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… on Marvel's 'The Avengers'

Before Mark Ruffalo was cast as 'The Hulk', Joaquin Phoenix was rumored for the part.

Morena Baccarin, Jessica Lucas, Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Cobie Smulders screen tested for the role of Agent Maria Hill. Smulders was eventually cast.

Mark Ruffalo states it was an honour to take over as Bruce Banner from his friend Edward Norton: "Ed has bequeathed this part to me, I look at it as my generation's Hamlet."

This film holds an unusually high number of Academy Award nominees in the cast/crew for a comic book movie, or most movies for that matter: Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Samuel L. Jackson, Jeremy Renner, Mark Ruffalo, and cinematographer Seamus McGarvey, possibly many others. This tops Iron Man 2, which had set a record by having Downey, Paltrow, Jackson, Mickey Rourke and Don Cheadle.

With Samuel L. Jackson's role as Nick Fury in this film, he is now the second actor after Hugh Jackman (who has appeared in all 'X-men' movies) to play the same comic book superhero in five different movies.

Chris Evans once sent a text message to Clark Gregg simply saying "Assemble", which is the tagline for the movie. Gregg stated that this was his favorite text message ever sent to him.

The cast became good friends while filming so if all the actors happened to be filming scenes together in the same place, they would go out together after.

Director Joss Whedon had earlier been considered to direct 'X-Men' in the 1990s. A big fan of the 'X-Men', he even wrote a script, from which only two lines made it into the film.

(source: IMDb)