Superheroes unite to protect the planet in ‘Avengers Assemble’

It’s the weekend comic fans have been looking forward to all year as ‘Avengers Assemble’ hits UAE cinemas.

The superhero extravaganza, in which no less than six Marvel Comic favourites unite, sees Robert Downey Jr, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Hemsworth and Chris Evans reprise their super-skilled alter-egos - Iron Man, Black Widow, Thor and Captain America.

Newcomers Mark Ruffalo and Jeremy Renner also star as The Incredible Hulk and Hawkeye in Joss Whedon’s highly anticipated blockbuster based on the Marvel Comics series, ‘The Avengers’, which was first published in 1963.

The film’s plot sees top secret international intelligence agency S.H.I.E.L.D (Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement Logistics Division) tasked with a world-saving mission, as ‘Thor’ villain Loki, played by Tom Hiddleston, is threatening to destroy earth.

S.H.I.E.L.D leader Nick Fury, played by Samuel L Jackson, calls in the superheroes.

Chris Evans, who plays Captain America (Steve Rogers) explains how his character had quite the wake-up call in the new movie. At the end of his 2011 movie, Captain America crashed into the Arctic and froze. But now, decades later, he has defrosted - just in time to help save the world.

He explains: “Waking up in modern day is just an extremely different way of life that Steve Rogers now has to get used to. It’s not just that Captain America wakes up in a whole new world; it’s the fact that he has to deal with the emotions of finding out that everybody he knows is dead.”

The 30-year-old admits that the Captain doesn’t have it easy when he joins his fellow supers.

“The others give him a bit of grief in this one. He’s just trying to do the right thing, but he has some hurdles,” Evans adds.

Someone else who doesn’t have it easy in the film is Thor (God Of Thunder), who’s played by Chris Hemsworth.

Things get personal for Thor in ‘Avengers Assemble’, as he joins Fury’s unlikely alliance to prevent his wayward brother Loki from destroying the world.

“Joining the team is tricky because he [Thor] has a more personal objective than the rest of them. His brother Loki is the one who’s causing the chaos and he fears that the others may just want to kill him, instead of stopping him and taking away his powers,” says the Australian actor.

The brothers are forced to face each other in battle on screen, but in real life, the actors are nothing but good mates.

“Some of my favourite stuff [in the film] is with Tom because we’ve had a relationship on and off screen. Most of my meaty scenes were with him,” adds 28-year-old Hemsworth.