'The Avengers' assemble at D23, wow crowd with first footage

We wish we could show you the footage from "The Avengers" that got huge cheers Saturday (Aug. 20) at Disney's D23 Expo.

But Disney, alas, has locked it down. You can see several cast members -- Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Chris Hemsworth, Jeremy Renner, Cobie Smulders and Tom Hiddleston -- take the stage to big cheers, but that's about it in terms of visual evidence. (Director Joss Whedon and "Avengers" stars Mark Ruffalo, Samuel L. Jackson and Chris Evans were on location in Ohio Saturday.)

However, EW has a pretty detailed description of the two scenes previewed, including Jackson's Nick Fury having a tense conversation with Loki (Hiddleston), who's encased in a cage usually reserved for the Hulk (Ruffalo) and Downey's Tony Stark rattling off his team, intercut with quick shots of the other characters.

The camera then pulls back to reveal that Stark is also talking to Loki, who sneers, "I have an army." Stark's response: "We have a Hulk." Cut to Hulk roaring, followed by the crowd roaring.

"The Avengers" debuts on May 4, 2012. It could be a long 8 1/2 months.