After a panel that thrilled a
Comic-Con audience that had been through a roller coaster day (a
stabbing in Hall H had made everything run incredibly late), Marvel
Studios topped themselves by not just officially announcing Joss Whedon
as the director of The Avengers, but by bringing out each of the
superheroes on stage.

Everyone in the hall got on their feet
as Samuel L Jackson’s voice boomed over an Avengers A logo on screen,
explaining that one day Earth’s heroes met a threat so large they could
not tackle it on their own. On that day, he said, the Avengers were
born. And then he proceeding to bring them out.

There had been lots of speculation,
but it looks like the team does not include Ant-Man or The Wasp. Here’s
who is on the team, and who is playing them:

Captain America – Chris Evans
Thor – Chris Hemsworth
Iron Man – Robert Downey Jr
Black Widow – Scarlett Johannson
Nick Fury – Samuel L Jackson

and the two new members:

Hawkeye –
Jeremy Renner
Bruce
Banner – Mark Ruffalo

Also on stage was Clark Gregg,
reprising his role as Agent Coulson.

It was a spectacular finale. No
footage, no costumes, just the actors all in a row. But suddenly an
impossible geek dream was looking to be total reality.