Marvel's The Avengers[4] (classified under the name Marvel Avengers Assemble in the

United Kingdom and Ireland),[1][5] or simply The Avengers, is a 2012 American superhero
film based on the Marvel Comics superhero team of the same name. Produced by Marvel
Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures,[N 1] it is the sixth film in the
Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Written and directed by Joss Whedon, the film features
an ensemble cast including Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth,
Scarlett Johansson, and Jeremy Renner as the Avengers, alongside Tom Hiddleston, Clark
Gregg, Cobie Smulders, Stellan Skarsgård, and Samuel L. Jackson. In the film, Nick Fury and
the spy agency S.H.I.E.L.D. recruit Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, Bruce Banner, Thor, Natasha
Romanoff, and Clint Barton to form a team capable of stopping Thor's brother Loki from
subjugating Earth.

The film's development began when Marvel Studios received a loan from Merrill Lynch in
April 2005. After the success of the film Iron Man in May 2008, Marvel announced that The
Avengers would be released in July 2011 and would bring together Tony Stark (Downey),
Steve Rogers (Evans), Bruce Banner (Ruffalo), and Thor (Hemsworth) from Marvel's
previous films. With the signing of Johansson as Natasha Romanoff in March 2009 and
Renner as Clint Barton in June 2010, the film was pushed back for a 2012 release. Whedon
was brought on board in April 2010 and rewrote the original screenplay by Zak Penn.
Production began in April 2011 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, before moving to Cleveland,
Ohio in August and New York City in September. The film has more than 2,200 visual effects
shots.

The Avengers premiered in Los Angeles on April 11, 2012, and was released in the United
States on May 4, as the last film of Phase One of the MCU. The film received praise for
Whedon's direction and screenplay, visual effects, action sequences, acting, and musical
score. The film grossed over $1.5 billion worldwide, setting numerous box office records and
becoming the third-highest-grossing film of all time at the time of its release and the highest-
grossing film of 2012, as well as the first Marvel production to generate $1 billion in ticket
sales. In 2017, The Avengers was featured as one of the 100 greatest films of all time in an
Empire magazine poll. It received a nomination for Best Visual Effects at the 85th Academy
Awards, among numerous other accolades. Three sequels have been released: Avengers: Age
of Ultron (2015), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), and Avengers: Endgame (2019).

The Asgardian Loki encounters the Other, the leader of an extraterrestrial race known as the
Chitauri. In exchange for retrieving the Tesseract,[N 2] a powerful energy source of unknown
potential, the Other promises Loki an army with which he can subjugate Earth. Nick Fury,
director of the espionage agency S.H.I.E.L.D., arrives at a remote research facility, where
physicist Dr. Erik Selvig is leading a team experimenting on the Tesseract. The Tesseract
suddenly activates and opens a wormhole, allowing Loki to reach Earth. Loki steals the
Tesseract and uses his scepter to enslave Selvig and other agents, including Clint Barton, to
aid him.

In response, Fury reactivates the "Avengers Initiative". Agent Natasha Romanoff heads to
Kolkata to recruit Dr. Bruce Banner to trace the Tesseract through its gamma radiation
emissions. Fury approaches Steve Rogers to retrieve the Tesseract, and Agent Phil Coulson
visits Tony Stark to have him check Selvig's research. Loki is in Stuttgart, where Barton steals
the iridium needed to stabilize the Tesseract's power, leading to a confrontation with Rogers,
Stark, and Romanoff that ends with Loki's surrender. While Loki gets escorted to
S.H.I.E.L.D., his adoptive brother Thor arrives and frees him, hoping to convince him to
abandon his plan and return to Asgard. Stark and Rogers intervene and Loki is taken to
S.H.I.E.L.D.'s flying aircraft carrier, the Helicarrier, where he is imprisoned.

The Avengers become divided over how to approach Loki and the revelation that S.H.I.E.L.D.
plans to harness the Tesseract to develop powerful weapons as a deterrent against hostile
extraterrestrials. As they argue, Loki's agents attack the Helicarrier, and the stress causes
Banner to transform into the Hulk. Stark and Rogers work to restart the damaged engine, and
Thor attempts to stop the Hulk's rampage. Romanoff knocks Barton unconscious, breaking
Loki's mind control. Loki escapes after killing Coulson and Fury uses Coulson's death to
motivate the Avengers into working as a team. Loki uses the Tesseract and a wormhole
generator Selvig built to open a wormhole above Stark Tower to the Chitauri fleet in space,
launching his invasion.

Rogers, Stark, Romanoff, Barton, Thor, and the Hulk rally in defense of New York City, and
together the Avengers battle the Chitauri. The Hulk beats Loki into submission. Romanoff
makes her way to the generator, where Selvig, freed from Loki's mind control, reveals that
Loki's scepter can shut down the generator. Fury's superiors from the World Security Council
attempt to end the invasion by launching a nuclear missile at Midtown Manhattan. Stark
intercepts the missile and takes it through the wormhole toward the Chitauri fleet. The missile
detonates, destroying the Chitauri mothership and disabling their forces on Earth. Stark's suit
loses power, and he goes into freefall, but the Hulk saves him. In the aftermath, Thor returns
with Loki and the Tesseract to Asgard, where Loki will face their justice.

In a mid-credits scene, the Other confers with his master[N 3] about the failed attack on Earth.