Four minutes of bloopers from Joss Whedon’s The Avengers have been released online, along with an extended cut of the exchange between Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and a mind-controlled Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) – where Thor’s sibling decides to step out from his underground lair, so as to confront Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and his team of superheroes head-on.
The material will be included as part of the package for certain versions of The Avengers Blu-ray and DVD, including the 10-disc Collector’s Set that includes all six films that encompass ‘Phase 1’ of the Marvel Movie Universe (Iron Man 1 & 2, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger, and, of course, The Avengers).
The Avengers gag reel hits all the expected notes, with cast members flubbing their lines, breaking character, and just goofing around on set. However, the most memorable (and funniest) moments include a “dramatic” monologue from a bloodied Agent Hill (Cobie Smulders) swearing to avenge Agent Coulson’s (Clark Gregg) death, Chris Hemsworth as Thor struggling to keep a grip on Mjolnir in slow-motion, and a near-kiss between Coulson and his man-crush, Steve Rogers (Chris Evans).
Part of the aforementioned talk between Loki and Hawkeye made Whedon’s theatrical cut for The Avengers, but the full version dives deeper into the villain’s reasoning for revealing himself to the people of Earth.
This Loki-Hawkeye conversation doesn’t really flesh out the involved characters any further, unlike yesterday’s cut scene featuring Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) and Harry Dean Stanton’s security guard. Nonetheless, more screen time with Hiddleston as Loki is always welcome – not to mention, scenes like these more thoroughly explain what Renner means when he says he’s yet to play the Hawkeye “I signed on to play.”
Marvel’s Blu-ray release for The Avengers will feature all that and more, along with some thirty minutes of deleted scenes. Some of the additional material is expected to harken back to previous Marvel films, strengthening the narrative ties between Whedon’s ensemble adventure and its solo superhero peers. It’s been speculated that a reunion between Steve Rogers and Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) could be among the cut scenes, but that is unconfirmed (though, Whedon has admitted that he, at least, scripted such a sequence).