FILM · 2012 · USA
The Avengers
- Directed by
- Joss Whedon
- Runtime
- 143 min
- Studio
- Marvel Studios
297 archived facts 7 topics 2 sources Last reviewed Sep 2026
When an unexpected enemy emerges and threatens global safety and security, Nick Fury, director of the international peacekeeping agency known as S.H.I.E.L.D., finds himself in need of a team to pull the world back from the brink of disaster. Spanning the globe, a daring recruitment effort begins!
Summary: TMDB
The Avengers: 29 Facts About the Characters and Cast
- #016
Contains a major spoiler — show
(At about 55 minutes) Chris Evans was unsure about his character's line "I understood that reference!" because he worried it would make audiences think his character was not intelligent. After watching the film with an audience, however, he was immediately reassured and saw that they found the line witty rather than stupid.
- #020
Contains a major spoiler — show
The final post-credits scene was added after Robert Downey Jr. pushed for the scene to be rewritten. After Tony Stark returns to Earth, he wakes up and asks, "What's next?" Downey Jr. thought this line could be more interesting, so director Joss Whedon gave him some suggestions, among them the idea of going to a local shawarma restaurant, which was ultimately chosen. The scene was added one day after the world premiere. Shawarma sales in the US have risen sharply since then.
- #024
Contains a major spoiler — show
Writer and director Joss Whedon had seen Tom Hiddleston play Cassio in a stage production of Othello and was delighted when he heard Hiddleston had been cast as Loki in Thor (2011). Because he felt Loki was still quite sympathetic in Thor, he worried that Hiddleston might have trouble carrying The Avengers as the main villain. However, Whedon's friend Drew Goddard assured him that Loki falls into the abyss at the end of Thor and comes out the other side, which would leave him somewhat unhinged. This gave Whedon the chance to write Loki as fun, as he typically is in the comics, while also letting Hiddleston play the underlying sadness and subtlety. Hiddleston later confirmed this in an interview, saying: "I can tell you that they're all against me. I'm the super villain. So Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Captain America, Thor, Hawkeye, Black Widow and Nick Fury are teaming up because I'm so bad."
- #038
Contains a major spoiler — show
Robert Downey Jr. initially pushed Joss Whedon to make Tony Stark the lead: "I said I needed to be in the opening scene, Tony needed to drive this thing. He said: Okay, let's try this. We tried it but it didn't work, because this is a different kind of thing, everyone is just one arm of the octopus."
- #040
The producers took the leads for The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) and OsCorp Tower in New York City from Columbia Pictures. Unfortunately, by then the digital rendering of the skyline had already been completed and could not be altered.
- #043
Alyson Hannigan (who appeared in Joss Whedon's Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997) and is married to Alexis Denisof, who played the Other in the film) recommended Cobie Smulders, star of How I Met Your Mother (2005), to him for the role of Agent Maria Hill.
- #048
Lou Ferrigno contributed the voice of Hulk in this film. He has played Hulk in nearly every live-action version since 1978: he played Hulk in the television series The Incredible Hulk (1977) and in the three subsequent television programs. He also voiced Hulk on the big screen in The Incredible Hulk (2008), in which he also played a security guard. He additionally played a security guard in Hulk (2003). He has also voiced Hulk in various animated productions.
- #130
Morena Baccarin, Jessica Lucas, Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Cobie Smulders screen-tested for the role of Agent Maria Hill. Smulders won the role and, being a very physical performer, did her own stunts in the opening scene.
- #136
Before Mark Ruffalo was cast as the Hulk, rumors circulated that Joaquin Phoenix was also in the running for the role. Joaquin Phoenix was also rumored for the role of Dr. Stephen Strange in Doctor Strange (2016).
- #191
Jensen Ackles was the producers' first choice for the role of Hawkeye but turned it down due to a scheduling conflict with Supernatural (2005), and Josh Holloway was also considered for the role.
- #194
Contains a major spoiler — show
Damion Poitier thought he had been cast as Super-Skrull and was not actually told he would be playing Thanos until the makeup was applied. He said, "They kept it very quiet because they didn't want to give any spoilers… I didn't find out until they changed my face to sculpt it."
- #200
Before Joss Whedon was finally chosen, Joe Carnahan was expected to direct the film. Whedon thanks producer Kevin Feige, whom he had known for years before Feige became president of Marvel, for giving him the job, considering that this was only Whedon's second feature film. After Serenity (2005), Whedon had privately promised never to make another film in a bigger universe with a large cast, but when Feige approached him, what reportedly sealed the deal was Whedon's vision that his film would be "an enormous disaster where [we're] one step ahead of the crumbling earth every second."
- #204
Amanda Peet was considered for the role of Agent Maria Hill.
- #211
Lindsay Lohan was reportedly among those who auditioned for a role.
- #229
Fans suggested Bradley Cooper and Chris Pine to play Hawkeye. Cooper went on to play Rocket in Guardians of the Galaxy (2014).
- #230
In a deleted scene, Steve Rogers sits in a cafe just outside Stark Tower, sketching the present-day New York skyline. A waitress played by Ashley Johnson asks Steve whether he is waiting to see Iron Man fly, as many customers do. She tells him he can stay as long as he likes and says, "We've got free wireless," to which he replies, "Radio?" After she walks away, a nearby customer played by Stan Lee tells Steve: "Ask for her number, you moron." The scene took place immediately before the scene in which Steve hits the punching bag. In the final film, Johnson and Lee appear only in the news interviews at the end.
- #239
Scarlett Johansson and Cobie Smulders are both married to members of the Saturday Night Live (1975) cast. Johansson is married to Colin Jost, and Smulders to Taran Killam. In the 1970s, SNL aired a sketch of Marvel and DC characters attending a dinner party. Among the Marvel characters were the Hulk and Ant-Man, who later appeared together in Avengers: Endgame (2019).
- #240
Robert Downey Jr. and Mark Ruffalo were considered to play Doctor Doom in Fantastic Four (2005) — Downey — and in the then-unreleased Fantastic Four (1994) — Ruffalo. Alexis Denisof and Scarlett Johansson were also considered for roles in Fantastic Four (2005): Denisof for Reed Richards and Johansson for Sue Storm. Downey was eventually cast as Doom in Avengers: Doomsday (2026).
- #269
Casting for The Avengers began in October 2008 with Robert Downey Jr.'s signing.
- #270
Scarlett Johansson took over the role of Natasha Romanoff from Emily Blunt in Iron Man 2 in March 2009, a deal that also attached her to The Avengers.
- #272
Penn initially tried to reduce Thor's role in the script because he doubted the character could succeed on film, but he changed his mind after Hemsworth was cast as Thor.
- #276
Arad said he believed Joss Whedon would do a fantastic job on The Avengers, citing Whedon's love of the characters, his writing ability and his personal connection to the material.
- #277
Feige said he had known Joss Whedon for many years and that Marvel wanted a director on the verge of doing something great, which he considered Whedon to be.
- #280
While writing The Avengers, Joss Whedon drafted a large number of pages featuring The Wasp because it was not certain Scarlett Johansson would star, and he wanted Zooey Deschanel for the role. He also wrote a substantial draft including Ezekiel Stane, the son of Obadiah Stane, out of concern that one British character actor was not enough to oppose Earth's mightiest heroes.
- #281
Marvel declined to bring Edward Norton back as Bruce Banner for The Avengers, and Mark Ruffalo was cast in the role instead.
- #282
In October 2014, Edward Norton said it was his own decision never to play the Hulk again, because he wanted more diversity in his career and did not want to be associated with only one character.
- #291
Cobie Smulders was cast as Maria Hill in February 2011, after taking part in Marvel screen tests for a key S.H.I.E.L.D. role that Samuel L. Jackson described as Nick Fury's sidekick.
- #292
Morena Baccarin, Jessica Lucas and Mary Elizabeth Winstead were also considered for the Maria Hill role in The Avengers.
- #293
Gwyneth Paltrow joined the cast of The Avengers at Robert Downey Jr.'s insistence, even though Joss Whedon had not planned to include supporting characters from the heroes' solo films.
Sources & editorial notes
Reference databases
Sources for the entries on this page
- Wikipedia The Avengers (2012 film) — Wikipedia
- IMDb IMDb
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