[jaykhunter]

Paramount Pictures and Marvel Studios are scheduled to release the live-action film The Avengers on May 4, 2012. Joss Whedon will direct the film and Iron Man director Jon Favreau is executive producing.

Robert Downey, Jr. = Iron Man
Don Cheadle = War Machine
Chris Hemsworth = Thor
Tom Hiddleston = Loki
Scarlett Johansson = Black Widow (as seen in Iron Man 2)
Chris Evans = Captain America.
Samuel L. Jackson signed on to play Nick Fury as part of an unprecedented deal with Marvel Studios and Paramount Pictures for nine pictures, including The Avengers and its respective sequels.

Possibly...
Edward Norton stated in an interview with MTV that he would like to appear in The Avengers and that he would be happy to see The Hulk as the villain.
Lou Ferrigno, who voiced Hulk in 2008's The Incredible Hulk, stated that he would be involved in the film.

In October 2009 Favreau confirmed to MTV that he will not be directing The Avengers. He also commented on the difficulty of directing such a film stating; "It's going to be hard, because I was so involved in creating the world of Iron Man and Iron Man 2 is very much a tech-based hero, and then with Avengers you're going to be introducing some supernatural aspects because of Thor... How you mix the two of those works very well in the comic books, but it's going to take a lot of thoughtfulness to make that all work and not blow the reality that we've created."

In a January 26, 2010 interview with SFX, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige was asked will it be difficult to meld the fantasy of Thor with the high-tech science fiction of Iron Man in The Avengers. He answered; "No, because we're doing the Jack Kirby/Stan Lee/Walt Simonson/J. Michael Straczynski 'Thor.' We're not doing the blow-the-dust-off-of-the-old-Norse-book-in-your-library 'Thor.' And in the 'Thor' of the Marvel Universe, there's a race called the Asgardians. And we're linked through this Tree of Life that we're unaware of. It's real science, but we don't know about it yet. The 'Thor' movie is about teaching people that". Feige also confirmed that the Hulk would appear in the film. In April 2010 Stan Lee and Avi Arad confirmed that Joss Whedon will direct the film.

Thanks Wikipedia!

Any chance of someone writing a quick synopsis for each character as mentioned above? i.e. their superpower, background etc?

[johnny_ultimate]

The logical side of my brain tells me to be cautious, because going on past experience, adding too many characters to a supehero movie tends to create unfocused rubbish. The other side of my brain just keeps shouting "Joss Whedon! Woo!" repeatedly. For now, I'm going with 'woo!'.

[ztoical]

I'll believe Whedon is directing when the film is actually in full production cus he got very far into developing Wonder Woman and that fell apart.

Originally Posted by jaykhunter

Any chance of someone writing a quick synopsis for each character as mentioned above? i.e. their superpower, background etc?

Is wikipedia broken? surely you can look up the characters yourself?

[jaykhunter]

Originally Posted by ztoical

Is wikipedia broken? surely you can look up the characters yourself?

Thanks. Besides their synopses being pretty long (multiply that by 8; for every character); I'd rather hear it from a comic book fan rather than the bland facts of wikipedia. It also promotes talk between comic book fans which I enjoy reading. Is that such a crime?

[Antar Bolaeisk]

Like johnny_ultimate I too am torn between yay because Joss Whedon is involved and worry because of all the characters (and actor egos) that will have to be dealt with.

Still though, it'll be nice to see it on the big screen considering they've been talking about the damn thing for the past few years.

[Fysh]

Originally Posted by jaykhunter

Thanks. Besides their synopses being pretty long (multiply that by 8; for every character); I'd rather hear it from a comic book fan rather than the bland facts of wikipedia. It also promotes talk between comic book fans which I enjoy reading. Is that such a crime?

The bland facts of wikipedia regarding comics and comic characters are generally contributed and edited by comic fans. Not to mention that with Avengers comics having been in publication since, oh, sometime in the late 60s, there's rather a lot of material to choose from and usually multiple interpretations of the various characters involved.

Whedon would be a very interesting director for this, but I'll believe it's happening once it's actually being filmed. Apart from anything else, the Avengers film will still be dependent on both Thor and Captain America doing well as standalone films, which we won't know for a while...

[Kess73]

You forgot Olivia Munn as the Wasp/Janet van Dyne

[Skerries]

Hulk: David Bruce Banner is a scientist who becomes irradiated with Gamma radiation and when he gets angry turns into the green behemoth that is The Hulk
Powers: Incredible strength that grows exponentially with his anger, also great invulnerability

Thor: Odin sends his son into the body of Dr. Donald Blake and is the ancient god of myth
Powers: Great strength, endurability and wields the mighty hammer Mjolnir which allows him to fly and controls storms

Loki:The half brother of Thor also known as the trickster
Powers: Shapeshifter, great strength and endurability, expert in the arcane arts

Giant-Man/Wasp: married couple Janet and Henry Pym who have the ability to change their size due to a formula Henry invented
Powers: ability to change size, Janet also grows wings when she shrinks
Henry was also able to control ants through a helmet when he was Ant-man

Captain America: Mild mannered Steve Rogers signs up for the Super Soldier experiment and becomes a national symbol during WW2 but later becomes frozen in the Antarctic. Thawed out decades later he takes up the mantle of the hero of the people again
Powers: His body has been brought to the peak of human ability and so has greater strength, endurance, agility, speed, reflexes, durability and healing than the average person
Also wields a shield which he can use like a frisbee to take down his enemies, it is incredibly strong due to being made up of Adamantium, Vibranium and unknown element that got in during the manufacturing process

Iron Man: Inventor and Billionaire Tony Stark invents shiny suit that has loads of toys, go see the film

War Machine: watch Iron Man 2

Nick Fury: Leader of the S.H.I.E.L.D. agency and war hero
Powers: Expert in combat, his aging has been slowed due to a formula

Black Widow: Natasha Romanoff is a former Russian spy and now a freelance S.H.I.E.L.D. agent
Powers: expert in martial arts and espionage, uses wrist mounted blasters

[JP Liz V1]

Joss Whedon directing

[Dont be at yourself]

I'd like them to basically condense the first arc of The Ultimates comic. Bruce Banner is working for the Avenger programme, but then goes loose and causes mayhem across Manhattan.

I liked how they handled Thor too - he was either a mental patient with a high-tech alien hammer, or a Norse God.

[ztoical]

Originally Posted by JP Liz V1

Joss Whedon directing

Joss Whedon has signed on to direct like he did with Wonder Woman...like I said earlier I'm not getting excited about Whedon until he's actually sitting behind a camera shooting footage.

[Klingon Hamlet]

I read somewhere that Joss is not only rewriting the treatment for The Avengers but also working on the Captain America material too. I have a good feeling about this.

[nix]

Originally Posted by Klingon Hamlet

I read somewhere that Joss is not only rewriting the treatment for The Avengers but also working on the Captain America material too. I have a good feeling about this.

Yeah i heard part of his agreement to do the Avengers was if he could dabble in the Captain America story, Looking forward to this now

Joss is a legend

[Handsome Bob]

Originally Posted by Fysh

Whedon would be a very interesting director for this, but I'll believe it's happening once it's actually being filmed. Apart from anything else, the Avengers film will still be dependent on both Thor and Captain America doing well as standalone films, which we won't know for a while...

You think they would hold fire until they see how Thor and Captain America fair among the general audience, but Chris Hemsworth (Thor) said that filming is earmarked for January or February 2011. Before Cap and Thor even come out.

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=64674

Risky move in my humble opinion.

[Kess73]

Originally Posted by LZ5by5

You think they would hold fire until they see how Thor and Captain America fair among the general audience, but Chris Hemsworth (Thor) said that filming is earmarked for January or February 2011. Before Cap and Thor even come out.

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=64674

Risky move in my humble opinion.

Or it could be that they are that confident of one or both of Thor/Cap being massive.

Plus it makes sense to have it shot beforehand, that way if Thor or Cap turns any of the leads into bigger names, then Marvel will have them already on film for the Avengers before their price per film jumps.

Also means less of a gap between films, so the hype machine for the Avengers can kick into gear big timestraight after those films.