'Avengers': A Deep Dive into the Awesome New Trailer

Here we see a New York City street detonating, though we don't quite know the origin of the trouble. We don't know who is causing it, or why. Loki (Tom Hiddleston), the villain in Thor (and the title character's brother), is also the central heavy in The Avengers, and he brings an alien army to help conquer Earth as his new kingdom (after he got the boot from his own homeworld at the end of Thor.) Obviously, he's planning on doing some redecorating.

Click over to EW's Inside Movies blog to watch the new Avengers trailer

But how does Loki get to Earth? We last saw him plummeting into a wormhole. Then, in the post-credits scene of Thor, we see Stellan Skarsgard as the astrophysicist Dr. Erik Selvig, being summoned to a S.H.I.E.L.D. base by Samuel L. Jackson's Nick Fury. Fury is showing him the cosmic Tesseract cube (used by Red Skull in the Captain America film). In Selvig's reflection, we see Loki — coveting this powerful object. Loki can take possession of people, but he doesn't seem to have his own corporal form anymore. This device seen in The Avengers trailer seems to change that. (Note the glowing blue dot where Loki stands. This becomes important later.)

Not the best photo, but that's on purpose. Right before we get a good long look at Loki, this shot goes dark. Loki is holding some kind of clawed sword, clearly alien in nature, with a blue crystalline power at its core. (More on this later.) This device with the cables leading to the platform where he kneels seems to be designed to make Loki manifest again. Who built it and why? That remains unclear, though we know he is eventually taken into custody by S.H.I.E.L.D. and The Avengers.

Just showing up for work. The crew gradually assembles at S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters, and I like that we see them in their street clothes at least at the start of this story. They're superheroes, but it helps to keep these movies grounded when we feel like the characters are human, as well as super-human.

Part of getting The Avengers together is literally assembling some of the more reluctant team members. Just like in Ocean's 11, you've got to get specific people for specific jobs, and The Avengers need a strong man. That means The Hulk, and you don't get The Hulk without persuading his gatekeeper — Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo, taking over the character from Edward Norton.) At the end of 2008's The Incredible Hulk, Banner was hiding out in the jungle, and this shadowy hideaway seems to suggest he has remained there, off the grid, and hopefully keeping his blood pressure low. The upside to living in a place like this: When you Hulk out, at least you don't destroy any nice things.

Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow sees Loki marching by a window in the custody of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. She seems to be appalled. What are you looking at?

And the look on Loki's face says: Just your rockin' bod in that skin-tight black armor, baby.

Iron Man flies through New York city canyons. We've seen him soaring through deserts and up into the stratosphere, but it's cool to see him doing some tight maneuvering in a more populated cityscape.

Meetings are so boring, even if you're a superhero. These guys don't want to sit around a table, they want to get out there and kick some alien ass. But no — got to sit through the S.H.I.E.L.D. orientation video, or something. Yes, we all know where the helicarrier escape pods are located, blah, blah, blah.

Nick Fury faces down Thor: Do you have a joke you'd like to share with the whole class Mr. Prince of Asgard?

Here is the team again, assembled in a less formal setting, but the more interesting thing is in the right foreground — that pointy, glowing weapon, which would seem to be the blade Loki had with him when he arrived back on Earth. What is that thing?

Nick Fury shoots a rocket launcher at somebody. Something tells me that rocket has ''Bad Mother F---er'' written on it.

Watch out Captain America! Ouch! Hot crotch! Leap a little higher next time.

Jeremy Renner's Hawkeye shoots his bow into the air, and where it lands we know not where.

Thigh grab! Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow wraps her legs around some villain's face for a throwdown. He's surely thinking: All things considered, not the worst way I could be killed.

Boom goes the dynamite! Hard to tell who else is in this lab, but Captain America clearly stands out. Was it a Loki trap that caused the detonation in this S.H.I.E.L.D. facility?

A ship flies over New York with Stark building in background.

It's a little tough to see, but this is Loki throwing Tony Stark out a window.

In a strange bit of cutting, Stark gets tossed out the window and the next image is a guy falling out onto the street and landing on a car. But it's Captain America falling, not Iron Man. So either we're dealing with shapeshifters (possible, but not likely in this instance) or there's just a lot of defenestration in this movie.

Tony Stark still loves Black Sabbath. Wouldn't you if your alter ego was named Iron Man?

Tony Stark shakes hands with Bruce Banner. Is it just me, or is anyone else thinking, ''Make any more progress on that Zodiac case?''

HULK! Marvel tells me that The Hulk is 8-foot-6, but didn't respond when asked how much he weighs. I understand. If I kept splitting my favorite purple pants, I'd be sensitive too.

Click over to EW's Inside Movies blog to watch the new Avengers trailer