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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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|

All along, my hopes for Captain America haven’t been too high because they hired Joe Johnston to direct it, but this newly-released fight scene clip (aptly titled “Shield Fight”) might be enough to give us false hope for another day. The music is cheesy and overdone and ridiculous, and the Nazis seem to be shooting plasma guns for some reason, but the lack of shaky-cam is promising. And if you’re some kind of bullsh*t liberal arts major, there’s probably a thesis to be written about the symbolism of the personifaction of America running around kicking the sh*t out of everyone with a shield. “WHAT? I’M JUST DEFENDING MYSELF!”

Oh, and what was up with the guy who gets hit in the chest with the shield who falls forward? That thing must be made out of the same material as the bullet that killed Kennedy. And by Kennedy I mean JFK, not the MTV VJ. She of course died of dysentery.

[More clips available at IGN]

Thor 2 doesn’t have a script or a director, but it does have a release date, because that’s just how Marvel rolls, bro. They grip it and rip it, they live life with a lot of flair. July 26th, 2013 is when it’s set to go down, with Chris Hemsworth back to star but Kenneth Branagh out as director.

A sequel had already been a high priority at Marvel, with Don Payne, one of the scribes on the first film, already taking a stab at the story.
Disney will also unspool “Iron Man 3″ on May 3, 2013, setting up a release sked similar to this year’s: “Thor” [which] bowed in May, to be followed by “Captain America: The First Avenger” in July. [Variety]

Kenneth Branagh won’t be returning as helmer. Branagh, who directed the first film and watched it gross $437 million worldwide with a few territories still playing out, will likely be involved in some producing capacity. His exit was “mutual and amicable,” I’m told. [Deadline]

Iron Man 3 has Shane Black directing, which should be exciting in theory, but f*ck, I’m just a little superhero weary. I never thought I’d get tired of handsome young men prancing about masks and tights for my amusement, but here we are. I may be in the minority in that I liked Thor. It wasn’t a great movie, but it was a cute movie. The acting was great, the Viking-out-of-water comedy was surprisingly enjoyable, and the brother drama was different, at least (the Warriors Three were completely pointless, but there you go). I credit most of that to Kenneth Branagh.  Contrary to the conventional wisdom, someone who knows story is always better than the glorified graphic designers they usually hire. So it’ll be interesting to see whether Marvel decides to go the Joe Johnston/Brett Ratner route, or if they hire someone… good.

Captain America is probably going to suck, but at least now it has a trailer and poster that will help you pretend it won’t for a few minutes.  The most solid trailer to date, this one shows how it was that the CGI weakling Chris Evans (a 90-pound asthmatic) came to be recruited into Operation Steroids Are Awesome by America’s foremost big-titted scientist (not to be confused with Blake Lively, America’s foremost big-titted test pilot). Sgt. Von Spectacles, Stanley Tucci, tells Drill Instructor McPockmark, Tommy Lee Jones, that the qualities he’s looking for are “more than physical,” the same lie I’m constantly telling Match.com. That’s when he throws a fake grenade on the ground and Chris Evans immediately dives on it like a Jersey Shore castmember (I’m sorry. So very sorry.). After that, he’s in. Then they shoot him full of ‘roids and shave his chest, and all the chicks’ panties get moist while Tool plays. USA! USA! USA! (*points foam #1 finger, helicopters penis*)

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