The Avengers Footage Screened

Disney had plenty to show off this past weekend at their D23 Expo. The biggest hit among the crowd had to be some early footage of the upcoming ultimate team-up movie The Avengers. Check out a description below from Ryan Turek over at Superherohype.com, and follow the link to read his full report of the Marvel showcase.

Loki (Tom Hiddleston) takes his place in a prison of glass and metal. We presume he's on the S.H.I.E.L.D. Hellicarrier. Loki assesses his surroundings, but doesn't appear impressed. More amused. Nick Fury types away on a keypad nearby, threatening that if Loki even touches the glass, he'll meet a certain doom. But again, Loki isn't deterred by this. He's confident this prison won't hold him. Fury begs to differ, saying it was built to hold something powerful.

"You threaten my world with war. Steal a force you can't control. You have made me desperate," Fury says. Hinting, of course, to the Tesseract (the Cosmic Cube) seen in Captain America. Loki and Fury continue their tête-à-tête and we find that the Avengers have been assembled in another room and they're listening in. Elsewhere on the Helicarrier, we get a glimpse of Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders), also monitoring the Fury/Loki encounter.

This extended scene flows well; the dialogue has a tight rhythm as these two large personalities, separated by glass, face one another. The intensity palpable. One gets the sense if Loki wants out... he'll get the hell out. But there's something else simmering in his motivations and, of course, we don't know what it is, because this scene gives way to a second teaser trailer, of sorts.

Enticing imagery that flies by furiously: A S.H.I.E.L.D. jet soars towards a city. Thor raises his hammer to the sky. Hawkeye taking aim with his bow and arrow. Loki standing on the back of a military vehicle (at least that's what it looked like, it flew by). Steve Rogers stands before a hi-tech closet. The doors pull away to reveal his revamped costume. Thor slams his hammer down on the shield of a crouching Captain America (training perhaps?). This is all inter-cut with Tony Stark, standing behind a bar making a drink, as he makes an Avengers "roll call": Two highly trained assassins, a "Demigod," an American legend... We realize he's doing this for Loki, who is standing in the room with him.

Loki responds to this with, "I have an army."

Stark quickly shoots back, "We have a Hulk."

The presentation ends with a close-up shot of Mark Ruffalo's Hulk snarling at the camera, then, The Avengers logo slams onto the screen.