All language subtitles for Icons.Unearthed.S04E06.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DD+2.0.H.264-playWEB_track3_[eng]

In 2010,
fans lined up outside

of San Diego Comic-Con's
famed Hall H...

The god of thunder,
Chris Hemsworth!

...in hopes of seeing
panels for Marvel's

upcoming Thor
and Captain America films.

Captain America.

Everyone's very interested

to see if they
can manage to make

Captain America work
and to make Thor work.

I'd gone to Comic-Con
and watched panels,

but they said, "Listen,
you're gonna be in the panel

for Thor."
I was like, "On stage?"

They said, "Yeah."
I was like, "This is thrilling."

But thrilling
would be an understatement

for what was about to happen next.

Do you mind staying
for a few more minutes

for just a second?
There is one more thing.

And then when we were backstage,
I see Joss Whedon walk in

with this crew of people
and I'm like, "Oh my God.

That's The Avengers."
And they're like,

"Yeah, this is our surprise."
And I just wanna

meet some of them
or get some autographs.

And then Joss comes over
and he says, "Listen,

I want Coulson to be
part of The Avengers.

You know, I've got some
fun stuff for you in there.

Can we bring you out
and introduce you

with the cast of The Avengers?"

And I--When my heart
started beating again,

I was like, "Yeah, sure.
I think I'm free."

It's my right-hand man,
Agent Coulson.

And, yeah,
that was a very fun moment.

Clark had been
recruited for what was to be

the biggest event
in the history of Hall H.

The Avengers.

The place went crazy.

They brought out all of the cast

to announce, "In two years,
you're gonna see The Avengers."

But was it a promise
Marvel could keep?

That's the most ambitious movie
I've ever seen.

The risk was
that you were gonna announce it

in this big, splashy panel before Thor

and Captain America
have even come out.

- Look, just give me a chance.
- That was the risk.

Not only that,
they still hadn't worked out

how one of the biggest Avengers
should actually look.

- We're redoing The Hulk.
- Big and green

and buck-ass nude.

Being that ballsy to say,
"We're gonna make four movies

and hope like hell that they work

because the real success is going to be
when we put them all together.

Even if one of the movies tanks,

- we're just gonna go."
- Let's go!

- Go! Go! Go!
- Go!

'Cause if those movies
tanked, then The Avengers

was gonna look like a big risk.

Marvel was taking
all its superhero eggs,

the ones they currently
had the rights to,

and putting them in one basket.

There was no turning back.

We all signed these long,
long contracts.

No one knew
where it was gonna go.

By 2010, Marvel Studios
had released three movies,

with their fourth and fifth
soon to hit theaters.

But all these films,
as exciting and risky as they were,

were all working towards something more.

Each of these movies,
they're chapters

putting together this larger story

and people are kind of like,
"Oh, that connects to this,

and this has been building
for four movies,

and now it's paying off!"

And this story
is all about that payoff.

Is this about The Avengers?

Which I-I know nothing about.

A mighty unlikely group of heroes

who first found their way to the page

in 1963,
and their creation was destiny.

Or, perhaps, circumstance.

The idea was to take some of the...

Marvel characters

that were not Spider-Man
and not The Fantastic Four

and bring them together as a team.

Just like in Marvel's comics,

The Avengers were a collection
of wildly disparate superheroes.

Each of them had their own comics
or they were part of other comics.

We need you to come in.

Are you kidding?
I'm working.

And just as in the comics,

this was far from Marvel's A-team,

at least on paper.

None of those characters
had really taken off

like The Fantastic Four had taken off,
like Spider-Man had taken off,

and so why not
try to do an original group?

It simply was combining the characters
that Marvel had at the time. It's like,

"These are our characters,
let's put them in a team."

So Stan Lee and Jack Kirby

created The Avengers,
which featured...

Ant-Man and the Wasp, Iron Man,

Thor, The Hulk...

And then soon thereafter

- among others...
- ...Captain America,

Black Widow, Hawkeye.

And other than
Ant-Man and The Wasp,

all these Avengers
had been established

on screen for Marvel and at
the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con

for the first time,
The Avengers assembled.

Reprising the role of Bruce Banner...

All, that is, except
for one, little casting change.

...Mark Ruffalo!

That's right.
Edward Norton was out

and the guy from
13 Going on 30 was in.

You can't just turn back time.

But Mark Ruffalo's
road to The Hulk began with

- 2008's Incredible Hulk.
- You don't understand.

Something really bad
is about to happen here.

And its director, Louis Leterrier.

Louis Leterrier,
his choice to play The Hulk

is Mark Ruffalo, Marvel Studios
really wants Edward Norton.

A decision
that Marvel grew to regret,

but like after any failed relationship,

Marvel's thoughts began to turn
to the one that got away.

- How'd they find me?
- We never lost you, Doctor.

They're like,
"Well, who's another guy

who exudes intelligence
and thoughtfulness?

Mark Ruffalo!
Let's do that."

Easier said than done.

As the story goes, Mark Ruffalo
signed his contract backstage.

His deal was not final
until moments before

he stepped out on stage
as the new Hulk.

When Mark Ruffalo was hired,
there was that big question:

"Will we ever get Hulk right?"

It's crazy
when you think about it.

In a nine-year window,
there was three Hulks.

It really was like,
"Is this the third strike?"

Well, before we find out,

it's worth remembering that The Hulk

had always been a difficult fit
with The Avengers,

going all the way back to 1963.

Many people don't know that
The Hulk was an original Avenger,

and then quits by the second issue

because everybody's afraid of him,

and then The Avengers
end up fighting with The Hulk.

If they'd just left The Hulk alone,
it would've been fine,

but where's the drama in that?

We are not your enemies, Banner.

The real enemy
in The Avengers movie

- would be like in the comics.
- What have I to fear?

- The Avengers.
- They decided that Loki

would be the first villain
that would sort of

- bring 'em all together.
- Loki...

- brother of Thor.
- Loki was

the perfect foe from issue one.

And for the first
two, three issues it worked,

but it didn't have the magic yet,

and that magic would happen
in issue four.

They found Captain America.

Quite the buzz around here,
finding you in the ice.

And just like
in Marvel's comics...

A big man in a suit of armor.

Take that off, what are you?

"Tony, you're doing a great job.

Just terrific,
but you're not a leader."

And, so, Cap took over.

But right now, we gotta
put that behind us and get this done.

That image of Cap
bursting forward

on the cover was a way
to tie dads and moms

that had read comics
in the '40s and the '50s

with a kid that came home
and said, "Look,

Captain America."
"Well, I read Captain America

when I was a kid."
And now suddenly it was

a real family event.
You got an opportunity to see

your favorite heroes fight together...

...play together...

...fight against themselves.

All the magic that is Marvel.

No hard feelings, Point Break,
you got a mean swing.

Adapting the Marvel
experience was the goal of the MCU,

but to do that, they would have
to reimagine the way films were made.

The entire endeavor
begins to become

a giant television show.
Each individual movie

has their own creative team,
but they all kind of

report up creatively
to Kevin Feige through

this layer of creative executives

led by Louis D'Esposito
and Victoria Alonso,

who oversee these movies.

If the MCU
is to operate like a TV show,

they decided to hire
like it was a TV show.

Brought on to write and direct...

Joss Whedon!

Kind of
out of nowhere they announce

that Joss Whedon
is gonna direct The Avengers.

A surprising choice,
considering the stakes.

Let's finish this.
You and me.

Like, "Well, he's beloved."
At the time.

He had a tremendous

cult following because of Firefly

and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

This comes as a surprise
to a lot of people.

He's only directed one film.
That film was Serenity.

It was based on his TV show Firefly.

Serenity was not
a huge blockbuster success.

- It's worse than you know.
- It usually is.

But not only would
this relatively inexperienced director

be reluctantly taking the helm
of Marvel's biggest movie to date...

And I remember actually
when I interviewed with him,

he was like, "Oh my God, man.

I don't know how I'm gonna do this."

Like, "This is insane."
He goes, "I didn't even want

to direct this movie, man."

"But I'm gonna do it."
You know?

He'd be writing the script as well.

When he got hired,
he just got hired to write.

He wasn't supposed
to direct that originally.

He was only there to write it,

and they just couldn't get anybody,
and then eventually

they just brought it to him
and they're like, "You direct it."

But on the writing front,

it appeared that Joss Whedon
knew exactly what he wanted to do.

There is an existing script for

The Avengers
written by Zak Penn.

Joss Whedon is not a fan
of this script.

He says that he read it once
and never read it again.

Very early on, Joss was like,

"I'm pretty much
re-writing the whole thing."

Joss Whedon kinda makes

his displeasure known
that the screenplay

was his and did not take

- from Zak Penn's.
- But Joss Whedon's

decisive vision for the script

needed the blessing
of Kevin Feige

- because, after all...
- At the end of the day,

the main author of
the Marvel Cinematic Universe

is Marvel Studios
with Kevin Feige at the head.

And now
with five movies all interwoven,

culminating in this Avengers movie...

The Marvel philosophy was,
"We just need someone

to direct the actors
and get the story together."

...the question was...

"I didn't even want
to direct this movie, man."

...was Joss Whedon
the right man for the job?

Joss Whedon
had been hired to write

and direct The Avengers.
However, this movie

would be far from
Joss Whedon's singular vision

because as well as Kevin Feige,

Marvel's creative committee,

spearheaded by Marvel CEO
Ike Perlmutter...

It was a way
for Perlmutter to exert control.

...already had their own vision

and weren't looking for a new one.

Which, as you might remember,
Avi Arad found out.

Avi Arad,
he felt like he couldn't

- be at Marvel anymore.
- And just like

it had done for Avi Arad...

This creative committee
begins to become a bit of

a thorn in the side
of some of these filmmakers.

In practice,
it became a bureaucratic layer

within Marvel Studios
that was more trouble

than it was worth.
Joss Whedon was very open

about the fact that he really loathed
having to deal with them.

I recognize the council
has made a decision,

but given that it's a stupid-ass decision,
I've elected to ignore it.

Partly because the committee

often had different priorities.

I think a lot of the things that
they would from is more toys.

Marvel Superheroes
are each sold separately.

- It's a whole different arena.
- Joss was entering

not just the MCU,
but Ike Perlmutter's

commercially savvy
cinematic enterprise

where ideas had to play and pay.

I always said,
"We're making a movie

to sell toys and sell cars."

The entirely new RDX from Acura.

The official vehicle of The Avengers.

And with all these
extra requirements...

The film and the story weren't priority.

But Joss Whedon tried anyway.

First, setting his sights on...

- You, big fella.
- Loki.

Who Joss Whedon
had some thoughts on.

There's different villains
that were considered

because Joss wasn't sure
Loki was gonna be enough.

You were made to be ruled.

Keeping in mind
the Thor movie

hadn't come out yet.
So, Loki was an unknown.

But what was known...

He was like, "So I got
these mighty Avengers,

and they're incredible
and my bad guy's a British actor...

- You would appear as a friend.
- ...who doesn't have a ton of powers.

- I have an army.
- We have a Hulk.

- That was definitely an issue.
- Loki, he's a full-tilt diva.

He wants flowers,
he wants parades.

I think he was seen
as more like a theater actor.

Can really feel like
it's frightening enough?

That was just a bit of fun, really.

Instead,
Joss wanted a villain

that personified evil,
and he was seeing red.

You are failing!

The rumor
was that Red Skull would be

the ultimate villain
of The Avengers.

The Red Skull has been
indulged long enough.

Red Skull is a major character
within the Marvel comics.

He's one of the sort of A-level villains.

And Hugo Weaving
brought an A-level performance

in Captain America:
The First Avenger,

which, like Thor,
also hadn't come out,

meaning Captain America
and Red Skull

could potentially bomb with audiences.

You see, I was
his greatest success!

But when it came
to The Avengers...

Unfortunately,
I am on a tight schedule.

...Hugo Weaving
wanted too much

of the green stuff to reprise Red Skull,

leaving all the bad-guy duties
up to Loki.

Kneel!

I think, you know,
we're all the better for it

for Loki being the villain.

I've come too far for anything else.

Read Avengers number one.
He's the villain.

He's the one that brings 'em together.

And although
he didn't think it at the time...

You brought the monster.

Loki is a very Joss Whedon villain.

Much more than Red Skull

- ever could be.
- No!

Loki is a trickster.

He likes language.

We have no quarrel with your people.

An ant has no quarrel
with a boot.

Sort of self-important
in a complicated way.

Doesn't anybody care
that I have a finely crafted gun

pointed at this boy's head?

And you look
at the sort of history

of the villains
on a lot of Whedon's shows...

Is it me, or is your heart not in this?

That's who Joss Whedon
loves to write for.

Ultimately,
Whedon embraced Loki.

- I like this.
- Who gets his

mischievous hands
on the unlimited power

of the Tesseract,
and only The Avengers

can stop him, of course.

But with this all-important
script, fearing leaks,

Marvel only allowed a select few

to see Whedon's screenplay.

We didn't really know
anything about it.

One of those was
Marvel Comics writer Joe Casey,

who was sent to make sure
The Avengers cartoon

he was developing for TV
wouldn't suffer

- from Whedon's treatment.
- It could've bombed

and we'd be stuck with a--
a show that was tied to a bomb.

So they said,
"Well, does anybody want to go down

and read the script
of the first Avengers?"

"Yes, I'll do it."
What struck me the most,

they got that
Marvel characters bicker.

- I don't like being handed things--
- That's fine because I--

- It starts with trust.
- Are you boys

- really that naive?
- That's enough!

'Cause that was
Stan Lee's innovation

for superheroes in general.

As true in the '60s...

Marvel Comics
were intended to be

a soap opera
where a fight broke out.

- ...as it is today.
- Do not touch me again.

They don't get along all the time.

Then don't take my stuff.

Anytime you're with coworkers
or family,

you're gonna squabble,
you're gonna butt heads.

That's the drama.

Just reading on the page,

I was like, "They got it."

Another thing Joss Whedon

was known for at the time was writing

strong, female roles, and now...

- Who are you?
- Natasha Romanoff.

Whedon had
Black Widow to write for.

And even though she had
appeared in Iron Man 2...

This is the first time we're
getting a female superhero...

There's a badassery that
the others don't have, I guess.

Stories, I think,

were very much in the boys
at the beginning,

but then they realized
there was this female audience

that was growing
and very slowly, you know,

you had these characters coming in.

So Black Widow's just,
you know, super cool.

- You know, she's an assassin.
- First appearing

in 1964, Black Widow

would be played by Scarlett Johansson.

Well, I made a name for myself.

When they cast
The Avengers movie,

Scarlett Johansson, she was the bona fide
superstar out of all those actors.

You know,
it was the peak of her fame.

Scarlett Johansson

as Black Widow was obviously

a good addition to the team.

- Where's Agent Barton?
- But when it came

- to Hawkeye...
- Hawk?

...well, he was one Avenger

that needed a little help.

He's essentially on a team
with a god...

...then, you know, a guy

in a nuclear suit that would
cost a trillion dollars.

And I thought,
"He's got a bow an arrow."

For Jeremy Renner
as Hawkeye,

on set he didn't even quite have that.

There's no arrows,
so he's just doing this...

You know,
and he's not shooting anything.

I think there's definitely times where,

you know, you're hoping
you don't look stupid.

With Hawkeye in the comics,

most of his costumes at the time

were a little, kinda hokey.

Hawkeye could be revamped

with some solid costume design,

but there was one Avenger
who needed much more

than a new outfit.

We're redoing The Hulk.

- We're gonna redesign The Hulk.
- Because as well

as a brand-new actor
to play Bruce Banner,

there was a brand-new
visual development department,

and industry heavyweight ILM

would handle The Hulk's animation.

So that was the first thing.
We were just like,

"We're gonna update The Hulk."

But changing
the look of The Hulk

would surely disrupt
the consistency of the universe

Marvel was trying to create.

This is something that you
can see in comics, too.

In the comic book, one artist might be

drawing The Hulk this year
and then next year

another artist is drawing The Hulk.

Well, however
the new Hulk would look,

one of the challenges
was to incorporate

Mark Ruffalo
into The Hulk's design.

I was happy
that we were gonna get Ruffalo.

I was excited that we could actually
hopefully do it better.

After two strikeouts, Charlie Wen

- stepped up to the mound.
- We decided

we need to actually sculpt
The Hulk.

This is one of the first things
I gave ILM

was, you know, a Hulk but it
was in a certain position

'cause I felt like it also sold
his personality

and how he walks and moves
and that was all important.

The Visual Development Team

continued to evolve the new Hulk

right up to production,
which was fast approaching.

- How do we do this?
- As a team.

Coordinating a movie of this scale

and assembling this many
high-profile actors at once

borderlined on impossible.

It was definitely
overwhelming at first.

To say the least.

Marvel had never made a film

on the scale of The Avengers,

and with a release date set in stone,
Marvel needed a battle plan.

- I have a plan.
- The fate of

the Marvel Cinematic Universe
depended on it.

The Avengers
would start shooting

in April 2011, but before then,

Joss Whedon needed to prep
what he would be shooting.

We had a first pre-vis meeting--
an animatic basically

of sequences. The big final act.

The almost half-hour long

Battle of New York
Extravaganza to Come.

I remember watching it
and I was like,

"Oh my God,
how are we gonna do this?"

Panicking, I was like,

"How am I gonna plan this?
Schedule this?

This stuff's massive in New York City,

and it was 28 minutes long."

And once it was over,
there was like this quiet in the room.

And then I remember
Joss gets up, he's like,

"I don't know
how we're gonna do that,

- but it's gonna be great."
- And the task

of making it great
fell squarely on the shoulders

of First AD Lars Winther...

...who was having trouble

merely getting the cast to show up.

The first two weeks,
90% of the cast was unavailable.

They were all doing press
to other movies or whatever.

Basically, you just get a list.
"Here's who you--

You get this guy at this time.
This person at this time.

This person at this time. Good luck."

As luck would have it,
The First Avenger

was available
for the first day of shooting.

The first day of shooting...

- Trouble sleeping?
- ...we shot the boxing scene

with Fury and Steve Rogers.

I slept for 70 years, sir.

You bring the crew together.
I think everybody was like,

"Oh my God,
this is actually happening."

And, you know, it's like
one of the biggest movies

that had been done at the time.

Trying to get me back in the world?

Trying to save it.

With so many pieces in play,

it was Kevin Feige's steady hand

that ruled over the board, ensuring
each piece supported the next,

as The Avengers' first day
of production would also serve

as Captain America's last.

You here with a mission, sir?

I am.

Providing the film's
end-of-credits tease.

Trying to get me
back in the world?

Trying to save it.

They shot that
as part of their schedule.

That whole end piece
in the boxing ring

and all that?
Joss, uh, directed that part.

Lars also tried to stack

the front end
with as much Hulk as possible.

Any scene that The Hulk's in,
I mean, obviously,

- it's a visual effect.
- Visual effects

needed time
and Industrial Light and Magic

had their work cut out for them.

We shot most of
The Hulk stuff all up front,

just to help ILM out.

However, when it came
to the god of thunder

and his mischievous,
villainous brother,

well, Chris Hemsworth
and Tom Hiddleston

were... still busy
because they were doing

publicity on the movie Thor,

giving audiences their
first look at Thor and Loki.

It's this huge Hollywood premiere.

One of my very favorite moments
was when the cast

started coming in
and not because it's like,

"Oh, it's actors. Yay."

It was more that they
were all, like, nine feet tall.

Every single one of them...
enormous!

Like, they're just towering.
We were like

The Lollipop Guild, and here they come,

and they're just shaking hands.

They're leaning down
from the clouds

- and saying "hello."
- Well, it's not just

the actors that were enormous.

The pressure on Thor
to do well for Marvel

was genuinely huge.

I remember just hoping
that they got it right.

You took me for a purpose.
What was it?

I think the big risk
with Thor

was the opening act
for The Avengers.

Loki was gonna be the villain.

I am Loki... of Asgard.

And, so, if audiences
didn't really take

to what Thor was selling,

that would've really undermined
The Avengers.

And, so, when Thor premiered,

the big question was...

- Did it work?
- I knew by the time

we were halfway through,
"This is gonna be a hit."

Thor was considered
a big box office hit.

By modern standards
I think we did, you know, like,

$400-$450 million worldwide.

While Thor
couldn't match the box office

of Iron Man 2,
it was a landmark for Marvel,

proving they didn't need
big stars to make a hit film.

All they had to do was
stay faithful to the comics.

No!

You sent The Destroyer
to kill our friends.

To kill me!

As an actor
or a writer/creator, all you can do

is try and leave something behind
that has some value,

and I walked out
of that screening thinking,

"We did something good here today."

Fans embraced Thor and Loki,

which resulted in the warring siblings

having an even larger footprint
in The Avengers.

Listen well, brother, I--

I'm listening.

'Cause Thor was successful,

we made the battle
between Thor and Loki

- a little bit more.
- You think this madness

will end with your rule?

I mean, it definitely amped up
his character more.

And, so, from one movie, to...

the other movie
that they were working on,

Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston

finally arrived
on The Avengers' set.

They're all there
and, you know, Chris Hemsworth

walks up to my son
in his full Thor gear,

and you see my kid's reaction,
you know?

And I'm, you know, I'm the same.

When they were all together?
It's a great group.

Being a comic book fan,
you know, it's super cool.

Excuse me, do we come
to your planet and blow stuff up?

Even seasoned
professionals were overwhelmed

by the sheer star power
on The Avengers' set.

It's good to meet you, Dr. Banner.

Ruffalo had a big speech.

It's when they're in the helicarrier,

- and he's got to explain things.
- And he can achieve

heavy ion fusion
at any reactor on the planet.

We were gonna shoot his coverage first
and he pulled me aside, he's like,

"Hey, man,
can you not shoot me first?"

He's like,
"Man, I'm, like, overwhelmed

with all these actors
and, like, I'm so nervous.

Like, I'd be much better if I was last."

And I'm like, "Yeah, no problem."

Huge fan of the way
you lose control

and turn into an enormous,
green rage monster.

Thanks.

Everyone processed
the moment differently,

but no one was more excited
than a certain

- agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.
- I gotta say,

it's an honor to meet you... officially.

I sort of met you. I mean,
I watched you while you were sleeping.

Of all of the geek-outs, that
scene where I walked out early on

to the helicarrier meeting room
and there's this incredible bunch

of actors, you know,
that was a great day.

The Avengers didn't
just assemble, they clicked.

'Cause I've been on
plenty of movies where you have

actors that want
nothing to do with each other.

But this was most certainly
not one of those films.

People would come in
in different clusters,

and there was one or two nights
where basically

everybody was in Albuquerque,
and there was a famous text

that went out that said,
"Assemble."

And it was a night for the ages.

I do remember there being
some kind of dance battle.

And that's all I'm going to say.

While the stars
drew attention in Albuquerque,

production did its best
to keep a low profile.

We're in New Mexico,
and you're trying

to keep everything under wraps,

and Marvel has
a very high-end security.

One advantage
of digital filmmaking--

they didn't have to hide the set.

There was the aircraft
helicarrier deck...

They need you on the bridge.
They're starting the face trace.

...we just basically
just shot that on a tarmac...

...you know, in Albuquerque.

Literally, here's the set.
It's a piece of tarmac.

- Everything else is CG.
- You might wanna

step inside in a minute.
It's gonna get a little hard to breathe.

Scarlett, Ruffalo,
and Chris Evans, they've landed,

and they're looking out
and they're seeing

the engines come out,
they're standing there.

It's just dirt right there.

Three months into production,

it was Chris Evans' turn
to hit the red carpet.

And he was thrown
into a dizzying press tour...

- Captain America.
- ...as Marvel

prepared to release
Captain America: The First Avenger.

Congratulations... soldier.

Captain America
is kind of the last puzzle piece

- before we get to The Avengers.
- You're an American hero.

It was a surprising choice,

considering its importance and how high
the odds were stacked against it.

I mean, it was quite a gamble
to do a period superhero piece.

- Nice boots, Tinker Bell!
- It was up

to Captain America
to determine if The Avengers

was going to be the follow-up to a hit...

...or a flop.

With The Avengers assembled,

Marvel had its eye firmly on the ball.

The Avengers
is the ballgame.

The Avengers is the big risk
that they were building towards.

But one eye
was nervously watching

how Captain America played

when he went out into the world
July of 2011.

Captain America:
The First Avenger

- is received well by the fans.
- The freshly minted

Avenger-to-be, brought in
$371 million worldwide

on a budget of $140.

It wasn't a runaway
blockbuster hit.

It was the most muted hit they'd had

since Incredible Hulk.

It's like someone's poured
a liter of acid into my brain.

- But it still did very well.
- With The Avengers

now deep in production,
its forerunner had at least

- proved one thing...
- There was an audience

for those movies,
but it wasn't clear yet

whether they'd come out
for everything.

Marvel Studios was taking

nothing for granted,
sending its top brass to set.

When we did Avengers,
I think that was the only movie

that was happening at that time.

So... they're all there.

Kevin is the stories,
Lou's the money,

and Victoria's the visual effects.

All of whom worked
for Ike Perlmutter,

who, of course, worked for Disney.

Who, despite their very large checkbook,

still relied on money man
Lou D'Esposito

to cut corners where he could.

We shot most
of the movie in New Mexico.

There is no stopping it.

Ensuring the film was shot

in New Mexico
for one very important reason.

They shot in New Mexico

- for the tax break.
- The other big break?

The Albuquerque location
was a filmmaker's chameleon

able to be anything to anyone.
Even India.

So, it's like India in New Mexico.

Grand Central Station
on that overpass?

Until we can close that portal up,
priority is containment.

There's a lot of fighting.

We actually built that and shot it inside

in a warehouse in New Mexico.

- Are you sure about this?
- Yeah.

But the film's
crowning set piece sequence,

The Battle of New York, needed
more than Albuquerque could offer.

So, like,
when you take that whole third act

that was 28 minutes,
it's breaking that down,

and some was shot in New York,
some was shot in Albuquerque,

and this will be shot in Cleveland.

A production of this scale

became a balancing act
between locations

- and tax incentives.
- We built this whole

New York street where the Chitauri come,
there's huge explosions,

all that was gonna be in Detroit.

And sometimes tax breaks

became the tail wagging
the production dog.

About eight weeks out,
the tax incentive changed,

so we pulled out of Detroit,
and Cleveland came up,

they're like, "Come to Cleveland.
You can do whatever you want here."

We're like, "Okay."

To a wealth of digital effects,

spectacular practical stunts
added a sense of Armageddon

and a bit more fun for the crew.

When we blew up 25 cars,

that was by far the best thing.

Originally, we were
gonna just blow up seven cars,

and we're in the meeting.
It was like, "Well...

why blow up seven
when I can blow up,

like, twenty-five?"
We're like,

"Cool, let's do that."

And then also one of the cool
moments was with the Hero Shot.

The big circling shot
around all of them.

That was definitely
one of those moments

where you get chills, for sure.

But even with
everything exploding

on an interstate production
of enormous scale,

Marvel always brought it back
to the source.

Marvel Studios always looked
to the comics for inspiration.

And one of
original Marvel artist

Bob Layton's most iconic covers

was about to be reincarnated.

The cover to Iron Man 118,
they're doing an homage

- to it in The Avengers.
- It was all thanks

to Iron Man director
Jon Favreau.

Jon loved that cover.
He said, "They're gonna do

an homage to it in The Avengers."

I said, "Really?"
So, yeah, there's that scene

where Loki throws him
out of the high-rise.

He does the exact same thing.

Meanwhile, the man

behind one of Marvel's
sleeper characters

was having the time of his life.

I was having the most fun of ever.

Until the sleeper...

No!

...was put to sleep.

This is a Joss Whedon special.

He kills characters
to create motivation...

- Motivation?
- ...for other characters.

You're going to lose.

And also, to raise the stakes
of the storytelling.

You lack conviction.

Very emotional.
Beautifully written scene.

I don't think I--

It was a really hard day,

having to go down and face off

with my dear friend
Tom Hiddleston--

who's such a charming,
wonderful gent,

who really felt sad
about killing me.

You know,
the day he gets killed,

he was like, "Hey, come on!
You can rewrite this.

- You don't have to kill me."
- Oh, I'm clocking out here.

"Don't you want to do a version
where he's, like,

starts to feel better a little bit?"

They're like, "No, no. This is it."

It's okay, boss.

But the crew
was looking out for Clark.

"We have something that might
make you feel a little bit better."

And they showed me on an iPad

Hulk smashing Loki like this.

And I was like,
"Can I just hold on to this

and play it a few times?
It is making me feel better."

Puny god.

In fact, everyone
was feeling a little bit better

from having seen The Hulk.

It was looking like this time
they got it right.

The progression
of the visual effects allowed us

- to make him way better.
- There's a lot that

went in to just the thinking
of what he needed to be like.

It's not just a monster.
Bruce needs to be in there.

Hulk!

Smash.

You know,
the process of shooting that

is--that's significant
because, you know,

you have Mark
in a motion-capture suit...

...so he does the performance,

and then we created a bust.
It was, like, full shoulder,

head up of The Hulk
and how big he was.

So then that would get brought in,

and anything with Ruffalo's
always highly entertaining

just 'cause him grunting
as The Hulk is just funny.

You just try not to laugh.

But when it came
to entertaining the crew,

- Mark had competition.
- We had a guy

called Green Steve.

He was, like, a local bodybuilder,

and we painted him green
from the waist up,

and then he would come in
and do a pass,

which was highly entertaining.
If Joss was ever in a bad mood,

I'd bring in Green Steve...

...and he would act like The Hulk.

You know,
which is also hilarious.

But not everybody was laughing

because when Charlie Wen saw
footage coming back from ILM...

You know,
something that came back was

sort of a T-pose,
but the head was tilted down.

And I was like, "We need to make sure

that we tilt that head back up."

And the response was,
"Oh, we can fix it in each shot."

I'm like, "You're gonna fix it
in each shot?!

That's gonna be very expensive!"

It's a nightmare.

And, so, while the effects team

would be... busy, the cast and crew

made their way to New York City,

where both the story and its shooting

would come to a climactic end.

Central Park, the ending,

which was, like, insanity.
It was a madhouse.

I mean, I've dealt
with some crowd control,

but that was insanity
because once the word got out,

everyone's there.
The road couldn't close,

so you'd have people on a carriage,

and all of a sudden
you look over, you're like,

"Oh my God,
there's the entire Avengers."

Public interest was high,

and so was the risk of leaks.

And Marvel's big ducks
were in the pond watching closely

as Lars tried to get
his ducks in a row one last time.

That's when Marvel Corporate
was still involved,

they all came down.
It was actually amazing

we actually filmed anything that day.

That's like a nightmare for me

because I'm wrangling all that,

and you're just trying
to get people to focus.

For Lars,
the nightmare would soon be over.

The Avengers wrapped
its mammoth shoot

in September 2011.

It was a hundred-plus days, yeah.

But they
weren't quite done just yet.

This being a Marvel film,

there had to be a sting in the tail,
and his name was...

- Thanos.
- You know,

when we introduce Thanos,
we shot that during principal photography.

Appearing in a mid-credit scene,

the Thanos cameo
was a teaser for a character

plucked from the depths
of Marvel Comics,

but largely unknown and unexpected.

Thanos is a purple,
giant warlord

from the planet Titan
who has a literal fetish

for the personification of death
and covets jewelry

on a giant Infinity Gauntlet.

Based on what we knew
about Thanos at the time,

he was gonna yet keep changing,
and he was gonna evolve.

All Charlie and his team knew

about the look of Thanos
was drawn from the comics.

We don't hear Thanos talk.
We get his profile.

Because it wasn't a long shot

and we, at the time,
didn't know how big of a role

Thanos was gonna play yet.

That was actually a guy

in a suit with full makeup.
It wasn't CG.

Some local dude from New Mexico,
we just put him in the makeup

'cause, you know,
they hadn't cast Josh Brolin yet.

So this guy was like,
"Wow, I'm gonna be Thanos."

We're like, "Yep...

but that's the only time."

Only Kevin Feige knew

what possibilities lay ahead,
but even Feige

was still keeping his options open.

When they made
The Avengers and they put Thanos

at the end, there was no grand plan.

There was no sense yet of,
"This is gonna end with

Avengers: Endgame
seven years from now."

The Avengers
assembled for the first time

in front of paying audiences
on May 4th, 2012.

Well, sometimes I get tired,
but the role never does.

Tony Stark is a...
just a dream come true for me.

But leaving the theater

on the night of the premiere,
what very few people knew

was that the dream was not quite over.

Even if the film was,
Kevin Feige still wanted to add

- one more ingredient.
- Have you ever tried shawarma?

In this case,
spiced meat in a sandwich.

I think Robert and Joss
came up with that, yeah.

There's a shawarma joint
about two blocks from here.

The shawarma scene is an example
of the free-wheeling nature

of how Marvel Studios
often made its movies.

Robert Downey Jr.'s ad lib...

I don't know what it is,
but I wanna try it.

...gave Feige an idea for a coda

to fill The Avengers'
vacant post-credit slot.

They'd made the movie.
They'd finished the movie.

- They'd locked the movie.
- In fact,

despite already screening the movie,

it was the very premiere that made

the impossibly late addition possible.

The day after the premiere,
they had a shawarma set,

they dressed it, they came in,

they shot for like ten minutes,
and they put it in

at the end of the movie
after they'd premiered it.

That was in time
for the film's general release

just 16 days later.

Problem was Chris Evans has a beard

because
he's making Snowpiercer.

He can't shave. So he has to sit

kind of covering his face
as much as he can, miserable.

That kind of thing only really
happens at Marvel Studios.

Finally,
complete with a cherry,

or at least a shawarma on top,

The Avengers
hit theaters May 4th

ready for the ultimate verdict.

It was everything we had hoped
it would've been.

People were going crazy.

That movie plays like gangbusters.

It just works.

And it seemed that finally,

after three attempts,
Hulk worked, too.

They finally got it right.

When they got around
to The Avengers,

they did a Hulk
that can be kinda cuddly...

...at times, you know?

And, but also, is frightening
without being too extreme.

Even some of
the Edward Norton team were impressed.

Oh my God.

Edward was great.
A brilliant guy...

but I do think
Mark Ruffalo's a better fit.

And be it The Hulk
or any of the characters

that were under
Charlie Wen's supervision...

You're protecting it,
and so we did see that

as being our roles.
Of just like, we're gate keeping

how people are going to view
these characters.

ILM and Mark Ruffalo's Hulk
collaboration was a resounding success.

And, so, too, was The Avengers.

Marvel's biggest movie
was also its biggest hit.

That movie opened to
the highest opening weekend of all time.

The Avengers
made $1.5 billion worldwide,

which made it the third-highest
grossing movie of all time

behind Titanic and Avatar.

All right.
Good job, guys.

It was a triumph for Marvel Studios

and vindication
for Kevin Feige's many bold moves,

from The Avengers announcement
without proof of concept...

You put them all together,
there's no coincidence

that that may someday
equal The Avengers.

...to his choice of directors.

Joss doesn't get enough credit

for taking all those different tones--

'cause all those movies
do have sort of a different...

attitude, and then really
let Robert shine.

If we can't protect the Earth, you can be
damn well sure we'll avenge it.

In many ways, the success

of The Avengers could be
considered a happy ending

in the decades-long struggle
to get Marvel on movie screens.

However, this is not the end of the story,

and where Marvel goes next
would be their biggest gamble of all.

The success of The Avengers

wasn't merely a financial one.

The Avengers changes Hollywood.

The idea that a superhero movie
can make that much money,

let alone one that had been
built on the backs

on a bunch of other disparate
superhero movies,

was something that Hollywood
had never seen before.

It realigned what Hollywood studios
thought was possible

with franchise filmmaking
and with superhero filmmaking.

Bones, what are you doing
with that tribble?

The tribble's dead.

After this, several different studios

chase after their own
cinematic universe...

...for years...

What does that mean?

- ...and fail.
- Which is why you

should be focusing on phase two.

Phase one was done.

It was time for the next chapter.

What is phase two?

Whatever it might be,
it would be shaped

by the will of the player,

now the most powerful character
in the MCU: Disney.

I don't think they bought

this publishing company
in the hopes that they could

make two movies a year
and publish comics.

- They need content.
- Marvel's owner

now had a powerhouse
content factory in its stable.

And here was this incredible library
that was not being used.

Despite the MCU,
its full potential was yet to be unlocked.

Television is the obvious thing.

A longtime comic book writer,

Jeph agreed to head up Marvel's
new TV division himself

and was soon
pitching to Disney-owned ABC.

And so, I had a meeting
with the president of the network,

and he said, "Look, you need to bring me
something that's undeniable."

Jeph already had
an idea that might be undeniable.

That was the word that
will always come to haunt me.

He also had
a very well-placed friend

in the MCU who was
an undeniable talent.

I had worked
with Joss Whedon on Buffy.

Joss had just directed
The Avengers.

He was on the top of the world,
and I called him

and I said, "What do you think
about Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.?"

And he said,
"If we can get Clark Gregg,

- I'm on board."
- The only problem

was Agent Coulson was dead.

Killed off by the very director
who now wanted him back.

And I get a call
from Jeph Loeb and Joss saying,

"So, we think
you may not be so dead."

Because in the MCU...

This was never gonna work.

...nearly anything
can be made to work.

Director Fury faked your death
to motivate The Avengers?

And, so, why shouldn't
Coulson launch the television division?

It seemed like justice
in some weird way.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

returned Marvel to the small screen

on primetime network television.

Now its characters
were truly everywhere.

They're testing their power.

They're seeing
what they can get away with.

But would phase two
be able to build

- on the triumphs of phase one?
- We're not finished yet.

Actually, not even close

because for these
once unpopular characters...

None of them were
in the top 25.

...now they were beloved,

and Marvel had big plans.

But as this phase two approached,

Marvel was looking
to do it all again

by introducing
a new and relatively unknown

team of superheroes
who, for good or bad,

would upend everything.

Like, "What is this?"

Well, a talking tree for one thing.

What the hell?

They call it "Groot."

There's a tree and there's a raccoon.

Oh, and a sassy raccoon.

- What's a raccoon?
- There's a-- What?

This could be the most
disastrous movie ever made.

Like, this just sounds
utterly ridiculous.