“Avengers Assemble” branding will be everywhere soon

Seems like the promotional push on The Avengers is going to start early. Very early. According to Advertising Age, “Avengers Assemble” branding will be everywhere soon to promote Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger and The Avengers.

“You’re going to see ‘Avengers Assemble’ logos and icons take more prominent positions,” says Paul Gitter, president-consumer products for Marvel Entertainment. “On a lot of the packaging you’re going to see everywhere, Marvel does tie back into The Avengers and the umbrella platform we have set up.” . . . . . complete article

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Clark Gregg Talks The Avengers

Clark Gregg, who plays S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Phil Coulson in the Marvel film universe, was asked questions on Thor in a recent interview.

Question: Have you had a chance to read the script for "The Avengers" yet?

Clark Gregg:The Avengers? I just finished the script. Want to know what's in there? .... They've never shown me a script! Are you kidding me? I probably won't ever get the script. I'll get my pages but that's it. It's a top-secret universe.

Do you know when shooting on the film might begin?

Clark Gregg: No. I read online that we begin shooting in February but I don't know? That's what I read. I have to call and find out if that's true.

What do you think it is going to be like on the set working with an all-star cast of A-list actors such as Robert Downey Jr., Samuel L. Jackson, Mark Ruffalo, Jeremy Renner, Don Cheadle, Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth and Scarlett Johansson?

Clark Gregg: It's going to be fireworks. It's actually, as far as I can tell, a nice bunch of people. That's what's been cool so far is that you get to work with a kind of caliber of actor in these Marvel films that I didn't grow up associating with Super Hero movies.

Also, everybody seems to be having a good time so it's really kind of a pleasant place to work in. There is also something about, even though there is a real reverence about the fan base and wanting to make sure the fans are thrilled by what we and what Marvel comes up with for this, at the same time it's a comic book movie.

Question: Clark, since you are a self-admitted comic book fan from your youth, which villain from the Marvel Universe would you like to see "The Avengers" face in the upcoming film?

Clark Gregg: You know, this might not be a fan-friendly answer by I would like to see the red herring version of it where you think it's Dr. Doom or Loki, somebody like that and maybe they're connected to it but that it takes it in a really surprising direction.

While the characters of Agent Coulson and Nick Fury have been seen in both "Iron Man" and "Iron Man 2" they were relegated to mostly just explaining the Marvel Universe to Tony Stark. So can fans expect to see you and Sam Jackson's characters finally kicking some ass in "The Avengers" and the following sequels?

Clark Gregg: I hope so. I've been training so hard to actually look plausibly at my age like I could kick some ass. I think all of that gets revved up in The Avengers. So not having seen a word of what Joss has written I got to assume that there is going to be some of that there. . . . . . complete interview

The Avengers
Release Date: 4 May 2012
Writer: Zack Penn

From CBM: The Avengers is a team of fictional superhero characters in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Originally created using preexisting Marvel characters, variously created by writer-editor Stan Lee, artist and co-plotter Jack Kirby and others, the team first appeared in The Avengers #1 (Sept. 1963).

Labelled "Earth's Mightiest Heroes", the Avengers originally consisted of Ant-Man, Wasp, Thor, Iron Man, and the Hulk. Almost from inception, however, the roster has been fluid - the Hulk departed and Captain America joined the team within the first four issues of the series.

Teaser Trailer

The rotating roster has become a hallmark of the team, although one theme remains consistent: the Avengers fight the foes no single superhero can withstand - hence their famous cry of "Avengers Assemble!" The team has featured humans, robots, gods, aliens, supernatural beings and even former villains.

Chris Evans ... Captain America, Robert Downey Jr. ... Iron Man, Scarlett Johansson ...Black Widow, Chris Hemsworth ... Thor, Samuel L. Jackson ... Nick Fury, Don Cheadle ... War Machine,
Mark Ruffalo ... The Hulk

Mark Ruffalo will actually play the Hulk

In the two Incredible Hulk movies of the past decade, stars Edward Norton and Eric Bana played Bruce Banner but let the effects crew worry about the big green guy.

In Marvel's upcoming The Avengers, though, Mark Ruffalo will actually play the Hulk: "I'm really excited. No one's ever played the Hulk exactly, they've always done CGI," he told us at last night's Launch of Farmhearts at Pure Yoga.

"They're going to do the Avatar stop-action, stop-motion capture. So I'll actually play the Hulk. That'll be fun." But he's nearly as excited about playing Banner: "I really love the first TV version of it, the Bill Bixby one," Ruffalo told us.

"I'm gonna shoot for that a little bit. He was an everyman in it. He's always on the run and trying to find love." . . . . . complete article.

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Joss Whedon on Helming The Avengers

Thanks to OMG Squee, here is a transcription of what Joss Whedon said about The Avengers at the recent Melbourne Writers' Festival:

Sue: So – in terms of coming up to the Avengers though – because – that’s not your script originally is it?

Joss: It is now. Yeah. There was a script, but I had a different take on it. And when they showed it to me I said “But this doesn’t work for me, I would do something different.” And they said, “Well tell us what you would do,” and now I’m doing it.

Sue: And they’re trust you to do that?

Joss: They do! They do, Marvel – they’re very trusting at Marvel. It’s kind of like, in the early days of the WB, when you know, I came back to my agent and said, it was really different, really interesting, they respected what I was talking . . . . . complete article.

Jeremy Renner Says Hawkeye's 'Avengers' Costume Will Be 'Reality-Based,' Not Classic Purple Suit

As announced during this year's Comic-Con in San Diego, Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Nick Fury, and Hulk won't be the only characters to get the spotlight in the film. Among the new additions to the cast is "The Hurt Locker" star Jeremy Renner, who'll play the team's hotshot marksman, Hawkeye. MTV News caught up with Renner during the press junket for his new film "The Town," and asked him whether we'll see him don Hawkeye's classic purple costume for the film, or whether we'll get a more "Ultimates"-style take on the character.

"I think it's going to be a little more reality-based," said Renner. "You can kind of tell with Scarlett [Johansson]'s character [in 'Iron Man 2'], it's going to be more of a uniform . . . and not a big purple, comics sort of thing." According to Renner, it's that decision to stray from the classic look that's helped the Marvel movies connect with mainstream audiences. "That's why I think it's more palatable to audiences — there's almost a sense of reality to these superheroes," he explained. "That's what makes it interesting to me, anyway" . . . . . complete article and video.