The first trailer for The Avengers is here and you know it’s a big deal because iTunes finally offered an embeddable video player (seriously, we’ve been waiting for this for like four years). Marvel’s great experiment in turning over their biggest project to Joss Whedon, a guy known mainly for cult shows that get cancelled before the mainstream ever sees them, stars Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Robert Downey Jr, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, and Mark “Ruffalo Bill” Ruffalo. I’ve never actually seen a Joss Whedon show, so this is particularly exciting for me.

First impressions: It looks like Loki from Thor is the villain, which is… odd. And the lighting looks really bright and even in every scene, like they’re shooting a superhero sitcom.

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"Why you-a no eat Mama Mancini's meat-a-balls?"

The other day, our beloved Uproxxian colleague RoboPanda mentioned that a recent study revealed that people like movie and TV spoilers because they help them feel more familiar with the subject and ultimately make them easier to follow. If that is the case, this is the greatest summer of our lives because we can’t click the mouse twice without coming across spoilers, what with World War Z’s panic outbreaks and Anne Hathaway’s super tight Catwoman costume in The Dark Knight Rises. Hell, there’s even a rumor that Chris Nolan may be shooting spoiler scenes just to screw with us. Don’t tease our hunger, Chris!

But this is a movie blog and Vince has child support to pay, so we’re going to keep your spoiler pangs at bay. Today’s hot spoilers come in the form of more costume looks on the set of The Avengers. Aside from Scarlett Johansson’s racktastic Black Widow, there’s really nothing new here, but we couldn’t get past Chris Evans’ face.

Seriously, he’s so delightfully strange. Also, I included what may be my favorite Thor picture ever. Admittedly, I’ve never had a different favorite Thor picture, but this one is still pretty special.

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Disney’s second D23 Expo took place in Anaheim over the weekend, and I’m sad I missed it because I love self-congratulatory industry circle jerks run by the marketing department (especially when they serve sliders!). Luckily, there’s this thing called the internet where the people who did go can SHARE THE NEWS FOR ALL! What an incredible time it is to be alive. Here’s your rundown:

Hot on the heels of the set pictures that hit over the weekend, The Avengers cast was on hand for a sneak peek. One thing is certain: Chris Hemsworth is still tall and handsome with piercing blue eyes and oh god can’t stop imagining what he smells like. So… do these people actually get to film a movie between attending conventions? |Hitfix|

Up co-director Pete Docter is set to direct “The Untitled Pixar Movie That Takes You Inside The Mind.” ThePlaylist reports taht Little Miss Sunshine/Toy Story 3 writer Michael Arnt is writing the script. I’m expecting Inception with less (*braaaahm*)s, and more talking dogs. |/Film|

Up‘s OTHER co-director, Bob Peterson (who also voiced Dug the Dog), will direct a film that takes place in a modern world where dinosaurs never went extinct. It’d be cool if the dinosaurs stomped around wrecking sh*t, but knowing Pixar, they’ll probably just be super cute. |USAToday|

John C. Reilly to voice “Wreck-It Ralph”, a CG-animated feature about an 8-bit arcade game villain desperate to change his image who invades other arcade games trying to become a hero. John C. Reilly is pretty much the best, and if you disagree I’m duty bound to fight you. I also have my fingers crossed for a Billy Mitchell cameo. His hot sauce tastes like America. |CinemaBlend|

Details about Brave, Pixar’s next release, which is still almost a year away. It’s definitely about a “tough girl badass”, but hopefully Pixar will do a better job with it than Salt, Hanna, Colombiana, Haywire, and the other six thousand movies with that same plot. |/Film|

Footage screened from Frankenweenie, Tim Burton’s stop-motion, 3D-animated, black-and-white film about a zombie dog. I love dogs, but I think wiener dogs are my least favorite. Is that racist? Discuss. |ComingSoon|

The cast of Snow White and the Huntsman had a panel at Comic Con this weekend and, among a few other interesting items of worth, they released the first images of the film’s characters. As you can see above, Charlize Theron is playing the Queen, a casting decision that is clearly going to alter the way two generations of males remember the classic Disney cartoon. Also revealed were Chris Hemsworth as the Huntsman, Kristen Stewart as an emo Snow White, and Sam Claflin as the Prince. You may remember Claflin from his previous role as that forgettable dude in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.

Of course when you think of Snow White, you think of a classical beauty, singing and rolling around with woodland creatures before she’s roofied by the mean, old queen. But not this version, at least according to Stewart.

Kristen Stewart said that the character channels thing that people are typically afraid of into a powerful, driving energy. She said this Snow White is very much the people’s leader, and that “she doesn’t let her heart cloud her mind and doesn’t let her mind get in the way” of doing what she feels she has to do. She also mentioned that mirrors – very much a part of the Snow White mythos – take on an interesting role here, as Snow White is portrayed as a character without even the concept of vanity, and she’s not even remotely self-conscious. (Via io9)

That’s good, because the last thing I think of when someone mentions Stewart is the use of a mirror. But I know you’re probably wondering the same thing I first thought – what’s up with the dwarfs, son? Oh they’re in this version and they’re played by Nick Frost, Ray Winstone, Toby Jones, Johnny Harris, Bob Hoskins, Eddie Marsdan, Brendan Gleeson and… Ian McShane. Baddest dwarf casting ever.

And you’re also probably thinking, “Hey Burnsy, you’re super hot and all, but that’s 8 dwarfs.” True. But director Rupert Sanders dropped a spoiler on the audience by admitting that one of them dies. My guess is Winehousey.

Character images after the jump. Try and guess which face Kristen Stewart makes.

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I liked Thor.  Despite a distinct lack of rocket hands and Robert Downey chewing scenery, all things considered, it’s probably a better film than the first Iron Man (which, let’s face it, was a little Entourage-y at times).  And yet, something about it kept me from being much excited to write my review.  In fact, I made this entire Platoon poster with a Hyrax out of boredom before I’d written my first paragraph.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s a fun movie.  The acting is solid all the way through (Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston — Loki — are pleasant discoveries, and neither Anthony Hopkins nor Natalie Portman dishonor their pedigrees). Kenneth Branagh proves his Shakespeare experience surprisingly applicable to a film about a big blonde guy whacking sh*t with a hammer, seamlessly mixing goofy, often slapsticky humor with age-old conflicts between brothers, and fathers and sons, and of course, epic speeches and hubris leading to downfall.  The film begins in Asgard, where three of the evil Ice Giants (couldn’t have thought up a less on-the-nose name, there, guys?) have infiltrated a sacred Asgardian hall through some kind through a secret portal, in order to steal back some magic box full of blue fog that the Asgardians took after defeating them in a long war (the one where Odin lost his eye).  But before the Ice Giants can accomplish much, the Asgardians’ giant chrome Destroyer blows them all to f*ck WITH A BEAM OF HELLFIRE FROM ITS FACE (pretty baller, as security systems go).   When the Asgardians discover what happened, newly-crowned Prince Thor gets pissed, demanding to go to Planet Ice Giant and hammer some frozen dicks in retaliation.  Odin (Hopkins) says no — “The Destroyer did its job, the invaders met their fate, nothing else is required.”

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