New 'Avengers' Stills Herald Loki's Arrival

by Fallon Prinzivalli

By now, most of you already have your midnight showing tickets for "Avengers" and planned your strategy to get the best seats in the theater. With six weeks still to go, Marvel yet again released new photos to feed our excitement until then.

The ten stills feature a close-up look at Earth's mightiest heroes, poised and ready to defend. But one shows a closer look at Loki's arrival to Earth with a revised version of Odin's staff in his grip.

At a New York Comic Con roundtable interview last fall, ComicBookMovie.com quoted actor Tom Hiddleston referencing the weapon saying, "It's kind of evolution of the staff that he played with at the end of 'Thor,' but that's Odin's spear. So at the end of 'Thor,' it's Odin's spear -- this is his own makeshift staff of destruction."

The cosmic staff is a lot darker than Odin's typical golden spear and features a blue, Asgard-like stone nestled in the top. Perhaps it assists in the villian's journey to Earth -- perhaps it's even the Cosmic Cube itself?

The other nine photos feature up-close looks at Thor, with a blurred S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Maria Hill in the background, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Captain America and Nick Fury in full costume. There's also Tony Stark and Bruce Banner sans the Iron Man suit and green muscles; it says a lot that we still love seeing these heroes without all the bells and whistles.

Tell us what you think of the new "Avengers" photos in the comments section below or hit us up on Twitter!