A 2012 American superhero film bringing together six Marvel heroes to repel an alien army led by Thor's adopted brother Loki against New York.
Production
Joss Whedon wrote and directed the first crossover film of the Marvel Cinematic Universe for Marvel Studios. The $220 million budget was used to assemble the standalone-film leads from Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, and Hulk franchises into a single narrative. The film was distributed worldwide by Walt Disney Studios.
Reception
The film opened in May 2012 and earned around $1.52 billion globally, then the third-highest gross in cinema history. Critics responded strongly to Whedon’s group-dynamic dialogue.
Legacy
The Avengers validated the long-term, cross-film franchise model that Marvel had been building since 2008’s Iron Man, and helped reshape the industry around shared-universe superhero filmmaking that ran through 2019’s Avengers: Endgame.