Help me f-list-o-mondo

[kellifer]

Please any Avengers peeps, have a quick squiz at this and tell me if there is anywhere I've made a terrible hash of things or horrible omissions.

Hello and welcome to the Avengers Movie Franchise Overview!

Please see notes below for overall Marvel Universe.

This is a brief summary of the current Avengers movie franchise, the characters, useful resources and comms. This includes Iron Man (2008), The Incredible Hulk (2008), Iron Man 2 (2010), Thor (2011), Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) and The Avengers (2012).

The Avengers



The Avengers are a team of super-heroes assembled by Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. through the Avenger Initiative. The team currently consists of Iron Man, Captain America, the Hulk, Thor, Black Widow and Hawkeye.

"Because if we can't protect the Earth, you can be damned well sure we'll avenge it."

Tony Stark / Iron Man

"Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist."
Tony Stark is a billionaire, genius industrialist. He runs Stark Industries which was founded by his father, Howard Stark. While held captive in Afghanistan Tony builds a suit of armor to make his escape. When he is returned to America, he sets about improving the armor and becomes the superhero: Iron Man.

Appeared in: Iron Man, Iron Man 2, The Incredible Hulk, The Avengers

Steve Rogers / Captain America

"I don't want to kill anybody. I don't like bullies; I don't care where they're from"
During the Second World War, after a number of failed attempts to enroll in the army due to his many health issues, Steve Rogers is spotted by Doctor Abraham Erskine and becomes the only successful test subject for a Super Soldier Serum Erskine developed. He's given the title of Captain America and puts together a group to lead on raids known as the Howling Commandos. After being forced to crash land an experimental ship by the Hydra leader known as Red Skull, Rogers is frozen for nearly seventy years and awakes in the 21st century where he is recruited to The Avengers Initiative.

Appeared in: Captain America: The First Avenger, The Avengers.

Bruce Banner / The Hulk

"Well then son, you've got a condition."
Bruce Banner is a genius scientist, who is dosed with what should be a lethal amount of gamma radiation when performing an experiment but instead transforms into The Hulk. As a result, Banner becomes a fugitive, fleeing the country and tries to find a cure for his condition. Eventually, he stops trying to suppress his transformations and instead finds a way to initiate them in a controlled manner.

Appeared in: The Incredible Hulk (Edward Norton), The Avengers (Mark Ruffalo)

Thor Odinson

"Your ancestors called it magic... but you call it science. I come from a land where they are one and the same."
Thor Odinson is an Asgardian Prince. Raised to value strength and courage above all else, he desires to be like his father, Odin. He proves himself a great warrior, but is banished to Earth when he recklessly pursues Frost Giants to their home world after a handful invade Asgard. He is stripped of his power and his mightiest weapon, a hammer named Mjolnir and learns from the experience to value life and loyalty, proving himself worthy enough to regain control of Mjolnir in order to travel back to Asgard and defeat his brother, Loki. Later, he returns to Earth when Loki threatens the people Thor has come to love and the planet he has vowed to protect.

Appeared in: Thor, The Avengers

Clint Barton / Hawkeye

"Well, if I put an arrow in Loki's eye socket, I'd sleep better I suppose."

Clint Barton, a member of S.H.I.E.L.D, is deployed to New Mexico as part of a security force when Mjolnir is discovered, half-buried in the Earth and unable to be moved. Clint watches as Thor attempts to lift Mjolnir, awaiting a shoot order that never comes. After this, Clint is tasked with protecting the Tesseract at a S.H.I.E.L.D facility and is taken prisoner and mind-controlled when Loki breaks through to Earth. Broken free of his mind-control via a sharp knock to the head thanks to Natasha Romanoff, Clint vows to bring Loki down and joins The Avengers when New York City is attacked by Loki's army.

Appeared in: Thor, The Avengers

Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow

"I got red in my ledger, I'd like to wipe it out."
Natasha Romanoff is an Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D and posing as his new assistant, is initially tasked with assessing Tony Stark's suitability for the Avengers Initiative. She is tapped by Director Fury to help bring the Avengers Initiative together, retrieving Bruce Banner from his exile and joins The Avengers when Loki brings an alien army through a portal to attack New York City.

Appeared in: Iron Man 2, The Avengers

Recurring Characters


Nick Fury: Nick Fury is the mysterious Director of S.H.I.E.L.D who puts together the Avengers Initiative, recognizing that the Earth needs a new brand of protector with other worlds starting to take notice.

Loki Laufeyson: Loki is the son of Odin and brother to Thor. When he interrupts Thor's coronation believing that Thor is not ready for such responsibility, he sets in motion events that lead to Thor's banishment from their home world of Asgard. During Thor's exile, Loki is devastated to discover that he is actually a stolen baby from Jotunheim. He leads Frost Giants into Asgard in the hopes that defeating them in front of his family will prove his worth, but his plans are foiled with Thor's return. This leads to a battle with Thor and Loki falls from the Rainbow Bridge when it is destroyed, stranding him between worlds. He makes mysterious allies and returns to Earth with a promised army. He is thwarted by the Avengers and returns to Agard with his adopted brother, a prisoner.

Phil Coulson: Coulson is an espionage agent working for S.H.I.E.L.D. He helps put together The Avengers Initiative under the direction of Nick Fury by convincing Tony Stark to join.

Virginia(Pepper) Potts: Pepper Potts starts out as Tony Stark's long-suffering assistant but is promoted by Tony to CEO of his company and becomes his love interest.

Other Notable Characters

Maria Hill: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Doctor Jane Foster: An astrophysicist who finds and eventually falls in love with Thor in New Mexico.
Professor Erik Selvig: An astrophysicist and mentor of Jane Foster and Darcy Lewis. Dr. Selvig is a Professor of Theoretical Astrophysics at Culver University. His notes on thermonuclear astrophysics are key to understanding the Tesseract.
Darcy Lewis: Jane Foster's intern.
James Rhodes: Long time best friend of Tony Stark, a colonel in the U.S. Air Force. and a jet pilot and the liaison between Stark Industries and the military in the department of acquisitions. He wears one of Tony Stark's suits and becomes War Machine. (Note: Recast between Iron Man (Terrence Howard) and Iron Man 2 (Don Cheadle))
The Red Skull: Johann Schmidt, also known as the Red Skull, is a German ex SS officer and scientist who has his own branch of the Third Reich Army under his command known as HYDRA.
Bucky Barnes: Best friend of Steve Rogers who later becomes a member of his elite team known as the Howling Commandos.
Obadiah Stane: Tony's mentor and long-time friend and an advocate for Tony on the Board for Stark Industries. Stane organizes for Tony to be assassinated in Afghanistan but Tony is held hostage instead and eventually escapes. Stane creates the Iron Monger armor and battles Tony's Iron Man.
J.A.R.V.I.S.: An AI created by Tony, used to run his house and help in the design and use of the Iron Man armor.
Betty Ross: Betty Ross is the love interest of Bruce Banner and the only daughter of renowned military general General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross.
Peggy Carter: Margaret "Peggy" Carter was a British officer with the Strategic Scientific Reserve, one of the first female agents in the US Army. She is Steve Rogers' ally and becomes his love interest.
Howard Stark: Howard Stark is a brilliant inventor and businessman, working with the US Army during World War II and helping fight against Hydra. He was involved in many government projects including the Manhattan Project. He is the founder of Stark Industries and fathered Tony Stark. (Note: Played by 3 different actors in the 3 different movies; Gerard Sanders, John Slattery and Dominic Cooper)
Happy Hogan: Harold "Happy" Hogan is Tony Stark's personal driver and friend.

Useful Links:

Avengers Official Movie Site
Marvel Movies Wiki
Marvel Comics on Fanlore
Steve Rogers-in-the-thirties-and-forties research
Marvel Cinematic Universe Timeline
Marvel Chronology project
Avengers Fanfiction on AO3

Comms:

avengers_2k
avengers_au
avengers_cross
avengers_stills
avengers_tables
avngrstoryfndr
cap_ironman
bannerstark
bruce_natasha
brucedarcy
clint_hawkeye
clintcoulson
comicfilmstills
craft_avengers
dailyfics
marvel_bang
avengers_bang
avengers_rbb
marvel_slash
mcu_slash
mcuguide
ontd_marvel
sciencebros
taserlove
steve_bucky
avengerkink
norsekink
capkink
ontdassemble
avengers100
hammerandshield
avengers_search
cap_im_finders
capiron_bigbang
stevelovestony

Note 1: Signup to rec the Avengers Franchise and let the mods know if you'd like to do an Avengers Franchise comic specific overview.

Note 2: For an overall look at the Marvel Universe, please see;

Marvel Comics Overview by arysteia

Marvel Universe by cupidsbow

Note 3: Many stories in this fandom are a mix of movie and comic canon, writers drawing on the rich history the comic verse provides for back story and additional characters.

Please feel free to let me know any characters, comms, useful links I can add that have been omitted. For any mistakes or if you’ve got questions, please let me know!

Comments

[sin-stained-ink.livejournal.com]

There's also the avengers_bang (http://avengers-bang.livejournal.com/), another big bang comm.

Must. not. join ALL the comms.

[kellifer-fic.livejournal.com]

Hee~!

Added, thanks!

I think there is a new comm every day!

[jasmasson.livejournal.com]

Maybe Betty in other characters?

Admittedly she's not in the fandom a lot, but she is pretty important in The Incredible Hulk?

[kellifer-fic.livejournal.com]

Argh, thank you! I meant to include Betty! See, this is why I need peeps looking at this and telling me I've missed things due to dumbassness and that this took FAR too long... hee!

[hypertwink.livejournal.com]

Phil Coulson did not ask Thor outright to join but he was the point person in New Mexico (with Thor, Mjolnir, Jane, Darcy & Erik).

Peggy Carter

I think you need a line or two for Howard Stark being the Q of the Allied Forces in WWII.

[kellifer-fic.livejournal.com]

How could I miss Peggy??

How could I miss Howard Stark???

*slaps forehead*

[arysteia.livejournal.com]

Unless I'm blind, you missed the Steve/Tony comm: http://cap_ironman.livejournal.com/

[kellifer-fic.livejournal.com]

I wibbled about that one because it actually started out as a comic comm but eh, I think movie!verse folks have taken over so I'll stick it on there.

[arysteia.livejournal.com]

Haha, yeah, they definitely massively outnumber us original denizens, but the very best fic, imho, still cherrypicks canon from both. :-)

[kellifer-fic.livejournal.com]

No, too true. I thought since it was on the Marvel summaries and wasn't necessarily purely movie!vers I wasn't sure if I should include it but it *is* the major Steve/Tony comm so it would be silly to leave it out.

[ravelqueen.livejournal.com]

I can't help you, but I can say, thank you, thank you, thank you for this.

I have been trying to wade through the assorted comms etc. but it was so much, so I kind of slunk back to AO3 every time. Finally something like an overview for all the comms/fests etc.

all the love <3<3<3

(it is so helpful if all the fandom people graviate into the same fandoms for me^^)

[kellifer-fic.livejournal.com]

:D

I'm hoping when I post this to crack_van there'll be more resources/comms added by others suggestions.

[ljs-lj.livejournal.com]

Maybe a list of the movies, the year they were in (US) theaters, and the order they should be watched in? I've seen the two Iron Man movies and the hulk movie that came out a few years ago, but I have no idea how the other movies connect because I moved overseas.

[kellifer-fic.livejournal.com]

The movie list is in my blurb and the top with the years and then there is a Marvel timeline in the links list.

I might make the movie list clearer! :D

[ljs-lj.livejournal.com]

This is why I shouldn't comment when running on 5 hours of sleep and also high on Obamacare being declared constitutional.

[kellifer-fic.livejournal.com]

N'awwww... :D

[calijirl5150.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the recs BB, I';m just starting to get into the Adventurers.

[kellifer-fic.livejournal.com]

:D

[libitina]

Nice! Clear, concise, and punchy.

You don't talk about the actors much, but I like a heads up when they've been recast: Bruce Banner, Rhodey, Howard Stark

[kellifer-fic.livejournal.com]

I wasn't sure about that but I might add a quick note on the end of the ones that were, nice idea!

[lec90.livejournal.com]

It might be worth mentioning that Rhodey has one of Tony's suits as War Machine. I also thought it might be good to mention the arc reactor keeping Tony alive under Iron Man. Also, it might be nice to include Happy as an other notable character.

Thanks so much for doing this! I really like your choice of quotes/images/etc. :)

On another note (and feel free to ignore this), but the grammar nerd in me wanted to point out a couple typos.
Doctor Jane Foster: An **astrophysist**
his own branch of the **Thir** Reich Army
who while experimenting to make humans immune to gamma radiation is (I think while-to-radiation should technically be set off my commas.)
He runs Stark Industries that was founded by his father, Howard Stark. (I think 'that' should be 'which'.)

Anyway, cheers!

[kellifer-fic.livejournal.com]

No, thank you! I hadn't cleaned it up for posting so this helps ALOT. :D

[the-other-sandy.livejournal.com]

Also, "U.S. Airforce" should be "U.S. Air Force."

[kellifer-fic.livejournal.com]

Thank you again!

I was writing this at work and for some reason the spell check doesn't work on LJ on my work connection. When I got home it was red squiggly spell-check-o-rama... hee!

[jesseofthenorth.livejournal.com]

Clear, concise and well put together. Well done!
There is another comm that might go on that list.
avengers100 an active Avengers drabble writing comm.

Great job putting this together!

[kellifer-fic.livejournal.com]

I will add it, thank you! I'm going to go through these comments one by one and make sure I don't miss anything! :D

[aderam.livejournal.com]

This is awesome!

Maybe put in a sentence about how sometimes the fandom uses info from the Comics'verse to expand on things? I think a lot of the recurring bits of character backstory would be confusing if I didn't know that they were cherry-picked from the comics canon.

[kellifer-fic.livejournal.com]

Ah, good idea! I will add a note at the bottom!

[tabaqui]

Oh, dear gods. All the comms. ALL THE COMMS!!!!
*flails*

[kellifer-fic.livejournal.com]

IKR - thank god avengers_2k is affiliated with like, nearly all of them so I was able to copy and paste most.

[lar_laughs.livejournal.com]

Love it! Can't wait to check out the comms I haven't joined yet.

I know JARVIS is ever so much cooler but you might mention Happy (http://marvel-movies.wikia.com/wiki/Harold_Hogan) because he's set to be in the Black Widow movie as well as Iron Man 3 and because Jon went to all the trouble to get the hair just right in the first two Iron Man movies. *grins*

[kellifer-fic.livejournal.com]

Hee - yep, Happy is going on the list. SO MANY CHARACTERS ARGH!

[lar_laughs.livejournal.com]

And, really, where should you stop? *grins* They are never ending!

[kellifer-fic.livejournal.com]

God I know! I know when I post this there's going to be lots of stuff I've missed still!

[lunadragonx.livejournal.com]

Brilliant post, so many new comms to try. lol

One not listed is my favourite. Thor/Steve.

http://hammerandshield.livejournal.com/

[kellifer-fic.livejournal.com]

Oooh, thanks - I will add it to the list!

I swear there's a new comm every day!

[leo-1978.livejournal.com]

Very good. I think that Bruce was experimenting with the Super Soldier serum and using Gamma radiation as a catalyst. You might mention General Ross and Betty.
LEO

[kellifer-fic.livejournal.com]

Wasn't Bruce trying to make people immune and it was General Ross that wanted the... oh heck, I don't know - it was the one movie I haven't seen so I was relying on the Marvel wiki, dodgy I know! I might vague it up a bit. Heh.

[lar_laughs.livejournal.com]

You know, I haven't found the Marvel wiki to be THAT helpful. It's not as complete as I would like it to be.

[kellifer-fic.livejournal.com]

I'm hoping others in the comm will have resource suggestions once I've posted this! :D

[bbuttercup.livejournal.com]

Here are a few more communities:

avengers_search (http://avengers-search.livejournal.com/)
avengers_rbb (http://avengers-rbb.livejournal.com/profile)
cap_im_finders (http://cap-im-finders.livejournal.com/profile)
capiron_bigbang (http://capiron-bigbang.livejournal.com/profile)
stevelovestony (http://stevelovestony.livejournal.com/profile)

[kellifer-fic.livejournal.com]

Thank you!