The Avengers
Some assembly required.
Country
Production
Genre
Budget
$220 000 000
Revenue
$1 520 538 536
Director
Actors
Scenario
Producer
Kevin Feige, Stan Lee, Avi Arad, Jon Favreau, Chris Brigham, Louis D'Esposito, Alan Fine, Victoria Alonso, Jeremy Latcham
Operator
Seamus McGarvey
Composer
Artist
James Chinlund, Travis Tohill, Shawn Kelly
Audition
Sarah Halley Finn, Randi Hiller, Nancy Bishop
Editing
Short description
The Avengers brings together a team of Marvel superheroes after Nick Fury, head of the peacekeeping agency S.H.I.E.L.D., faces a threat to global security. Thor's brother Loki seizes the Tesseract, a cube of immense power, and allies with a warmongering alien race in exchange for an army to conquer Earth. In response, Fury recruits Iron Man, Captain America, the Hulk, Thor, Black Widow and Hawkeye. The heroes must set aside their differences and learn to work as a unit before the world falls into chaos.
Joss Whedon directed and wrote the screenplay, following his 2005 film Serenity; he would go on to direct Avengers: Age of Ultron in 2015. Kevin Feige produced, and the large ensemble cast includes Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson and Jeremy Renner, supported by a credited cast of 112 and crew of 642. The 143-minute film was made for 220 million USD and earned 1.52 billion USD worldwide, a return that reflects its broad commercial reach.
Viewer scores are strong and closely aligned, with an 8 out of 10 on IMDb from 1.6 million votes and an 8.1 out of 10 on TMDB from roughly 39,800 votes. A film critics' rating of 8.1 out of 10 from 362 reviews places professional assessment in the same range as audience opinion.
What's left behind the scenes
- Edward Norton was initially cast as the Hulk, but negotiations between him and Marvel Studios were unsuccessful. Ultimately, Norton was replaced by Mark Ruffalo.
- The first Marvel film distributed by Walt Disney Pictures.
- Before Mark Ruffalo starred as the Hulk, Joaquin Phoenix was rumored to be a possible contender for the role.
- Morena Baccarin, Jessica Lucas, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, and Cobie Smulders auditioned for the role of Agent Maria Hill. Ultimately, the role went to Cobie Smulders.
- Lou Ferrigno voices the Hulk in this film. He has played the Hulk in practically all adaptations since 1978: the Hulk in the series “The Incredible Hulk” (1978-1982) and in three subsequent television programs, and he also voiced the Hulk in the film “The Incredible Hulk” (2008). In the film “Hulk” (2003) he appeared in an episodic role as a guard, and he played the same role in “The Incredible Hulk” (2008). In addition, he voiced the Hulk in various animated adaptations.
- Chris Hemsworth had to expand his dietary regimen to maintain his physique for the role of Thor.
- Mark Ruffalo describes Bruce Banner as “a guy who struggles with two different sides of himself, dark and light, and everything he does in his life goes through a filter of self-control.” He also describes Banner’s alter ego – the Hulk – as “uncontrollable – none of our team is sure they want to have a teammate like that. It’s like throwing a grenade into the middle of a group of people and hoping everything will be okay.”
- Mark Ruffalo personally portrayed the Hulk using virtual motion capture cameras. In previous adaptations, Banner and the Hulk were played by different people (Bill Bixby and bodybuilder Lou Ferrigno), or the Hulk was added to the film using computer graphics.
- Producer Kevin Feige compares the film to “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” (2011): “It set the standard for the level of breathtaking spectacle and scale. We’re working to try to surpass that.”
- It was a great honor for Mark Ruffalo to take over the role of Bruce Banner from his friend Edward Norton: "Ed passed the torch to me, and I treat this role as Hamlet for my generation."
- The Science and Entertainment Exchange provided consultation for this film.
- According to Joss Whedon, the film was heavily influenced by the Avengers comics of the 1960s, which he himself was a fan of growing up: "In those comics, these people shouldn’t even be in the same room, let alone the same team – and that’s the definition of family."
- The team of people involved in 'The Avengers' includes an unusually high number of Oscar nominees for a film based on a comic book: Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Samuel L. Jackson, Jeremy Renner, Mark Ruffalo, director Joss Whedon, cinematographer Seamus McGarvey, and many others. This surpasses 'Iron Man 2' (2010) and 'Iron Man' (2008), each of which has four nominees.
- Despite not being involved in either the production or the marketing and distribution of the film, Paramount Pictures’ logo still appears in advertising. And although Disney bought the distribution rights to Marvel films from Paramount (since Marvel became part of Disney), the latter still receives a portion of the royalties for these projects. There is no mention of Disney until the end of the closing credits, where 'Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures' is listed as the film’s distributor.
- The film was converted to 3D for theatrical release after shooting.
- Tony Stark describes his team as "Earth's Mightiest Heroes." This phrase has appeared in The Avengers comics since its publication in 1963. It was also used as a subtitle for the animated series The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes (2010).
- This is the second time Bruce Banner/Hulk and Thor have appeared together in a film. The first time was in The Incredible Hulk: Return (1988).
- According to director Joss Whedon, the original cut of the film was over three hours long. Approximately 30 minutes of deleted footage will be included in the DVD release, most of which focuses on Steve Rogers (Captain America). Whedon stated that one of these scenes shows Rogers trying to adjust to the modern world in his Brooklyn apartment, while another depicts a reunion between Steve Rogers and Peggy Carter, his love interest from Captain America: The First Avenger (2011).
- Tom Hiddleston told The Guardian newspaper in an interview that the film's code name during its early development was "Group Hug."
- Samuel L. Jackson's portrayal of Nick Fury in this film made him the second actor, after Hugh Jackman (who appeared in all the X-Men films), to play the same comic book superhero in five different films.
- In the comics, the Chitauri are also referenced as the Skrulls. The use of the name Chitauri instead of the more popular Skrull is due to legal complications with Fox Studios, which owned the rights to Fantastic Four (2005). At the time of filming, Fox owned the rights to all versions of Fantastic Four and related characters (including the Skrulls), so Marvel/Disney had to name the aliens Chitauri to avoid violating the agreement with Fox.
- Thor spends most of the film in Asgardian armor, but fighting bare-handed is a nod to his early appearances in the comics.
- Captain America in the film is one of the founders. He was unfrozen in Avengers #4 when he was accidentally discovered during a search for Namor the Sub-Mariner.
- To prepare for the role of Agent Clint Barton (Hawkeye), Jeremy Renner trained with Olympic archers.
- To add realism to the battle in the New York attack scene, 25 people from the 391st Military Police Battalion of Ohio were hired.
- The Avengers' battle cry – “Avengers Assemble” – was never spoken throughout the entire film. However, Chris Evans used it in text messages to gather the cast for a get-together after filming.
- Outdoor scenes that were supposed to be filmed in Germany, but were actually shot in downtown Cleveland, showcase numerous Cleveland historical landmarks, specifically: Tower City, Higbee Building & Casino, Renaissance Building, and the Soldiers & Sailors Monument.
- After the premiere, while filming additional scenes, Chris Evans had to wear a special prosthetic to hide the facial hair he had grown for a film he was shooting at the time. He was even made to partially cover his face with his hands.
- The location on the ship where Banner's laboratory is situated is referred to in naval architecture as a well deck, a protected docking area typically used to launch small boats or hovercraft for transporting troops ashore.
- All scenes filmed in Ohio were originally planned to be shot in Michigan. Filming was moved to Ohio when it became clear that Michigan was going to cancel its film tax credit.
- The first film to gross $200 million in its first three days of release in the United States.
- Alyson Hannigan, Cobie Smulders' co-star in "How I Met Your Mother" (2005), suggested to director Joss Whedon that he cast Smulders as Maria Hill. Hannigan also worked with Whedon on the series "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (1997-2003).
- Tony Stark's t-shirt features the Black Sabbath 1978 tour. This was the band's final tour with Ozzy Osbourne as vocalist, with the then-promising Van Halen as the opening act. Black Sabbath is well known for their song "Iron Man." And although the song was initially unrelated to the Marvel comic book hero, it has been referenced in the comics ever since.
- Single-engine fighters are computer visualizations of Lockheed Martin's F-35 models. F-35s appear in several scenes, including a moment where the aircraft transitions from horizontal flight to hover mode with thrust vectoring, in order to fire a 25mm cannon. F-35s are still under development and will not have even basic operational capability until the end of 2015.
- Tony Stark's Acura Roadster is neither a 2012 auto show concept sports car nor a prototype for a next-generation Acura sports car hybrid in 2015. It was designed specifically for the film by Honda North America's chief designer, Dave Marek. The basis for the car was a 1991 sports car from Arizona with 252,000 miles on it. The car's interior in the film is almost stock, and features an original cassette player on the dashboard.
- Mark Ruffalo is the only actor as of 2012 to have played both Hulk and Bruce Banner in the same film. Technically, both Eric Bana and Edward Norton did motion capture work for their respective Hulks. But Ruffalo is the first actor to play Hulk live on set, using motion capture technology.
- The Avengers became one of eleven films to gross over $1 billion worldwide. For Marvel, this is the first film with such high box office receipts.
- Amanda Peet was considered for the role of Agent Maria Hill.
- In the end credits of the films “Thor” (2011) and “The Avengers” (2012), a “thank you” to Ralph Macchio can be seen. This gratitude is not for the actor from the film “The Karate Kid” (1984), but for a man with the same name who was a Marvel writer in the 1980s.
- Stan Lee's cameo role: an old man giving an interview at the end of the New York battle.
- Tom Hiddleston says that Loki has grown since the events in “Thor”: “How pleasant must it be to have an experience like disappearing into a temporal tunnel that was created with the help of some kind of nuclear explosion made with his own hands? I think that by the time Loki appears, he has seen a lot and is already thinking about more important things than just his brother and Asgard…”
- The Chitauri, the villainous alien race in this film, were the main villains in the first part of the “The Ultimates” comics. Subsequently, Loki was one of the main villains in the second part of the same comics, although his appearance has nothing to do with the Chitauri.
- The logos of Marvel Studios and Paramount Pictures are shown inside the Tesseract.
- The film was shot in an unusual aspect ratio for an adventure film like this – 1.85:1. This was necessary to correctly depict the varying heights of the main characters, such as Black Widow, who is much shorter than other characters in the film.
- The final scene was added after Robert Downey Jr. helped change the previous scene. Originally, after Thor removes Iron Man's mask from the unconscious Tony Stark, who has just fallen back to Earth, Tony regains consciousness and asks, “What’s next?”. Robert Downey Jr. felt this moment could be more interesting, and the idea of going to a local shawarma restaurant was born. The scene was added two days after the Hollywood premiere.
- Loki is described as a king in the world he comes from. Shortly after, he is shown appearing in Stuttgart to gain access to iridium reserves in a laboratory, accompanied by a mind-controlled Hawkeye. When the Avengers ask about Loki's location, he states he is at “22 Königstrasse”. “König” means “king” in German.
- After Thor takes Loki from the Quinjet down the mountainside, two large ravens fly past them while they speak. In Norse mythology, their father, Odin, had two ravens, Thought (Huginn) and Memory (Muninn), who brought Odin information from Midgard (Earth).
- At the end of the film, when the news footage with the waitress appears on Nick Fury’s computer screen, the recording is labeled S.H.I.E.L.D., file A113. “A113” is a reference to the graphic design room number at the California Institute of the Arts.
- Loki brings the Chitauri to Earth to help him conquer it, which prompts the formation of the Avengers to prevent this. This is fully consistent with the comics, where Loki was responsible for a series of disasters that brought the Avengers together (incidentally, this happened in the very first issue of the self-titled comic series).
- During the final battle, almost the entire company logo is destroyed on Stark Tower, leaving only the illuminated letter 'A' at the end of the film. This is a subtle hint (at a possible sequel) to a comic where the Avengers' headquarters became a giant structure depicted as a building in the shape of the letter 'A', or a skyscraper with a giant letter 'A' on its top.
- The character the Other speaks to in the post-credit scene is Thanos – the Mad Titan, the main supervillain in the Marvel universe. He is a cosmic-scale killer who is literally in love with the embodiment of Death, which is the reason for his smile when he says, 'to court death'.
- At the very end of the credits there is a final scene. Earlier in the film, Tony Stark jokes that he wants to try shawarma, even though he doesn't know what it is. And in the final scene, they are sitting in a restaurant, silently eating shawarma for about 30 seconds, glancing at each other.
- During the scene in Stuttgart, several green police cars are shown. However, in Baden-Württemberg (whose capital is Stuttgart), police cars are painted blue. In addition, the emergency lights on German police cars are blue, not yellow-orange.
- When Dr. Banner first meets Agent Romanoff in the barn, there is a shot where she is speaking, but her reflection in a small mirror behind Banner is not.
- When one of the operators resumes playing Galaga, a sound characteristic of an enemy ship attempting to capture the player's ship is used. In the film, this sound is used during regular gameplay.
- Almost at the end of the fight scene between Iron Man and Thor, when Captain America appears and tries to convince Thor to stop, it is clearly visible that when Iron Man is hit by Thor's hammer, he falls to the ground 10 or 20 meters away from Thor. Then, when Thor attacks Captain America, Captain blocks the hit with his shield, and we see Thor fly back about 5 meters from him. After that, the three heroes get up, but now they are much closer to each other than one might expect. This is especially noticeable with Iron Man, who is standing right next to Captain America.
- After Captain America picks up another punching bag from the floor, it is visible that it is new and not wrapped in tape. However, in the next shot from below, the tape is already there. In all other shots, it is also without tape, as it was at the beginning.
- When Captain America and Agent Coulson arrive on the ship, in a wide shot during the landing, the wings of their transport are seen folding. In the next shot, when Captain America disembarks, the wings are extended.
- Agent Hill pursues Hawkeye and shoots at him through the windshield from the driver's side, leaving a grapefruit-sized hole, and seconds later, a hole from the passenger side.
- In the scenes where Tony Stark is on board the ship in the conference room with Nick Fury and Steve Rogers (and again when he is standing in the bar in Stark Tower talking to Loki), the glow from the arc reactor in his chest is not visible through his Black Sabbath t-shirt. But it is visible when he is in the same t-shirt in the lab with Doctor Banner.
- When Bruce Banner first appears on the ship's bridge, he takes off his jacket, folds it, and holds it with his hand, and in the next shot, the jacket is draped over his arm.
- During the attack on New York, when cars are first being blown up, a cable moving them can be seen attached to one of the cars as it flips over.
- A police car in Stuttgart is shown as a BMW 3-Series model. Police in Baden-Württemberg only drive Mercedes Benz or Porsche. Police are permitted to drive cars only from these companies, since their headquarters are located on this German land.
- At the very beginning of the film, during the interrogation of Black Widow, a billboard with supposed Russian writing is shown. In reality, what is written makes no sense and is simply a random set of Cyrillic letters. Furthermore, the locomotives visible in the shots are all new American mainline freight trains and have never been used in Russia or Eastern Europe in general.
- In the credits, the name of the company NAMCO Bandai is misspelled as NAMECO Bandai.
- When Loki’s plane is about to land on the ship, a controlling dispatcher can be seen. In the next overall aerial shot, he is already gone.
- At the end of the film, when the Avengers repel the alien attack, Tony Stark fires at Captain America’s shield, which hypothetically should absorb all vibrations, yet the beam reflects off it like a mirror.
- The film states that iridium emits antiprotons, which is complete nonsense from both a physics and logical standpoint, as it would spontaneously annihilate with the release of an unimaginable amount of energy.
- While working on the comic *Ultimates*, Mark Millar asked artist Bryan Hitch to base the character’s appearance on actor Samuel L. Jackson. Before that, Nick Fury was a copy of the “classic version” (a white man with thick, slightly graying hair), then it was decided to make the character black, but each artist drew him differently. When Samuel L. Jackson, a big fan of comics, saw a character resembling himself on the pages, he was very flattered and volunteered to play Fury on screen at the first opportunity. Marvel did not object at all, as this eliminated casting problems for the studio and created fan-pleasing references to the comics. In 2014, a black Nick Fury also appeared on the pages of the classic comics (more precisely, Nicholas Fury Jr., one of the illegitimate sons of the white Nick), along with Agent Coulson, due to his great popularity among fans and to bring the comics more in line with the films.
- Black Widow and Captain America take Hawkeye with them to the final battle because he can pilot the 'Jet'. Previously, during Loki's arrest, the 'Jet' was piloted by Widow, and Hawkeye wasn't needed.
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