The Avengers That Almost Never Happened
A scrapped draft, a risky shoot, and a last-minute date change show how fragile Marvel's first team-up really was.
Chris Evans, Tom Hiddleston, Cobie Smulders and Clark Gregg promoting The Avengers at the 2011 New York Comic Con. — Marnie Joyce, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Where to watch The Avengers ↓Burn the first draft
Joss Whedon walked into the Avengers job and told Marvel Studios that Zak Penn's initial draft was unsalvageable. Rather than patch it, he insisted on starting the screenplay from scratch. The credit fight lingered after release, with Whedon and Penn sharing final screenplay credit even though Whedon fought for sole credit and expressed frustration about having to share it.
Whedon was also hedging his bets while he rewrote. He prepared an alternate version built around The Wasp as a major character and had Zooey Deschanel in mind for the role, a contingency in case Scarlett Johansson was not available. He also considered adding Ezekiel Stane, son of Iron Man villain Obadiah Stane, as a second antagonist because he worried Tom Hiddleston's Loki alone might seem insufficient to challenge Earth's mightiest heroes.
A team assembled in the dark
Marvel's development strategy was deliberate, releasing solo films for each major character first to establish their identities before bringing them together in a crossover. That plan meant production began before either Thor or Captain America: The First Avenger had been released to audiences, a significant risk if those films were poorly received. The connective tissue was locked in early, with Samuel L. Jackson signing a nine-picture deal with Marvel Entertainment in February 2009 which included playing Nick Fury in The Avengers and other films.
The Avengers being filmed in front of 101 Park Ave. — Eric Schmalzbauer, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Recasting and second thoughts
The lineup was still in flux on the page. Screenwriter Zak Penn initially wanted to reduce Thor's role in the script because he doubted the character could work on film, but he changed his mind after Chris Hemsworth was cast in the role. On the Hulk side, Marvel Studios decided not to bring Edward Norton back for The Avengers, and Mark Ruffalo replaced him as Bruce Banner.
Cleveland's East 9th Street during the filming of The Avengers — Seth Tisue, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Waiting for Widow
The release calendar moved as the cast settled. Marvel initially planned to release The Avengers in July 2011 but pushed the date back to May 4 2012, nearly a full year later, following Scarlett Johansson's casting confirmation. The delay gave the film room to breathe and underscored how much the whole enterprise hinged on getting the pieces right. It was less inevitable than it looks in hindsight.
Fans at the world premiere of The Avengers, outside the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, California. — Scott Sha, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.