The
Avengers
Trivia:
'Have you ever tried shawarma?'
(Total Trivia Entries: 136)
The Avengers comics was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in September 1963. To find out more about this irresistibly tasty dish of superhero movie and how it was brought to the big screen, view The Avengers trivia below. Be warned there's a lot of information packed in this trivia!
Directed by: Joss Whedon
Written by:
Joss Whedon (screenplay & story)
Zak Penn (story)
Stan Lee (comic book)
Jack Kirby (comic book)
Starring:
Robert Downey Jr. - Tony Stark / Iron Man
Chris Hemsworth - Thor
Chris Evans - Steve Rogers / Captain America
Tom Hiddleston - Loki
Samuel L. Jackson - Nick Fury
Mark Ruffalo - Bruce Banner / The Hulk
Scarlett Johansson - Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow
Jeremy Renner - Clint Barton / Hawkeye
Cobie Smulders - Maria Hill
Gwyneth Paltrow - Pepper Potts
Stellan Skarsgård - Professor Erik Selvig
Paul Bettany - Jarvis (voice)
Alexis Denisof - The Other
Tina Benko - NASA Scientist
Jerzy Skolimowski - Georgi Luchkov
Kirill Nikiforov - Weaselly Thug
Powers Boothe - World Security Council #1
Jenny Agutter - World Security Council #2
Donald Li - World Security Council #3
Arthur Darbinyan - World Security Council #4
Maximilliano Hernandez - Agent Jasper Sitwell
Kenneth Tigar - German Old Man
Walter Perez - Young Shield Pilot
Harry Dean Stanton - Security Guard
Robert Clohessy - Police Sergeant
Enver Gjokaj - Young Cop
James Eckhouse - Senator Boynton
Stan Lee - Old Man in TV Report
Casting:
Casting began in October 2008
with the signings of Robert Downey, Jr.
as part of his four-picture deal with Marvel Studios, which includes
Iron Man 2 and The Avengers. Downey stated that he initially pushed
Whedon to make Stark the lead; "Well, I said, 'I need to be in the
opening sequence. I don't know what you're thinking, but Tony needs to
drive this thing.' He was like, 'Okay, let's try that.' We tried it and
it didn't work, because this is a different sort of thing, the story
and the idea and the theme is the theme, and everybody is just an arm
of the octopus."For Robert Downey Jr., the idea of being in The Avengers started on opening night of the first Iron Man in 2008. Downey stated; "I remember when we were all huddled around the dinner table waiting for the numbers to come in. We had planted some ideas after the credits of the film, hinting at the notion of The Avengers and in Hollywood, I'm always amazed when anything that difficult works out."
About the his character's evolution from previous movies, Downey stated; "In Iron Man, which was an origin story, he was his own epiphany and redemption of sorts. Iron Man 2 is all about not being an island, dealing with legacy issues and making space for others. This time around he is beginning to understand that it's about a group mindset and that 'we' is better than 'I'."
Chris Evans was cast as part
of a deal to star in three Marvel movies,
in addition to The Avengers. On his character Evans stated; "Big parts
of Steve Rogers are his good nature, high morals and strong values.
Those morals and values were created in a time when people treated each
other differently. The level of interaction was a bit deeper.
Everything feels one step apart with all of the technology we have now.
A lot of the things that he believed in, stood for and loved have
changed. They're not gone, they're just different. He's trying to
find his footing in a modern world."On his part in The Avengers Evans said that Steve Rogers is much darker. He stated; "It's just about him trying to come to terms with the modern world. You've got to imagine, it's enough of a shock to accept the fact that you're in a completely different time, but everybody you know is dead. Everybody you cared about. He was a soldier, obviously, everybody he went to battle with, all of his brothers in arms, they're all dead. He's just lonely. I think in the beginning it's a fish-out-of-water scene, and it's tough. It's a tough pill for him to swallow. Then comes trying to find a balance with the modern world."
Regarding the dynamic between Captain America and Tony Stark, Evans said; "I think there's certainly a dichotomy, this kind of friction between myself and Tony Stark, they're polar opposites. One guy is flash and spotlight and smooth, and the other guy is selfless and in the shadows and kind of quiet and they have to get along. They explore that, and it's pretty fun".
Producer Kevin Feige has stated; "We fought very hard to get Chris Evans into Captain America and we had to convince him to do it. We believed in him and knew how talented he was, but what was so satisfying was how much audiences embraced him as Steve Rogers. They have embraced all of our characters and so we wanted to bring all that goodwill into The Avengers."
Chris Hemsworth was cast as part of a multiple movie deal. He had previously worked with Joss Whedon on The Cabin in the Woods (2011). On his character Hemsworth remarked that
"Thor's motivation is much more of a personal one, in the sense that it's his brother that is stirring things up. Whereas everyone else, it's some bad guy who they've gotta take down. It's a different approach for me, or for Thor. He's constantly having to battle the greater good and what he should do vs. it's his little brother there. I've been frustrated with my brothers at times, or family, but I'm the only one who is allowed to be angry at them. There's a bit of that."
Producer Kevin Feige explains
the reasons why Chris Hemsworth was cast
as Thor; "The reason we cast Chris Hemsworth is we didn't want Thor to
just be a one-dimensional Adonis-like character. What makes a character
a Marvel character is that you can relate to them and recognize your
own flaws and struggles in the characters' flaws and struggles. In
Thor, the character has to learn the lesson of humility and Chris was
able to bring that in a very likable way, despite the fact that he
comes from another world."Chris Hemsworth had to increase his food intake in order to maintain the physique he built up for Thor (2011). When asked exactly how much, Hemsworth stated; "My body weight in protein pretty much!" His food consisted of chicken breasts, fish, steak and eggs everyday.
It was rumored that Joaquin Phoenix was considered for the part of The Hulk, before Mark Ruffalo was finally cast.
Edward Norton was originally set to reprise his role from The Incredible Hulk (2008), but he was replaced with Mark Ruffalo when negotiations between him and Marvel Studios broke down. Producer Kevin Feige stated; We have made the decision to not bring Ed Norton back to portray the title role of Bruce Banner in The Avengers. Our decision is definitely not one based on monetary factors, but instead rooted in the need for an actor who embodies the creativity and collaborative spirit of our other talented cast members. The Avengers demands players who thrive working as part of an ensemble, as evidenced by Robert, Chris H, Chris E, Samuel, Scarlett, and all of our talented casts. We are looking to announce a name actor who fulfills these requirements, and is passionate about the iconic role in the coming weeks." In response, Norton's agent Brian Swardstrom decried Feige's statement, calling it "purposefully misleading" and an "inappropriate attempt to paint our client in a negative light".
About replacing Norton, Ruffalo stated, "I'm a friend of Ed's, and yeah, that wasn't a great way for all that to go down. But the way I see it is that Ed has bequeathed this part to me. I look at it as my generation's Hamlet."
On the casting of Bruce Banner, director Whedon explains; "Mark was my dream choice and I had my heart set on him. I wanted a completely fresh take on the character so I went to Marvel very early on and said, 'I know the guy who would be a great Bruce Banner', and they said, 'Unless it's Mark Ruffalo, we really don't know.' And I was like, 'What?!' I just froze and said, 'You've got to be kidding. You did not just say that.' I showed them the list that I had in my wallet with his name at the top and they were completely on board."
On his character as the Hulk, Mark Ruffalo has stated; "This Hulk is mercurial. He's very unpredictable; he's nuanced. There's a sense of humor there; there's an ability to communicate. But he's bristly and he's incredibly dangerous, like a wild animal. His rage feels real; his reactions to things feel human."
Mark Ruffalo describes Bruce Banner as; "a
guy
struggling with two
sides of himself, the dark and the light; everything he does in his
life is filtered through issues of control. I grew up on the Bill Bixby
TV series, which I thought was a really nuanced and real human way to
look at the Hulk. I like that the part has those qualities."Regarding
the Hulk's place on the team, Ruffalo said, "He's like the teammate
none of them are sure they want on their team. He's a loose cannon.
It's like, 'Just throw a grenade in the middle of the group and let's
hope it turns out well!"Producer Kevin Feige has stated; "Joss wrote the character so that audiences feel for Bruce Banner much in the way they felt for Bill Bixby. In The Avengers, Bruce Banner has a good sense of humor and he is not in a constant state of melancholy and moroseness. A lot of the laughs in the film come from the character and early on, when we saw what Mark was doing with the role, we felt we finally had an opportunity to present Bruce Banner the way we always wanted to."
Ferrigno has played the Hulk in almost every live-action version since 1978. He played the Hulk in The Incredible Hulk and its subsequent three TV specials, and he voiced the Hulk in the big-screen The Incredible Hulk (2008), and he had a cameo role as a security guard in Hulk (2003), which he repeated again in The Incredible Hulk (2008). He also has voiced the Hulk in various animated productions.
About his character's evolution from Thor (2011), Tom Hiddleston commented; "I think the Loki we see in The Avengers is further advanced. You have to ask yourself the question: how pleasant an experience is it disappearing into a wormhole that has been created by some kind of super nuclear explosion of his own making? So I think by the time Loki shows up in The Avengers, he's seen a few things."
On his character's motivation in The Avengers, Hiddleston stated; "Loki's villainy is motivated by the fact that he's damaged and searching for his place in the universe, but in this film
he's
a lot
more menacing and a lot more powerful. He's much more self-possessed.
He's also a god, so he's more powerful than any human." Hiddleston has
further commented; "At the beginning of The Avengers, he comes to Earth
to subjugate it and his idea is to rule the human race as their king.
And like all the delusional autocrats of human history, he thinks this
is a great idea because if everyone is busy worshiping him, there will
be no wars so he will create some kind of world peace by ruling them as
a tyrant. But he is also kind of deluded in the fact that he thinks
unlimited power will give him self- respect, so I haven't let go of the
fact that he is still motivated by this terrible jealousy and kind of
spiritual desolation".About the relationship between himself and Tom Hiddleston, Chris Hemsworth stated; "I really loved working on Thor with Tom because we had so much time to develop our relationship. To come back and work with him again is so familiar. With everyone else, they're all incredible actors, but you've got to find that rapport and build it. With Tom, we know each other's rhythms and can just get into it."
In March 2009, Scarlett Johansson replaced Emily Blunt in portraying Black Widow in Iron Man 2, a deal that subsequently attached her to The Avengers. Scarlett Johansson's comments on her character, Black Widow; "Black Widow is all business. She's sort of in a grey area. In a sense, she's been fighting the good fight despite her dark background. But she's committed because she has to be and her moral ground is more dutiful. She's militaristic in that way; that's how she knows right from wrong."
About her character's relationship with Hawkeye, Johansson stated; "Our characters have a long history. They've fought together for a long time in a lot of battles in many different countries. We're the two members of this avenging group who are skilled warriors, we have no superpowers. Black Widow is definitely one of the team, though. She's not in the cast simply to be a romantic foil or eye candy. She's there to fight, so I never felt like I was the only girl. We all have our various skills and it feels equal".
On her her training, Johansson explained; "Even though Iron Man 2 was 'one-for-them,' I'd never done anything like that before. I'd never been physically driven in something, or a part of something so big. For The Avengers, I've spent so many months training with our stunt team, and fighting all the other actors, it's crazy. I do nothing but fight, all the time."
For director Whedon, having a strong female as part of a testosterone-heavy Avengers team was essential. He stated; "Black Widow is a fun character and I was very clear from the beginning that it was unacceptable to have an all-male Avengers team. Because of the timing of the shooting schedule, there was a moment when we weren't sure if we could get Scarlett, but I was a very happy man when she signed on because she adds so much to the film and it's a great juxtaposition to her male counterparts."
Jeremy Renner on his character, Hawkeye; "Hawkeye is alone in the game, an outcast and a loner; he's a lone wolf sort of character, so he's not a team player, but will be there if needed." He's further gone on to state; "When I saw Iron Man, I thought that was a really kick-ass approach to superheroes. Then they told me about this Hawkeye character, and I liked how he wasn't really a superhero; he's just a guy with a high skill set. I could connect to that."
Regarding Hawkeye's sniper mentality, Renner has stated; "It's a lonely game. He's an outcast. His only connection is to Scarlett's character, Natasha. It's like a left hand/right hand thing. They coexist, and you need them both, especially when it comes to a physical mission." Renner said Hawkeye is not insecure about his humanity. "Quite the opposite, he's the only one who can really take down the Hulk with his tranquilizer-tipped arrows. He knows his limitations. But when it comes down to it, there has to be a sense of confidence in any superhero."
As his role is a very physical role, Renner trained physically and practiced archery as much as possible, he was trained by Olympic archers. Director, Joss Whedon comments about Renner; "Jeremy is very athletic and can work like a stuntman, but at the same time he is extremely balletic and precise in his movements, which was perfect for Hawkeye. I loved the idea of shooting one way while looking another way because he's gauging the wind and the trajectory of his target. Action-wise, Hawkeye is as fascinating a character as there is in the film."
In February 2009, Samuel L. Jackson signed a nine-pi
cture
deal with
Marvel Entertainment to play the role of Nick Fury in Iron Man 2 and
other films, acting as a vehicle for characters such as Captain
America, Thor, The Avengers. On his character, Nick Fury, Jackson
commented; "Nick Fury monitors a lot of things and when he sees a need,
he generally goes against the grain; he rubs a lot of people the wrong
way by taking actions in situations that they don't necessarily want
him to take action in but he does anyway." Jackson said he does more in
The Avengers than in any of the previous films. Jackson compared the
character to Ordell in Jackie Brown, calling him "a nice guy to hang
out with. You just don't want to cross him".In April 2011, Jackson's script was stolen and leaked on the internet after a digital copy was left in a printer.
Director Whedon explains what he loves about Samuel L. Jackson as an actor. "I always think that there are two of him because he is famous for the sort of bravado Pulp Fiction speechifying guy who can out-moxie anybody in the room. Before we started shooting the film, I told Sam my biggest note to remember was 'less Shaft, more Glass (Jackson's character in Unbreakable).' I wanted to see a guy who could absolutely command a room with his voice that leaves no question of who is in charge of this enormous organization. I am also a huge Unbreakable fan, so I'm also very much in love with the great depth and well of sadness that he can bring to the character as well."
Clark Gregg's role in The Avengers was expanded. Gregg has stated; "Agent Coulson had become in terms of the import of this particular story, and how important his job is in bringing the Avengers together, it kind of felt a little surreal, like somebody was playing a prank and that wasn't the real script. But it wasn't, it was the real thing, I got to show up and do that stuff, and it felt like such an amazing payoff to what the journey had been and the fact I had been doing it for five years." He further commented on his character in The Avengers; "When you look at the team, it's made up of rock stars and divas with giant muscles and super-powered egos, so somebody has the job backstage to make them all play in the same super-band, and that's what Agent Coulson does.
Despite the character originating on film, Gregg said he relied on Marvel to provide him with background on Coulson's employers, giving him an illustrated encyclopedia on SHIELD. And although Coulson's origins are not revealed in the movie, Gregg said Whedon provided clues to his back story, particularly his fanboy obsession with Captain America.
Before Cobie Smulders was cast in February 2011, the following actresses auditioned for the role of Agent Maria Hill:
- Morena Baccarin
- Jessica Lucas
- Mary Elizabeth Winstead
In casting the role, Whedon and his filmmaking team had actresses read with Samuel L. Jackson in order to make sure they had the right fit for the role.
Whedon on why they chose Smulders for the role of Maria Hill; "We saw some really strong
performances and then Cobie
came in the room and it
was fascinating because everyone had their own prediction of who might
get it. They all read a fake scene with Sam Jackson and then we went
right next-door and watched them instantly. Everyone was great in the
auditions, but what it all boiled down to was the fact that when Cobie
pointed that gun at him, I thought she might shoot him. Even though I
wrote the scene in the moment, I really thought she could take him
down. Cobie has an absolute authority and physical confidence that
isn't ostentatious but instead, is very precise and absolute."Apparently Joss Whedon once considered Cobie Smulders for his unproduced, live-action Wonder Woman movie.
Smulders deal with Marvel is that her character would be integrated into nine movies. On her character Smulders has stated; "Maria Hill and Nick Fury butt heads constantly. I think that Maria is a little bit more intuitive than Nick. But throughout the course of the film, she realizes that he is involved and he does care, and he is taking the right steps to protect our country and fight the bad guys." Smulders has further commented; "I can relate to her being a mom and being a businesswoman and trying to work full-time and raising a family and having a career. We're asked to do a lot of things these days. I feel she is just all about her job and keeping things going."
On her preparation for her role as Maria Hill, Smulders said; "I hired this amazing black-ops trainer to teach me how to hold a gun, take me to a shooting range, how to hit, how to hold myself, how to walk and basically how to look. I don't do a ton of fighting in the movie, which is why I wasn't offered a trainer, but I wanted to look like I had the ability to."
Stellan Skarsgård reprise his role as Professor Erik Selvig from Thor (2011). Skarsgård comments on his character in The Avengers; "I had no idea what the future of Selvig would be after Thor, but one thing I knew was when you sign on to a Marvel film, you're on the hook for five."
Gwyneth Paltrow reprises her role as Pepper Potts from the Iron Man movies. For Robert Downey Jr., incorporating Pepper Potts into the story was an important element in the progression of his character. He states; "When we were in the first of several iterations of the storyline, the only thing I was sure about was that Tony Stark needed backup. I said to Joss and Kevin, 'We really need Pepper to be involved in some way.' I felt like it's been a while since we have seen Tony and Pepper and they have grown to be pretty close and it just makes sense that she would have some kind of influence over his decision to join The Avengers team."
The Avengers comics creator, Stan Lee, makes a cameo as the old man being interviewed at the end of the New York battle.
Harry Dean Stanton makes a cameo as a security guard.
Polish film director Jerzy Skolimowski appears in the movie as Georgi Luchkov, Black Widow's interrogator.
Damion Poitier portrays the cosmic supervillain Thanos, unnamed in the movie, but later identified by producer Kevin Feige in a post-credit scene.
Apparently the cast became good friends while filming so if all the actors happened to be filming scenes together in the same place, they would go out together after.
The cast became good friends while filming so if all the actors happened to be filming scenes together in the same place, they would go out together after. Also, the battle cry of the Avengers is "Avengers Assemble", this was never spoken throughout the movie, however, Chris Evans would say it behind the scenes to call out the rest of cast via text message to hang out off the set. Clark Gregg stated that this was his favorite text message ever sent to him.
Tom Hiddleston revealed in an interview with the Guardian that the code name for the film early in its production was 'Group Hug'.
This is the third time that Samuel L. Jackson and Scarlett Johansson have appeared in the same movie. The previous films were Iron Man 2 (2010) and The Spirit (2008).
This is also the third time that Chris Evans and Scarlett Johansson have work together. The previous movies were Perfect Score (2004) and The Nanny Diaries (2007).
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Screenplay & Pre-Production:
The Avengers comics was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in September 1963, where in fact Nick Fury and SHIELD did not create The Avengers. The Avengers team originally consisted of Iron Man, Thor, The Hulk, Ant-Man and Wasp. Captain America then joined the team in Issue #4, after being revived from being trapped in a block of ice when he was accidentally discovered by the team as they were looking for Namor the Sub Mariner.On the characters of The Avengers, creator, Stan Lee, has explained; "I'd like to think that one of the reasons that Marvel characters have been so successful is when we created them, we tried to give them interesting personalities and personal problems so people would still be interested in them even if they didn't have superpowers. In other words we tried to make our heroes and heroines three-dimensional interesting people. Sometimes, people make the mistake of just concentrating on the superpower while the real person beneath the costume gets ignored. That's when those particular stories don't do as well. Every character in The Avengers is flawed in some way and has a dynamic, interesting, personal story in addition to them saving the world."
Complex legal issues prevented a number of Avengers characters to be included in this movie. These include Quicksilver and The Scarlet Witch (the twin children of X-Men, villain Magneto), Doctor Doom (nemesis of the Fantastic Four) and Norman Osbourne/Green Goblin (the primary antagonist of Spider-Man). Though all characters are owned by Marvel/Disney, the X-Men and Fantastic Four characters had all been licensed to Fox Studios, and those of Spider-Man to Sony before work began on The Avengers. Marvel has said that in the future they hope to regain the rights to all licensed properties, that the aforementioned characters might have a role in subsequent Avengers films.
The Chitauri, the villainous alien race of this film, were the primary villains of the first volume of The Ultimates, a comic book re-imagining of The Avengers. Subsequently Loki was one of the primary villains of the second volume of The Ultimates, though his appearance had nothing to do with the Chitauri.
The Chitauri appear in the first story arc of The Ultimates, an alternate universe retelling of the origins of the Marvel superheroes. In the comics, their leader claims that they go by many names, including Skrulls. The use of the Chitauri name in this film, over the more popular Skrull, stems from complicated legal rights issues resulting from the licensing of the Fantastic Four characters, the series in which the Skrulls originated, to Fox Studios. At the time of production, Fox held the rights to all theatrical film versions of the Fantastic Four and their related characters; as such, Marvel/Disney had to use the Chitauri name for the aliens, as to not offend the previous agreement with Fox.
When Loki brings the Chitauri alien race to Earth to help him invade it, thus requiring the Avengers to be formed to prevent this, this is in keeping with the comics. In the comics Loki was also responsible for manipulating a chain of disasters which brought together the Avengers in the first place.
In April 2005 , Avi Arad, the CEO of Marvel Studios, first announced plans to develop the movie. Marvel then discussed their plans in a brief presentation to Wall Street analysts; the studio's intention was to release individual movies for the main characters, so as to establish their identities and familiarize audiences with them, before merging the characters together in a crossover film.
The idea of The Avengers came from producer, Kevin Feige, during production of Iron Man (2008), when he had the notion that SHIELD could be part of both Iron Man (2008) and The Incredible Hulk (2008).
Producer, Kevin Feige, commented from 'The Avengers Production Notes'; "When the idea of a Nick Fury cameo started coming up, we called Sam Jackson and he thought it was a cool idea. It was his enthusiasm about it that led us to shoot that end credit scene and what he
says to Tony Stark in the scene, 'You're part of a bigger universe, you just don't know it
yet.' The line was also Marvel telling that to the audience as well." He added; "Audiences loved the cameo and the buzz about Nick Fury began."
Screenwriter Zak Penn, who wrote The Incredible Hulk (2008), was hired by Marvel Studios to write the film in June 2007.
After the successful release of Iron Man (2008) in May, the company set a July 2011 release date for The Avengers. In September 2008, Marvel Studios reached an agreement with Paramount, an extension of a previous partnership, which gave the company distribution rights for five future Marvel films. In May 2009, Marvel announced that the release date for The Avengers had been pushed back to May 4, 2012.
Apparently an earlier draft of the script, included the female superhero Wasp.
In July 2010 Joss Whedon
was announced as the director of The Avengers. Whedon explains why he
chose this project; "I'm a fan of what Marvel has established. The
films they have released are extremely informative, useful and fun, but
when they first came to me, Thor and Captain America were not even
close to being finished and I just felt like, 'Okay, you have all the
moving parts, but how can you possibly bring them together?' Iron Man,
The Hulk and Captain America don't seem like they could co-exist and
ultimately that is what intrigued me and made me go. 'This can be done
and this should be done.'"Producer, Kevin Feige, explanation on why he chose director, Joss Whedon; "The genius of Joss Whedon is that he can take these huge elements and find the balance, so the characters are never lost to the spectacle and visual effects. We wanted the film amazing sets and incredible action, but we did not want the tone and humor to be trumped by the spectacular images on the screen. What's always been the most exciting to see is Tony Stark and Steve Rogers together and how Tony reacts to Thor and seeing Nick Fury on his own turf for the first time. We wanted those relationship dynamics to be the real heart of the film and Joss was someone we felt could delve into the character development just as much as he could with the action in the film."
According to Joss Whedon, the film is strongly influenced by the early 1960s Avengers comics, which he was a fan of while growing up. He commented; "In those comics these people shouldn't be in the same room let alone on the same team - and that is the definition of family."
On writing the screenplay, Joss Whedon, spent time with all the cast members so that they knew he was building their character from the ground up for them. Also every cast member had input into the script, to the degree that they wanted, so the that it was very much a collaboration.
On finishing the script, Whedon stated; 'When I finished writing the script, it really felt like an original story. You get to see how these characters come together to form The Avengers despite themselves and all of the forces trying to prevent it from happening. Even with so many characters in the story, they all have their moments and scenes in which they get to shine."
On the script, producer Kevin Feige stated; "What I really loved about Joss Whedon's script was all of these colorful personalities interacting together. As impressive as some of the spectacle moments are, it's those interplay moments in the script that will resonate with audiences because sometimes they'll all agree with each other and other times they'll disagree and not play so friendly in the sandbox."
Apparently director, Joss Whedon had been considered to direct X-Men in the 1990s, he even wrote a script, from which only two lines made it into the movie.
In August 2010, it was reported that Paramount Pictures and Marvel Studios were planning to start shooting in February. Simultaneously, it was declared that the film would be shot in 3D, although Mark Ruffalo later tweeted that this was not the case.
In October 2010, the Grumman Studios in Bethpage, New York and the Steiner Studios in Brooklyn, New York City, were announced as filming locations, but as Whedon later explained; "Originally we were supposed to be in Los Angeles, then for a short period we were supposed to be in New York, and then somehow we ended up in Albuquerque."
Also in October 2010, The Walt Disney Company agreed to pay Paramount at least $115 million for the worldwide distribution rights to Iron Man 3 and The Avengers. The deal also allowed Paramount to continue to collect the 8 percent box office fee it would have earned for distributing the film and placement of the company's logo on marketing materials. As a result, the on screen production credit reads "Marvel Studios in association with Paramount Pictures" though the film is owned, distributed and marketed by Disney. No reference to Disney is made until the very end of the closing credits, where "Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures" is credited for the film's distribution.
In November 2010 set construction was began.
In December 2010, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson and Marvel Studios Co-president Louis D'Esposito announced The Avengers would film primarily in Albuquerque, New Mexico, with principal photography scheduled for April through September 2011. Parts of the movie were also scheduled to be shot in Michigan, but a plan to film in Detroit ended after Governor Rick Snyder issued a budget proposal that would eliminate a film tax incentive.
In March 2011, Ohio Governor John Kasich announced before Mayor Frank G. Jackson's State of the City address that The Avengers would film in Cleveland.
The Science & Entertainment Exchange also provided science consultation for the film.
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Production:
This the first Marvel film to be distributed by Walt Disney Pictures.While the production shot a week of exteriors in New York City, at the end of the shooting schedule, the filmmakers decided the production would be based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, for three months before moving on to locations in Cleveland, Ohio; Wilmington, Ohio; Sandusky, Ohio; Worthington, Pennsylvania; and finishing in New York City.
On April 24, 2011, in downtown Albuquerque, The Avengers production kicked off its 92-day shooting schedule with a scene in which Nick Fury confronts Steve Rogers in an old boxing gym with a new mission. Despite being faced with the harsh realities that come with being unconscious for 70 years, the mission contains one element of his past that he is all too familiar with the devastating power of Tesseract.
The production was based at Albuquerque studios for 14 weeks. For Joss Whedon and his production team, the first order of business was shooting scenes on the biggest and most iconic set of the film, the Helicarrier, headquarters for SHIELD. Director Whedon explains; "It's basically an aircraft carrier in the sky. Throughout the years, the look of the Helicarrier has evolved in the comics, but it was always the idea of this floating fortress. It was part of the bargain in writing the script that it had to be included and I wasn't about to say no. We had a lot of discussions on figuring out how to make it work, but the streamlined design that our production designer James Chinlund came up with was very sleek and cool, but it also toed the line between fantasy and reality very well. The Helicarrier had to be state of the art and visually stunning because it elevates SHIELD to something other than a bunch of guys in a cave with banks and banks of computers. A good portion of the movie takes place on the Helicarrier and it's the only place that makes sense when having all of the Avengers there."
On Day 11 of the shooting schedule, the entire cast was assembled for the first time for a scene in which they all find out why Nick Fury has rounded them up. Seeing the entire cast together was an unforgettable moment for the filmmakers, who for years have been shaping the Marvel Universe so that this team of Marvel Super Heroes could unite on one set. Producer Kevin Feige recalls; "It really was a special moment seeing everyone together for the first time. The Avengers is a cornerstone of Marvel Comics and to bring it to the big screen is quite an accomplishment and it was something the entire cast recognized in the moment and they were all very excited. I know I was giddy just watching at the monitor."
Executive producer Patricia Whitcher's comments on the first time they had the entire cast together; "There weren't many days when we had the entire cast on the set at the same time. But the day everyone remembers was the first day they were all together on the Helicarrier. The energy in the room was simply electric. After the first scene, everybody on set just stopped and looked at each other and spontaneously started clapping. It was like, 'Wow, this is kind of a remarkable thing.' On days like that, you really feel privileged to do what you do."
With the script containing several major fight sequences, stunt coordinator R.A. Rondell set up a facility in Albuquerque where his stunt team could come every day to stretch out together, go through hand and weapon drills and choreograph the fights in the film. The facility also gave cast members access to train with fight choreographer Jonathan Eusebio and learn the various fighting techniques required for their roles. Nicknamed the "Stunt Dojo," Eusebio and his team trained the cast members in different fighting styles including, Wushu, Kung Fu, medieval fighting techniques and Kali. All of the training paid off immensely as the filmmakers were thrilled to see the actors performing confidently in all of the fighting sequences.
One of the stunt gym's attendees was Scarlett Johansson, stunt coordinator Rondell recalls; "Scarlett did an amazing amount of training in preparation as well as during production. She
came to the
stunt gym on a regular basis and really worked hard with Heidi and
Jonathan to learn all of the new moves and fighting techniques. She had
a great base from what she had learned on Iron Man 2, so we were able
to hit the ground running and teach her much more complex moves and
sequences and add weaponry into the mix." Executive producer Patricia
Whitcher also recalls; "Scarlett worked so hard on the film to keep in
great shape and that's not easy when you have to go to the gym at 4
a.m. so you can be in makeup at 5 a.m. On other days, she would go
straight from the gym to stunt training and then go work a full day, so
it's not all glamorous like people think. It's really hard work to pull
off these kinds of moves in a convincing fashion so that the audience
sees it's really Scarlett in there fighting." Both Hiddleston and Hemsworth enjoyed doing many of their stunts. Hiddleston stated; "As a cinephile and movie lover, I get such a kick when you see an actor flying across the screen and you know that it's the real actor who's done the stunt. I hate when they just cut around a stunt double and you just see the back of the actor's head. I don't want to see the back of my head, so I am always ready to get in there and mix it up with the stunt team." Hemsworth added; "I enjoy doing my own stunts when I can because I know it adds so much to the final product. You get the blood pumping and adrenaline going, but the reality is that you can be super-athletic, but there's no real athletic ability that prevents you from smashing headfirst into a wall sometimes. It's just one of those things that hurts a bit, but you get up, brush yourself off and do it again. It's fun and certainly breaks up the day."
For director Whedon, seeing his actors' willingness to do as many stunts as possible ultimately adds many more layers of performance to the finished product. Whedon stated; "The more I can show my actors' faces during action sequences, the more audiences will be invested and root for our heroes. The minute you see a shot that is obviously not your actor is the moment audiences disconnect from a scene. I was very fortunate that we had an amazing stunt team and that so many of our actors worked their butts off in preparing for the film and stayed dedicated to putting the time in at 32 the stunt gym when we were shooting. I really think they are all going to be very happy when they see those scenes cut together."
In June 2011, stuntman Jeremy Fitzgerald injured his head while attempting a stunt involving a 30-foot fall from a building after getting hit by an arrow. A Marvel spokesperson later told TMZ.com that despite the injury, Fitzgerald recovered and continued working on set.
On July 28, 2011, the movie wrapped its production schedule in Albuquerque and traveled to Wilmington, Ohio, to begin a five-week shooting schedule in the state. The cast and crew didn't have to go far to reach their first shooting location as the company's charter flight landed on set at Clinton County Air Park. The location, a massive complex with a 9000-foot airport runway and a 1 million square-foot, state-of-the-art shipping facility, would double for parts of the interior of the Helicarrier set. For executive producer Jeremy Latcham, the massive scope and high-tech look of the facility allowed the production to shoot the visual textures it needed to match what the production had already captured on stage in Albuquerque.
While the production's first-unit crew was shooting sequences in Wilmington, Ohio, its second-unit crew was shooting a chase sequence in Worthington, Pennsylvania, at Creekside Mushroom Farms- the former home to world famous Moonlight® brand mushrooms. The facility is the world's largest single-site mushroom farm and the only underground mushroom farm in the United States with over 150 miles of abandoned limestone tunnels encompassing 800 acres beneath the surface. It is recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records for its size and is unique in that all of the mushrooms are grown and harvested underground in complete darkness. The Avengers is the first production to shoot in the facility, which provided the filmmakers complete access to the 150 miles of tunnels 300 feet below the ground.
In August 2011, with the production in the home stretch of the shooting schedule, the cast and crew began its work in Cleveland, Ohio, for the biggest action sequences in 36 the film. In the scene, unknown evil forces attack New York City, culminating with a massive strafing run of explosions on 42nd Street. In order to pull off such a huge sequence, the production shut down East 9th Street in downtown Cleveland for four weeks to prep and shoot the scene. Shutting down a main artery into downtown is not an easy task but the filmmakers worked closely with the city and state for many months in preparation for the shoot.
Director Whedon liked the fact that Cleveland had a lot of the same style of architecture as New York City and describes the scene; "It starts out with a frozen moment, where the people of New York are confronted with unrecognizable evil forces for the first time, so they've all stopped their cars and gotten out to figure out what's going on. Then all of a sudden there is a huge strafing run, where they come down and start blowing up the street. There are cars exploding and flipping, people running for their lives and then a battle ensues between The Avengers and the evil forces."
The crew hired 25 members of the Ohio based 391st Military police force battalion for the attack on New York city scene to add realism for the battle.
On August 15, all the months of hard work and preparation paid off as Sudick and his team pulled off the impressive sequence without a hitch, and even though it was shot on East 9t
h
Street in downtown
Cleveland, it still made the cover of The New York Post with the
headline of "Save us, Thor!" Whedon recalls; "I don't remember writing
anything quite as big as what we shot. I don't think anybody was left
alive, including The Avengers, so that might turn out to be a problem
later on. It was a pretty exciting day. We ran about 15 cameras,
flipped and exploded countless cars; it was just an orgy of
destruction. This is not the kind of thing I usually do, but we managed
to get some humanity in the middle of it as well. So it's not just all
spectacle, but my God, what a spectacle it was." Filming also took place in the large vacuum chamber at the NASA Plum Brook Station near Sandusky, Ohio. The station's Space Power Facility was used to portray a SHIELD research facility. A series of explosions were filmed at the Chevrolet powertrain plant in Parma, Ohio as part of the battle sequence that began in Cleveland. Scenes from the film were also shot on Public Square and the Detroit–Superior Bridge.The southwest quadrant of Public Square was turned into Stuttgart, Germany, for filming.
With the production completing its work in Cleveland, Ohio, it headed east to New York City for its final days of shooting. With the story set in New York, the entire cast re-assembled one last time for a scene in Central Park. For the actors, it would be first time they were all on set together in over a month and also the last time they would be together. For director Whedon, the challenge would be to keep his cast focused. "It was like a circus crossed with a class reunion. Paparazzi and fans were everywhere and the cast was so happy to see each other, talk and catch up. So I just tried to keep the cameras rolling as much as possible because I knew when we cut it was going to be a while to reset."
On creating the complex character of The Hulk, Joss Whedon explains; "We wanted to create a Hulk that had never been done before. In the comics, Bruce Banner and The Hulk didn't look the same. On the television show, they were different actors and they've always been an actor and a CGI creature in the films, but now with the advancements of motion capture technology, we wanted Mark Ruffalo to play both sides of the character. Very early on, we decided to build The Hulk's face off of Mark's, not just in terms of what he was going to do movement-wise in playing the character, but also the actual physicality of it, including the bone structure and contours of the eyes and mouth. We really wanted to bridge the gap between the characters so that when he turns into The Hulk, you go, 'Oh my God, that's Bruce Banner! Only he is big and green and very angry!'"
Mark Ruffalo portrayed the Hulk through virtual-camera motion-capture. This is the first production in which the actor playing Banner also plays the Hulk. Ruffalo told New York magazine; "I'm really excited. No one's ever played the Hulk exactly; they've always done CGI. They're going to do the Avatar stop-action, stop-motion capture. So I'll actually play the Hulk. That'll be fun." Previous live-action versions have had Bruce Banner and the Hulk be played by separate people, as in the case of Bill Bixby and bodybuilder Lou Ferrigno, or had the Hulk rendered into the film in computer-generated imagery.
The filmmakers brought on Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), which worked with visual effects supervisor Janek Sirrs in creating a new version of The Hulk that would incorporate Bruce
Banner
into the rage
and anger of The Hulk. For Whedon, infusing every layer of Mark
Ruffalo's performance into The Hulk was essential in creating the look
and feel of the character. Jeff White, the company's visual effects
supervisor, said: "We really wanted to utilize everything we've
developed the last 10 years and make it a pretty spectacular Hulk. One
of the great design decisions was to incorporate Mark Ruffalo into the
look of him. So much of Hulk is based on Ruffalo and his performance,
not only in motion capture and on set but down to his eyes, his teeth,
and his tongue."For Ruffalo, playing both sides of his character meant spending a lot of time at ILM going through the technical processes involved in creating motion capture. Ruffalo explains how his background in theater helped him with the technical side of the character. "There are many different steps in creating this version of The Hulk," says Ruffalo. "It was interesting to me how relatable it is to theater, which is the oldest form of acting. As a theater actor, you walk onto a black box and there is nothing to live off of, so you really have to rely on your imagination and you have to put things out there that aren't there."
A 3D model was used to create the Hulk's body which was modeled after Long Island bodybuilder and male stripper Steve Romm, while the Hulk's face was modeled after Ruffalo. The Hulk's voice was a blending of the voices of Mark Ruffalo and Lou Ferrigno.
Weta Digital took over duties for animating Iron Man from ILM.
For Chris Evans, shooting his first battle scene of the production with Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Hemsworth in their full armor as Iron Man and Thor was an experience he will always
remember.
He recalls; "For
that scene, we were shooting nights on this beautiful, wooded
mountaintop with Iron Man and Thor duking it out. And then being the
peacekeeper that he is, Captain America goes and tries to break them
up. This was actually the first time I'd seen Chris Hemsworth walk on
set in full costume with the long red cape. And then Robert Downey Jr.
comes on set in his full Iron Man armor. I remember thinking how much
they both embodied their characters in costume. It was such a cool
moment for me, standing there next to them both, because all of a
sudden I felt like my Captain America suit took on new meaning. I felt
that I was a part of something much bigger." Throughout the entire shooting schedule of the movie, there was one common denominator in the cast that you could count on; each character would have his moment against the evil trickery of Loki. Tom Hiddleston comments; "Loki goes toe-to-toe with Tony Stark, Nick Fury, Captain America, Thor, The Hulk, Black Widow and Hawkeye. It's been absolutely amazing working with these actors. They're some of the greatest actors and icons in their own right. It's like being in the best kind of superhero rock band you could possibly hope for."
All the Avengers stars were excited about their experiences on the film. Robert Downey Jr. commented; "Sometimes in the moment on this film, the gravity of the situation would hit me and I would catch myself thinking, 'What a sweet deal this is.' I think more and more now that I'm 46, I should be in this phase of my development where you appreciate things while they're happening. This is one of the first times I really had that feeling throughout the production and it just was a lot of fun to work and hang out with everyone."
Thor spends most of this movie in his Asgardian armor but with bare arms, a nod to his early appearances in the comics. During his time on the Helicarrier, he is also seen without his cape, an allusion to his Ultimate Comics appearance. Academy award-winning costume designer Alexandra Byrne, commented on Thor's new look; "Thor's new sleeveless look was to achieve a less armored look for the conversational scenes between The Avengers. The look also takes a cue from the comics and works well with Chris Hemsworth's incredible physique. His muscular arms are the iconic statement of Thor, and the discs and red cape are the iconic statements of the costume."
One element of Hawkeye's character in the comics that didn't translate to the big screen was the costume of the character. Director Whedon explains how he modified the look to fit both his and his actor's desire to ground the character in reality; "Let's just say it, the purple mask Hawkeye wears in the comics is just not a good idea. As much as possible with The Avengers, you want to see their faces and Jeremy Renner's face is incredibly compelling, so I said, 'Here's an idea, don't put cloth over it.' We ended up going with Bryan Hitch's vision of the costume from The Ultimates and Mark Millar's vision of the idea that he's not a Super Hero; he is a SHIELD agent. Hawkeye also likes to sneak off by himself to the highest and darkest part of the room and he's not much of a team player."
Concept illustrator and designer of Iron Man's Mark VII armor, Phil Saunders stated that "Joss Whedon was looking for something that had the 'cool' factor of the suitcase suit from Iron Man 2, while still being a fully armored, heavy duty suit that could take on an army in the final battle." To that end, Saunders borrowed ideas that had been proposed in Iron Man 2 as well as some ideas that had been abandoned in Iron Man and merged them together in a modular suit that has big ammo packets on the arms and a backpack.
In the scene where Thor and Loki crash down on the mountain side, a large black crow flies by them as they are talking. In Norse mythology, their father, Odin, had two crows, Huginn and Muninn, who would bring Odin information from Midgard (Earth).
Tony Stark can be seen wearing a Black Sabbath T-shirt after Loki has been brought on board the Helicarrier. Black Sabbath is better known for their song "Iron Man." Although the song was not originally associated with the Marvel Comics character, it has since been referenced in the comics and the end of Iron Man (2008) when Tony quotes the lyric, "I am Iron Man."
In the scene on the Helicarrier, when the Avengers team realize that they are being turned against each other via mind manipulation from Loki. This happens when Banner unknowingly picks up the staff that Loki has with him and uses to both shoot and turn humans into his minions. The tip of the spear has a blue sparkling crystal at the end that many believe is energy from the Cosmic Cube, however, this is false. It is actually the Blue Infinity Gem that allows the user to control others and enter the thoughts of others. It is part of Marvel's 'Infinity Gauntlet' which involves the Avengers taking on Thanos, the character seen during the credits. After a long war spanning dozens of Marvel comics issues, including a canceled story line, the Gems are dispersed among superheros and mutants after Iron Man and Steve Rogers reclaim them. In fact, one of the Gems makes it into rival DC Comics story lines and is given to Darkseid, who is the DC equivalent to Thanos.
In the scene when Tony Stark describes his group as "Earth's Mightiest Heroes, that kind of thing." This refers to the bold label that has appeared on The Avengers comic books since its 1963 publication. The phrase has also been used as the subtitle for The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, the most recent animated series before the live-action Avengers film.
The single-engine jet fighters used in the movie are computer-rendered Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning IIs. F-35s appear briefly in several scenes, including a sequence of the airplane transitioning from forward flight to vectored-thrust hover mode to fire its 25mm cannon. The F-35 is still in development and will not even have basic combat capability until late 2015.
Tony Stark's car, the Acura roadster is neither the 2012 NSX Concept show car nor an actual prototype of the 2015 next-generation hybrid Acura NSX. It was custom designed specifically for the movie by Honda North America chief designer Dave Marek. The "donor car" was a 1991 NSX from Arizona with 252,000 miles on its odometer. The interior of the movie car is almost totally stock, and still has the original cassette tape player in the console
The decimation of Stark Tower during the final battle destroys the company logo, leaving only the illuminated "A" at the end of the film. This is a subtle nod, and potential sequel set-up, to the comics where Stark Towers later becomes the headquarters of the Avengers. It's a giant building alternatively depicted as an "A" shaped building, or as a skyscraper with a giant "A" crowning the top.
Production wrapped on September 5, 2011 in New York City. Whedon commented; "I'm less tired on day 92 than I was on day one and that is a tribute to the hard-working cast and crew of The Avengers. If audiences enjoy this film as much as we did making it, then I think we're going to be in good shape."
In November 2011, Marvel announced that Alan Silvestri, who scored Captain America (2011), would write and compose the score for The Avengers. Silvestri stated, "This is actually a very unique experience for me. I've worked on films where there have been a number of stars and certainly worked on films where there have been characters of equal weight in terms of their level of importance and profile in the film, but this one is somewhat extreme in that regard because each of these characters has their own world and it's a very different situation. It's very challenging to look for a way to give everyone the weight and consideration they need, but at the same time the film is really about the coming together of these characters, which implies that there is this entity called the Avengers which really has to be representative of all of them together."
Silvestri developed the score with the London Symphony Orchestra at Abbey Road Studios in London, England. Whedon described the score as "old school", saying; "the score is very old-fashioned, which is why Silvestri was letter perfect for this movie because he can give you the heightened emotion, the Hans Zimmer school of 'I'm just feeling a lot right now!' but he can also be extraordinarily cue and character specific, which I love."
In October 2011, producer Kevin Feige said during the New York Comic Con; "Iron Man 3 will be the first of what we sort of refer to as phase two of this saga that will culminate, God willing, in Avengers 2".
In December 2011, Disney announced that the film will be converted to 3D during post-production for the theatrical release.
In December 2011, Marvel announced that an eight-issue comic-book prelude to the film, written by Christopher Yost and Eric Pearson with art by Luke Ross and Daniel HDR, will be released in March 2012.
Method Design in Los Angeles created the closing credits for The Avengers. Steve Viola, creative director at Method Design, stated; "This piece was a 2 minute self-contained main on end sequence created entirely in CG. For each of the shots in the sequence we designed, modeled, textured, and lit all of the environments and many of the foreground objects. We received assets from Marvel to include in the piece, then heavily re-modeled and re-surfaced them to create a post-battle macro sequence. We also designed a custom typeface for the Main Title The Avengers as well as 30 credits set in-scene."
According to director Joss Whedon, the original cut of the movie was over 3 hours long. There will be about 30 minutes of the excised footage included in the DVD Release, most of which revolves around Steve Rogers. Whedon revealed that one of these scenes involved Rogers struggling to adjust to the modern world in his Brooklyn apartment and another revealed Steve Rogers' reunion with Peggy Carter, his love interest from Captain America (2011).
In February 2012, Marvel announced the release of a second limited series comic book tie-in, Black Widow Strikes written by Fred Van Lente, who wrote Captain America: First Vengeance, the comic-book prequel to Captain America: The First Avenger. The story is set between Iron Man 2 and The Avengers and follows Black Widow as she runs down some loose ends from Iron Man 2. Additionally, the title Avengers Assemble was launched in March 2012, written by Brian Michael Bendis with art by Mark Bagley and features the same Avengers line-up as the film, versus a new incarnation of the Zodiac.
In February 2012, Disney announced that the film's title would be changed in the United Kingdom to avoid confusion with the British TV series of the same name, as well as its 1998 film adaptation, but this led to confusion over the film's actual title. Empire magazine reported that the film would be titled Marvel Avengers Assemble, while The Hollywood Reporter said that it would be called simply Avengers Assemble. Marvel's UK website refers to the film as Marvel's Avengers Assemble, although David Cox of The Guardian, in arguing that it was one of the worst film titles ever, considered this to be an error in the production notes, albeit grammatically clearer. According to the British Board of Film Classification and the Irish Film Classification Office the title is Marvel Avengers Assemble. Producer Kevin Feige said there are only two words in the UK title, one more than in the US title, and stated that "decisions like that aren't made lightly and there are lots of marketing research, lawyers and things that get into the mix on it".
Producer Kevin Feige compares this movie to Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011); "It set a standard for that level of ZOMG-awesomeness and scale. We're working to try to outdo that."
In March 2012, Joss Whedon stated that he would want a sequel to be "Smaller. More personal. More painful. By being the next thing that should happen to these characters, and not just a rehash of what seemed to work the first time. By having a theme that is completely fresh and organic to itself."
On April 11, 2012, at the premiere of The Avengers, producer Feige said they have an option for Whedon to direct The Avengers 2 when and if the time comes.
On April 12, 2012, which was a day after th
e world
premier, an
additional scene involving the Avengers eating
shawarma was
shot. This final end
credit scene
was added after Robert Downey Jr. encouraged
a rewrite of a previous scene, which came after Thor rips off Iron
Man's mask to
reveal an unconscious Tony Stark, who had just fallen back to Earth.
Tony originally awakens and asks, "What's next?". Robert Downey Jr.
thought the line could be more interesting, and the idea of going to a
local shawarma restaurant was born.For the filming of the final end credit scene, Chris Evans had to wear a prosthetic face to cover up his beard that he needed for a movie he was filming at the time. They also had him cover his face partially with his hands.
Sales of shawarma in L.A. reportedly skyrocketed in the days after the film's release.
A Shawarma is another name for gyro, correctly pronounced as "hero".
In a May 2012 interview, Whedon said that it was his decision to add Thanos, although not identified in the film, in a post-credits scene. He stated; "He for me is the most powerful and fascinating Marvel villain. He's the great grand daddy of the bad-asses and he's in love with Death and I just think that's so cute. For me, the greatest Avengers comic book was Avengers Annual #7 (1977),that Jim Starlin did followed by, Marvel Two-in-One Annual #2 (1977), that contained the death of Adam Warlock. Those were some of the most important texts and I think underrated milestones in Marvel history and Thanos is all over that, so somebody had to be in control and had to be behind Loki's work and I was like 'It's got to be Thanos.' And they said 'Okay' and I'm like 'Oh my God!'"
In May 2012, after the successful release of The Avengers, Disney CEO Bob Iger announced a sequel was officially in development.
Take a look at the behind the scenes featurette here shwoing a short history of Marvel films, and how they've all built up for this compilation installment:
Interview with director Joss Whedon:
Interview with Robert Downey Jr.:
Interview with Chris Evans:
Inerview with Chris Hemsworth:
Interview with Mark Ruffalo:
Interview with Tom Hiddleston:
Still want more? Then you can visit the official website.
Source of information:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0848228/trivia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Avengers_(2012_film)
http://i.annihil.us/u/prod/avengersmovie/site_v2/assets/pdf/The_Avengers_Production_Notes.pdf
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