Superhero Alert

The superhero film of the decade is finally here – and it really is incredible. The most formidable superheroes on Earth (and in some cases, from beyond) have finally managed to put their egos and ulterior motives aside, for long enough to battle Loki, the megalomaniac brother of Thor, who’s hell-bent on world domination. With Thor himself, Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Hawkeye, Natasha Romanoff and Captain America all playing their part(s), the result is an exhilarating, hilarious, battle-filled blockbuster that easily lives up to the years-long hype.

Speaking to the cast, it’s clear that it’s not only the fan-boys who are enthusiastic about the experience. While on-screen the cast present themselves as tough guys, whose large biceps and even larger egos lead to dissension in the ranks. Off-screen, this bickering is nowhere to be found. All of the actors talk with warmth about the camaraderie they shared on set. No wonder the code-name for the film was ‘Group Hug’ (awww!)
Clark Gregg plays nice-guy bureaucrat and SHIELD agent Phil Coulson (you may remember him from Thor, Iron Man and Iron Man 2).
“We went out together as much as possible,” he tells me, “all of us squeezing into these tiny little local bars. You could literally see the barman looking at the dancefloor with this bemused look that read, ‘That can’t be Scarlett Johansson dancing, can it? And is that Jeremy Renner doing lunges?!’”
Despite the amazed reaction of the locals and a gruelling schedule that involved not only filming but extensive physical training to perfect their super-fighting skills, the cast couldn’t resist lots of mischief-filled nights out – not when they had Captain America ordering them to party.
“One night, Chris Evans sent around a group text that said ‘ASSEMBLE’,” recounts Gregg. “Who could resist that? It was the best text I’ve ever received in my life!”
But there was work to be done too, as the newest cast members discovered. Cobie Smulders, best known for her role as Robyn in the award-winning television show How I Met Your Mother, threw herself into the role of by-the-book SHIELD agent Maria Hill.
“I got a real-life SWAT team leader to come train me,” she says, “so basically I had this guy turning up on my doorstep with a duffel bag full of guns – it was crazy! He took me to the range and taught me how to hold guns and how to shoot – even though Maria’s a bureaucrat, I wanted her to be badass. She might not have superpowers. She can still kick ass if she wants to!”
Whether she’s tough enough to take on bad-boy Loki is another story, particularly given Tom Hiddleston’s inspiration for the main baddy role. As well as drawing on the Norse legend of Thor, he looked to the most terrifying villain of modern cinema: the fava bean and flesh-eating cannibal Hannibal Lector. In a scene of terrifying emotional manipulation that’s reminiscent of Clarice Starling’s interviews with the brilliant psychopath, Loki faces down Scarlett Johansson’s enigmatic spy Natasha Romanoff from inside a transparent cell.
“I’m so pleased you noticed that!” Hiddleston, a charming English actor, enthuses. “I have such a deep admiration for Anthony Hopkins, and I was beyond honoured when he played my father in Thor. And he’s such a darling, literally the nicest man in the world, which makes Hannibal Lector so intriguing. And he says that of all the characters he’s played, Hannibal is the one that people approach him about the most. We have this inherent fascination with evil. It’s a force people are just compelled by. So to play such a complex villain in this piece is brilliant – and to homage Tony in even a tiny way is a bonus!”
Loki’s genesis notwithstanding, the villain isn’t a match for the combined powers of the Avengers. Given the seemingly endless possibilities for sequels, prequels and spin-offs, the formidable team may yet prove to possess another superpower: immortality.
“We’re on contract to do a possible six to nine films,” Chris Hemsworth explains. “If each film takes about two years to make, basically these guys own us for the best part of 20 years! Most television shows don’t go on that long (laughs)!”
One Marvel character who has been around that long however is the Incredible Hulk, this time played by Oscar-nominated actor Mark Ruffalo. Ruffalo’s approach to the role is complex. Aware of and terrified by the threat the Hulk poses to others, in Avengers, alter ago Bruce Banner has all but exiled himself from society, his inner demons having taken him to a very dark place. Ruffalo insists, however, that he is indebted to the many Hulk incarnations that came before him, including that of Edward Norton, who was set to star in The Avengers, but withdrew after negotiations broke down.
“I understood the love fans have for the actors that have played the Hulk before me,” he says, “and so I approached my task with great responsibility, trying to bring something that they haven’t seen to the part. I’ve always loved the Banner/Hulk mythology, because Banner’s quite a decent, moralistic guy who really cares about people, and he’s just mortified by what the Hulk does. To know that he has that inside him, that he’s constantly battling that literal inner demon, leaves me with some great acting stuff in there. Even my little son, who’s ten, turned to me and said, ‘Papa, he’s so misunderstood!’”
Ruffalo has taken it upon himself to try and save the world in real life, too! Involved with various political and environmental organisations, he has most recently been taking time out of his Avengers Assemble publicity schedule to appear on all major American news channels – and even on The Colbert Report – to highlight New York State’s problem with ‘fracking’.
A process for extracting gas from natural gas fields that involves a controversial drilling process known as ‘horizontal hydraulic fracturing’ or ‘hydrofracking’, it requires millions of gallons of water and chemicals to be injected into the shale under high pressure. Ruffalo and his supporters believe the drilling could contaminate water wells, clog the roads with truck traffic and mar serene vistas – and so he’s trying, hell-for-leather, to stop the process. “I’m not allowing my kids to be contaminated by gas drilling,” he says bluntly.
I’m seriously hoping Ruffalo’s life will be acknowledged in a biopic – who doesn’t want to see ‘The Incredible Hulk is: Erin Brockovich’?
“Ooh, I like that!” laughs Ruffalo. “Mark SMASH!”