The Avengers (also known as Avengers Assemble in the UK and Ireland) is a 2012 superhero film. The film is a crossover of all the films independently produced by Marvel Studios set within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, namely Iron Man (2008), The Incredible Hulk (2008), Iron Man 2 (2010), Thor (2011) and Captain America: The First Avenger (2011).
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| The Avengers |
Nick Fury, the director of the espionage agency known as S.H.I.E.L.D. arrives at Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S., a remote research facility, during an evacuation. His second-in-command, Maria Hill, explains that the Tesseract, an energy source of unknown potential, has activated and opened a portal through space, from which the exiled god, Loki, steps through. Loki takes the Tesseract, and uses his magic to control the minds of several S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel including Agent Clint Barton, and physicist consultant Dr. Erik Selvig in order to aid in his getaway.
In response, Fury reactivates the Avengers Initiative. Agent Natasha Romanoff recruits Dr. Bruce Banner in India, while Agent Phil Coulson visits Tony Stark and requests that he reviews Selvig's research. Fury himself approaches Steve Rogers with an assignment to retrieve the Tesseract from Loki, who has allied with the alien race called the Chitauri. In exchange for the Tesseract, they agree to help Loki subjugate Earth.
As Rogers is being brought up to speed on the plane, Agent Coulson fanboyishly stumbles awkwardly over an attempt to make small talk with him, mentioning watching him in his sleep. Romanoff, Coulson, Rogers, and Banner meet on the Helicarrier before it goes airborne. It's there that Romanoff first mentions Coulson's collection of vintage Captain America trading cards. Dr. Banner is escorted to his lab after a brief meeting with Fury. After spending some time tracking the whereabouts of the Tesseract on the Helicarrier, a man of Loki's description is located in Europe.
Iron Man, Captain America, and Romanoff travel to Stuttgart, Germany to apprehend Loki, who, with the aid of a mind-controlled Barton, is stealing iridium needed to stabilize the Tesseract and demanding that people there kneel before him. After a battle with the heroes, Loki surrenders and is being returned to the Helicarrier in the Quinjet. Thor Odinson, Loki's adoptive brother and the Asgardian god of thunder, attempts to free Loki by trying to reason with him. After a confrontation with Iron Man and Captain America, Thor accompanies them to imprison Loki on the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier, a flying aircraft carrier that functions as S.H.I.E.L.D.'s headquarters.
After Loki is put into the cell originally intended for the Hulk, Stark orders Jarvis to hack into the S.H.I.E.L.D. database while he works with Dr. Banner (and attempts to annoy him to the point of 'Hulking out.') Rogers is less than thrilled at Stark's behavior and confronts him. He then tells the two scientists to resume their work and investigates Phase Two, S. H. I. E. L. D.'s top secret weapons program. While all of this is going on, Romanoff speaks one on one with Loki, and eventually discovers that he plans on using Banner as a means of escape.
After all of these things come to light, the Avengers are divided over how to deal with Loki and the revelation that S.H.I.E.L.D. plan to harness the Tesseract’s power to develop weapons. Fury admits that the events in New Mexico a year before made S.H.I.E.L.D. aware of other extraterrestrial races that may threaten Earth. Weapons developed from the Tesseract would form a means of deterrence. As the group argues, Barton and Loki’s possessed agents attack the Helicarrier, disabling its engines. As Iron Man and Captain America attempt to restart the damaged engines, Banner transforms into the Hulk, despite Romanoff's efforts to calm him, and runs amok inside the ship, soon battling Thor. During a fight with Barton, Romanoff discovers that knocking him unconscious breaks Loki's mind control. Loki escapes his cell with the help of a possessed agent and traps Thor in the cell, which Loki drops from the sky intending to kill his brother. Loki then stabs Coulson before getting hit by Coulson's weapon, a gun reverse-engineered from The Destroyer's energy.
Fury uses Coulson's death to motivate the Avengers into working as a team. At Stark's headquarters, Stark Tower, the group realizes that defeating them will not be enough for Loki; he needs to overpower them in a public way so as to validate himself as ruler of Earth. Using a Tesseract-powered inter-dimensional generator Selvig has built, Loki opens a portal to the Chitauri fleet over Manhattan, summoning an invasion. The Avengers rally in defense of New York, but quickly conclude they will be overwhelmed as wave after wave of Chitauri and Leviathans descend. With help from Barton, Captain America and Thor evacuate civilians, while Banner transforms into the Hulk again and goes after Loki, comically beating him into submission. Romanoff makes her way to Selvig's device, where Selvig, freed of Loki's control, reveals that Loki's staff can be used to close the portal.
Meanwhile, Fury's superiors attempt to end the invasion by launching a nuclear missile at Manhattan. Despite Agent Hill and Fury's orders to not fire, a rogue jet launches the missile at Manhattan. Iron Man intercepts it and takes it through the portal toward the Chitauri fleet before running out of power and plummeting back to Earth. The Hulk catches him as he falls. Thor escorts Loki and the Tesseract back to Asgard. Fury notes that the Avengers will go their separate ways until such time as a new world-threatening menace emerges.
The Other tells his shadowy master that attacking Earth "would be to court Death". His master, Thanos turns and smiles.
In a second post-credits scene, the Avengers — gathered at a shawarma restaurant and looking a bit worse for the wear — eat in silence.
