Marvel's The Avengers (titled Marvel Avengers Assemble in the United Kingdom and Ireland and commonly referred to as simply The Avengers) is a 2012 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics superhero team the Avengers. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, it is the sixth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Written and directed by Joss Whedon, the film features an ensemble cast including Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, and Jeremy Renner as the Avengers, alongside Tom Hiddleston, Stellan Skarsgård, and Samuel L. Jackson. In the film, Nick Fury and the spy agency S.H.I.E.L.D. recruit Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, Bruce Banner, Thor, Natasha Romanoff, and Clint Barton to form a team capable of stopping Thor's brother Loki from subjugating Earth.

The film's development began when Marvel Studios received a loan from Merrill Lynch in April 2005. After the success of the film Iron Man in May 2008, Marvel announced that The Avengers would be released in July 2011 and would bring together Stark (Downey), Rogers (Evans), Thor (Hemsworth), and Banner (portrayed by Edward Norton in the 2008 film The Incredible Hulk) from Marvel's previous films. After the signing of Johansson as Romanoff in March 2009, Renner as Barton in June 2010, and Ruffalo to replace Norton as Banner in July 2010, the film was pushed back for a 2012 release. Whedon was hired in April 2010 and rewrote the original screenplay by Zak Penn. Production began in April 2011 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, before moving to Cleveland, Ohio, in August and New York City in September. The film has more than 2,200 visual effects shots.

The Avengers premiered at the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles on April 11, 2012, and was released in the United States on May 4, as the final film in Phase One of the MCU. The film received praise for Whedon's direction and screenplay, visual effects, action sequences, acting, and musical score. It grossed over $1.5 billion worldwide, setting numerous box office records and becoming the third-highest-grossing film of all time at the time of its release and the highest-grossing film of 2012. It was the first Marvel production to generate $1 billion in ticket sales. In 2017, The Avengers was featured as one of the 100 greatest films of all time in an Empire magazine poll. It received a nomination for Best Visual Effects at the 85th Academy Awards, among numerous other accolades. Three sequels have been released: Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), and Avengers: Endgame (2019).

Plot

The Asgardian Loki encounters the Other, the representative of an extraterrestrial race known as the Chitauri. In exchange for obtaining the Tesseract, a powerful energy source of unknown potential, the Other promises to provide Loki with an army to conquer Earth. Nick Fury, director of the covert agency S.H.I.E.L.D., arrives at a remote research facility where astrophysicist Dr. Erik Selvig is leading a team studying the Tesseract. It suddenly activates and opens a portal, allowing Loki to reach Earth. Loki steals the Tesseract and uses his scepter to enslave Selvig and other agents, including Clint Barton, to aid him.

In response, Fury reactivates the "Avengers Initiative". Agent Natasha Romanoff travels to Kolkata to recruit Dr. Bruce Banner so he can trace the Tesseract through its gamma radiation emissions. Fury approaches Steve Rogers to discuss his knowledge of the Tesseract, and Agent Phil Coulson visits Tony Stark so he can check Selvig's research. Loki is in Stuttgart, where Barton steals iridium needed to stabilize the Tesseract. This leads to a confrontation with Rogers, Stark, and Romanoff that ends with Loki's surrender. While Loki is being escorted to S.H.I.E.L.D., his adoptive brother Thor arrives and frees him, hoping to convince him to abandon his plan and return to Asgard. Stark and Rogers intervene, and Loki is imprisoned in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s flying base, the Helicarrier.

The Avengers disagree on how to approach Loki and become argumentative once they realize S.H.I.E.L.D. plans to use the Tesseract to create weapons of mass destruction to use against extraterrestrial threats. During the argument, Loki's agents attack the Helicarrier, and Banner transforms into the Hulk in the chaos. Stark and Rogers restart the damaged engine while Thor attempts to stop the Hulk's rampage. Romanoff subdues Barton, freeing him from Loki's control. Loki escapes after fatally wounding Coulson. Fury uses Coulson's subsequent death to motivate the Avengers to work together as a team. Loki uses the Tesseract and a generator Selvig built to open a portal above Stark Tower in New York City, allowing his Chitauri fleet to invade.

Rogers, Stark, Romanoff, Barton, Thor, and the Hulk work together to protect New York from the Chitauri. The Hulk incapacitates Loki while Romanoff learns from Selvig, now freed from Loki's mind control, that Loki's scepter can shut down the generator. Fury's superiors from the World Security Council attempt to end the invasion by launching a nuclear missile at Midtown Manhattan. Stark intercepts the missile and flies it toward the Chitauri fleet through the wormhole. The missile destroys the Chitauri mothership and disables their forces on Earth. Stark becomes unconscious, and his suit loses power, leaving him free falling towards Earth. The Hulk manages to catch him and the Avengers resuscitate him, while Romanoff uses Loki's scepter to close the wormhole. In the aftermath, Thor transports an imprisoned Loki and the Tesseract to Asgard, where Loki will face justice for his crimes.

In a mid-credits scene, the Other confers with his master about the failed attack on Earth.

Cast

Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark / Iron Man: A self-described genius, billionaire, playboy, and philanthropist who wears an electromechanical suit of armor of his own invention. Downey was cast as part of his four-picture deal with Marvel Studios, which included Iron Man 2 (2010) and The Avengers. He initially suggested to Whedon that Stark should be the lead character, stating, "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." Downey commented on the character's evolution, stating, "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. . . In The Avengers, he's throwing it down with the others". Downey earned $50 million from the film, "once box-office bonuses and backend compensation [were] factored in". Chris Evans as Steve Rogers / Captain America: A World War II veteran who was enhanced to the peak of human physicality by an experimental serum and frozen in suspended animation before waking up in the modern world. Evans was cast as part of a deal to star in three Marvel films, including The Avengers. Rogers is depicted as darker in The Avengers, with Evans stating, "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." Evans also discussed the dynamic between Rogers and Tony Stark, saying, "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." Evans earned $2–3 million for the film. Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner / Hulk: A genius scientist who, due to exposure to gamma radiation, transforms into a monster when enraged or agitated. Ruffalo, initially considered for the role in The Incredible Hulk (2008) before Edward Norton took on the part, was cast after negotiations between Marvel and Norton fell through. Reflecting on 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." Discussing the character, he explained, "He's a guy struggling with two sides of himself—the dark and the light—and 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." Ruffalo described the Hulk's role on the team, stating, "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!'" This is the first production in which the actor playing Banner also plays the Hulk. Ruffalo expressed excitement about the prospect, saying, "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." The 3D model used to create the Hulk's body was based on Long Island bodybuilder and male stripper Steve Romm, while Ruffalo's face served as the model for the Hulk's facial features. To produce the Hulk's voice, Ruffalo's voice was combined with those of Lou Ferrigno and others; however, Ruffalo provided the Hulk's sole speaking line ("Puny god.") himself. Ruffalo earned $2–3 million for his role in the film. Chris Hemsworth as Thor: The crown prince of Asgard, based on the Norse mythological deity of the same name. Hemsworth was cast as part of a multiple movie deal. He had previously collaborated with Joss Whedon on The Cabin in the Woods (2011). Hemsworth maintained his physique from Thor (2011) by consuming a high-protein diet consisting of chicken breasts, fish, steak, and eggs daily. When asked about the quantity, he humorously replied, "My body weight in protein pretty much!" Thor's motivation in The Avengers is described by Hemsworth as personal, as it involves his brother's disruptive actions. He explained, "It's 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." Hemsworth earned $2–3 million for his role in the film.