“And with that, The Avengers were assembled,” said Kevin Feige, President of Production at Marvel Studios as he introduced exclusive footage of the new superhero movie at Disney's D23 conference.
OK, so our story tagline “Iron Man and Nick Fury spar with Loki” suggests some fisticuffs but the verbal jousting they engage in actually made for an entertaining watch.
Before that, Marvel showed a cool backstory montage that brought together all of the Avengers elements from the Iron Man movies, The Incredible Hulk , Thor and Captain America - reminding everyone just what a huge undertaking it's been to get to The Avengers movie.
Then it was time for Nick Fury to lay down the law to an imprisoned Loki in the way only Samuel L. Jackson can.
As Fury outlines the pitfalls of trying to escape (the glass cell sits over a hole with a deadly drop 30,000 feet down), Loki cusses him for choosing to side with the superheroes. All the while the other Avengers watch from a control room. Loki promises he'll show Fury what “real power is”. Fury quips back: “Let me know if real power wants a magazine or something.”
Not to be outdone, Downey Jr. also has a run in with the demi-God, although Loki isn't revealed until the end of the footage.
Naming off the Avengers team members Stark says, “Lets do a head count.” This is followed by footage of Hawkeye and Black Widow (“Two world class assassins”), a shot of Thor (“A demigod”), footage of Captain America (“A living legend that actually lives up to the legend”), with Stark adding: “And you big guy, you’ve managed to piss them all off.” Loki counters with the words, “I have an army.” Tony replies, “We have a Hulk.”
Several cast members also showed up very, very briefly after the footage was unveiled for the first time, including Tom Hiddleston (Loki), Cobie Smulders (Shield agent Maria Hill), Jeremy Renner (Hawkeye), Scarlet Johansson (Black Widow), Chris Hemsworth (Thor) and Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man).
“We’re happy to be down here visiting our parents in Anaheim,” Downey wisecracked, before asking the fans if they wanted to watch the footage again and then exiting the stage pretty sharpish.
