The screenplay for the 2012 superhero film “The Avengers” was written by filmmaker Joss Whedon. Whedon also directed the movie and reshaped its script as Marvel Studios brought its major heroes together for the first time in one film.
The project had previously been developed with writer Zak Penn, who received story credit alongside Whedon. Whedon was hired in 2010 and rewrote the screenplay, giving the finished film its distinctive balance of large-scale action, team conflict, comedy, and character-driven dialogue. That distinction explains why Penn may sometimes appear in discussions of the film’s writing history, while Whedon is the credited screenplay writer.
Released in the United States on May 4, 2012, “The Avengers” united Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Hulk, Black Widow, and Hawkeye against Loki and the Chitauri. It became the culmination of Marvel’s first cinematic phase and was a major worldwide box-office success. The film is also known as “Marvel’s The Avengers” and “Marvel Avengers Assemble” in the United Kingdom and Ireland.