Chapter 798: No Time for Romance

As a typical Hollywood commercial blockbuster, the star-studded The Avengers would assemble an unprecedented cast of familiar superheroes: Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Hawkeye, Hulk, and Black Widow. Naturally, its press conference attracted a massive sea of reporters.

From the local Los Angeles Times to the East Coast's New York Times, from North America's Washington Post to continental Europe's Le Figaro, from the British Isles' The Times to the Japanese archipelago's Asahi Shimbun, and from the specialized Hollywood Reporter to the quintessential tabloid The Sun—reporters were dispatched from all over to attend the press conference.

"I have accepted Marvel Pictures' offer and will serve as the director of The Avengers."

Although he was the focal point of the press conference, Duke did not say much. Aside from announcing his signing with Marvel Pictures, he also confirmed that the film would be shot in 3D.

"The Avengers will be produced as a 3D movie, which is a very interesting prospect," he said.

He stated without hesitation, "I really dislike films made of long takes filled with endless dialogue. I prefer movies that make people feel completely immersed. Therefore, 3D perfectly aligns with my aesthetic preferences. Honestly, many films aren't suited for 3D conversion, but a 3D version of The Avengers definitely won't be off-putting. It has many scenes that will make the audience feel like they are right there in the movie. From that perspective, I'm very fond of a 3D The Avengers."

At the press conference, Duke voluntarily stepped aside. Promoting the actors generated much more buzz, and the six Avengers members had naturally become the focus of the media. Following the prearranged schedule, each of them spoke to the press about their roles in the film.

Chris Evans spoke first. His Captain America would be the soul of the Avengers.

"Traveling seventy years into the modern era, Captain America miraculously awakens and joins the Avengers..." Chris Evans said, bringing up the difficulties of the role. "He has a lot of new things to accept, and he needs to quickly adapt to the rapid changes in human morals, values, and science and technology in modern society. He has no relatives. No friends. He can't understand slang, and he doesn't know what the internet is. But he possesses rich combat experience and outstanding leadership skills, which will gradually turn the Avengers into a powerful, cohesive team."

Robert Downey Jr. focused on describing the relationship between his Iron Man and Captain America.

"Tony and Steve are like long-lost brothers," he said. "Tony's father, Howard Stark, liked Steve the most. Even though Tony is a playboy who is never without beautiful women and fine wine, he doesn't resent his father's favoritism. After meeting the Captain, Tony actually views him as a close friend, and at critical moments, he even coordinates his attacks according to Captain America's orders."

Mark Ruffalo confessed to the reporters, "To play Hulk well, I went to the zoo and observed the gorillas for a long time. I hope it gives me some inspiration for the role."

Afterward, the reporters practically swarmed Scarlett Johansson. Her Black Widow was the key character tying the entire Avengers team together.

"I'm very glad to continue playing Black Widow in The Avengers. I really like this character myself, and I'm thrilled that the fans enjoy my interpretation of her," she said.

When a reporter asked if her character would spark any romance with the other heroes, Scarlett replied directly, "For someone like Natalie Romanoff, romance is a child's game. Besides, the Avengers are very busy. There's no time for romance!"

After the actors spoke, things like the newly designed hero suits and some of Duke's leaked concept art also became focal points for the media.

The press conference lasted the entire morning. After attending the noon reception, Duke, acting as both producer and director, summoned all the key members of the film to Marvel Pictures for an internal meeting.

Marvel Pictures' office in Burbank wasn't large; it was just a small two-story building. Judging by its exterior alone, it was hard to imagine that this was the film company behind several global blockbuster hits. Instead, it looked more like one of those movie studios opened by Hollywood stars that could go bankrupt at any moment.

Just past noon, the place became a gathering spot for the Marvel heroes. The paparazzi trailing the stars practically wore out their camera shutters.

Black Widow Scarlett Johansson, Pepper Rachel McAdams, Iron Man Robert Downey Jr., Hulk Mark Ruffalo, Hawkeye Jeremy Renner, one-eyed Samuel Jackson...

And then there was Thor Chris Hemsworth and Loki Tom Hiddleston, who were already widely known despite their movie not having been released yet.

Since the press conference had just concluded, everyone knew that the strongest team on Earth was about to assemble.

When Duke arrived, many reporters surrounded him. As if they hadn't asked enough during the morning press conference, they tossed out all sorts of questions.

After casually answering a few, Duke hurried into the Marvel Pictures office building under the cover of his bodyguards. The trailing reporters completely surrounded Kevin Feige, who had just stepped out of his car. The CEO of Marvel Pictures wasn't as lucky as Duke.

Entertainment reporters threw out sharp, knife-like questions, many of which pertained to the film's style.

Faintly catching a few of the reporters' questions, Duke followed the receptionist up to the second-floor conference room.

Although The Avengers was a highly anticipated movie for countless comic fans and superhero lovers, it wasn't exactly a hot commodity in the eyes of most industry insiders. The reason was actually quite simple—there were too many heroes and too many different superpowers. They were too difficult to blend together.

Frankly speaking, The Avengers was a massive hodgepodge, and hodgepodge movies were never easy to produce.

Walking into the conference room, Duke nodded to Robert Downey Jr., Samuel Jackson, and the others who came over to greet him. He then took his seat at the head of the conference table. Once Kevin Feige arrived, the meeting officially began.

This was the crew's prep meeting, and there was nothing particularly special about it. In fact, most of these matters had already been discussed with the relevant personnel when the scripts were handed out. The prep meeting was more of a face-to-face coordination session where the main creative staff could discuss any potential issues.

Ensemble casts were a very troublesome matter. There were numerous characters in the film, and each one was an "A-lister." Furthermore, the screenwriters couldn't distribute the screen time perfectly evenly, making perceived "favoritism" inevitable. This could easily spark open and secret rivalries among the actors.

Fortunately, most of them were male actors, and struggles between men wouldn't be as endlessly entangled as those between women.

To prevent any of that future nonsense from hindering the shoot, Duke made a point to stand up and say a few words after the routine script reading concluded.

"Film is the art of regret. No matter the aspect or the timing, regrets will always be left behind. Plot-wise, Marvel, Stan Lee, and the screenwriters have already made their greatest efforts and attempts. They've done everything possible to balance it out," he said.

His gaze swept across everyone in the conference room as Duke said seriously, "But unfortunately, that's a rather unrealistic idea. Therefore, some superheroes can only be treated as supporting characters in this film."

As soon as Duke finished speaking, Kevin Feige chimed in cooperatively, "However, this won't be disappointing because there are a lot of action scenes in the film. Even with so many superheroes together, this movie is still fundamentally an action film. Just focus on those large-scale action sequences, because they are the flesh and blood of this movie."

In reality, these people couldn't really voice any complaints openly. After all, Duke wasn't the Joss Whedon of the past. His clout as a director was enough to keep these actors from turning their unrealistic ideas into anything more than mere thoughts.

For example, Captain America didn't have all that much screen time in the script. Even though he was the brain of the Avengers, he definitely wasn't the most dazzling character, and he even seemed more like a prop.

This was perfectly normal. When a group of superheroes gathered together, it was inevitable that some would stand out while others were reduced to props.

According to the script's setting, Iron Man Tony Stark definitely got the better end of the deal. Humorous, sharp-tongued, and arrogant, he ultimately became the "top gun" among the superheroes due to his courageous self-sacrifice. Aside from taking on all the most dangerous combat missions, Iron Man also fully utilized his immense energy as a comedian, constantly making wisecracks and "goofing off."

More specifically, the division of labor in the script was clear: Iron Man was in charge of showing off, Captain America was in charge of looking cool, Black Widow was in charge of flaunting her sex appeal, the one-eyed man was in charge of scheming, and Hawkeye was in charge of flexing his arms...

As for Thor, it was a continuation of "my brother tortures me a thousand times, yet I treat him like my first love."

This was done because there were simply too many main characters, making the script truly difficult to balance.

In fact, Stan Lee had once asked for Duke's opinion, hoping to remove Thor, who seemed like an eyesore of a character. However, he received a negative answer. After all, Duke wanted to make a movie that offered a panoramic display of these comic book characters.

"The film has a very comic-book-style script. It seems as if these members of the Avengers have just walked right out of their respective movies. Mixed together, all these elements look both silly and fascinating."

Facing everyone's gaze, Duke shared some of his directing philosophies. "We have mythological figures here, an American soldier from World War II, and a lone-wolf arms dealer like Tony Stark. Putting these characters together is not an easy task."

"Fundamentally speaking, this group of people doesn't belong in the same movie, but we are going to use one story to tie them all together. This story will attract the attention of superhero fans all over the world."