BluRay Assemble!

So The Avengers is coming to BluRay and DVD this September, according to JoBlo's feature-filled article. Earlier than I might have thought (shrinking release window ahoy!) but we already knew it was coming. What we didn't know - for sure - is what kind of feature set we could look forward to.

Well, there's good news and bad news.

The good news is that according to JoBlo, purchasers of the BluRay set (either 2D or 3D combo pack) and the 2-disk DVD set (who still buys those?) will get all this:

AVENGERS 4-Disc BD Combo Pack, 2-Disc BD Combo Pack and 2-Disc DVD Combo Pack Special Features:
• AUDIO COMMENTARY BY DIRECTOR JOSS WHEDON
• MARVEL ONE-SHOT: ITEM 47
• SECOND SCREEN
• GAG REEL
• DELETED SCENES
- Alternate Opening - Maria Hill Interrogation
- Extended Scene - Loki & Barton Strategize
- Steve Rogers - Man Out of Time
- Nick Fury & World Security Council
- Extended Viaduct Fight - Raw Footage
- Fury & Hill Discuss the World Security Council
- Extended Scene - Banner and Security Guard
- Alternate Ending - Maria Hill Interrogation
• FEATURETTES
A Visual Journey
- Assembling the Ultimate Team
• SOUNDGARDEN MUSIC VIDEO - "Live to Rise"

Even the cheapskates who get the single-disk DVD will get the Whedon commentary (and for those who haven't had the pleasure, he does some of the best in the business) and the "Assembling the Ultimate Team" featurette.

The bad news is that no matter how many features you get to go with this great film, it'll all come in one HELL of an ugly package:

Um, what the actual FUCK??? Seriously Marvel, you have one of the most successful films of all time, a near-universally acclaimed product that raises the bar for the comic book genre AND the summer blockbuster and is likely going to go down as the biggest movie of 2012. . . and this is how you package it? With either the same shitty badly-Photoshopped theatrical poster that no one liked months ago. . . or even SHITTIER versions of the same badly-Photoshopped poster?

Who the hell thought this was a good idea? It's not like there's any shortage of pre-made promotional material that would be gorgeous cover art. Example:

Either of these would be a huge improvement and not hard at all to adjust for a BluRay/DVD cover. But what really chafes is that Marvel has THIS in their drawer:

If you haven't already saved a copy of that to your hard drive, click to enlarge and take a gander. That is sexy, that is beautiful, that is ART. That is also something that just about any idiot could easily rework (since Marvel/Disney have been so Photoshop-happy with this film already) to make a truly amazing piece of cover art.

Really guys, after Captain America's gorgeous retro covers, you give us. . . this? Were there just no graphic designers in California this weekend? Yeesh.