NYCC Marvel Panel: The Avengers

Published on Oct 17th, 2011
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Written by Ryan Hamelin
RyanHamelin@TheCinemaSource.com

The time had come for our final panel of the day, and that was for Marvel’s The Avengers. The panel ended up not starting until almost 45 minutes late, much to the chagrin of a tired and frustrated audience, some of whom had been waiting for this panel since 10am. When the moderator finally came out, he was the same guy who had done such a good job on The Walking Dead panel, and he brought out Kevin Fiege to chat for a few minutes before showing us all the trailer that had debuted the previous Tuesday, albeit at a much higher quality. It played like gangbusters, with screaming occurring so often that it was impossible to hear what was happening in the actual footage. Having seen the trailer several times already, I didn’t mind, but it gives you a sense of the overwhelming volume in the room, akin to a sports arena.

Then they brought out Chris Evans (Captain America), Tom Hiddleston (Loki), Cobie Smulders (Maria Hill), Clark Gregg (Agent Coulson), and surprise guest Mark Ruffalo (Bruce Banner/The Hulk) who had yet to appear at a panel for the film. They spoke for a few minutes about their preparation for the film, Ruffalo explaining that he “Ruffalized” the part from its most recent Edward Norton incarnation. Apparently he and Norton are close friends, and joke that Bruce Banner is going to be their generation’s Hamlet, with every actor getting a chance to play him at least once. Then it was on to the footage, which I’ll do my best to describe below

The scene opens in a decrepit portion of a country far removed from the US. The art direction evoked slums in India, but no location was given. A young girl comes rushing into a house, waiving money at Mark Ruffalo and telling him that a family member of hers is sick.

The girl leads him to a house in a remote area on the edge of town, and as soon as he’s inside, she takes off, darting out of a kitchen window. Scarlett Johansson appears from behind a pillar, revealing that she’s brought Banner out to talk. He jokingly asks her if the place is surrounded, and she responds that it’s just “You and me.”

The two pace around each other, both looking for a weakness they can exploit. She explains to Banner that Nick Fury has sent her to collect him. He asks if that means they’re putting him in a cage, and she asks him if he’s ever heard of a tesseract, also known as The Cosmic Cube, and featured prominently in Captain America: The First Avenger. She explains that Banner can detect the faint traces of gamma radiation the cube gives off, traces that S.H.I.E.L.D. has been unable to locate. Banner makes a sudden move towards her, feigning rage, and Black Widow pulls a gun on him from under the table.

As they square off, Banner explains to her that he wasn’t actually angry, just curious about how she’d react, and that if she tried to shoot him, the “other guy” was probably going to show up, and she wouldn’t like how that would end. He agrees to come with her, and she turns her head slightly to one side, informing the microphone in her ear that “You can stand down.” The camera pops outside, revealing that the house had in fact been surrounded by soldiers throughout the entire conversation. Banner raises an eyebrow and says “Just you and me huh.”

The scene played really well, demonstrating the smart, witty dialogue that director Joss Whedon is known for, while giving us our first good luck at Ruffalo’s version of Banner. He actually refers to the Hulk as “the other guy” several more times throughout the scene, something that we haven’t really heard from that character in the past. It should be interesting to watch. The rest of the footage was the same as what was shown at Disney’s Expo over the summer, complete with Stark doing a “headcount” of the assembled heroes with the reveal that he’s actually talking to Loki who’s standing in his apartment. After being informed that he’s managed to “Piss off every single one of them,” Loki counters with “I have an army.” Stark responds, “We have a hulk” and then the same footage of Ruffalo hulking out from the trailer flashes across the screen.

The coda has the team assembled around Loki’s staff, seemingly with the tesseract implanted in its head, and Stark jabbing Banner with a stun gun. Banner doesn’t react, and Stark praises his self control, “What’s your secret? Tie bow? Smooth jazz?” Captain America, who’s standing across the table, clearly in no mood for the sarcasm asks “Is everything funny to you?” Stark looks up just long enough to make eye contact and responds, “The funny stuff is.” And so ended the exclusive footage from the sure-to-be blockbuster.

The Q&A was chock full of fun tidbits, which I will attempt to collect in the following bullets:

• The first question asked was by a young kid who requested the cast to say “Avengers Assemble.” They did, and the kid let them know that they had made his day. An adorable start.
• Though Chris Evans was the first to complain about the uncomfortable nature of the costumes, it was agreed that Tom Hiddleston actually had the worst time. “All leather and metal” he nodded gravely, adding that you kind of had to plan bathroom breaks far in advance and bemoaning that he never got a “jeans and t-shirt” day like most of the rest of the cast. However, it was quite clear that he had been enjoying himself.
• Clark Gregg explained the off-hand way in which he had been invited to each successive film. In Iron Man 2 they just told him to say “I’m going to New Mexico.” When he asked why, they were like, “Because you’re going to be in Thor.” At ComicCon the previous year, he got the chance to meet Joss Whedon for the first time, who told him to get ready. “Ready for what?” he asked. Oh right, he had a big part in The Avengers that nobody bothered to tell him about.
• Kevin Fiege confirmed that there would indeed be an after-the-credits sequence following The Avengers, calling it a “wonderful tradition he’d like to see continue.” Also the studio is currently deep in pre-production on Iron Man 3 for a potential release the summer after next.
• Gregg mentioned that, though it was rare the cast was together in one place, it had happened for a night over the summer, a night which had begun with the best text message he claims he had ever received. The text was from Chris Evans, and all it said was “Assemble.” Apparently Albuquerque, New Mexico will never recover from that evening.
• Then it was Tom Hiddleston’s turn to chime in on that particular night, saying that he had a story that had to be told. Evans put his head down in shame, first protesting but eventually relenting. Hiddleston describes one of the clubs they had attended that evening, and the fact that everyone was dancing, everyone except “Messirs Evans and Hemsworth” who were sitting at a booth. All Hiddleston heard of their conversation was one exchange as Evans flexed his arm and pointed at a part of his bicep before saying, “But how do you get this part?” Flipping into a perfect Australian accent, he delivered Hemsworth’s reply, “I dunno mate, you just gotta work out and stuff.” The place was it stitches, and Evans looked appropriately embarrassed.
• Most of the questions for the panel were aimed at Tom Hiddleston, leading to much joking from the rest of the cast.
• Ruffalo explained that he’s the first actor to ever get the chance to play both Bruce Banner and the Hulk, via the magic of performance capture technology. He wore a grey checkerboard suit on set.
• Nobody asked Fiege about the Skrulls or whether we’d see anything conclusive to lead into a new Captain America or Thor film.

And with that, the big panel was complete, as is our coverage of the New York Comic Con.

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