Reputedly a scene was filmed where during the final battle Captain America saves an old man trying to protect his grandchildren. He tells him to 'Get them to cover' but as he walks away the old man asks him "Cap, is that really you?'. He turns and, noting the man's World War II veteran lapel pin, trades salutes with him. As Captain America sprints away the children ask their grandfather 'Do you know him?' and he replies 'We ALL know him'.
To prepare for the role of Agent Clint Barton (Hawkeye), Jeremy Renner was trained by Olympic archers.
The battle cry of the Avengers, "Avengers Assemble" was not spoken throughout the film. 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.
Chris Evans was unsure about his character's line, "I understood that reference!" because he was worried that it would make audiences think that his character was unintelligent. However he was quickly comforted after he watched the movie with an audience and he saw that they found the line humorous as opposed to stupid.
After Thor takes Loki off the Quinjet down on the mountain side, two large ravens fly by them as they are talking. In Norse mythology, their father, Odin, had two ravens, Huginn and Muninn, who would bring Odin information from Midgard (Earth).
The first Marvel film to make 1 billion dollars.
According to director Joss Whedon, the original cut of the movie was over 3 hours long. About 30 minutes of the excised footage are included on the Blu-ray, most of which revolves around Steve Rogers (Captain America) struggling to adjust to the modern world. Chris Evans has since announced that these deleted scenes will be used for Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014).
Tom Hiddleston spoke of his role as Loki in an interview by saying, "I can tell you that it's all of them against me. I am the super villain. So it's Iron Man, the Incredible Hulk, Captain America, Thor, Hawkeye, Black Widow and Nick Fury forming a team because I've got so bad ass."
The shocked expression of Loki after being slammed by Hulk was created by animation director Marc Chu shaking Tom Hiddleston violently and repeatedly.
When Natasha Romanoff and Bruce Banner are blasted to a lower deck of the Helicarrier, it triggers Banner's transformation into the Hulk. As he is transforming, he falls from a platform to the floor. On the floor is painted "WARNING CONTENTS UNDER PRESSURE" with small arrows, which happen to be pointing to Banner.
Samuel L. Jackson's role as Nick Fury in this film makes him the second actor (after Hugh Jackman, who has appeared in all the X-men movies) to play the same comic book superhero in five different movies.
Chris Evans once sent a text message to Clark Gregg simply saying "Assemble", which is the tagline for the movie. Gregg stated that this was his favorite text message ever sent to him.
The laboratory scene where Bruce Banner explains how he once attempted to commit suicide by shooting himself in the mouth is a direct reference to a deleted scene from The Incredible Hulk (2008) where Edward Norton's Bruce Banner tried to commit suicide in this manner out in the middle of Alaska's wilderness only to be stopped by his transformation into the Hulk.
According to Joss Whedon's commentary, Bruce Banner's saying of Loki, "You can smell crazy on him", was a setup for when the Hulk faces off against Loki in Stark Tower. Originally, Loki was going to make multiple versions of himself and the only way the Hulk was going to discern where Loki was to smell them. Only the real Loki would have a scent.
The final end credit scene was added after Robert Downey Jr.. encouraged a scene rewrite: after Tony Stark falls back to Earth, he 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. The scene was added one day after the global premiere. Since then, shawarma sales in Los Angeles, St. Louis, and Boston have reportedly skyrocketed.
After Loki is brought on board the Helicarrier, Tony Stark can be seen wearing a Black Sabbath T-shirt. 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."
Alyson Hannigan from Joss Whedon's Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997) (and wife of Alexis Denisof, who plays The Other in the film), recommended her How I Met Your Mother (2005) co-star Cobie Smulders for the part of Maria Hill.
The Hulk's voice is a combination of Mark Ruffalo and Lou Ferrigno's voices: when the Hulk is roaring, growling etc it's Ferrigno, but it's Ruffalo who speaks the Hulk's only four words in the film, "Your life" (after falling through the floor of the flying fortress) and "Puny GOD" (after beating Loki in the Stark Tower)
Originally Joss Whedon had not intended the film to include supporting characters from the heroes' individual films, reasoning "You need to separate the characters from their support systems in order to create the isolation you need for a team." However, he eventually decided to cast Stellan Skarsgård, Paul Bettany and Gwyneth Paltrow (Paltrow was cast at Robert Downey Jr.'s insistence).
Lou Ferrigno voices the Hulk in this film. He has played the Hulk in almost every live-action version since 1978: he played the Hulk in The Incredible Hulk (1978) and its subsequent three TV specials, and he voiced the Hulk in the big-screen The Incredible Hulk (2008) (he was seen in Hulk (2003) but it was a cameo role as a security guard, which he repeated in The Incredible Hulk (2008) ). He also has voiced the Hulk in various animated productions.
The German police car skidding on its front end after Loki blasts it was a complete accident, as it failed to flip over initially.
Chris Hemsworth had to increase and expand his dietary/food intake in order to maintain the physique he built up for Thor (2011), consisting of chicken breasts, fish, steak and eggs every day (Hemsworth said he had to consume "his body weight in protein.").
Clint Barton (Hawkeye) is an ambidextrous archer (although Jeremy Renner is left handed). He is seen shooting right-handed in Thor (2011) and both left-handed and right-handed in this film.
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.
Joss Whedon explained that two of the founding Avengers members Ant-Man and Wasp were cut from the script because the film had too many characters.
Director Joss Whedon had earlier been considered to direct X-Men (2000) in the 1990s. A big fan of the X-Men, he even wrote a script, from which only two lines made it into the film. He wrote the story 'Gifted' for "Astonishing X-Men", which became the basis for X-Men: The Last Stand (2006).
After Iron Man flies through a Leviathan, he can be seen crashing on the ground in front of the Shawarma Palace, the which later appeared in a post-credits scene.
The filmmakers secured the rights from Columbia Pictures to feature OsCorp Tower from The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) in New York. Unfortunately, by then digital rendering of the skyline was already complete and it could not appear.
According to Joss Whedon, the film is strongly influenced by the early 1960s Avengers comics, which he was a fan of while growing up: "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."
Tony Stark tells Bruce Banner that he admires his work on anti-electron collisions. When electrons and anti-electrons (also known as positrons) collide, they annihilate each other and high-energy photons or gamma rays (the fictional means by which Bruce Banner became The Hulk) are produced in their place.
Samuel L. Jackson's Nick Fury is from the Ultimate Marvel Universe created in 2000 to re-imagine and update the Marvel heroes for the 21st century. Fury's likeness was actually based on Jackson, who gave Marvel permission to do so. Subsequently, based on that likeness and his star power, Jackson was cast as Fury for all Marvel superhero films owned by Marvel/Disney starting with Iron Man (2008).
Tom Hiddleston revealed in an interview with the Guardian that the code name for the film early in its production was 'Group Hug'.
Loki is described as being a king in the world from which he came. Shortly after this when The Avengers ask for Loki's location in Germany, Loki is said to be at "22 Königstrasse", meaning 22 King Street.
Disney had the film's title changed in the United Kingdom to "Marvel Avengers Assemble" to avoid confusion with the iconic British espionage franchise The Avengers (1961)/The Avengers (1998).
Mark Ruffalo states it was an honour to take over as Bruce Banner from his friend Edward Norton: "Ed has bequeathed this part to me, I look at it as my generation's Hamlet."
Surpassed The Dark Knight (2008)'s record of $1,001,921,825 to become the highest grossing comic book film of all time.
Mark Ruffalo claims to be the only actor to date (2012) to play both The Hulk and Bruce Banner in the same movie. Technically, both Eric Bana and Edward Norton have done motion capture work for their respective Hulks, but Ruffalo is the first actor to perform the Hulk live on set via performance capture.
Thor is knocked off screen three times: once by Iron Man and twice by Hulk.
Robert Downey Jr. initially pushed Joss Whedon to make Tony Stark the lead: "I said, I need to be in the opening sequence, 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, everybody is just an arm of the octopus."
As of 2013, this is the highest grossing film of all time not directed by James Cameron (Avengers is third under Titanic (1997)'s second place and Avatar (2009)'s first).
Stark Tower stands where the MetLife building should be. The digital model of the tower that Pepper is looking at shows that the bottom third of the tower retains the shape of the MetLife building with the rest of the floors redesigned.
According to Joss Whedon, the arrangement of the monitors on the helicarrier bridge were arranged to resemble the wings of the SHIELD logo. The eagle head can actually be seen at the foot of the conference round table at the end of the film when repairs are being made.
In the movie, Captain America is a founding member. In the comics, Captain America was unfrozen in Avengers #4 when he was accidentally discovered when the team was looking for Namor the Sub Mariner.
Edward Norton was originally set to reprise his role from The Incredible Hulk (2008) but negotiations between him and Marvel Studios broke down. Norton was replaced with Mark Ruffalo.
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.
The name "chitauri" originates from Zulu mythology and is used to describe a "serpent race from the sky". Mark Millar, the creator of "The Ultimates", took the name from the writings of David Icke, who argues that these "chitauri" are in fact aliens bent on dominating humanity.
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." He furthermore describes Banner's alter ego the Hulk as "a loose cannon - he's the teammate none of them are sure they want, it's like throwing a grenade into the middle of the group and hoping it turns out well!"
Tony Stark's 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.
Cinematographer Seamus McGarvey described the film's look as visceral and naturalistic: "We wanted this to feel immersive and did not want a comic-book look that might distance an audience. We moved the camera a lot on Steadicam, cranes and on dollies to create kinetic images; and we chose angles that were dramatic, like low angles, for heroic imagery."
Loki's feet never touch the ground from the time of the three-way fight between Captain America, Ironman, and Thor to his final scene. He is either on the helicarrier, in Stark Tower or flying around New York on one of the alien craft.
Since this film and Iron Man 3 (2013) were originally part of a six-picture deal with Marvel and Paramount before the distribution rights were transferred to Walt Disney Pictures, it's the Paramount logo that appears in advertising and marketing as well as the beginning of this film. Although Paramount had no part in the production of "The Avengers", they still received a share of the box office grosses based on their original deal with Marvel. No reference to Disney is made until the very end of the closing credits, where it says "The Avengers" is "Distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures." The same is to be expected for "Iron Man 3".
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.
Mark Ruffalo's performance of the Hulk is the first created by motion-capture. Previous live-action versions have had Bruce Banner and the Hulk be played by separate people (Bill Bixby and bodybuilder Lou Ferrigno), or were key-frame animated.
This is only the second time that Bruce Banner/Hulk and Thor have appeared together in a movie. They previously appeared together in The Incredible Hulk Returns (1988).
Scarlett Johansson and Mark Ruffalo share the same birthday (November 22). Additionally, Chris Evans and Stellan Skarsgård also share a birthday (June 13).
The female superhero Wasp was included in an early draft of the script. She was however replaced with the already-existing Black Widow.
The film's shooting schedule was 93 days, but filming was completed one day early.
The first film to gross $200 million in its first three days in the USA.
In the climactic battle scene, the art deco building that Thor briefly perches on is the Chrysler Building.
Before Mark Ruffalo was cast as The Hulk, Joaquin Phoenix was rumored for the part.
The title screen doesn't appear till 11 minutes into the film.
The code name for The Avengers release to theaters is Team Building.
Captain America's shield is scratched in the film. In the comics, his shield is made of an adamantium/vibranium alloy and can only be damaged on a molecular level.
The scene with Shawarma is influenced by Nicholas Brendon's (Xander from Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997)) interview. Nicholas mentions, 'Would anyone like to go get some Shawarma?' and Joss Whedon remembered this and used it in the film.
The CGI Hulk's body was modeled after Long Island bodybuilder and male stripper Steve Romm, while the Hulk's face was modeled after Mark Ruffalo.
In order to create a total extraterrestrial look for the Chitauri, they have four thumbs, two on each hand. This can be seen when Loki (Tom Hiddleston) is talking with The Other (Alexis Denisof).
Several members of the cast participated in adaptations of comic book and/or graphic novel adaptations prior to the Marvel Cinematic Universe:
- Scarlett Johansson has appeared in Ghost World (2001) and The Spirit (2008)
- Chris Evans appeared in Fantastic Four (2005), TMNT (2007), The Losers (2010) and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010)
- Powers Boothe (who provides a cameo in the film) previously appeared in Sin City (2005)
- and Alexis Denisof appeared in several DC productions beforehand.
One of the cards in Agent Coulson's Captain America card set is a reproduction of Captain America's first comic book appearance where he punches out Adolf Hitler.
This is the third time Scarlett Johansson and Chris Evans have starred together in a film, both being in The Perfect Score (2004) and The Nanny Diaries (2007). This is also the second collaboration between Robert Downey Jr. and Mark Ruffalo since Zodiac (2007)
The twelfth film to surpass the $1 billion mark worldwide, and the tenth to surpass the $400 million mark in the USA. It tied with Avatar (2009) and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011) for surpassing the $1 billion mark worldwide in the fastest time (19 days) and set the record of surpassing the $400 million mark in the USA (14 days).
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. It was originally assumed that the reason for using The Chitauri instead of the Skrulls was that because Fox owns the rights to the Fantastic Four and their supporting characters however Marvel Studios' President of Production Kevin Feige stated in an interview that the film rights to the Skrulls are not owned by either Marvel Studios or Fox. The reason for them not being used was that Joss Whedon did not want go the route of using shape-shifters in the first film.
Cinematographer Seamus McGarvey shot the film in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio to cope with the varying heights: "We needed the height in the screen to be able to frame in all the characters like Hulk, Captain America and Black Widow, who is much smaller. We had to give them all precedence and width within the frame. Also, the final battle sequence was going to be this extravaganza in Manhattan, so the height and vertical scale of the buildings was going to be really important."
Samuel L. Jackson compared his role of Nick Fury to Ordell in Jackie Brown (1997): "He's a nice guy to hang out with, you just don't want to cross him... I tried to make him as honest to the story and as honest to what real-life would seem."
Alan Silvestri, continuing his composing job from Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), becomes the first composer to score more than one movie of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
This film holds an unusually high number of Academy Award nominees in the cast/crew for a comic book movie, or most movies for that matter: Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Samuel L. Jackson, Jeremy Renner, Mark Ruffalo, director Joss Whedon, and cinematographer Seamus McGarvey, possibly many others. This tops Iron Man 2 (2010), and Iron Man (2008) which each had four nominees a piece.
This is the first Marvel film to be distributed by Walt Disney Pictures.
Though Mark Ruffalo is the only actor not to appear in a previous Marvel Comics film as his character, Lou Ferrigno reprised his role as the voice of The Hulk from Edward Norton's 2008 film. Ferrigno has voiced the hulk in virtually every incarnation since The Incredible Hulk (1978) television show with Bill Bixby in 1977. The exception is Ang Lee's 2003 film Hulk (2003) version where Ferrigno played a security guard.
The outdoor scenes which were supposed to take place in Germany, but were filmed in downtown Cleveland, contained numerous Cleveland Historical landmarks including; Tower City, Higbee Building & Casino, Renaissance Building, and the Soldiers & Sailors Monument.
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 (2010), the most recent animated series before the live-action Avengers film.
All the scenes filmed in Ohio were originally to be filmed in Michigan. Planned production was moved to Ohio when it was revealed that Michigan's film tax rebates were going to be revoked.
Amanda Peet was considered for the role of Agent Maria Hill.
The classical music being played for the Stuttgart Museum where they steal the iridium is Franz Schubert's String Quartet No. 13 in A Minor, D. 804, Op. 29 ('Rosamunde').
Morena Baccarin, Jessica Lucas, Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Cobie Smulders screen tested for the role of Agent Maria Hill. Smulders was eventually cast.
Producer Kevin Feige compares the film 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."
The single-engine jet fighters 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.
The Science and Entertainment Exchange provided a science consultation for the film.
The waitress saved by Captain America and later interviewed about The Avengers is called "Beth" (the name can be seen in her T-shirt during the interview).
The "wishbone" section of the helicarrier where Banner's lab is located is referred to in naval architecture as a "well deck"; it provides a sheltered docking area typically used for launching small boats or hover craft for carrying troops ashore.
Joe Carnahan was considered to direct the film before Joss Whedon was finally chosen.
Altough SHIELD possesses future technology such as the Helecarrier or the futuristic shuttles, some outdated aircraft can still be seen on the carrier. There is a huge number of Alpha-Jets, a German-French co-production that were put out of service by the German air forces in 1993. And we see some AV-8B Harrier II+, the night attack variant of the Sea Harrier, that is recognizable by its stretched nose and is still in service with the US Marine Corps. Finally there is the latest and most capable aircraft on board: the F-35 Lightning II that is about to be put in service by many air forces throughout the world.
The film was converted to 3D during post-production for the theatrical release.
The train engines are not only US models they front of the engine shows the Norfolk Southern Railway symbol.
CAMEO
Stan Lee: creator of such Marvel comics as the X-Men, Spider-Man, the Hulk, the Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Thor, and many others, is the old man being interviewed at the end of the New York battle montage who says: "Superheroes in New York? Give me a break!" and then returns to a game of chess with a fellow senior citizen. He also appeared in a deleted scene: after witnessing a waitress flirt with Steve Rogers, Lee's character says, "Ask for her number, you moron!"
J. August Richards: At the end of the movie, on the bottom left of the screen is an African American couple. Richards played Charles Gunn in Joss Whedon's Angel (1999).
DIRECTOR TRADEMARK
Joss Whedon: [Bare Feet] The Black Widow fights off her interrogators wearing stockings, and a closeup of her feet is shown when she bends over to pick up her high heels. Also, Pepper Potts is barefoot in all the scenes set at the apartment in Stark Tower.
SPOILERS
In the final end credit scene, Captain America is the only one not eating. That is because Chris Evans got a buzz cut and grew out his beard after The Avengers was done filming. He was called in later to do this extra scene and refused to shave off his beard due to having been filming Snowpiercer (2013) at the time, so they gave him the prosthetic jaw. He holds his hand over his face because the prosthetic made him look like he'd been attacked by a hive of angry bees. He also is unable to eat or talk with the prosthetic on. The wig he wears as Captain America is also quite clearly visible in certain shots of this scene.
Joss Whedon: [Killing off a popular character] Agent Phil Coulson, a character who earned considerable popularity with fans through his appearance in almost all of the previous Marvel Studios films, is killed off in the middle of the film, giving the Avengers someone to avenge. On the commentary, Whedon says that it was not his decision to kill off Coulson in the film and that Marvel Studios' Kevin Feige made the call. Whedon would later bring Coulson back in the TV show Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2013).
Body Count: 151 (including the Chitauri).
Besides the indication that "The Other" is talking to Thanos in the mid-credits scene (Thanos apparently being his master), there is another subtle nod to Thanos in Agent Coulson's remark to Loki that he lacks conviction and has an innate desire to lose - this, a subconscious desire to fail, is said (in the comics) to be Thanos' only weakness.
According to Joss Whedon, it was his decision to include Thanos in a post-credits scene: "He for me is THE most powerful and fascinating Marvel villain. He's the great-granddaddy of the badasses and he's in love with Death and I just think that's so cute. Somebody had to be in control and had to be behind Loki's work and I was like it's got to be Thanos."
The character the minion is talking to in the credits is Thanos the Mad Titan, a major supervillain in the Marvel Universe. He is a cosmic mass murderer who is literally in love with the personification of Death, which is why he is smiling at the phrase, "To court death."
Tom Hiddleston describes Loki in this film as having evolved since Thor (2011): "How pleasant an experience is it to disappear into a wormhole that was created by some super-nuclear explosion of his own making? I think by the time Loki shows up he's seen a few things and has bigger things in mind than just his brother and Asgard...."
Seconds before Hawkeye's attack on S.H.I.E.L.D's Helicarrier, Bruce Banner finds the Tesseract's location on the computer. This explains why later he arrives in New York during the invasion of the Chitauri after the Hulk (Banner transformed) fell to the ground from the helicarrier during Hawkeye's attack.
Loki brings the Chitauri alien race to Earth to help him invade it. The Avengers are formed to prevent this from occurring. This is in keeping with the very first issue of their self-titled comic book series, in which Loki is responsible for manipulating a chain of disasters that bring the Avengers together in the first place.
When Pepper and Tony are in their apartment going over digital plans to rebuild Stark tower, the quinjet isn't the only visible clue to an Avenger's headquarters. The logo of each Avenger in the film can be seen on the digital canvas and Captain America's shield is selected to reveal his quarters in the blueprint.
In the closing montage of the film, Pepper Potts shows Tony Stark a hologram of plans to rebuild the top of Stark Tower. In the hologram a Quinjet is clearly visible in the middle of the structure, one among several hints in the film to the possible use of Stark Tower as future Headquarters of the Avengers (as occurred in the comic series).
Loki's staff which has a glowing blue gem in the spear head that allows him to control the minds of others. This is a possible reference to the Mind Gem, one of the seven Infinity Gems used by Thanos the Mad Titan, shown in the post-credits scene.
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 the Avengers operate out of a giant building alternatively depicted as an "A" shaped building, or as a skyscraper with a giant "A" crowning the top.
A S.H.I.E.L.D. employee is briefly seen playing Galaga (1981), which foreshadows the Avengers' battle with the Chitauri.
Dr. Banner doesn't turn into the Hulk till 74 minutes into the film
At the end of the film, when the news clip of the waitress appears on Nick Fury's computer screen it is listed as SHIELD File A113. "A113 is the room number of the animation classroom at CalArts. The A113 reference is a running gag in films made by Pixar Studios, starting with Toy Story (1995), a film partially written by Joss Whedon who wrote and directed The Avengers (2012).
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 Chitari.
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