MovieWeb has it that the film is going to be hiring 2,000 (no typo, two thousand!) extras whilst filming over the summer.
Unfortunately for us, they’re looking to hire these extras out in Cleveland, Ohio. If you happen to be on your way out there in August/September this year, then be sure to keep your eyes peeled for more information, because being able to say that you got to star in The Avengers film would be beyond amazing. And not only that, but they’ll be paying you $50-100 a day to do, with free food! It doesn’t get much better than that.
Whedon’s new film really needs no introduction, and for those of you who’ve been following its development over the past couple of years as avidly as me will know that it’s pretty much guaranteed to be one of the biggest blockbusters of 2012. Robert Downey, Jr. will of course be reprising his Iron Man role, which we all love him for. Chris Evans will be playing Captain America, Chris Hemsworth will be Thor, Scarlett Johansson will be returning as Black Widow, Samuel L. Jackson will be back as Nick Fury, Murk Ruffalo is taking over as Bruce Banner (with Lou Ferrigno, naturally, voicing The Incredible Hulk), and Jeremy Renner will be taking Hawkeye duties. Outside of the heroes, Clark Gregg will be coming back as Agent Coulson, who has been excellent in the Iron Man films.
In short, there is no way that it can fail. Joss Whedon is a visionary. This is the man that created both Buffy and Angel, Firefly and Serenity, Dollhouse. Not to mention his Academy Award nomination as part of the team that wrote Toy Story, over a decade and a half ago. I don’t think there’s anyone else I’d rather have in the director’s chair for The Avengers.
No way it can fail? I really want and hope the film will be great, but given how crowded IRON MAN II felt with all the Avenger related subplots, I sort of doubt they’ll be able to balance the characters in THE AVENGERS. Not to mention Marvel studios’ history of dicking around their talent, and Joss Whedon’s history of GETTING dicked around by studios. I remain sadly pessimistic (although if THOR and CAPTAIN AMERICA are both good then that’ll definitely be a good sign)
Have some faith! I know Joss Whedon’s had trouble in the past being messed around by studios, etc., but I’m hoping that since they’ve entrusted him with a project this big, they’ll just let him take it in the direction he wants to go with it.
And that direction’s almost definitely going to be brilliant in my books. They’re optimistic books, yes, but still. My outlook remains positive.