The theatrical release of Marvel Avengers Assemble broke box office records and was surrounded by more than a little media fuss. Before its release, people were exchanging theories about what cameos would appear where, how the Avengers would get along with each other, and how many brooding shots of Samuel L. Jackson there would be. Of course, Disney aren’t going to let the blu-ray and DVD release of the film pass by without a bit of excitement, so to tempt our superhero appetites they have released a short clip of an alternative opening sequence to the film.
 
The scene, which was deleted from the final cut for the movie’s cinema release, gives a hint of the destruction to follow, showing the aftermath of an impending battle (with Captain America’s shield coming into view). It then cuts to a SHIELD interrogation room where Agent Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders) is being questioned (by, among others, the voice of Jenny Agutter) two days after the ‘Tesseract Event’. In her answers she talks about Jackson’s character Nick Fury and describes him as ‘reckless’.
 
If it had been included, it could be said the tone of the film may have adopted a more reflective quality, whilst brining Smulder’s character more centre stage. But this, it seems, was not to be.
 
The blu-ray disc release of the film, scheduled for September 17, will include further deleted material and the anticipated Marvel short film (part of the series known as Marvel One-Shots) ‘Item 47’. Those who do not have blu-ray capabilities in their homes will miss out, however, as apart from an extra entitled ‘A Visual Journey’, they will be left with a bare-bones disc of the theatrical version of the film. So, if standard definition viewers are still resisting the HD revolution, this YouTube clip may be the only chance they have of seeing some of the footage shaved off from Avengers Assemble when it reached cinemas earlier this year.