So, were you home today around noon? Near a computer? I was. And if you were like me, you were hitting refresh at the iTunes Movie Trailers site, eagerly awaiting the second trailer for The Avengers to make itself known to the world. If you haven’t seen it, click the link above and watch and then come back here, because I am about to break it down.

Seen it? Great wasn’t it? Granted, a lot of it was stuff we already saw before. But it was arranged in such a way that we get a better idea of what the film has in store for us. And the new stuff? Wow.

First off, we get our first look at Nick Fury in command of S.H.I.E.L.D.:

The set is not new to anyone who was at last years New York Comic Con or seen pictures from the event.

Next is the “gathering of the players” time. Here is Steve Rogers, a.k.a. Captain America (Chris Evans) meeting Bruce Banner, a.k.a. Hulk (Mark Ruffalo).

I was wondering how they are going to get all the characters in one place. For instance, Thor, who at the end of his film was trapped in Asgard with no way to get to Earth. The trailer doesn’t answer this, but we do see him controlling the weather, a power that was underused in his own film.

Another player with an issue in how he would be involved was Iron Man. At the end of Iron Man 2, Nick Fury told Tony Stark that he didn’t want him to be an Avenger because he was too much of a loose cannon. The trailer lets us know that this will become a plot point in this film, and will probably go to show why Tony is such a rhymes-with-pick in all the footage we’ve seen so far. We get a better look at the Stark Tower and how Tony manages to change out of his Iron Man suit.

The trailer also gives a look at Agent Maria Hill (Colbie Smulders) and good old Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg). Their scene comes in the middle of what seems like a battle between Thor, Iron Man and Captain America, and their comments lead me to believe it is the real deal fighting, not any alien duplicates.

Here’s a shot that would make any fan of the Avengers comic book squeal–the Big Three:

Another tidbit we can gain from the trailer is how Loki will be portrayed. Well, it looks like we get Loki classic…

And a new, spiffy, GQ-model Loki as well!

Another question mark that the trailer doesn’t quite answer is how the Hulk will be portrayed in this new film. The scene where Black Widow (Scarlet Johansson) collects Bruce Banner that made the rounds of the convention circuit is at the beginning of the trailer, with an emphasis on the Widow’s line “I’ll persuade you” when Banner brings up the idea of saying no. This could be taken as flirtatious, but the scene shifts to armed soldier right outside Banner’s hut.

This is further complicated by the scene this screen grab is taken from:

Now, are the Hulk and Black Widow escaping an attack on their headquarters, or did Banner “Hulk-out” and want to discuss the widow’s persuasion techniques with her. Could be seen either way. Or, maybe, she’s an impersonator? Hmmm.

However, later on in the trailer, in a moment that made me squeal, the Hulk saves Iron Man in a spectacular scene after Shellhead gets whacked by some of the aliens that he is fighting.

So it appears that the Hulk eventually comes around to be a team player is a sense.

Another personal favorite scene from the trailer is this one:

I just love the fact that Cap is shielding the Widow with his shield. That is totally something Cap would do.

We get a look at the aliens again, and they appear to be riding on some kind of flying steed kind of thing.

Hawkeye is a character that we don’t know much about, so we have to look at what they gave us to see if he’ll make the transition to film okay.

Getting in a last shot as he falls to his almost certain doom. Why be worried? He’ll figure something out. Yep, that’s the Hawkeye I know and love.

Another thing that gives me confidence that the film will be great is that is seems they will be playing up the fact that the human Hawkeye and Black Widow are in over their heads and outclassed by monsters, gods, super soldiers and hi-tech armor-wearing geniuses–and that they know it.

That is a great angle to play and gives their characters an arc to work through.

And leave it to Marvel to give us a button scene on a trailer. Right after Iron Man says “I’m bringing the party to you,” we get this:

Oh, man, you just know that party is going to suck!

I don’t know about you, but May 4th can’t get here soon enough.

This afternoon Marvel Studios held a live Twitter chat with Avengers writer/director Joss Whedon and stars Clark Gregg, Tom Hiddleston and Samuel L. Jackson. The quartet answered some fan questions and dodged others about the upcoming superhero mashup and possible plans that Marvel has for future films before unveiling a ten-second preview of the thirty-second commercial for the film that will be unveiled on Sunday during the Super Bowl.

Among the things discussed in the twitter chat include-

• The number of Avengers comics Whedon had to read before starting work – “I had already read them all.”
• What version of The Avengers did Whedon look to inspiration – the classic stories or the more recent Ultimates version? – “It’s a combo platter: classic, Ultimate, plus a little “Richie Rich” & “Mastering the Art of French Cooking.”
• The possibility of seeing more background on Nick Fury in this film – “Not Yet” (Jackson)
• What about that rumored Spider-Man cameo? – “There is no Spider-Man cameo. But the Avengers do turn off the dark.” (Whedon)
• How much of the stunt work did the actors do? – “As much as the insurance company allowed. I prepped by working out a bit.” (Jackson)
• Can you enjoy The Avengers without having to see the other Marvel Cinematic Universe films? – “You don’t need to see any Marvel movies to enjoy Avengers! But you need to see Steel Magnolias, like, six times.” (Whedon)
• Is Loki looking for revenge for what happened to him in Thor? – “He doesn’t want revenge so much as identity. Belonging. Purpose. Self-esteem. Through delusional dreams.” (Hiddleston)

As for the clip itself, we get a few new glimpses of Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), The Hulk (a motion-captured Mark Ruffalo), Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Captain America (Chris Evans), though it looks like there’s no Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner). Not to worry though, as there’s still 20 seconds more to the commercial that we’ll get to see on Sunday, so he’s probably in there. As well as hopefully a better look at  the alien space ships we can briefly see zooming through the Manhattan skyline.

Last night Nathan Fillion, Sean Maher and costume designer Shawna Trpcic all tweeted links to MuchAdoTheMovie.com. There, the curious found a picture of a man in a snorkeling mask standing neck deep in a lake holding a martini glass above the water. At the top of the page was the announcement “Bellwether Pictures is proud to announce the completion of principal photography” while at the bottom of the page it simply states “A film by Joss Whedon based on a play.”

In Whedon’s typical style, the writer/director was announcing that his new, and up until this moment completely unsuspected, project was an adaption of the Shakespeare comedy Much Ado About Nothing. And that he had already finished filming it.

In a press release issued today, Whedon explained how the project was a low budget effort filmed quickly.

The text is to me a deconstruction of the idea of love, which is ironic, since the entire production is a love letter – to the text, to the cast, even to the house it’s shot in.

Shot is in black and white in just 12 days, the film has no distributor yet.

For fans of Whedon’s work, the cast list reads like a who’s who of his previous collaborators. Heading off the list is Amy Acker and Alexis Denisof, both whom should be familiar to fans of Whedon’s Buffy The Vampire Slayer and its spinoff series Angel. Other names include Fillion, who starred in Whedon’s Firefly television series and its film spin-off Serenity, and Maher, who had appeared in both of those projects as well, Clark Gregg (The Avengers), Tom Lenk (Buffy) and Fran Kranz (The Whedon produced Cabin in the Woods).

The play concerns the quarelling Beatrice (Acker) and Benedick (Denisof) who over the course of the piece invariably fall in love. Fillion is Dogberry, Gregg is Leonato and Kranz is Claudio.

It doesn’t come as much of a surprise that Whedon has chosen to tackle a Shakespeare play. The musical episode of Buffy The Vampire Slayer, “Once More With Feeling,” actually sprang from a Shakespeare reading Whedon held at his house with many Buffy cast members, so we know that he has an affinity for the Bard. And Much Ado is noted for its word play, puns and banter, something that could be said for much of Whedon’s writing as well.

Now, if someone could just explain to me how the picture on the website relates to Shakespeare’s story.

With the first of the new Marvel Studios “One Shot” short films appearing this week on the Thor DVD and Blu-ray, we’ve got a sneak peek at the second short in the series, A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To Thor’s Hammer, which will be available later this fall on the Captain America home video release.

Once again, we spend some time with SHIELD Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg), but this time it is as he is traveling between his appearances in the films Iron Man 2 and Thor.

A few quick thoughts. First, I like the fact that Agent Coulson appears to be a fan of big band music. Second, it looks like this might have a lighter tone than the first short, giving Gregg a chance to exercise his comedy chops a bit. Third, I like the nod to Marvel Comics continuity with the appearance of “Roxxon.”

Via the short’s cinematographer David Myrick’s website.

For some time it has been rumored that Marvel Studios was looking at making some short films that would appear before their superhero theatrical films, much in the same way Pixar has an animated short film before their main feature. Marvel kept with the denials right up to the moment they confirmed that they were last month at the San Diego Comic Con. There they showed a tease of the first of their “Marvel One-Shot” short films which features Clark Gregg in his ongoing role as SHIELD Agent Coulson discussing a matter with Agent Sitwell (Maximiliano Hernández) about a matter concerning The Incredible Hulk‘s General Ross. And now Marvel has released a slightly fuller teaser for the short, titled The Consultant, online.

Given the nature of their conversation, it sounds like the short film will serve as a bridge between the ends of Iron Man 2 and The Incredible Hulk.

And how great is this for Gregg. His character seemed to be a bit of comedy relief in the first Iron Man film but since then his Agent Coulson has become one of the glues holding the Marvel Cinematic Universe together.

The full version of The Consultant will appear on the Thor blu-ray scheduled for release on September 13. A second short A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To Thor’s Hammer has been announced as forthcoming, though with no more concrete details. I would suspect it showing up on the Captain America: The First Avenger blu-ray later in the fall.

Another piece to the overall puzzle of Marvel Studios’ cross-continuity between their superhero films with the announcement that Clark Gregg will be reprising his Iron Man character of SHIELD Agent Coulson in the currently shooting Thor. Gregg has previously reprised the character for Iron Man 2, hitting theaters this May.

Marvel Studios ongoing plan is to introduce several superheroes in separate films before having them meet for the team-up film The Avengers. The first film in this plan was 2008′s Iron Man. Later that year, Iron Man star Robert Downey Jr cameoed in Incredible Hulk, the second film from Marvel Studios. Both films shared some background details, including the secret spy organization that Gregg’s character belongs to. The Hulk movie also hinted at some things that may appear in Marvel’s upcoming Captain America film. Other threads through these films include appearances by Samuel L. Jackson as SHIELD head Nick Fury.

It is unknown if Gregg, who is a regular on the CBS series The New Adventures Of Old Christine and appeared in this past summer’s indie hit 500 Days Of Summer, will appear in the Avengers film.

Via Variety.