There's nothing they can't face if they're together...

After what seems like an utterly ridiculously long wait, the first full trailer for Marvel’s The Avengers is here, and it is awesome. In fact, awesome is an understatement. They’ll probably have to invent a new word to describe how cool this is, one which, at the very least, sums up the concepts of ‘cool’, ‘awesome’, ‘squee’, and ‘joy and happiness and sunshine’.

This is a trailer that has 'Best. Film. Ever.' written all over it, for a film that already had 'Best. Film. Ever.' written all over it.

Transformers-like sound effects, a low-angle shot of Samuel L. Jackson standing on a roof with his sweeping black coat billowing as helicopter blades spin overheard, Samuel L. Jackson with a rocket launcher, cars flipping over and exploding, rock music: it’s like writer-director Joss Whedon is turning into Michael Bay. And that’s a very good thing. Michael Bay is one of the most awesome and most underrated directors working today.

Joss Whedon once said (on a Dollhouse commentary), in a somewhat tongue-in-cheek, self-deprecating way, “I’m turning into Michael Bay…except not as good at shooting.” Now it seems that he’s made up for that deficiency, so he’s now Michael Bay…except better at characterisation and dialogue. (Though, to be fair, he’s better at those things than just about anybody else, just as Michael Bay’s better at shooting than just about anybody else.)

In the trailer, Samuel L. Jackson's Nick Fury says: “There’s been an idea to bring together a team of remarkable people, so that when they’re needed, they can fight the battles that we can’t.”

Not only does this sum up the idea behind the Avengers Initiative (and hence the film, though Joss Whedon’s said that the diverse nature of the team will have interesting implications for the character dynamics), but it also sums up, meta-textually, how awesome a project this film is, bringing together a supremely talented cast and crew. Not only does the cast include Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson, Samuel L. Jackson, Tom Hiddleston, Jeremy Renner, Clark Gregg, Cobie Smulders, Gwyneth Paltrow, Stellan Skarsgaard, Amanda Righetti, and Enver Gjokaj, as well as the voices of Paul Bettany and Lou Ferrigno, but it’s also written and directed by comic book fan and visionary Joss Whedon.

This is the same Joss Whedon who brought us Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly, Dollhouse, Serenity, Astonishing X-Men, Fray, Sugarshock, and Doctor Horrible’s Sing-a-Long Blog, as well as having a hand in the screenplays for Speed and Toy Story. If you’re unfamiliar with any of those, it’s well worth your time to check them out. Bear in mind, though, that his TV shows are relatively slow-burning (though not compared to, say, The Wire), so you’re unlikely to appreciate their full awesomeness before you’ve had time to properly invest in the characters, and for the epic story arcs to kick in. It’s *so* worth it, though, and it means that the shows just keep on getting better and better. (Until they’re cancelled. In which case they get a comic book continuation, and sometimes a movie.)

It looks like Joss Whedon has finally found that subset of his sensibilities that chimes exactly with mainstream tastes. He’s always been awesome, but outside of his dedicated fanbase, his previous work has never had the impact that it should (i.e. it’s been watched by less than everybody).

Hopefully now that’ll change. Though most cinemagoers probably won’t have heard of Joss Whedon, any epic superhero crossover movie, let alone The Avengers, has inherent blockbuster potential, and one that’s done right, as this one no doubt will be, could well be a massive hit. So it’s very likely that millions more people will discover the genius of Joss Whedon through The Avengers, and then hopefully catch up on his back catalogue, and find out that it’s just as good.

Some more great quotes from the trailer, showcasing the tip of the iceberg of Joss Whedon’s snappy dialogue, which is the tip of the iceberg of his amazing storytelling talent:

Steve Rogers: “You’re a big man in an armoured suit. Take that away, what are you?”

Tony Stark: “Genius. Billionaire. Playboy. Philanthropist.”

Tony Stark: “Dr. Banner, your work is unparalleled. And I’m a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster.”

Bruce Banner: “Thanks.”

The Avengers is released on May 4, 2012 in the US, and on April 27, 2012 in the UK.

See also:

Joss Whedon's secret Shakespeare film adaptation

Awesome low-budget The Avengers trailer spoof

Joss Whedon will follow The Avengers with Wastelanders, "a dark piece" with no singing

Top 23 things that Joss Whedon should do post-Avengers

Joss talks Dr. Horrible, Avengers

Joss Whedon officially directing The Avengers!

The Cabin in the Woods, finally!

Aardman’s The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists trailer

Second Muppets teaser trailer is just as witty

Five comics that deserve a movie

The 10 best-to-worst movie vigilante teams

The Top 10 coolest comic-book villains in movies

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