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Details
Director: Joss Whedon
Stars: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson (more)
Release Date: May 4, 2012
Showtimes: See showtimes
Synopsis: Nick Fury and the international agency S.H.I.E.L.D. bring together a team of super humans to form The Avengers to help save the Earth from Loki & his various membered army.
Why We're Excited: Regardless of how enthusiastic we were about the individual films leading up to this cinematic assemblage of Earth’s mightiest heroes, one name makes us more excited about this title than nearly all of the films that came before it: Joss Whedon. Whedon’s previous creations (“Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “Firefly”) prove that he knows how to wrangle large groups of super-powered personalities without sacrificing plot, story organization or a script’s emotional heft. He also has a deep, abiding affection for the genre that permeates all of his work – and a legion of faithful fans clamoring to see him show the world what he can do with a major comic book franchise.
Why We're Not: The Avengers represents the intersection of stories told over the course of four years and five films. Anytime you have this kind of star-powered traffic jam of familiar comic book canons, there’s a high risk that one or two of the characters are to get the short shrift in terms of story development. Successfully assembling these supers into a powerful movie is a task that would trouble Asgard’s wisest and most nimble. Whedon’s talents are mighty… but the box-office returns of his last major motion picture release, Serenity, were proportionally similar to Antman.
Trivia: Edward Norton was originally set to reprise his role from The Incredible Hulk but negotiations between he and Marvel Studios broke down. Mark Ruffalo replaces him, and will personally portray the Hulk through virtual-camera motion-capture. However, Lou Ferrigno voices the Hulk in this film, and has played the Hulk in almost every live-action version since 1978.
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