Tag: The Avengers

This story contains spoilers about “The Avengers.” “The Avengers” passed the $1-billion mark in worldwide ticket sales this weekend, and a sequel is already in the works. Does that mean writer-director Joss Whedon will be back at the helm of the franchise that unites Marvel’s box-office heavyweights, including Iron Man, Captain America, Thor and the Hulk? “You know, I’m very torn,” Whedon said in a sit-down interview in Beverly Hills before the film’s U.S. opening. “It’s an enormous amount of work telling what is ultimately somebody else’s story, even though I feel like I did get to put myself into it. But at the same time, I have a bunch of ideas, and they all seem really cool.” Whether he gets his hands on the sequel, Whedon’s fingerprints are all over “The Avengers,” which echoes some tropes found in his ...

If you want to know the weapon of choice in pop culture this year just follow the arrow. Click though the gallery above (be sure to click the “CAPTIONS ON” option) to see why 2012 is a year with a big bull’s-eye on its back. – Geoff Boucher RECENT AND RELATED The ‘master manipulator’ Nick Fury Mark Ruffalo: Hulk has found his family Avengers’: Cobie Smulders up for sequel duty ‘Avengers’: Marvel’s new approach to Hulk ‘Avengers’ soar ahead of “Harry Potter” Whedon finds human side of thunder god ‘Avengers’ set visit: Joss Whedon’s heroes and humor Whedon says Jeremy Renner’s Hawkeye is a “loner” Mark Ruffalo’s childlike inspiration for the Hulk ‘Avengers’ gallery: Marvel’s heroes assemble  

COSMIC-LEVEL SPOILER ahead, so stop reading if you haven’t seen “The Avengers” — although with $775 million in worldwide box office it’s getting harder to find Marvel fans that haven’t seen director Joss Whedon’s all-star, crowd-pleasing epic. As the credits roll on “The Avengers,” moviegoers see a sinister alien revealed — it’s Thanos, a being obsessed with nihilism and death, eventually falling in love with its embodiment, Mistress Death. The Mad Titan first appeared in Iron Man #55 in 1973 and would become a signature figure in the Marvel Universe’s “cosmic level” sagas — the struggles that brought heroes, monsters, aliens, immortals and gods into conflicts that spilled across space, time and other dimensions. The character was created by artist and writer Jim Starlin, who we caught up with to talk about his Mad Titan getting a Hollywood close-up. HC: When ...

This story contains spoilers about “The Avengers” and previously released Marvel films. When word got out in 2010 that Mark Ruffalo had been cast as Bruce Banner and his big, green alter ego the Hulk in “The Avengers,” many fans of the franchise were furious. They took to the message boards, touting the merits of Edward Norton’s performance in 2008′s “The Incredible Hulk” and decrying the decision to cast a different actor in “The Avengers,” which would finally unite Marvel’s superheroes, including Captain America, Iron Man and Thor. Ruffalo — best known for off-the-beaten-path movies such as “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” and 2010′s critical darling “The Kids Are All Right” — had been unsure of his decision to accept the role in the action-packed flick. But he said the fan outrage was exactly the motivation he needed. “I ...

Surrounded by a Norse god, a super soldier, a deadly spy, a brilliant scientist who can become an 8-foot-tall rage monster, and, well, Tony Stark, it might have been easy for Cobie Smulders to get lost in the muscle-clad crowd. But the 30-year-old Canadian actress who plays S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Maria Hill in the record-breaking blockbuster “The Avengers” made it her mission to create a space for her character among Marvel’s A-listers, which, of course, include Chris Hemsworth’s Thor, Chris Evans’ Captain America and Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man. “I feel like I was able to hold my own quite well,” Smulders said, sitting down for an interview on a recent morning. “That was really important to me, because I was quite intimidated…. Not only is it a different genre for me, but it’s with some of the most talented actors ...

Turns out Hulk isn’t the only one who can deliver a big green smash. Joss Whedon just scored a Galactus-sized success with “The Avengers,” which not only topped the “Harry Potter” single-weekend record, it made the once magical Hogwarts crowd seem like, well, schoolchildren waving sticks in the air. The sixth Marvel Studios release just completed the best opening weekend in movie history, earning $200.3 million at the domestic box office, an especially staggering number when you consider that previous mark by “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 2″ was $169.2-million. More than that, with all the sparkling reviews, director and co-writer Whedon has a genuine summer cinema supernova — Tony Stark is still at the center of the Marvel Studios universe, but now he’s not the only one standing there in the warm glow of cascading cosmic rays. The numbers are bigger the deeper you look. The North ...

After a succession of quick cameos in almost every Marvel Studios movie, Samuel L. Jackson’s mysterious Nick Fury is at last stepping out of the shadows for his turn in the spotlight in “The Avengers.” “It was finally satisfying to get to find out exactly what Nick’s been getting at,” Jackson said on a recent morning at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills. “About the Avengers initiative, and why he thought it was necessary. We find out a little more about where he operates, how he operates, sort of the workings of his mind.” The film, which opens in U.S. theaters this weekend, unites the Marvel superheroes that have dominated the big screen in recent summers — Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Captain America (Chris Evans), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) as well as Black Widow (Scarlett ...

“The Avengers” look ready for action in this sweet limited-edition poster from artist Ryan Meinerding and the folks at Imax — and if you’re one of the lucky Hero Complex readers who got into tonight’s “Avengers” screening in Burbank, you’re going to get one of these as you leave the theater. The poster was printed up as a cool keepsake for die-hard fans who have bought Imax tickets for all the midnight screenings  of “The Avengers” on Friday – those are the fans who would rather watch a 135-minute movie in the middle of the night than run the risk that one of their spoiler-spouting friends might see the landmark Marvel epic first. Of course, though, 400 of our readers are beating pretty much everybody to the punch thanks to the Hero Complex Imax Screening Series, which brings Hollywood’s biggest movies to fans who get to ...

“The Avengers” will fill the sky with Marvel icons – that is, if the summer’s most crowded film doesn’t remain earthbound under the great weight of its teeming ensemble. That challenge is why Joss Whedon was brought in as the director and screenwriter. He’s a true savant when it comes to snappy dialogue and scenes that become sly symphonies of angst, bravado, love, lust, doubt and deceit. With all of that in mind, we asked Whedon to talk about the major characters and what each brings to the group dynamic. Today: Thor. There’s a scene in “Thor” in which the title hero, played by Chris Hemsworth, is working the crowd in the majestic hall of Asgard’s royal family. As a disdainful Odin looks on, his cocky son grins, struts and swaggers like a vainglorious varsity quarterback in some sort of celestial homecoming parade. You won’t be ...

Marvel fans across America must wait for May 4 to watch “The Avengers” assemble but a few hundred Hero Complex readers will see the cosmic epic Tuesday night with our free IMAX screening in Burbank. Walt Disney Studios, Marvel Studios and director Joss Whedon promise to fill the sky with heroes, villains, gods, monsters and alien warriors but, luckily, the Hero Complex IMAX Screening Series has a screen big enough to hold the all-star 3D epic. This edition of our series has a special offer for a special segment of our readership: Marvel has reserved a limited section of seats for “Real Heroes” (firefighters, active military personnel, law enforcement officers, etc.) and there is more information about that down below. First, though, the basic event information: RSVP PAGE GOES LIVE : FRIDAY, APRIL 27, at 10 AM (PT) RSVP TO ATTEND “THE AVENGERS”/HERO COMPLEX IMAX SCREENING SERIES TUESDAY, MAY 1 at 7:30 PM /AMC BURBANK 16 “REAL ...