Being a brief introduction to the key characters in the mega-superhero movie
Scarlett Johansson plays Black Widow in "The Avengers"Alter-ego of: Natasha Romanoff (aka Natasha Rushman)
Played by: Scarlett Johansson
First appeared in comics: as an enemy of Iron Man in "Tales of Suspense," April, 1964
First appeared on TV: “The Marvel Super Heroes” animated show, 1966
First appeared in movies: supporting role in “Iron Man 2” (2010)
Who and what: One of a series of women, all using the same code name, who were trained from childhood in Soviet-era Russia as assassins with expertise in weapons, martial arts and the techniques of spycraft. She has been an enemy of various of the Avengers over the years, but in the incarnation presented in this film she’s on the side of good. She is romantically linked with Hawkeye, who has also been (or been perceived to be) on both sides of the law.
Matt Salinger in "Captain America" (1990)CAPTAIN AMERICA
Alter ego of: Steve Rogers
Played by: Chris Evans
First appeared in comics: “Captain America Comics,” March, 1941
First appeared on TV: “The Marvel Super Heroes”
First appeared in movies: chapter serial (1944); two made-for-TV films (both 1979); “Captain America” (played by Matt Salinger, son of J. D. Salinger); “Captain America: The First Avenger” (2011)
Who and what: A decent, patriotic fellow who was deemed too scrawny for military service but was then transformed into a super-soldier in a scientific experiment. He battled the Nazis but was presumed dead in a plane crash during the war, only to be discovered frozen but still alive and then thawed in the modern era. A stalwart, brave and true fellow with impressive abilities to fling a shield and take a punch, his most recent big-screen incarnation was a rousing success, both critically and commercially, and helped make “The Avengers” an event to anticipate.
David Hasselhoff as Nick Fury (1998)Alter ego of: um, Nick Fury
Played by: Samuel L. Jackson
First appeared in comics: “Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos,” May, 1963
First appeared on TV: bit parts and supporting roles in various Marvel Comics-inspired animated series from 1994 onward
First appeared in movies: made-for-TV feature (played by David Hasselhoff!) (1998); cameos and supporting roles in “Iron Man” (2008), “Iron Man 2,” “Thor” (2011) and “Captain America: The First Avenger”
Who and what: A World War II hero recruited after the end of the war into the CIA and then into S.H.I.E.L.D. (currently an acronym for Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division), which he runs as a super-secret espionage and paramilitary organization with special ties to the superhero community. He has barely aged over the decades, thanks to some special use of pharmacology, and he sports an eye patch related to an old war wound. As head of S.H.I.E.L.D., he answers to a committee of superiors from around the world, but they seem to have no practical influence over him.
Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye in "The Avengers"Alter ego of: Clint Barton
Played by: Jeremy Renner
First appeared in comics: “Tales of Suspense,” September, 1964
First appeared on TV: “The Marvel Super Heroes”
First appeared in movies: cameo in “Thor”
Who and what: A master marksman (bow-and-arrow division) and martial artist who chose to emulate Iron Man as a superhero but was taken, at first, as a bad guy, a reputation that was enhanced when he fell under the spell of Black Widow in her pre-good guy phase. Now on the side of the right and the true, he still has a moody aspect and can seem a bit wobbly in his allegiances.
Lou Ferrigno as The HulkAlter ego of: Dr. Bruce Banner
Played by: Mark Ruffalo (with the voice of Lou Ferrigno)
First appeared in comics: “The Incredible Hulk,” May, 1962
First appeared on TV: “The Marvel Super Heroes”; and, more memorably, in “The Incredible Hulk” live-action series (played by Bruce Bixby and Ferrigno) from 1977 to 1982
First appeared in movies: three made-for-TV movies starring Bixby and Ferrigno (1988, 1989, 1990); “Hulk” (played by Eric Bana), (2003); “The Incredible Hulk” (played by Edward Norton, with Ferrigno’s voice), (2008)
Who and what: While attempting to weaponize gamma rays, Banner was dosed by radiation, causing a Jekyll-and-Hyde-like condition which transforms him, whenever his anger or sense of self-preservation rises, from a mild-mannered scientist into a super-powered, raging, incoherent green behemoth. The Hulk possesses none of Banner’s intelligence or rationality and is a serious danger even to those friendly to him. In that light, it’s rather ironic that two big-budget efforts to build a movie franchise around him have been unsatisfying critical and commercial disasters, necessitating a third incarnation in nine years. The good news for Hulk-heads is that they’ve got the character right -- perhaps because he’s not the lead -- this time around.
Iron Man from "The Marvel Super Heroes" (1966)Alter ego of: Tony Stark
Played by: Robert Downey Jr.
First appeared in comics: “Tales of Suspense,” March, 1963
First appeared on TV: “The Marvel Super Heroes”
First appeared in movies: “Iron Man” and a cameo in “The Incredible Hulk” in 2008; then “Iron Man 2”
Who and what: A feckless but brilliant billionaire playboy whose father, Howard Stark, was a Howard Hughes-style inventor with ties to the military, espionage and superhero communities. The younger Stark is cursed with a weak heart, but has the technological genius to have crafted a source of power that not only keeps him alive but fuels a suit of armor that gives him stupendous abilities. The success of director Jon Favreau’s 2008 “Iron Man,” with a tremendously witty performance by Downey, was surely a key in encouraging Marvel and its movie partners to go ahead with “The Avengers,” meaning that Stark’s influence is pervasive not only in the fictional universe of the film but in the behind-the-scenes story of how it was made, as well.
The classic Marvel Comics ThorAlter ego of: on Earth, the Norse god Thor sometimes uses the identity Dr. Donald Blake
Played by: Chris Hemsworth
First appeared in comics: “Journey into Mystery,” August, 1962
First appeared on TV: “The Marvel Super Heroes”
First appeared in movies: “Thor”
Who and what: Son of Odin, the ruler of Asgard, and brother of the malicious Loki, with whom he perpetually struggles for the favor of their father and for domain over the Earth. Powered by a supernatural hammer (named Mjolnir), the thoughtful and honest (and, in this film, surprisingly quippy) Thor defends the Earth, which he has come to love, from the machinations of Loki (played here, as last year, by Tom Hiddleston in classic English upper-class villain mode). A god would be tough to best in any fight, of course, but Hulk does pretty good against Thor in a tussle, and Asgard and other off-planet locales have some impressive muscle of their own to throw at him. So despite immortality and divinity, he does, sometimes, have his hands full.
