Chatting with
MovieLine at the San Diego Comic-Con, Avi Arad, producer of all Marvel comic-book-adaptated films, including
Spider-Man,
X-Men, and the Studios' independently-produced films
Iron Man,
Thor, and next summer's
The Avengers, to name a few, dotted on the ultimate story of the Joss Whedon-directed movie and more.
"Well, it takes some careful architecture but in its core it’s natural. First, the people — the superpowers, the uniforms, are all metaphors for a lot more than that. But it’s a team. A team of people who, maybe some of them believe in the same thing, maybe all believe in the same thing, but they all have different ways of going about it. And then they’re human beings, so they compete, they dislike, they get hurt, they fall in love… so as long as the actors feel that they’re excited and they have enough to do. X-Men was the best teacher. I love the X-Men, that’s still my favorite. This is where you learn how to do group therapy, if you will! That’s what the Avengers are. It’s a bunch of people who have superpowers, and as we know, powers can bring as much angst as wish-fulfillment. They have to somehow get along to save the world. You’d be amazed how tough it is to get along when you have a bunch of strong people, who each one believes their way is the right way. So it’s not as complicated as writing an X-Men."
Marvel's The Avengers picks up when an unexpected enemy emerges that threatens global safety and security. And Nick Fury, director of the international peacekeeping agency known as S.H.I.E.L.D., finds himself in need of a team to pull the world back from the brink of disaster. With director Joss Whedon at it's helm, and an ensemble cast including Chris Evans
(Steve Rogers), Robert Downey Jr.
(Tony Stark), Chris Hemsworth
(Thor Odinson), Jeremy Renner
(Clint Barton), Mark Ruffalo
(Bruce Banner), Scarlett Johansson
(Natasha Romanoff), Clark Gregg
(Agt. Phil Coulson), Cobie Smulders
(Maria Hill), Samuel L. Jackson
(Nick Fury), with Tom Hiddleston
(Loki Laufeyson), and Stellan Skarsgard
(Professor Erik Selvig), the film releases worldwide May 4, 2012!