnation of him). He appears to be entering a squalid room, looking pretty pissed. An investigation of some kind, perhaps?
Another notable bit? A flipping quinjet. It's okay, you're allowed to geek out.
One last notable moment from this section is Black Widow noticing Loki walking down the hallway. What’s unclear is whether he’s being escorted by SHIELD agents or doing his invisibility thing from Thor.
If it’s the former, he’s probably trying to establish a connection to Black Widow that he can exploit later. If it’s the latter, well, that’s interesting isn’t it? Why can she see him?
NEXT: The second half of our in-depth look at the trailer for The Avengers. What does it have in common with the 'Fantastic Four' movie?
