'The Avengers' Trailer: What the Critics Are Saying

PHOTOS: 'The Avengers': New Photos From Marvel's Superhero Film

"With the release of the first full trailer for Disney and Marvel's all-star 2012 superhero tentpole, fans finally get a real look at the four main heroes together -- The Hulk, Iron Man, Captain America and Thor -- with some semblance of the film's narrative on display. Loki's back, so are Nick Fury and Black Widow, Hawkeye's now on the scene, and everyone's looking like they want to do some righteous ass-kicking. Cars explode, voiceovers portend, Tony Stark cracks jokes," writes The Hollywood Reporter's Jay Fernandez.

"Awesome. Or it would be if we hadn't seen all of this before and expected every single thing that we saw in the trailer. And this gets at the crux of the Avengers problem: Given the scope and impact of the individual films, how does this one deliver something bigger, better, newer?" he laments.


STORY: 'The Avengers' Trailer: Fans, Industry React

Den of Geek's James Hunt writes, "Previous Marvel Studios films have been light on iconic locations, preferring a more real-world approach. This one looks like it'll change all that, truly putting the Marvel Universe on the screen for the first time."

"Let's consider Tony Stark's penultimate line in the trailer: 'If we can't protect the Earth….' Well, that makes it sound like a global scale threat is indeed on the cards. Maybe they won't be Skrulls in the typical sense. But an attempted invasion from another world, masterminded by Loki, seems almost certain to be the threat that finally assembles the Avengers," he also notes.

"It's rare that a movie can rival the combination of comic book art and a reader's imagination, but this is very close to doing so. It's impossible to say whether the film is going to be good or bad so far in advance, but a trailer this high-octane has undoubtedly left even the most cautious of expectations raised," he goes on.

Eric Ditzian writes on MTV, "The first full trailer for The Avengers is here, though at first glance, it seemed much more like the work of Michael Bay — a little citizens-ominously-watching-the-skyline Armageddon here, a bit of city-block-destroying Transformers there — than the handiwork of Marvel and writer/director Joss Whedon.

"While the trailer didn't deliver everything we were hoping for — nor did it have the ineffable coolness we might have expected — it gave us a whole lot of Marvel goodness to unpack," adds Ditzian.

Other disappoints include: "Who are we kidding? We wanted to see the Avengers assemble — not around the boardroom table, but in action. And the trailer, in this respect, just doesn't deliver. Alas, the shot (around one minute, 11 seconds in) of our heroes in a lab is the best look at the team together. Hawkeye isn't even there. Black Widow is mostly hidden. Captain America and Iron Man aren't even in their suits. Bruce Banner is just Bruce Banner, no hint of the hidden green beast within. We appreciate that Whedon is a writer who loves to pen a witty exchange between characters — we get a lot of that in the trailer, and we're not complaining — but we also maintain Marvel missed a chance in the trailer to show off the Avengers assembling for the first time in an unforgettable way."

The Stir's Linda Sharps was a big fan of the trailer.

"Considering the level of slobbering fan expectation over this movie, it would have been all too easy for the trailer to disappoint. However, I think you'll agree that this sneak peek was custom-designed to both whet our appetites and leave us clamoring for more," she writes.

"I mean, COME ON. That's just pure unadulterated awesomeness right there. Snark from Tony Stark, a smug godlike chuckle from Thor, Hawkeye blowing shit up with his explosive arrows, and a tantalizing glimpse of The Hulk! Patented badassery from Samuel J., Thor villain Loki being all villainous, and even that stick-up-his-butt Agent Coulson! Black Widow ... wearing her little outfit!" she goes on.

"Aside from the general fun and mayhem the movie promises to deliver, I'm frankly in a bit of a lather over the male cast. I just saw Thor and so I'm officially in love with Chris Hemsworth, I've always had a thing for Robert Downey Jr., and the surprise—the sexy surprise—of Mark Ruffalo is just too much. These guys can avenge my planet anytime, is all I'm saying."