Marvel's The Avengers or simply The Avengers is a 2012 American superhero film produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures, based on the Marvel Comics superhero team of the same name. It is the sixth installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The film is scripted and directed by Joss Whedon and features an ensemble cast that includes Robert Downey, Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Tom Hiddleston, Clark Gregg, Cobie Smulders, Stellan Skarsgård and Samuel L. Jackson. In The Avengers, Nick Fury, director of the peacekeeping organization S.H.I.E.L.D., recruits Iron Man, Captain America, the Hulk, and Thor to form a team that must stop Thor's adoptive brother Loki from subjugating Earth.



The Avengers premiered on April 11, 2012, at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, California. The film received positive reviews from most film critics and set or tied numerous box office records, including the biggest opening weekend in North America and the fastest film to gross $1 billion. The Avengers grossed $1.51 billion worldwide, and became the third highest-grossing film of all time. The film was released on Blu-ray Disc and DVD on September 25, 2012. A sequel to be written and directed by Whedon is scheduled for release on May 1, 2015.

"I'm as angry as you should be," Whedon said about the subject of his unavailability. "When I heard that I was like, 'I wonder... no, I really can't do that. Oh, I already have a job.' I wouldn't clear the Avengers. I'm having so much fun with that sequel right now, just with the script, that I couldn't imagine not doing it."Knee deep in thetelevision series for, Whedon told CNN that the show is reminding him how "taxing television can be"."I'd forgotten how much work TV was so I'm cranky at everybody all the time," said the director of The Avengers. "But it's really fun. We have a beautiful ensemble and we're having so much fun coming up with the stories. It really is like working at Marvel Comics, which was a dream of mine as a kid because this little book 'S.H.I.E.L.D.' that not that many people read ...[The show's] not as big as the movies [and] we're telling smaller stories but we get to do it more often. “Even though he only thought about Star Wars for a brief moment before coming to his senses, Whedon still says he knows what he'd personally like to see from the next installment in the Star Wars franchise. "Oh I've got a lot of things. Where's my list I'm carrying on me?" Whedon joked. "But you know, I'd like to see a little edge. We all missed the Han [Solo] of it. It got very portentous, which was justified by the story, but I think we'd all like to see a little anarchy in the mix."