Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston and Stellan Skarsgård Discuss The Avengers
Posted 12.26.11 by Ryan
News surrounding Marvel's upcoming superhero movie The Avengers has been quite slow ever since the first trailer was released in October, leaving Marvel, and parent company Disney, to keep The Avengers in the public eye by recently announcing that the movie would be released in 3-D (something that was widely known since the start of production was announced in April). Writer-director Joss Whedon responded by publicly stating that the movie won't be "obnoxiously 3-D".
Finally, more from the movie's cast is being revealed, as individual Avengers actors do press for other movies they are appearing in. While discussing the American remake of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgård (who ironically did not appear in the 2009 Swedish adaptation) discussed his return in The Avengers as Erik Selvig, the character he portrayed in Thor, in an interview with Moviefone. After his appearance in the post-credits scene in Thor, Selvig is likely going to be used as a pawn in Loki's (Tom Hiddleston) evil trickery, but, however Selvig appears, Skarsgård says it won't be for too long.
Of course I am [in The Avengers]. But not very much... it's a small role. I have normal clothes and only show up briefly because people with funny costumes — that's going to be the core of it... There's a lot of people in The Avengers And I was thinking, "How on Earth are you going to get all of those superheroes in a movie and have room for them and still have a story that actually moves forward?" And, also you have to satisfy a lot of actors with at least reasonable material.
Skarsgård admitted that he wasn't exactly satisfied with his role in The Avengers, adding, "but I'm not one of the superheroes."
Neither is Hiddleston, though it would appear that the British actor had a more satisfying experience as Loki than Skarsgård did in his role. While promoting War Horse, Hiddleston also spoke about the difficult job Whedon had in putting so many characters into one movie during an interview with Just Jared.
Joss has kind of got this pan-literacy about the genre and his dexterity in negotiating all the different story lines, all the different characters, all the different tones just so that it’s real and relatable and funny and dynamic and then just badass, because that’s what the Avengers has to be! So he was capable of directing intensely dynamic scenes between two characters, but also delivering action on the most incredible scale. I can’t say enough about Joss. Amazing director.
As for what Loki is up to in The Avengers, Hiddleston spoke about Loki's inspiration in the movie to FilmInk (via Comic Book Movie) while also alluding to the mysterious army he brings with him to destroy Earth.
He and Thor [Chris Hemsworth] literally have superhuman powers. Within the Marvel Universe, Loki has the keys to the universe, and he's been down all those dark alleyways in space. He's met all the monsters and made friends with them. He's an all-power-being. Loki's agenda, like all delusional, would-be autocratic fascists, is power, which he believes will give him self-esteem. I haven't let go of the fact that he still motivated by this terrible jealousy and spiritual desolation.
Hemsworth, meanwhile, told FilmInk (again via Comic Book Movie) that Thor is also motivated by personal issues in the movie.
Thor has more of a personal investment. It's not just some bad guy that he's gotta take care of; for him, it's family. There's a sense of, "I'll beat him up and teach him a lesson, not you guys." It's the first time in ages since he's seen his brother, and it's amongst all this chaos.
Robert Downey Jr. also spoke with FilmInk (once more via Comic Book Movie) and described the journey that Iron Man is on during The Avengers.
In Iron Man, which was an origin story, he was his own epiphany and redemption of sorts. Iron Man 2 is all about not being an island, and dealing with legacy issues and making space for others. There, he was a military machine. In The Avengers, he's throwing it down with the others.
As for whether Tony Stark will have a tough time being in the same room as a Norse god of thunder, Downey Jr. says that his character's scientific acumen makes the situation easily palatable.
It's other-dimensional, and so that's the way that Tony think of this Loki-intergalactic-planetary-Beastie-Boys-son reality that happens in The Avengers. As an engineer and scientist who explores all possibilities, I don't see why he would say, "That's not possible."
Lastly, Scarlett Johansson, doing rounds for We Bought a Zoo, told Brad Blanks that The Avengers is "much darker than people expect" and again complimented Whedon's work on the movie.
Joss had a huge undertaking taking all these characters who have no business being together and making a story that is clear and concise. So I'm looking forward to it just like everybody else. We get down and dirty [in this one]. It's much darker than people expect and it's, yes, it's constant ass-kicking.
Also joining the ass-kicking is Chris Evans as Captain America (or "Capsicle" as his is apparently nick-named by Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark), Mark Ruffalo as Dr. Bruce Banner (aka the Hulk), and Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye.
Next Showing: The Avengers opens May 4, 2012