Trailer Park: “Avengers” Teaser Has Iron Man Picking Fights With Loki and Thor

Anyone can tell you if a trailer "looks good" or not. But Drew Magary, who spent over a decade working in advertising, is here to tell you whether or not a trailer WORKS. This week's trailer? The brand new "Avengers" teaser clip.

There has been so much material released from the new "Avengers" movie that I feel like I've seen 80% of the film already. You know all the details by now: "Buffy" creator Joss Whedon is directing this mega-huge adaptation of the Marvel Comic featuring Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, Black Widow, Nick Fury, Hawkeye, Captain America, and five million other superheroes. Never mind that overstuffed superheroes movies are almost always terrible ("Batman & Robin" being the prime example); this is a movie that CANNOT fail. If it dies, then three other franchises (or more?) could die with it. It must be awesome because there's no other choice. But is there a chance--however slight--that "Avengers" could end up NOT being good, even being a box office failure? Let's look at the new teaser footage and find out.

Does this teaser let us know what the movie's about? Beyond the basics of who the Avengers are, the answer is no. We open with Iron Man and Thor fighting, but we have no clue why they're fighting, and why they're hanging out in a forest. You're supposed to just be happy these two are together on one screen, and that they're engaged in fisticuffs. Oooooh, Iron Man and Thor! FIGHTING! Scandalous.

Who's our villain here? It's Loki, played by Tom Hiddleston with a hint of bitchiness that makes me think that they really wanted Richard E. Grant for the role. I am not encouraged. These movies usually live or die with their villains, and Loki seems like a throwaway. I think Whedon will focus much more on the heroes struggling to get along. Maybe Phil Jackson can coach them.

Does lots of stuff blow up real good? Yup. Hulk fights a helicopter. Thor and Iron Man exchange headbutts. Trees fall. Lots of CGI mayhem.

Any money quotes? Downey counters Loki's "I have an army" threat with "We have a Hulk." It seems like Downey is there specifically to toss out one-liners about how nutty it is that all these guys are together now. This is going to be a very self-aware movie. For better or worse.

Does this teaser work? I guess so, since it's "The Avengers" and they could put eight minutes of peeling fruit up on the screen and still secure a $100 million opening weekend, but I'm underwhelmed. I bet "Avengers" is the kind of movie that earns $300 million and still has people asking what went wrong. Only one hero per movie, please.

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