Fans who stayed after the credits of Captain America: The First Avenger (you do stay after the credits for Marvel movies, right?) caught the first glimpse of next summer's Marvel superhero extravaganza. Now that the first teaser trailer for The Avengers has been released online along with the (spoiler alert!) end of Captain America, fans are poring over every brief image looking for plot details and clues about possible costume changes. Join me as I break down the Avengers trailer and offer my predictions for where Earth's mightiest heroes will go next.
Steve Rogers won't find Tony Stark amusing.
The tension between straitlaced Steve Rogers and bon vivant Tony Stark has been a major part of recent Avengers comics. (For the ultimate Tony vs. Steve story, see Marvel's Civil War.) Chris Evans talked to MTV Splashpage
about the relationship between Tony and Steve, saying, "One guy is
flash and spotlight and smooth, and the other guy is selfless and in the
shadows and kind of quiet, and they have to get along." So should
we expect wholesome Rogers to be taken aback by Stark's wild, drunken
ways? In writer-director Joss Whedon's hands, the Rogers-Stark tension will likely sparkle.
Thor and Captain America will get new costumes.
Based
on the brief looks at Captain America and Thor in the teaser, it
appears the latest Avengers recruits will be getting some sleek new duds. Cap's costume is closer to his modern comic-book uniform than the
World War II fatigues from Captain America.
Thor has grown out his blond locks (ladies dig
the unkempt look) and lost his metal sleeves on his trip back from
Asgard. (The new costume resembles the one he sports in the Ultimates comic.) Hawkeye's costume looks pretty similar to the one Jeremy Renner wore in Thor. Finally, in the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" department, Black Widow is rocking her form-fitting leather ensemble from Iron Man 2. You can breathe now, fanboys.
Loki will be the main villain.
Back when Thor came out, I predicted that Loki stealing the Tesseract is what would unite the Avengers around a common goal. As we saw in the Avengers
trailer, Loki looks ready to cause trouble. In the comics, Thor,
Ant-Man, The Wasp, and Iron Man come together after Loki tricks Hulk
into destroying a railroad track. (Hulk's rampages were far tamer back
then.) After a brief misunderstanding (comics are lousy with
misunderstandings that lead to punching), the heroes team up to defeat
Loki. While the Hulk will factor into the story (word is his new look is based on star Mark Ruffalo), it's a good bet that Loki's plan will revolve around the Tesseract.
Red Skull and Loki could team up.
At the end of Captain America: The First Avenger,
Red Skull is disintegrated and seemingly shot into outer space by the
power of the Tesseract. Since the Tesseract comes from Odin's treasure
room, should we assume that Red Skull was blasted to Asgard to face
judgment for attempting to harness the power of the Gods? While there's
no indication that Hugo Weaving will turn up in Avengers, Marvel
is clearly going to tie Red Skull into the overall storyline now that he
has messed with Odin's toy. And we all know that Red Skull isn't really
dead. Nobody stays dead in comics.
Stan Lee will cameo.
Between
his turns as "truck driver who tries to pull Mjolnir out of the
ground" to "Army guy surprised that Captain America isn't taller,"
Marvel mascot Stan "The Man" Lee has had a busy summer. So who will he
play in Avengers? Unfortunately, the role of Jarvis is already
taken. (Paul Bettany will reprise his deadpan vocal performance as Tony
Stark's robot butler.) Will "Hollywood" Stan play actor/sometime Avenger
Wonder Man? Or will he reprise his role as the Fantastic Four's mailman
Willie Lumpkin? More likely, he'll be some random passerby with a quick
one-liner. (For more Stan, check out our list of his most memorable Marvel movie pop-ins.)
Black Widow and Hawkeye will get cozy.
Fans
are speculating that Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow may have eyes for
Jeremy Renner's Hawkeye. (This theory is based on a quick shot where
Black Widow seems to be giving a sultry look to someone who resembles
Renner.) And what about Steve Rogers' date with Peggy Carter? (Assuming
she's still alive, that is.) Will Thor be reunited with Jane Foster?
What about a romantic subplot for S.H.I.E.L.D. agents Coulson (Clark
Gregg) and Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders)? Poor Agent Coulson. He works
hard getting the Avengers together only to have Nick Fury swoop in and
take all the credit.
S.H.I.E.L.D. will (hopefully) get better security.
Thor
breaks into a S.H.I.E.L.D. compound with minimal effort. Steve Rogers
wakes up, realizes it's not 1942, and then immediately busts out of his
mock hospital room. It's safe to say the house that Nick Fury built
needs a better alarm system. Hopefully S.H.I.E.L.D. will be a more
tightly-run ship under fan favorite agent Maria Hill's watch. And
where's the Helicarrier? It's much harder to break free from
S.H.I.E.L.D. custody when you're high above Manhattan in an armored
floating aircraft carrier.
