The Avengers

The Avengers

The Avengers also known as Marvel's The Avengers and Avengers Assemble is a 2012 superhero film based on the Marvel Comics superhero team of the same name. It is the sixth installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the sixth/final installment to Phase One.

It is co-written and directed by Joss Whedon and stars Chris Evans as Steve Rogers/Captain America, Robert Downey, Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/Hulk, Tom Hiddleston as Loki, Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton/Hawkeye, Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow, and Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury.

It was released May 4, 2012 in the USA and was released on April 25, 2012 and April 26, 2012 in the UK. The film drew inspiration from the Avengers and Ultimates comic series.

A sequel called Avengers: Age of Ultron was confirmed in late July of 2013. It is set for release on May 1, 2015.

Plot
After being exiled from the Nine Realms following his actions in Asgard, Loki wonders the periphery of outer space for over a year before coming into contact with the Other, the servant of a mysterious warlord. The Other makes a deal with Loki: in exchange for recovering the Tesseract, a powerful energy source being studied by S.H.I.E.L.D. on Earth, his master promises to give Loki command over the Chitauri, a warmongering race of cyborgs, so he may conquer humanity. Seeing this as a chance for greatness, Loki accepts.

In 2012, S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Nick Fury and his deputy director, Maria Hill are called to the Joint Dark Energy Mission Facility in the Mojave Desert where the Tesseract is being researched by Dr. Erik Selvig. The Tesseract has recently begun spiking strange quantities of energy on its own accord, prompting the facility to be evacuated. Before any necessary precautions can be made, the Tesseract suddenly activates and opens up a portal from which Loki steps through. Announcing his intention to conquer Earth, Loki steals the Tesseract and uses an alien scepter given to him by the Chitauri to enslave the minds of Dr. Selvig and Agent Clint Barton, aiding him in his getaway. Despite the efforts of Director Fury and Commander Hill to stop him, Loki escapes. In response to the attack, Fury reactivates the Avengers Initiative. Despite orders from the World Security Council to proceed with a different alternative, Fury sends Agent Natasha Romanoff to locate Bruce Banner, who has been living in Calcutta, India as a doctor, and Agent Phil Coulson to recruit Tony Stark; both geniuses are instructed to trace the Tesseract. Fury himself meets with Steve Rogers, informing him of Loki's taking of the Tesseract, requesting his help in recovering it and subdueing the invader. All three men accept the offer, though Rogers is reluctant to do anything involving the Tesseract after his experiences with it in World War II. Banner is also hesitant to assist, fearing that his alter-ego, Hulk, may cause mayhem. The group, minus Stark, gathers on the Helicarrier, where Banner starts tracking gamma radiation from the Tesseract, while S.H.I.E.L.D tries to find Loki. He is found in Stuttgart, Germany, where he terrorizes a crowd of people attending a gala, providing a distraction so that the brainwashed Barton may retrieve iridium to stabilize the Tesseract. Romanoff and Rogers, the latter now as Captain America, arrive to apprehend Loki, with Captain America and Loki fighting until Iron Man arrives and stops the conflict, forcing Loki to surrender. After capturing him, they board a quinjet and start their return trip back to the Helicarrier, when a lightning storm suddenly hits, and out of nowhere, Thor appears, having been transported to Earth by Odin.

Thor takes Loki from the group's custody and carries him to a nearby forest. Thor attempts to persuade Loki into abandoning his campaign and returning to Asgard, but Loki, blinded by his jealousy of Thor and contempt towards Odin, refuses. Iron Man flies in and attacks Thor, engaging him in a battle that levels half the forest. Before any further damage can be done, Captain America intervenes and attempts to get Thor to stand down; Thor responds by lunging at Captain America with Mjølnir, only for the captain's shield to absorb the blow. Thor then finally agrees to work with the humans, and joins them in returning Loki to the Helicarrier.

Loki is imprisoned in a cage designed to hold Hulk, and Fury attempts to interrogate him over the Tesseract's location, but Loki remains silent. Thor reveals Loki's plan to the Avengers: with the Tesseract, Loki hopes to open a portal that will allow the Chitauri access to Earth, thus beginning a planetary takeover. While Stark and Banner work on locating the Tesseract, Stark offers the sentiment that Hulk saved Banner from dying of radiation poisoning and then shocks him to see how he would react. Rogers is clearly annoyed by Stark's erratic behavior and disrespect towards authority, and tries to get him to follow orders more carefully, insitagating a rivalry between the two. Amidst their arguments, they come across a S.H.I.E.L.D. project known only as "Phase 2", prompting Stark into hacking the agency's mainframe to unlock their secrets and Rogers breaking into restricted holding areas, both discovering that Phase 2 is in fact a program utilizing the Tesseract's power to make weapons of war.

The Avengers confront Fury with their findings, to which he reveals S.H.I.E.L.D. began using the Tesseract to manufacture weapons in response to the Asgardian incident in Puente Antiguo the previous year, which revealed to humanity the existence of alien life. A massive argument ensues, during which Barton, accompanied by various soldiers also brainwashed by Loki, attack the Hellecarrier, blowing off one if its engines. The resulting explosion destroys the lab that the group is in, causing Romanoff and Banner fall into the boiler area, where they are trapped in a wreckage. Despite Romanoff's attempts at calming him down, the injured Banner transforms into Hulk, and chases Romanoff throughout the Helicarrier. Thor comes to her rescue and brawls with Hulk, only to be outclassed in strength. A S.H.I.E.L.D. jet attempts to lure Hulk away from Thor, only for Hulk to leap at the jet and tear it apart. The jet explodes, and Hulk is sent careening away from the Helicarrier.

Captain America and Iron Man try to repair the damaged engine, but their efforts are hindered by Loki's possessed underlings. Romanoff confronts Barton, and after an intense fight, she is able to break Loki's control by delivering a concussive blow to Barton's head. Thor goes after Loki, who tricks him into running through an illusion of him and into the cell. Agent Coulson attempts to save Thor, but Loki stabs him through the chest with his scepter, and then jettisons Thor from the Helicarrier. Thor breaks free from the cell at the last second, landing in a field. Captain America and Iron Man are eventually able to overcome their aggressors and get the Helicarrier airborne again, but the victory is bittersweet as Loki escapes and Coulson dies from his injury.

Fury attempts to use Coulson's death to motivate the Avengers into cooperating as a team, but Rogers and Stark get into another argument. Amidst their argument, the two realize that Loki plans to open the portal above Stark Tower in an attempt to satisfy his own ego. Captain America, Romanoff, and Barton take a quinjet to New York City, following Iron Man in his suit. Iron Man arrives first, failing to stop Dr. Selvig from using the Tesseract, in conjunction with a device he built, to open the portal. Iron Man confronts Loki, the two engaging in a brief battle of wits, with Stark failing to intimidate Loki with threats regarding the Avengers. Loki unsuccessfully tries to possess Stark, as his Arc Reactor physically blocks the scepter's power, and instead throws him out the window. Fortunately, Stark manages to activate his Mark VII armor, which attaches itself to Stark before he can hit the ground. Iron Man then attempts to incapacitate Loki, but Selvig's device activates, opening a portal above New York from which the Chitauri fleet emerges, beginning Loki's invasion.

Captain America, Romanoff, Barton, and Thor soon arrive and assist Iron Man against the Chitauri. Not expecting such a resistance, the Chitauri are initially overwhelmed, but their sheer number soon turn out to be an issue. Banner soon arrives on a motorbike, and uses a special technique he mastered to willingly transform into Hulk, giving the Avengers an edge against the Chitauri. The team fights through hordes of Chitauri, and during the battle, Loki is attacked by Hulk and beaten into submission. Romanoff makes her way to Selvig's device, where Selvig, freed of Loki's control, reveals that Loki's scepter can be used to close the portal. Meanwhile, the World Security Council attempts 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. Hulk catches him as he falls, while the Chitauri fleet is decimated by the nuclear explosion, effectively disabling the Chitauri forces on Earth. Romanoff then closes the portal, the war finally won.

The world, changed forever, is taken over by the idea of a superhero team. The Avengers become celebrities, and are lavished with media attention, but are also met with some concern and fear, with some finding their appearance during the battle to be too coincidental. All joining in Central Park, the Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D. watch as Thor escorts Loki and the Tesseract to Asgard. Afterward, the Avengers diverge, though Fury notes that until such time as a new world-threatening menace emerges, the team will reassemble.

Later, the Other meets with his master and informs him of Loki's failure. He shares his concerns over the strength of Earth's heroes, commenting that attempting to challenge them again would be to "court death." At this, the master, Thanos, smiles sadistically.

Before they had disassembled, the Avengers gathered at a shawarma restaurant and ate in silence.

Cast

 * Chris Evans as Steve Rogers/Captain America
 * Robert Downey, Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man
 * Chris Hemsworth as Thor
 * Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/Hulk
 * Lou Ferrigno as Hulk  (voice)
 * Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton/Hawkeye
 * Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow
 * Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury
 * Tom Hiddleston as Loki
 * Clark Gregg as Phil Coulson
 * Cobie Smulders as Maria Hill
 * Paul Bettany as J.A.R.V.I.S.  (voice)
 * Alexis Denisof as The Other
 * Damion Poitier as Thanos
 * Stellan Skarsgård as Erik Selvig
 * Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts
 * Maximiliano Hernández as Jasper Sitwell
 * Jenny Agutter as Councilwoman Hawley
 * Powers Boothe, Arthur Darbinyan and Donald Li as unnamed members of the World Security Council
 * James Eckhouse as Senator Boynton
 * Stan Lee as a skeptical man

Locations

 * Chitauri Space
 * Asgard (mentioned)
 * Earth
 * North America
 * United States of America
 * California
 * Mojave Desert
 * Joint Dark Energy Mission Facility
 * New York
 * New York City
 * Manhattan
 * Stark Tower
 * Oregon (mentioned)
 * Portland (mentioned)
 * Washington, D.C. (mentioned)
 * Asia
 * India
 * West Bengal
 * Kolkata
 * Europe
 * Germany
 * Baden-Württemberg
 * Stuttgart
 * Hungary (mentioned)
 * Budapest (mentioned)
 * South America (mentioned)
 * Brazil (mentioned)
 * Sao Paulo (mentioned)

Events

 * Battle in Culver University (computer screen)
 * Battle of Puente Antiguo (computer screen)
 * World War II (computer screen)
 * Battle in the Valkyrie (flashback)
 * War for Earth
 * Destruction of Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S.
 * Attack on the Helicarrier
 * Battle of New York

Items

 * Infinity Stones
 * Tesseract
 * Chitauri Scepter
 * Iron Man Armor: Mark VI
 * Iron Man Armor: Mark VII
 * Iron Man Mark VII Bracelets
 * Arc Reactor
 * Badassium
 * Captain America's Shield
 * Vibranium
 * Captain America's Uniform
 * Mjølnir
 * Hawkeye's Quiver and Bow
 * Destroyer Armor Prototype Gun
 * Chitauri Gun
 * Chitauri Staff
 * Chitauri Bomb
 * Chitauri Neural Link
 * Captain America Card Collection
 * Galaga
 * The Destroyer (mentioned)

Sentient species

 * Asgardians
 * Chitauri
 * Frost Giants
 * Humans

Creatures

 * Hugin and Munin
 * Leviathans

Vehicles

 * S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier
 * S.H.I.E.L.D. Quinjet
 * Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II
 * Chitauri Chariot
 * Leviathan
 * Chitauri Command Center
 * Stark Industries Private Jet
 * Humvee
 * Acura TL
 * Acura NSX Spider
 * Acura 2012 Stark Industries Super Car
 * Captain America's Motorcycle

Organizations

 * S.H.I.E.L.D.
 * Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S.
 * Avengers
 * World Security Council
 * New York City Police Department
 * United States Armed Forces
 * Chitauri

Mentioned

 * Odin
 * Jane Foster
 * Audrey
 * Stephen Hawking
 * Reindeer Games

Item 47
The Blu-ray realese of The Avengers came with a Marvel One-Shot that told the story of Benjamin Pollack and his girlfriend Claire Wise, who found a Chitauri weapon that they used to steal money from banks.

Music

 * The Avengers: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
 * Avengers Assemble: Music from and Inspired by the Motion Picture