- Robert Downey, Jr. as Tony Stark / Iron Man:
- A self-described genius, billionaire, playboy, and philanthropist with a mechanical suit of armor of his own invention. Downey was cast as part of his four-picture deal with Marvel Studios, which includes Iron Man 2 and The Avengers.
Downey said that he initially pushed Whedon to make Stark the lead:
"Well, I said, 'I need to be in the opening sequence. I don't know what
you're thinking, but Tony needs to drive this thing.' He was like,
'Okay, let's try that.' We tried it and it didn't work, because this is a
different sort of thing, the story and the idea and the theme is the
theme, and everybody is just an arm of the octopus." About the character's evolution from previous films, Downey said, "In Iron Man, which was an origin story, he was his own epiphany and redemption of sorts. Iron Man 2 is all about not being an island, dealing with legacy issues and making space for others. . . In The Avengers, he's throwing it down with the others".
- A World War II
veteran who was enhanced to the peak of human physicality by an
experimental serum. Evans was cast as part of a deal to star in three
Marvel films, in addition to The Avengers. Evans said that Steve Rogers is much darker in The Avengers:
"It's just about him trying to come to terms with the modern world.
You've got to imagine, it's enough of a shock to accept the fact that
you're in a completely different time, but everybody you know is dead.
Everybody you cared about. . . He was a soldier, obviously, everybody he
went to battle with, all of his brothers in arms, they're all dead.
He's just lonely. I think in the beginning it's a fish-out-of-water
scene, and it's tough. It's a tough pill for him to swallow. Then comes
trying to find a balance with the modern world."
Regarding the dynamic between Rogers and Tony Stark, Evans said, "I
think there's certainly a dichotomy—this kind of friction between myself
and Tony Stark, they're polar opposites. One guy is flash and spotlight
and smooth, and the other guy is selfless and in the shadows and kind
of quiet and they have to get along. They explore that, and it's pretty
fun".
- A genius scientist who, because of exposure to gamma radiation, transforms into a monster when enraged or agitated. Ruffalo was cast after negotiations between Marvel and Edward Norton, who played Banner in The Incredible Hulk, broke down.
About replacing Norton, Ruffalo said, "I'm a friend of Ed's, and yeah,
that wasn't a great way for all that to go down. But the way I see it is
that Ed has bequeathed this part to me. I look at it as my generation's
Hamlet." About the character, he said, "He's a guy struggling
with two sides of himself—the dark and the light—and everything he does
in his life is filtered through issues of control. I grew up on the Bill
Bixby TV series, which I thought was a really nuanced and real human
way to look at the Hulk. I like that the part has those qualities". Regarding the Hulk's place on the team, Ruffalo said, "He's like the
teammate none of them are sure they want on their team. He's a loose
cannon. It's like, 'Just throw a grenade in the middle of the group and
let's hope it turns out well!" This is the first production in which the actor playing Banner also plays the Hulk. Ruffalo told New York magazine, "I'm really excited. No one's ever played the Hulk exactly; they've always done CGI. They're going to do the Avatar stop-action, stop-motion capture. So I'll actually play the Hulk. That'll be fun". The 3D model used to create the Hulk's body was modeled after Long Island bodybuilder and male stripper Steve Romm, while the Hulk's face was modeled after Ruffalo. To create the Hulk's voice, Ruffalo's voice was blended with those of Lou Ferrigno and others; however, the Hulk's only speaking line ("Puny god.") was provided solely by Ruffalo.
- The crown prince of Asgard, based on the Norse mythological deity of the same name. Hemsworth was cast as part of a multiple movie deal.[18] He had previously worked with Joss Whedon on The Cabin in the Woods. Hemsworth said that he was able to maintain the strength he built up for Thor
by increasing his food intake, consisting of chicken breasts, fish,
steak and eggs every day. When asked exactly how much, Hemsworth said,
"My body weight in protein pretty much!"
He remarked that Thor's motivation "is much more of a personal one, in
the sense that it's his brother that is stirring things up. Whereas
everyone else, it's some bad guy who they've gotta take down. It's a
different approach for me, or for Thor. He's constantly having to battle
the greater good and what he should do vs. it's his little brother
there. . . I've been frustrated with my brothers at times, or family,
but I'm the only one who is allowed to be angry at them. There's a bit
of that."
- A highly trained spy working for S.H.I.E.L.D.
About the character and her relationship with Hawkeye, Johansson said,
"Our characters have a long history. They've fought together for a long
time in a lot of battles in many different countries. We're the two
members of this avenging group who are skilled warriors — we have no
superpowers. Black Widow is definitely one of the team, though. She's
not in the cast simply to be a romantic foil or eye candy. She's there
to fight, so I never felt like I was the only girl. We all have our
various skills and it feels equal". Regarding her training, Johansson said, "Even though Iron Man 2
was 'one-for-them,' I'd never done anything like that before. I'd never
been physically driven in something, or a part of something so big. For
The Avengers, I've spent so many months training with our stunt
team, and fighting all the other actors, it's crazy. I do nothing but
fight—all the time."
- An agent with S.H.I.E.L.D. and a master archer known in the comics as the "World's Greatest Marksman."
Renner said it was a very physical role and that he trained physically
and practiced archery as much as possible in preparation. About the role, Renner said, "When I saw Iron Man,
I thought that was a really kick-ass approach to superheroes. Then they
told me about this Hawkeye character, and I liked how he wasn't really a
superhero; he's just a guy with a high skill set. I could connect to
that."
Regarding Hawkeye's sniper mentality, Renner said, "It's a lonely game.
He's an outcast. His only connection is to Scarlett's character,
Natasha. It's like a left hand/right hand thing. They coexist, and you
need them both, especially when it comes to a physical mission." Renner said Hawkeye is not insecure about his humanity. "Quite the
opposite, he's the only one who can really take down the Hulk with his
[tranquilizer-tipped] arrows. He knows his limitations. But when it
comes down to it, there has to be a sense of confidence in any
superhero."
- Thor's adoptive brother and nemesis, based on the Norse mythological deity of the same name. About his character's evolution from the film Thor, Hiddleston said, "I think the Loki we see in The Avengers
is further advanced. You have to ask yourself the question: how
pleasant an experience is it disappearing into a wormhole that has been
created by some kind of super nuclear explosion of his own making? So I
think by the time Loki shows up in The Avengers, he's seen a few things." About Loki's motivations, Hiddleston said, "At the beginning of The Avengers,
he comes to Earth to subjugate it and his idea is to rule the human
race as their king. And like all the delusional autocrats of human
history, he thinks this is a great idea because if everyone is busy
worshipping him, there will be no wars so he will create some kind of
world peace by ruling them as a tyrant. But he is also kind of deluded
in the fact that he thinks unlimited power will give him self-respect,
so I haven't let go of the fact that he is still motivated by this
terrible jealousy and kind of spiritual desolation".
- An agent with S.H.I.E.L.D. who oversees many of the division's field operations. Gregg was cast as part of a multi-picture deal with Marvel. Gregg said his role was expanded in The Avengers:
"[What] Agent Coulson had become in terms of the import of this
particular story, and how important his job is in bringing the Avengers
together, it kind of felt a little surreal, like somebody was playing a
prank and that wasn't the real script. But it wasn't, it was the real
thing, I got to show up and do that stuff, and it felt like such an
amazing payoff to what the journey had been and the fact I had been
doing it for five years." Gregg said Whedon provided insight into his character's backstory, particularly about Coulson being a fan of Captain America.
- An agent with S.H.I.E.L.D. who works closely with Jackson's Nick Fury. Smulders, whom Joss Whedon once considered for his unproduced live-action Wonder Woman film, was selected from a short list of potential actresses including Morena Baccarin. Smulders' deal would integrate her into nine films.
Regarding her preparation, Smulders said, "I hired this amazing
black-ops trainer to teach me how to hold a gun, take me to a shooting
range, how to hit, how to hold myself, how to walk and basically how to
look. I don't do a ton of fighting in the movie, which is why I wasn't
offered a trainer, but I wanted to look like I had the ability to."
On relating to the character, Smulders said, "I can relate to her being
a mom and being a businesswoman and trying to work full-time and
raising a family and having a career. We're asked to do a lot of things
these days. I feel she is just all about her job and keeping things
going."
- An astrophysicist and a friend of Thor under Loki's control, who is studying the Tesseract's power. Regarding Loki's control over Selvig, Skarsgård said, "Well with the scene we did in Thor,
it was like Loki, one way or the other, entered Erik's mind. And in
Avengers, you will see more clarity in how Loki is using Erik's mind." About his role, he said, "[My character] is of importance but the size of the role is not big."
- The director of S.H.I.E.L.D., who was revealed in previous films to
be coordinating the "Avengers Initiative". Jackson was brought to the
project with a deal containing an option to play the character in up to
nine Marvel films.Jackson said he does more in The Avengers
than in any of the previous films: "You don't have to wait until the
end of the movie to see me". About the role, Jackson said, "It's always
good to play somebody [who] is a positive in society as opposed to
somebody who is a negative. . . I tried to make him as honest to the
story and as honest to what real-life would seem." Jackson compared the
character to Ordell in Jackie Brown, calling him "a nice guy to hang out with. You just don't want to cross him".
Gwyneth Paltrow and
Maximiliano Hernández reprise their roles from previous films as
Pepper Potts and
Jasper Sitwell, respectively.
Paul Bettany returns to voice
Jarvis. Frequent Whedon collaborator
Alexis Denisof portrays the Other, and Damion Poitier portrays his master,
Thanos (unnamed in the film), in a post-credit scene.
Powers Boothe and
Jenny Agutter appear as members of the World Security Council. Avengers co-creator
Stan Lee has a cameo appearance in a news report.
Harry Dean Stanton cameos as a security guard, and Polish film director
Jerzy Skolimowski appears as
Georgi Luchkov, Romanoff's interrogator.
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