The Avengers (film)

The Avengers (also known as Avengers Assemble) is a an upcoming superhero film. The film is a crossover of all the films independently produced by Marvel Studios set within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, namely Iron Man (2008), The Incredible Hulk (2008), Iron Man 2 (2010), Thor (2011) and Captain America: The First Avenger  (2011).

Plot
Nick Fury, director of the espionage agency S.H.I.E.L.D., arrives at a remote research facility during an evacuation. His second-in-command, Maria Hill, explains that the Tesseract, an energy source of unknown potential, has activated and opened a portal through space, from which the exiled god Loki steps through. Loki takes the Tesseract, and uses his abilities to control the minds of several S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel including Agent Clint Barton, and physicist consultant Dr. Erik Selvig in order to aid in his getaway.

In response, Fury reactivates the Avengers Initiative. Agent Natasha Romanoff recruits Dr. Bruce Banner in India, while Agent Phil Coulson, visits Tony Stark and requests that he reviews Selvig's research. Fury himself approaches Steve Rogers with an assignment to retrieve the Tesseract from Loki, who has allied with the alien race the Chitauri. In exchange for the Tesseract, they agree to help Loki subjugate Earth.

Iron Man, Captain America, and Romanoff travel to Germany to apprehend Loki, who is stealing iridium needed to stabilize the Tesseract and demanding that people there kneel before him. After a battle with the heroes, Loki surrenders and is being returned to the US in S.H.I.E.L.D. plane. Thor, Loki's adoptive brother and the god of thunder, attempts to free Loki to try to reason with him. After a confrontation with Iron Man and Captain America, Thor accompanies them to imprison Loki on S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Helicarrier, a flying aircraft carrier.

The Avengers are divided over how to deal with Loki and the revelation that S.H.I.E.L.D. plan to harness the Tesseract’s power to develop weapons. Fury admits that the events in New Mexico a year before made S.H.I.E.L.D. aware of other extraterrestrial races that may threaten Earth. Weapons developed from the the Tesseract would form a means of deterrence. As the group argues, Barton and Loki’s possessed agents attack the Helicarrier, disabling its engines. As Iron Man and Captain America attempt to restart the damaged engines, Banner transforms into the Hulk, despite Romanoff's efforts to calm him, and runs amok inside the ship, soon battling Thor. During a fight with Barton, Romanoff discovers that knocking him unconscious breaks Loki's mind control. Loki escapes his cell, kills Coulson, and traps Thor in the cell, which Loki drops from the sky intending to kill his brother.

Fury uses Coulson's death to motivate the Avengers into working as a team. At Stark's headquarters, Stark Tower, the group realizes that defeating them will not be enough for Loki; he needs to overpower them in a public way so as to validate himself as ruler of Earth. Using a Tesseract-powered device Selvig has built, Loki opens a portal to the Chitauri fleet over Manhattan, summoning an invasion. The Avengers rally in defense of New York, but quickly conclude they will be overwhelmed as wave after wave of Chitauri descend. With help from Barton, Captain America and Thor evacuate civilians, while Banner transforms into the Hulk again and goes after Loki, beating him into submission. Romanoff makes her way to Selvig's device, where Selvig, freed of Loki's control, reveals that Loki's staff can be used to close the portal.

Meanwhile, Fury's superiors attempt to end the invasion by launching a nuclear missile at Manhattan. Iron Man intercepts it and takes it through the portal toward the Chitauri fleet before running out of power and plummeting back to Earth. The Hulk catches him as he falls. Thor escorts Loki and the Tesseract to Asgard, home of the Norse gods. Fury notes that the Avengers will go their separate ways until such time as a new world-threatening menace emerges.

The Other tells his shadowy master that attacking Earth "would be to court death". His master, Thanos turns and smiles.

Cast

 * Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man
 * Chris Evans as Steve Rogers/Captain America
 * Chris Hemsworth as Thor
 * Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/The Hulk
 * Lou Ferrigno as the voice of The Hulk
 * Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton/Hawkeye
 * Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow
 * Tom Hiddleston as Loki
 * Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury
 * Cobie Smulders as Maria Hill
 * Clark Gregg as Phil Coulson
 * Stellan Skarsgård as Erik Selvig
 * Paul Bettany as the voice of J.A.R.V.I.S.
 * Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts
 * Maximiliano Hernández as Jasper Sitwell
 * Alexis Denisof as The Other
 * Amanda Righetti as a S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent
 * Jenny Agutter as a member of the World Security Council
 * Powers Boothe as a member of the World Security Council
 * Arthur Darbinyan as a member of the World Security Council
 * Donald Li as a member of the World Security Council
 * Romy Rosemont as Shawna Lynde
 * James Eckhouse as Senator Boyton
 * Jerzy Skolimowski as Georgi Luchkov
 * Ashley Johnson as Waitress
 * Stan Lee
 * Damion Poitier as Thanos (No dialogue)

Continuity and References to the Marvel Cinematic Universe

 * Howard Stark found the Tesseract at the end of Captain America: The First Avenger, studied it as seen in his notebook in Iron Man 2 and it was in SHIELD's custody even since as seen at the end of Thor.
 * Erik Selvig is shown to be working on the cosmic cube, trying to find out how to harness its power. This shows that it is a continuation from Thor.
 * Steve Rogers has a number of flashbacks to his time in the war, many of these are events that occurred in Captain America: The First Avenger.
 * When Phil Coulson tries to contact Tony Stark in Stark Tower, Stark claims that "This is the Life Model Decoy of Tony Stark." This is a reference to Life Model Decoys (LMDs) that appear in the comics as duplicates for characters.
 * Tony Stark reminds Phil Coulson that he was "unsuitable" for the Avengers Initiative, as stated in Nick Fury's evaluation file on Tony at the end of Iron Man 2.
 * When Thor returns to Earth, Loki asks him how much dark sorcery Odin had to use to send him there, confirming that the Bifrost is still destroyed.
 * Phil Coulson refers to The Destroyer's attack on New Mexico depicted in Thor and reveals that S.H.I.E.L.D. is developing weapons made from parts of it.
 * Bruce Banner refers to his fight with Abomination in The Incredible Hulk.
 * A mid credits scene reveals that Loki's ally and the Other's master was Thanos, setting him up as the villain in later films.

Production

 * The film will be shot in Cleveland, Ohio, Los Angeles, California, Michigan, Long Island, New York and New Mexico.

Videos
Video:The Avengers (2012) Teaser Trailer HD 720p|The Avengers teaser trailer Video:Marvel_Studios'_The_Avengers_The_Intros|The Avengers cast at Comic Con. Video:The Avengers Teaser Trailer|Teaser Trailer 2 Video:Marvel's The Avengers- Trailer (OFFICIAL)|Official Trailer Video:Marvel's The Avengers Super Bowl XLVI Commercial (Extended)|Super Bowl Trailer Video:Marvel Avengers Assemble (2012)|Second Official Trailer File:The Avengers (2012) - Clip Black Widow Interrogation|Black Widow Interrogation File:The Avengers (2012) - Clip Head Count|Head Count File:THE AVENGERS -"Maria Hill" Clip (HD)|Maria Hill File:Marvel's The Avengers IMAX 3D TV Spot|"IMAX 3D" TV Spot File:THE AVENGERS - "Head Count" TV Spot (HD)|"Head Count" File:THE AVENGERS - 'Kids' Choice Awards' TV Spot (HD)|NICK´S Kids Choice Awards TV Spot File:THE AVENGERS - "Team" TV Spot (HD)|"Team" File:THE AVENGERS - Extended 'Captain America' TV Spot (SD)|"Captain America" TV Spot File:THE AVENGERS - "Hulk Smash!" TV Spot (SD)|"HULK Smash" File:THE AVENGERS - "Roll Call" TV Spot (HD)|"Roll Call" File:THE AVENGERS - "Suit Up" TV Spot (HD)|"Suit Up" File:THE AVENGERS - "Isolated" TV Spot (HD)|"Isolated" File:THE AVENGERS - Extended "Thor" TV Spot (SD)|"THOR" TV Spot File:The Avengers (2012) - Featurette Assemble|Featurette: Assemble File:Marvel's The Avengers Clip - Face Off|Clip: Thor vs. Iron Man face Off File:The_Avengers_(2012)_-_Clip_Cap_and_Thor_Battle|Clip: Captain America and Thor fight off the enemy File:The_Avengers_(2012)_-_Featurette_Tension|Featurette: Tension File:Marvel's The Avengers Featurette - Threat|Featurette: Threat