Assembling "The Avengers" was clearly a Hulk-sized job and the signs of strain were still apparent when Moviefone sat down with director Joss Whedon three weeks before the film's release. While relative newbies to the blockbuster world Chris Hemsworth (Thor) and Tom Hiddleston (Loki) could barely contain their excitement about the film, Whedon seemed to have just gone 10 rounds with one of his superhero characters. He wasn't in a joking mood (our jest about a previous Samuel L. Jackson film fell painfully flat) but his wry sense of humor was still intact.
Still, with the movie getting rave reviews and racking up record-breaking ticket sales overseas, Whedon's hard work has clearly paid off. And a little exhaustion seems a small price to pay for comic book and box office glory.
I can't count the number of times I geeked out watching this movie.
Cool.
When you were putting it together, what scene were you most excited to film?
Well, unfortunately I can't say because it's a spoiler. It's one of the few things that hasn't been spoiled by the commercials. But .. [makes flip-flopping motion with his hand, which will be clear after you've seen the film.]
Okay, what about the Iron Man versus Thor scene?
That wasn't a bad time, although all night in the woods was a bit cold.
That wasn't a set?
Oh no, no, we shot all of it in the woods. And Hemsworth didn't have any sleeves.
This is a ridiculously good looking cast.
You know, they're not unattractive. And a couple of them seem to know how to act.
Since the previous two Hulk movies weren't well-received, people were a little apprehensive about bringing him back. But after the press screening, people were saying exactly what I was thinking: "Excellent use of the Hulk."
Thank you. It was the biggest challenge and the thing I'm proudest of. I love Mark [Ruffalo] so much and he's so good. And the animators came up so hard to try and find his performance and still take it that much further. I think they did a beautiful job.
He got the biggest cheers.
The Hulk is a difficult character and he's very easy to get wrong. I think making a Hulk movie would be almost impossibly difficult because he's not a straight-up superhero at all. He's more than one thing. It would require a lot of delicacy to get him from Point A to Point B and then back to Point A. It did in our movie. But the payoffs are so enormous because the Hulk is so pure. He's not big with the self-doubt. When he gets in there he gets in.
Was there one Avengers character you wanted to have in the film that just ended up not fitting?
For a while, we had some worries about Scarlett [Johansson]'s schedule, so we started talking about the Wasp and I sort of fell in love with the character. But ultimately it would have been just too much. I mean the movie's too much as it is. [Wry chuckle.]
And you cut it down a little bit, from the three-hour long original cut.
Yes, we did. But still, for the sheer bulk of the FX houses, I made too much movie.
Uh oh! So will you be back for more Avengers?
No idea. I've just got my head down.
So how hard is it knowing that you have to fit this film into a bigger master plan, like you have to keep Loki alive for the next "Thor" movie.
[Echoing the phrase]: "Keep Loki alive." Sometimes it's frustrating, but mostly you know it going in. You know there are going to be certain parameters. So you try to turn them into advantages. And, quite frankly, I like not killing the villain. I didn't do it in "Serenity." I think it's more interesting to see hubris brought down than to just see it killed off.
Loki's a great villain.
I think so too. Tom's phenomenally talented and extremely generous.
The scene where you have Samuel L. Jackson and Stellan Skarsgard together in an underground lab... I almost expected a shark to come bite off Stellan's arm for a moment there.
You know, nobody else remembered that. Sorry about that. I feel I've let you down.
Well, Sam gives a much more effective motivational speech in your movie. He's good at those.
Well, he is. He's a good motivational speaker. Although there was one take, where he may have gone a little far with the motivational and he asked me, "Was Reverend Jackson in the house?" And I was like, "A little bit."
So you had to tweak his performance a bit.
Every actor.
What about Downey? How much tweaking went on there?
Directing Downey is enormous fun because every take is completely electric. And every take he gets you where you need to be. There's a level of, "I'm going to twist this," "Here's some improv," "Let's work this out together." It's always fluid but he always knows exactly where he's going. It's just exciting.
Almost all these actors have already played these characters for other directors. How hard was it to get everybody on the same page?
Everybody knows the reality of the thing and the reality is that I'm directing the movie. And because I'm writing it, they know that everything I'm doing is with a purpose. As soon as they feel that kind of trust, it doesn't really matter. I've already asked them, "What do you feel about your character?" before I put pen to paper. So we already had a pretty organic process by the time we got on set. Nobody was like, "Whoa, hold on."
Let's say the 12-year-old Joss Whedon has just found out he's going to direct an "Avengers movie," which character would he be most excited to work with?
Moon Dragon! Or the Beast. Because when I was 12, the Beast was actually one of the Avengers. That's absurd, that's a terrible answer.
And if you had a chance to direct a non-Avengers Marvel movie, what would it be?
The rights are tied up elsewhere, but I always felt that a Kitty Pryde movie would be awfully fun. What a shock!
Robert Downey Jr. brought Iron Man to life in 2008, and then again in 2010. In "The Avengers," which hits theaters today, the superhero shares the big screen with a few of his crime-fighting counterparts, but this iReporter says Iron Man is definitely his favorite. Who's your favorite superhero? 
Chris Evans first donned red, white and blue for 2011's "Captain America: The First Avenger." He continues his fight against evil in "The Avengers." 
Mark Ruffalo gets his turn in the stretchy purple pants in "The Avengers." Eric Bana and Edward Norton played Bruce Banner in "Hulk" (2003) and "The Incredible Hulk" (2008), respectively. Bill Bixby played David (yes, not Bruce) Banner and Lou Ferrigno his monstrous alter ego in the TV series that aired from 1977 to 1982. 
Following in Tobey Maguire's footsteps -- err, spider webs -- Andrew Garfield stars in "The Amazing Spider-Man," to hit theaters on July 3. 
Following Michael Keaton in 1989 (and 1992), Val Kilmer in 1995 and George Clooney in 1997, Christian Bale has been driving the Batmobile since 2005's "Batman Begins." "The Dark Knight" captivated moviegoers in 2008, and "The Dark Knight Rises" -- out July 20 -- will likely do the same. 
Halle Berry's Storm and Hugh Jackman's Wolverine became fan favorites when "X-Men" hit theaters 12 years ago. The pair also appeared together in "X2" (2003) and "X-Men: The Last Stand" (2006). Wolverine also starred in 2009's "X-Men Origins," and even made a hilarious appearance in 2011's "X-Men: First Class." 
The late Christopher Reeve worked the Krypton native's red cape in 1978's "Superman" (and its three sequels). Brandon Routh took over in 2006's "Superman Returns," and Henry Cavill will do the honors in 2013's "Man of Steel." 
Ryan Reynolds became the Green Lantern in 2011 and has, presumably, been fighting evil ever since. 
Lynda Carter's Wonder Woman fought crime on the small screen in "The New Adventure's of Wonder Woman," which premiered in 1975. Several "Wonder Woman" reboots have since tried and failed. 
Ron Perlman went red for Guillermo del Toro's "Hellboy" in 2004 and "Hellboy II: The Golden Army" in 2008. 
Last year's "Captain America" wasn't Chris Evans' first time battling evil in a form-fitting blue suit. Evans, Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba and Michael Chiklis took on Victor von Doom (Julian McMahon) in 2005's "Fantastic Four." They teamed up again in the 2007 sequel to defeat the Silver Surfer. 
Mikey Kelley, James Arnold Taylor, Nolan North and Mitchell Whitfield voiced the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in 2007's "TMNT." Everyone's favorite pizza-eatng reptles will be back in Michael Bay's upcoming live-action reboot. 
