There was an idea, Stark knows this, called the Avengers Initiative. The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people, to see if they could become something more. To see if they could work together when we needed them to. To fight the battles that we never could. Phil Coulson died still believing in that idea. In heroes. ~ Nick Fury

Marvel's The Avengers (titled Marvel Avengers Assemble in the UK and Ireland) is a 2012 American superhero film about a team of superheroes who come together to form the Avengers to help stop Thor's adoptive brother Loki from enslaving the human race. It is based on the Marvel Comics superhero team of the same name, and is the sixth installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Written and directed by Joss Whedon. Story by Zak Penn and Joss Whedon.
Avengers Assemble! (taglines)

Tony Stark / Iron Man

  • A hero? Like you? You're a laboratory experiment, Rogers. Everything special about you came out of a bottle.
  • It's good to meet you, Dr. Banner. Your work on anti-electron collisions is unparalleled. And I'm a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster.
  • Phil? His first name is "Agent."
  • [To Steve Rogers, about Nick Fury] He's a spy. Captain, he's the spy. His secrets have secrets.
  • An intelligence agency that fears intelligence? Historically, not awesome.
  • [Trying to attract a Leviathan by popping flares from his suit] Okay, we got his attention. What was Step Two?
  • We have a Hulk.
  • [Standing at Fury's command post on the Helicarrier] Raise the mizzenmast, jib the top-sails. [Points to a SHIELD operator] That man is playing Galaga! He thought we wouldn't notice, but we did.
  • And there's one other person you pissed off! His name was Phil.

Steve Rogers / Captain America

  • Always a way out, You know, you may not be a threat, but you better stop pretending to be a hero.
  • When I went under, the world was at war. I wake up, they say we won. They didn't say what we lost.
  • You know, the last time I was in Germany and saw a man standing above everybody else, we ended up disagreeing.
  • [Iron Man: Call it, Captain.] Alright, listen up. Until we can close that portal, our priority is containment. Barton, I want you on that roof, eyes on everything. Call out patterns and strays. Stark, you got the perimeter. Anything gets more than three blocks out, you turn it back, or you turn it to ash. [Hawkeye: Can you give me a lift?] [Iron Man: Right. Better clench up, Legolas.] Thor, you gotta try and bottleneck that portal. Slow 'em down. You got the lightning. Light the bastards up. You and me, we stay here on the ground, keep the fighting here. And Hulk? Smash.

Dr. Bruce Banner / Hulk

  • STOP LYING TO ME! [Natasha quickly draws out her gun] – I'm sorry, that was mean. I just wanted to see what you'd do.
  • [Incorrectly assuming the Helicarrier is a submarine] Really? They want me in a submerged, pressurized metal container? [Seeing that it actually flies] Oh no, this is much worse.
  • I mean, what are we, a team? No, no, no. We're a chemical mixture that makes chaos. We're– we're a time-bomb.
  • I got low. I didn't see an end. So I put a bullet in my mouth, and the other guy spit it out. So I moved on. I focused on helping other people, I was good. Until you dragged me back into this freak show, and put everyone here at risk. You wanna know my secret, Agent Romanoff? You wanna know how I stay calm?
  • Sorry, kids. You don't get to see my party trick after all.
  • Puny god.
  • That's my secret, Cap: I'm always angry.
  • [While about to transform into the Hulk] YOUR LIFE?!?!

Thor

  • You people are so petty... and tiny.
  • You speak of control, yet you court chaos.
  • You want me to put the hammer down?!
  • [Bruce Banner: I don't think we should be focusing on Loki. That guy's brain is a bag full of cats. You could smell crazy on him.] Have care how you speak. Loki is beyond reason, but he's of Asgard, and he's my brother. [Natasha Romanoff: He killed 80 people in two days.] He's adopted.
  • We are not your enemies, Banner! Try to think!

Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow

  • [conversing on the phone while tied to a chair] I'm in the middle of an interrogation and this moron is giving me everything.
  • Regimes fall every day. I tend not to weep over that, I'm Russian. Or I used to be.
  • Боже мой!
    • "Oh, my God!" after Coulson orders her to recruit "the big guy"
  • This is LOKI. This is monsters and magic and nothing we were ever trained for.
  • I don't see how that's a party.
  • Love is for children, I owe him a debt.

Clint Barton / Hawkeye

  • I see better from a distance.
  • I need a distraction. And an eyeball.
  • Well, if I put an arrow in Loki's eye socket, I'd sleep better I suppose.
  • You're a spy, not a soldier. Now you want to wade into a war? Why? What did Loki do to you?

Loki

  • I said... KNEEL!!!
  • I am Loki of Asgard. And I am burdened with glorious purpose.
  • In the end, you will all kneel before me.
  • [Natasha Romanoff: I got red in my ledger, I'd like to wipe it out.] Can you? Can you wipe out that much red? Dreykov's daughter, São Paulo, the hospital fire? Barton told me everything. Your ledger is dripping, it's gushing red; and you think saving a man no more virtuous than yourself will change anything? This is the basest sentimentality. This is a child at prayer... pathetic! You lie and kill in the service of liars and killers. You pretend to be separate, to have your own code, something that makes up for the horrors. but they are part of you, and they will never go away. I won't touch Barton, not until I make him kill you. Slowly. Intimately. In every way he knows you fear. And then he'll wake just long enough to see his good work, and when he screams, I'll split his skull. This is my bargain, you mewling quim. [Natasha Romanoff: You're a monster.] Oh, no. You brought the monster.
  • Are you ever not going to fall for that? [After using his duplication ability to trick Thor into trapping himself]
  • If it's all the same to you, I'll have that drink now.

Phil Coulson

  • [To Natasha] Oh I've got Stark. You get "the big guy".
  • [Cap thinks his new uniform might look too old-fashioned] With everything that's happening, the things that are about to come to light– people might just need a little old-fashioned.
  • [While aiming the Destroyer Gun at Loki] You like this? We started working on the prototype after you sent the Destroyer. Even I don't know what it does. Do you wanna find out? [Gets stabbed in the back by Loki]
  • So that's what it does–
  • [Last words] It's okay boss. This was never gonna work, if they didn't have something to...

Nick Fury

  • Until such time as the world ends, we will act as though it intends to spin on.
  • Ant... boot.
  • There was an idea, Stark knows this, called the Avengers Initiative. The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people, to see if they could become something more. To see if they could work together when we needed them to. To fight the battles that we never could. Phil Coulson died still believing in that idea. In heroes.
  • I recognize that the Council has made a decision. But given that it's a stupid-ass decision, I've elected to ignore it.

The Other

  • [Opening narration] The Tesseract has awakened. It is on a little world– a human world. They would wield its power, but our ally knows its workings as they never will. He is ready to lead. And our force, our Chitauri, will follow. The world will be his– the universe, yours. And the humans– what can they do but burn?
  • You will have your war, Asgardian. If you fail – if the Tesseract is kept from us, there will be no realm, no barren moon, no crevice where he cannot find you. You think you know pain? He will make you long for something as sweet as pain.
  • Humans: they are not the cowering wretches we were promised. They stand. They are unruly – and thus, cannot be ruled. To challenge them is to court... death.

Agent Galaguy

  • The line looks mostly intact, but it is impossible to get out there and make repairs while we're in the air.

Dialogue

Fury: We have no quarrel with your people.
Loki: An ant has no quarrel with a boot.
Fury: You plannin' to step on us?
Loki: I come with glad tidings, of a world made free.
Fury: Free from what?
Loki: Freedom. Freedom is life's great lie. Once you accept that, in your heart– [puts Eric Selvig under his control] you will know peace.
Fury: Yeah, you say "peace." I kinda think you mean the other thing.
Malick: This is out of line, Director. You're dealing with forces you can't control.
Fury: You ever been in a war, Councilman? In a firefight? Did you feel an overabundance of control?
Malick: You're saying that this Asgard is declaring war on our planet?
Fury: Not Asgard. Loki.
World Security Council: He can't be working alone. What about the other one? His brother?
Fury: Our intelligence says Thor is not a hostile. But he's worlds away. We can't depend on him to help, either. It's up to us.
Malick: Which is why you should be focusing on Phase 2. It was designed for exactly this.
Fury: Phase 2 isn't ready. Our enemy is. We need a response team.
Malick: The Avengers Initiative was shut down.
Fury: This isn't about the Avengers.
Malick: We've seen the list. You run the world's greatest covert security network and you're gonna leave the fate of the human race to a handful of freaks?
Fury: I'm not leaving anything to anyone. We need a response team. These people may be isolated, unbalanced even, but I believe with the right push, they can be exactly what we need.
World Security Council: You believe?
Malick: War isn't won by sentiment, Director.
Fury: No. It's won by soldiers.
Pepper: Is this about the Avengers? [Coulson looks at her]...Which I know nothing about?
Tony: The Avengers Initiative was scrapped, I thought. And I didn't even qualify.
Pepper: I didn't know that either.
Tony: Apparently I'm volatile, self-obsessed, and don't play well with others.
Pepper: Now, that, I did know.
Loki: [Teleporting to the front of a fleeing crowd] Kneel before me! [The crowd flees the other way; Loki teleports in that direction] I said... KNEEL!!! [Slams the staff on the ground, releasing a thunderous shockwave that scares the crowd into submission] Is not this simpler? Is this not your natural state? It is the unspoken truth of humanity that you crave subjugation. The bright lure of freedom diminishes your life's joy in a mad scramble for power. For identity. You were made to be ruled. In the end, you will always kneel.
Old German Man: [Stands up] Not to men like you.
Loki: [With a smug smirk] There are no men like me.
Old German Man: There are always men like you.
Loki: Look to your elder, people. LET HIM BE AN EXAMPLE!
[Loki fires a blast from his scepter at the old man, only to have Captain America jump in and deflect it back with his shield, knocking Loki down]
Captain America: Ya know, the last time I was in Germany and saw a man standing above everybody else, we ended up disagreeing.
[Steve Rogers, Tony Stark and Natasha Romanoff are transporting Loki in the Quinjet when they run into thunder clouds.]
Rogers: What's the matter? You scared of a little lightning?
Loki: I'm not– overly fond of what follows.
[Thor arrives from Asgard, wordlessly opens the door and flies off with Loki in a choke hold.]
Tony: And now there's that guy!
Natasha: Another Asgardian?!
Rogers: That guy's a friendly?!
Tony: Doesn't matter. He frees Loki or kills him, the Tesseract's lost.
Rogers: Stark! We need a plan of attack!
Tony: I have a plan – Attack!
[Iron Man confronts Thor]
Thor: Do not touch me AGAIN.
Iron Man: Then don't take my stuff!
Thor: You have no idea what you are dealing with.
Iron Man: Uh.... Shakespeare in the Park? Doth Mother know you wear-eth her drapes?
Thor: This is beyond you, metal man. Loki will face Asgardian justice!
Iron Man: He gives up the Cube, he's all yours! Until then? [His mask comes down] Stay outta the way. [Under his breath] Tourist.
[Rogers gets ready to go after Stark, Thor and Loki]
Natasha: I'd sit this one out, Cap!
Rogers: I don't see how I can!
Natasha: These guys come from legend. They're basically gods.
Rogers: There's only one God, ma'am. And I'm pretty sure he doesn't dress like that! [Straps on a parachute and jumps out of the Quinjet]
Loki: How desperate are you, that you call on such lost creatures to defend you?
Fury: How desperate am I? You threaten my world with war, you steal a force you can't hope to control, you talk about peace, and you kill 'cause it's fun. You have made me VERY desperate. You might not be glad that you did.
Loki: Ooh. It burns you to come so close. To have the Tesseract, to have power, unlimited power, and for what? A warm light for all mankind to share. And then to be reminded what "real power" is.
Fury: Well, lemme know if "real power" wants a magazine or somethin'.
[Discussing how to find the Tesseract]
Rogers: I'd start with that stick of [Loki's]. It may be magical, but it works a lot like a HYDRA weapon.
Fury: I don't know about that, but it is powered by the Cube. And I'd like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys.
Thor: [Confused] Monkeys? I don't understand–
Rogers: I do. [Tony rolls his eyes while Steve looks proud of himself] I understood that reference.
Natasha: I've got red in my ledger, I'd like to wipe it out.
Loki: Can you? Can you wipe out that much red? Drakov's daughter, São Paulo, the hospital fire? Barton told me EVERYTHING. Your ledger is dripping, it's gushing red; and you think saving a man no more virtuous than yourself will change anything?! This is the basest sentimentality. This is a child at prayer– pathetic. You lie and kill in the service of liars and killers. You pretend to be separate, to have your own code, something that makes up for the horrors. but they are a part of you, and they will never go away. [Loki slams his fist into the cage glass, snarling with fury] I won't touch Barton, not until I make him kill you. Slowly. Intimately. In every way he knows you fear. And then he'll wake just long enough to see his good work, and when he screams, I'll split his skull. This is my bargain, you mewling quim.
Natasha: [Tearfully] You're a monster.
Loki: [Chuckles scornfully] Oh, no, my dear. You brought the monster.
Natasha: [Turns around, showing no signs of tears] So, Banner. That's your play.
Loki: [Confused] What?
Natasha: [Into her comm as she walks away] Loki means to unleash the Hulk. Keep Banner in his lab, I'll meet you there. Send Thor as well. [To Loki] Thank you, for your cooperation.
[During a quiet moment, Tony bonds with Banner]
Tony: You should come by Stark Tower sometime. Top 10 floors are all R&D, you'd love it. It's Candyland.
Banner: Thanks, but the last time I was in New York, I kinda broke– Harlem.
Rogers: I think Loki's trying to wind us up. This is a man who means to start a war, and if we don't stay focused, he'll succeed. We have orders, we should follow them.
Tony: Following's not really my style.
Rogers: And you're all about style, aren't you?
Tony: Of the people in this room, which one is A) wearing a spangly outfit, and B) not of use?
Thor: You speak of control, yet you court chaos.
Banner: That's his MO, isn't it? I mean, what are we, a team? No, no, no. We're a chemical mixture that makes chaos. We're– we're a time-bomb.
Fury: You need to step away.
Tony: Why shouldn't the man let off a little steam?
Rogers: You know damn well why! Back off!
Tony: I'm startin' to want you to make me.
Rogers: Yeah. Big man in a suit of armor. Take that away, what are you?
Tony: Uhh, genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist. [Natasha shrugs condescendingly, but concedes Stark's point]
Rogers: I know guys with none of that worth ten of you. I've seen the footage. The only thing you really fight for is yourself. You're not the guy to make the sacrifice play, to lay down on a wire and let the other guy crawl over you.
Tony: I think I'd just cut the wire.
Rogers: Always a way out. You know, you may not be a threat, but you'd better stop pretending to be a hero.
Tony: A hero? Like you? You're a lab experiment, Rogers. Everything special about you came out of a bottle.
Rogers: [Enraged] Put on the suit. Let's go a few rounds.
Phil Coulson: [Dying, holding a very large gun] You're going to lose.
Loki: Am I?
Coulson: It's in your nature.
Loki: Your heroes are scattered, your floating fortress falls from the sky. Where is my disadvantage?
Coulson: You lack conviction.
Loki: I don't think I–
[Coulson fires the weapon, blasting Loki through a wall]
Coulson: So that's what it does.
Loki: Please tell me you're going to appeal to my humanity.
Tony: Uh, actually, I'm planning to threaten you.
Loki: You should have left your armor on for that.
Tony: Yeah. It's seen a bit of mileage and you got the, uh, Glow Stick of Destiny. Would you like a drink?
Loki: Stalling me won't change anything.
Tony: No, no, no. Threatening. No drink? You sure? I'm having one. [Pours a glass of whisky]
Loki: The Chitauri are coming. Nothing will change that. What have I to fear?
Tony: The Avengers. [Loki looks confused] It's what we call ourselves. Sorta like a team. "Earth's Mightiest Heroes" type of thing.
Loki: Yes. I've met them.
Tony: Yeah. Takes us a while to get any traction, I'll give you that one. But let's do a head count here. Your brother, a demigod; a super soldier, a living legend who kind of lives up to the legend; a man with breathtaking anger management issues; a couple of master assassins, and you, big fella – you've managed to piss off every single one of them.
Loki: That was the plan.
Tony: Not a great plan. When they come – and they will– they'll come for you.
Loki: I have an army.
Tony: We have a Hulk.
Loki: I thought the beast had wandered off.
Tony: You're missing the point. There's no throne, okay? There is no version of this where you come out on top. Now maybe your army comes, and maybe it's too much for us, but it's all on you. Because if we can't protect the Earth, you can be damn well sure we'll avenge it.
Loki: How will your friends have time for me– when they're so busy fighting you?
[Loki attempts to use his sceptre on Tony, but it clinks harmlessly on the arc reactor in Tony's chest]
Loki: [Confused] This usually works.
Tony: Well, performance issues. It's not uncommon. One out of five– [Loki grabs him by the throat and throws him across the room] JARVIS, any time now!
Loki: [Grabs Tony by the throat] You will all fall before me!
Tony: JARVIS! Deploy! Deploy!
[Loki throws Tony out of the window, but his Mark VII armor reaches him and attaches itself to him before he hits the ground; he flies back to the penthouse.]
Tony: And there's one other person you pissed off! His name was Phil. [Blasts Loki]
[As the first wave of Chitauri streams through the portal]
Rogers: Stark, are you seeing this?
Tony: Seeing. Still workin' on believing.
[Hawkeye and Black Widow are fighting the first wave of Chitauri in New York]
Black Widow: Just like Budapest all over again!
Hawkeye: You and I remember Budapest very differently!
Captain America: What's the story upstairs?
Thor: The powers surrounding the cube is impenetrable.
Iron Man: Thor's right, we gotta deal with these guys.
Black Widow: How do we do this?
Captain America: As a team.
Thor: I have unfinished business with Loki.
Hawkeye: Yeah? Get in line.
Banner: [Arriving in New York on a motorcycle] So this all seems... horrible.
Black Widow: I've seen worse.
Banner: Sorry.
Black Widow: No, we could use a little worse.
Captain America: Stark? We got him.
Iron Man: Banner?
Captain America: Just like you said.
Iron Man: Then tell him to suit up. I'm bringin' the party to you.
[Iron Man flies into view, chased by a Leviathan]
Black Widow: I-I don't see how that's a party.
[Iron Man drops low to the ground, forcing the Leviathan to crash onto the streets; Banner begins walking towards it]
Captain America: Dr. Banner! Now might be a really good time for you to get angry.
Banner: That's my secret, Cap. I'm always angry. [Morphs into the Hulk and punches the Leviathan]
Iron Man: Call it, Captain.
Captain America: Alright, listen up. Until we can close that portal, our priority is containment. Barton, I want you on that roof, eyes on everything. Call out patterns and strays. Stark, you got the perimeter. Anything gets more than three blocks out, you turn it back, or you turn it to ash.
Hawkeye [To Iron Man] Can you give me a lift?
Iron Man: Right. Better clench up, Legolas. [Flies Barton to the indicated rooftop]
Captain America: Thor, you gotta try and bottleneck that portal. Slow 'em down. You got the lightning. Light the bastards up. [Thor flies off on Mjölnir. Captain America continues speaking to Widow.] You and me, we stay here on the ground, keep the fighting here. And Hulk?
[Hulk turns to Captain America]
Captain America: [Points to Chitauri] Smash.
[Hulk grins and leaps into battle]
World Security Council #2: Director Fury, the council has made a decision.
Fury: I recognize the council has made a decision, but given that it is a stupid-ass decision, I've elected to ignore it.
World Security Council #1: Director, you're closer than any of our subs, you scramble that jet–
Fury: That is the island of Manhattan, Councilman. Until I'm certain my team can't hold it, I'll not order a nuclear strike against a civilian population.
World Security Council #1: If we don't hold them in the air, we lose everything.
Fury: I send that bird out, we already have.
Loki: ENOUGH! You are, all of you, beneath me! I am a god, you dull creature, and I will not be bullied by–
[Hulk grabs Loki and slams him into the floor five times like a rag doll, then leaves him lying face-up in the resulting crater]
Hulk: PUNY GOD. [Stomps off looking smug, leaving Loki groaning in pain]
[Iron Man gets an unorthodox idea for taking down a Leviathan]
Iron Man: JARVIS, you ever hear the tale of Jonah?
JARVIS: I wouldn't consider him a role model, sir.
Loki: [Groaning in defeat as he sees the assembled Avengers] If it's all the same to you, I'll have that drink now.
Malick: Where are the Avengers?
Fury: I'm not currently tracking their whereabouts. I'd say they've earned a leave of absence.
World Security Council: And the Tesseract?
Fury: The Tessaract is where it belongs. Out of our reach.
Malick: That's not your call, Director.
Fury: I didn't make it. I just didn't argue with the god that did.
Malick: So you've let him take it, and the war criminal Loki, who should be answering for his crimes?
Fury: Oh, I think he will be.
World Security Council: I don't think you understand what you've started, letting the Avengers loose on this world. They're dangerous.
Fury: They sure are. And the world knows it. Every world knows it.
Malick: Was that the point of all this? A statement?
Fury: A promise.
[Last lines; the Avengers have parted ways…for now]
Hill: Sir, how does it work now? They've gone their separate ways, some– pretty extremely far. We get into a situation like this again, what happens then?
Fury: They'll come back.
Hill: You really sure about that?
Fury: I am.
Hill: Why?
Fury: Because we'll need them to.
[Mid-credits scene: The Other briefs his master on what happened with Loki and the Avengers]
The Other: Humans. They are not the cowering wretches we were promised. They stand. They are unruly and therefore cannot be ruled. To challenge them is to court death.
[The Other's master rises and smiles evilly, revealing himself as Thanos]

Taglines

  • Avengers Assemble!
  • Some assembly required.
  • Every team needs a Captain.
  • Throw down the hammer.

About The Avengers (2012 film)

On the one hand, this is a “no duh” observation—at the end of The Avengers, New York was blown to smithereens. But the tenor in which Joss Whedon shot and cut the lengthy third act sequence was so zippy and fun that it seemed as if Marvel was “taking back” the iconography of New York’s destruction, from both the terrorists and real life. The key image from Avengers is an adulatory 360-degree swoop of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes assembled in full flex before the sturdy columns of Grand Central. It is not “Falling Man.” ~ Jordan Hoffman
I was like, I don’t know if I want to make an “Avengers” movie, so I’ll give you some ideas about where I think you might go with it. If it’s about the origin of a team that doesn’t make sense together, and they really don’t, then you have to use the “Dirty Dozen” model, which is an hour and 40 minutes of training and 20 minutes of Nazi-killing. So I laid out my ideas, the biggest one being, I think it’s a war movie. That’s the only way you can make these people feel like they might lose. You can’t just create six exact matches but slightly bigger, six Abominations – you can’t do that. What you can do is put them through so much that you get that feeling of, I don’t know what’s going to happen to them – they might not all come back from this. And I felt it even more strongly when I watched “Black Hawk Down.” I was like, O.K., that’s the movie I want to make. My first memo was 3 or 4 pages, and from that, they started to get excited about what I was saying and I started to get excited about what I was saying. I was like, Oh, this actually sounds fun. These people are broken. I can write about these people. They’re tortured and strange. ~ Joss Whedon
  • The Avengers, which last week enjoyed the biggest North American opening in history, recasts 9/11 in the Bush years' dominant movie mode, namely the comic book superhero spectacular – albeit with a heavy dose of irony and added stereoscopic depth. But more fundamentally, The Avengers demonstrates how completely 9/11 has been superseded by another catastrophe, namely the financial meltdown of September 2008. To the extent that the movie has any sort of social content (or any content), it offers a flattering view of America's best as a group of eccentric individualists bamboozled into saving the world (economy) by the unflappable Samuel L Jackson's black dude of mystery. But even this Obama-iste reading is a bit of a stretch.
    The medium is the message. Hollywood felt threatened by 9/11 in 2001 but impervious to financial disaster in 2008. Three days after Lehman Brothers went bust, DreamWorks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg assured investors that movies were "recession-proof". Of course, the industry did not allow for the simultaneous erosion of the DVD market and the public's discretionary income. The Avengers has less to do with the terror of falling buildings than falling grosses. The palliative for that goes by the name 3D. Bombs away: The Avengers is 9/11 as you've never seen it!
  • So the Chitauri were Al-Qaeda? O.K., good to know.
    A suspicion I had during Iron Man 3 was confirmed during Captain America: The Winter Soldier. The Marvel Cinematic Universe (by which we mean the movies starring Marvel comic-book characters that aren't distributed by Sony or 20th Century Fox) has decided to go back and reposition the big battle from Marvel’s The Avengers as its 9/11.
    On the one hand, this is a “no duh” observation—at the end of The Avengers, New York was blown to smithereens. But the tenor in which Joss Whedon shot and cut the lengthy third act sequence was so zippy and fun that it seemed as if Marvel was “taking back” the iconography of New York’s destruction, from both the terrorists and real life. The key image from Avengers is an adulatory 360-degree swoop of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes assembled in full flex before the sturdy columns of Grand Central. It is not “Falling Man.”
  • Much like the once wide-eyed Captain, I felt a little manipulated. Had I known those whiz-bang scenes from The Avengers were supposed to have more heft, I may have approached them differently as I was strapping that feed bag of popcorn to my face. I would have looked for more pathos in the Hulk flinging Loki around like a rag doll and muttering “puny God.” Perhaps it was less of a laugh line and more of a comment about fundamentalist religion’s unsuitability with liberty-loving New York. Which means I don't even want to think about that shawarma gag!
  • Q: How did you pitch “Avengers” to them in that e-mail?
A: I was like, I don’t know if I want to make an “Avengers” movie, so I’ll give you some ideas about where I think you might go with it. If it’s about the origin of a team that doesn’t make sense together, and they really don’t, then you have to use the “Dirty Dozen” model, which is an hour and 40 minutes of training and 20 minutes of Nazi-killing. So I laid out my ideas, the biggest one being, I think it’s a war movie. That’s the only way you can make these people feel like they might lose. You can’t just create six exact matches but slightly bigger, six Abominations – you can’t do that. What you can do is put them through so much that you get that feeling of, I don’t know what’s going to happen to them – they might not all come back from this. And I felt it even more strongly when I watched “Black Hawk Down.” I was like, O.K., that’s the movie I want to make. My first memo was 3 or 4 pages, and from that, they started to get excited about what I was saying and I started to get excited about what I was saying. I was like, Oh, this actually sounds fun. These people are broken. I can write about these people. They’re tortured and strange.
  • Q: On some level, you just want to see famous actors playing these characters you’ve so dearly for so long.
A: You want to see Captain America and Tony Stark not like each other, articulately. Writing them was where I started. They represent two polar opposites and I’m basically Tony and I wish I was Steve [Rogers, Cap’s alter ego]. I believe everything that Steve says, but at the end of the day, I’m more like Tony, without the brilliance and the billions.
  • Q: We saw a lot of art before, but is there one sequence that you’re really proud of or really excited to work on?
A: I’m not sure there’s any one particular sequence that I would say, “Well yeah, nailed that!” For me, honestly my favorite moments are the scenes where I have two of the characters, where I get to pair up two characters you might not expect to see together, and see them go at each other. Whether they are getting along or not, there’s always friction. And those scenes are probably not why everybody might rush to the theater, but they are the most fun when you really get to explore it with the actors and the space. That’s the stuff that I feel the proudest about. The action is not small and some of the gags we’ve come up with are enormous and delightful and I’m proud of them and excited by them, because I like to live in that world too. But when you are in those quieter moments, that’s when I am just in heaven.
  • Q: I would think Bruce Banner and The Hulk is the toughest part, because we have scene two other movies with two other actors playing him. Chris [Hemsworth], Chris [Evans], and Robert [Downey Jr.] have already been playing the characters. We know their characters. How have you been working on that and trying to develop your own Bruce Banner with Mark?
  • A: Well I had a very clear conception of what I wanted Bruce Banner to be and part of that was Mark Ruffalo. I was like, “I want somebody who just opens himself to an audience, who can’t help it, and who just takes you along everywhere he goes.” The other was Bill Bixby. That’s something that Mark and I both talked about. I felt that the performances in the other movies were very internal. And the movies themselves led to that, because they were all about Bruce Banner. The TV show was, “I have a problem and I help other people and I live with that problem.” So that’s sort of the way I wanted to approach it and the way… Mark and I spent a lot of time at the very beginning talking about rage, how it feels, how it manifests, what causes it, what it feels like afterwards—the nuts and bolts of the emotion itself. But in terms of the character, it was very clear that we wanted to have somebody who had gotten past where he was in those movies, so that when you meet him he is somebody who has internalized what went on in those movies to the extent that he’s someone you like and are interested in. If you’ve seen those movies, this would be a natural next step. If you haven’t, you’ll get the guy. You’ll get why he’s a good guy.
  • Q: How much of that polish was you prepping for The Avengers and specifically the Steve Rogers character? Were you building something in there that was going to lead into this?
A: I didn’t like sneak any particular Avengers easter eggs in. But I did spend a lot of time with the character, which for me was important, because Steve’s perspective in this world is very much, as much as anybody’s if not more, the audience’s. He is looking at this world with fresh eyes and he is not impressed. His feeling of disconnection is something that’s going to be laced throughout the film. It’s a film about lonely people, because I’m making it, and my pony only does one trick. He’s a classic man out of time in the very literal sense and so to have worked on his 40s incarnation, even a little bit, was a nice introduction to this and kept be grounded in his perspective.

Cast

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