“Marvel’s The Avengers” Stars Talk About Their Roles (Opens Apr 25)

As “Marvel’s The Avengers” gears up for its grand opening in the Philippines on April 25, the cast discuss their characters’ motivations and how these shaped the film’s gripping storyline.

Marvel Studios presents, in association with Paramount Pictures, “Marvel’s The Avengers” – the super hero team up of a lifetime, featuring iconic Marvel super heroes Iron Man, the Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America, Hawkeye and Black Widow. When an unexpected enemy emerges that threatens global safety and security, Nick Fury, director of the international peacekeeping agency known as S.H.I.E.L.D., finds himself in need of a team to pull the world back from the brink of disaster. Spanning the globe, a daring recruitment effort begins.

Robert Downey Jr. on Iron Man: “Tony Stark is open to all possibilities and has no problem accepting extraordinary happenings. Joining The Avenger team is an act of curiosity – he wants to see what’s happening firsthand. He realized a while ago that he’s not an island, and this time around, he’s beginning to understand that it’s about a group mindset and that `we’ is better than `I.’”

Chris Evans on Captain America: “Big parts of Steve Rogers are his good nature, high morals and strong values. Those morals and values were created in a time when people treated each other differently. The level of interaction was a bit deeper. Everything feels one step apart with all of the technology we have now. A lot of the things that he believed in, stood for and loved have changed. They’re not gone—they’re just different. He’s trying to find his footing in a modern world.”

Chris Hemsworth on Thor: “Thor has more of a personal investment in what’s happening than the other Super Heroes because the villain, Loki, is his brother. The bigger conflict for him is that he’s trying to protect the greater good, but he has some deep questions about what is going on with his brother.”

Mark Ruffalo on The Hulk: “This Hulk is mercurial. He’s very unpredictable; he’s nuanced. There’s a sense of humor there; there’s an ability to communicate. But he’s bristly and he’s incredibly dangerous, like a wild animal. His rage feels real; his reactions to things feel human.”

Jeremy Renner of Hawkeye: “Hawkeye is alone in the game, an outcast and a loner; he’s a lone wolf sort of character, so he’s not a team player, but will be there if needed.”

Scarlett Johansson on Black Widow: “Black Widow is all business. She’s sort of in a grey area. In a sense she’s been fighting the good fight, despite her dark background. But she’s committed because she has to be and her moral ground is more dutiful. She’s militaristic in that way; that’s how she knows right from wrong.”

Tom Hiddleson on Loki: “Loki’s villainy is motivated by the fact that he’s damaged and searching for his place in the universe, but in this film he’s a lot more menacing and a lot more powerful. He’s much more self-possessed. He’s also a god, so he’s more powerful than any human.”

Samuel L. Jackson on Nick Fury: “Nick Fury monitors a lot of things and when he sees a need he generally goes against the grain; he rubs a lot of people the wrong way by taking actions in situations that they don’t necessarily want him to take action in but he does anyway.”

Cobie Smulders on S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Maria Hill: “Maria Hill and Nick Fury butt heads constantly. I think that Maria is a little bit more intuitive than Nick. But throughout the course of the film, she realizes that he is involved and he does care, and he is taking the right steps to protect our country and fight the bad guys.”

Clark Gregg on S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Phil Coulson: “When you look at the team, it’s made up of rock stars and divas with giant muscles and super-powered egos, so somebody has the job backstage to make them all play in the same super band—and that’s what Agent Coulson does.

(Prepare yourself for an exciting event movie, packed with action and spectacular special effects, when “Marvel’s The Avengers” assemble in the Philippines on April 25 2012. The film is distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International through Columbia Pictures.

Marvel’s “Spider-Man” and “The Incredible Hulk” animated series are now aired over ABS CBN, comprising an hour of early programming on Sunday mornings from 8:30-9:30am. ABS-CBN previously aired Marvel’s “The Avengers” and “X-Men” animated series.)