Watch: Alternate Opening To 'The Avengers' Is A Bit Of A Downer

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by Kevin Jagernauth
August 28, 2012 1:14 PM
8 Comments

The summer movie season is basically over, but if you still need a shot of superhero adrenaline, Marvel has got you covered, as they drop their record-breaking "The Avengers" on home video next month with a boatload of extras. And that material continues to make its way online and after a deleted scene featuring Mark Ruffalo and Harry Dean Stanton, another with Loki and Hawkeye and a gag reel, now comes an alternate opening to the movie itself. And it's a bit of a downer.

This version has Joss Whedon's film kicking off with a glimpse of a ravaged Manhattan after the "Tesseract event," with Agent Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders) filing a report about what happened, and sounding off about Nick Fury and his reckless ways. There's a sorta 9/11-ish vibe from the start, and it's a bit of a dour way to start the film which in general doesn't fit with Marvel's more broadly appealing approach. It also seems to set up a flashback format which wouldn't have jibed well, at least with the version of the movie we saw in theaters.

Give it a spin below. "The Avengers" hits home video on September 25th.

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8 Comments

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Cinematic_high | August 28, 2012 11:52 PMReply

And they didn't start off with this because......
I like this opening better than the original......
neil | August 28, 2012 5:17 PMReply

She belongs on TV. The bigger the screen the less she belongs. That says it all. The scene calls for gravitas and she has none.
JD | August 28, 2012 4:32 PMReply

It's well done, but it's strangely awkward. In the final film the battle of Manhattan seems like a glorious triumph, not a tragic disaster. This almost seems to be suggesting the Avengers lost! I wish they could have kept the slow pull back and reveal, though. Although that doesn't really work either--putting it at the opening of the film makes it seem like the movie's going to focus on one character rather then be an ensemble. And as I said below, the woman playing Maria Hill--yikes. (Especially when she's acting against Powers Boothe and Jenny Agutter. Just their VOICES make her look weak.) All in all, it was the right choice to cut this whole thing.
ArcherSlyce | August 28, 2012 1:49 PMReply

I don't think she's that bad. But yeah that doesn't fit with the somehow lighthearted movie... plus as far as I remember Hill is far from being opposed to Fury's recklessness during the movie ? On the other hand it does give a first insight of the board members which we see talking with Fury several times. Talking about alternate opening : The incredible hulk's was nice.
Jack | August 28, 2012 1:40 PMReply

Uh, yeah, that's weird. something out of a Christopher Nolan Batman flick. I'm glad they went with the one they had, and I hate that flash of Hulk, glad they saved the best reveal. But yeah, she's an awful actress even on HIMYM, no range.
Jesse | August 28, 2012 1:31 PMReply

Scene might have worked if they had hired a better actress. She's terribles. No wonder she was hardly in the final product.
D'Artagnan | August 28, 2012 7:44 PM

No, Emily Blunt would have played Black Widow, but was unfortunately contracted to Gulliver's Travels.
JD | August 28, 2012 4:13 PM

Yeah, my thought exactly. My first thought, was, well, if it centered on her no wonder it got cut! She really is a lousy actor....I was amazed she even got cast in the movie in the first place. At some point, wasn't Emily Blount supposed to play Maria Hill?!?