Chapter 822: Creative Freedom

As the release date approached, the promotional campaign for The Avengers entered its final sprint. Aside from the media outlets under Warner Brothers, even Marvel Comics stepped up to build hype for the film.

In their latest comic issues, Marvel Comics made a few changes to several of their most popular superheroes. In the universe the films were based on, Captain America grew old, Wolverine died, and Thor changed genders...

Even though Marvel had always loved messing around in their comics, this still drew the attention—and shock—of countless fans. After all, this wasn't some random alternate reality; this was the universe the movies used!

On the latest episode of the NBC talk show The View, several Marvel Comics executives sat down for an interview and deliberately leaked some information.

Will Moss, the current head of Marvel Comics' writing team, looked right into the camera and said, "The new Thor won't be a temporary female substitute. She is now the true and only Thor!"

Host Whoopi Goldberg made an exaggerated announcement on the show: "Today is a massive day for the Marvel Universe! Thor messed up and is no longer worthy of wielding his Divine Hammer. For the first time in history, the hammer will be given to a female character. Thor has become a woman!"

Co-host Jenny McCarthy chimed in with a timely explanation. "She created herself. She was saved by Thor and came to Earth, she followed him around and made herself look just like him, and now she's going to replace him in the comics."

At the same time, Marvel released an image of the new Thor alongside the Avengers. These promotional pictures immediately became the center of attention online, and the word "Avengers" shot straight to the top of Google's search trends.

Thor had transformed into a domineering, mature "Sister Hammer"!

The moment the news broke, it shocked countless netizens, comic fans, and moviegoers alike. A massive wave of jokes flooded the internet.

Spoof comments like "Thor becomes a Fairy Godmother" and "Thor changes genders for Loki" popped up endlessly.

This was all part of Marvel Comics' plan. Once the news had fermented to a certain point, Duke intentionally complained on his Instant Sharing and Twitter accounts: "A female Thor? What were they thinking!"

Netizens eagerly shared his post. Within a single day, the retweet count exceeded a million.

As if things weren't lively enough, Duke followed up by posting a badass, tomboyish photo of Gal Gadot. Seeing her standing among the Avengers in Thor's place led hordes of netizens to imagine a female Thor fighting alongside a bunch of wild, rugged men...

Although "Sister Hammer" and Loki might not actually have much of a connection, and this new comic series wouldn't necessarily affect the direction of the movies, combining this with Wolverine's impending death in the comics and rumors of Captain America rapidly aging and being replaced drew even more eyes to Marvel's superhero franchises.

Heading into the final week before the premiere of The Avengers, Warner Brothers and Marvel Comics jointly hosted an Avengers-themed art exhibition at Gallery 1988 in Los Angeles. Duke, Robert Downey Jr., and many other cast members made appearances. Reimagined by various artists, the superheroes took on entirely different looks, which proved incredibly interesting.

The gallery also provided Avengers-themed cupcakes, treating attendees to a sweet feast while giving them the chance to win precious premiere tickets.

Exploiting every possible situation to promote the film—this was a strategy that both Duke and Warner Brothers executed with unwavering determination.

Times had changed. The era when Hollywood could prop up an entire movie based solely on the star power of a single actor was long gone.

Even Duke, who possessed the most widespread army of "Duke fanboys" in North America, wouldn't dare claim that his fans would blindly buy into every single one of his projects.

Niche films, in particular, had almost nothing to do with personal star power. Their inherent flaws dictated that they would never be massive, mainstream blockbusters.

Of course, The Avengers absolutely did not fall into that category.

The primary focus of this kind of film was sheer entertainment. Aimed at the broadest possible audience, its first priority was to bring viewers the simplest and purest form of joy, and this brand of entertainment was exactly what the public loved most.

After all, people who went to the cinema to study philosophy and ponder the meaning of life were the minority of the minority.

As a movie buff who constantly followed news related to The Avengers, Rune Weber watched around seventy films a year. But the only ones that could actually get him to buy a ticket for a theatrical screening were big-budget commercial films. Other genres could easily be watched online, on television, or via DVD players, but visual effects blockbusters absolutely required a trip to the cinema.

He had also snagged a ticket to the premiere.

A black Acura departed from Hollywood Boulevard, driving steadily east past the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, which hosted the first Oscar Awards Ceremony. Sitting in the backseat, Duke looked away from the Chinese Theater and the massive Hollywood Highland Shopping Center sliding past his window, gazing further ahead through the front windshield.

The famous, towering Hollywood sign seemed to welcome everyone entering this vanity fair. Just today, media and fans from all directions converged on the resplendent El Capitan Theater, situated not far from the sign.

The premiere of The Avengers was being held right here.

Stepping out of the vehicle provided by the film's sponsor, Duke casually signed a few autographs before strolling down the long red carpet.

Following him, "Iron Man" Robert Downey Jr., "Thor" Chris Hemsworth, "Hulk" Mark Ruffalo, "Hawkeye" Jeremy Renner, "Black Widow" Scarlett Johansson, "Loki" Tom Hiddleston, "S.H.I.E.L.D. Director" Samuel Jackson, and Marvel Pictures CEO Kevin Feige all made their appearances one by one.

In addition, numerous other stars arrived to show their support.

The venue was star-studded, the fans' screams were deafening, and the atmosphere was explosive.

Among them, Robert Downey Jr. stole the show the most. He drove Iron Man's vehicle from the film—an Acura sports car—straight onto the red carpet. This drove the reporters and fans crazy, bringing wide smiles to the Honda Company, who was fully covering the premiere's expenses.

Standing in front of a promotional backdrop covered in sponsor names, Duke and the six superheroes posed, letting the reporters in front of them snap away.

The film was highly anticipated, and over five hundred journalists from around the globe had gathered in front of the El Capitan Theater.

It was no exaggeration to say that even before its release, The Avengers had stolen all the thunder of the Summer Season.

The film's global presales had kicked off ten days prior, triggering a fan frenzy that caught even theaters and ticketing websites off guard. The preliminary estimate for the ten days of North America presales sat at a staggering 90 million dollars—a figure that ninety-five percent of Hollywood films could never dream of reaching for their final box office totals.

The theater operators also placed immense importance on the film.

AMC Theaters, one of the largest chains in North America, launched an "Ultimate Marvel Marathon" across several of its major locations. Starting at 11:30 AM on May 4th, they consecutively screened the five superhero movies that paved the way for this film—Iron Man, Captain America, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, and Thor—followed by a midnight premiere of The Avengers on the 5th.

Although tickets for this event cost as much as forty dollars, presales were snapped up by fans early on, forcing AMC Theaters to urgently add more screenings.

The film was equally anticipated overseas. In the remaining three major English-speaking territories, midnight screening tickets sold out early on, and 3D and IMAX tickets for the opening three-day weekend were nearly impossible to find. To see the film as soon as possible, many fans simply brought sleeping bags and lined up overnight, drawing local media to the scenes for interviews and coverage.

"Hi, Steven."

As he entered the theater, Duke spotted the head of DreamWorks. Hearing the greeting, Spielberg quickly walked over and shook his hand. "Hello, Duke."

"I heard you're preparing Lincoln?" Duke asked as the two men walked toward the screening hall. "I read a novel a while ago, I think it was called Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter..."

"That has nothing to do with my movie." Spielberg shrugged.

Even former great leaders were subjected to Hollywood's parodies. This was the so-called creative freedom that Hollywood had spent decades establishing.

"The content of the film is about the constitutional amendments." Spielberg looked at Duke. "Don't tell me you're interested in this subject?"

"Of course not," Duke explained casually. "I heard Katherine Kennedy mention it the last time I went to Lucasfilm."

Katherine Kennedy had originally been Spielberg's secretary.

Afterward, their conversation shifted to the new Indiana Jones film, and they continued chatting as they made their way to the front row of the theater.

After Duke and the primary cast and crew came in, the theater, capable of holding over a thousand people, gradually quieted down. The later arrivals were all fans and journalists. Rune Weber moved with the crowd and eventually sat right at the boundary between the fan and press sections. Not far from him sat a reporter from Yahoo Entertainment and another from the Los Angeles Times.

"The day is finally here."

A man sitting next to him had barely settled into his seat before saying to his companion on the other side, "It's been five years since Iron Man came out. I've finally waited long enough to see The Avengers assembled."

His companion sighed with equal emotion, "I was in middle school when I first heard about Marvel's Avengers plan. Now I'm about to graduate college."

Hearing their words, Rune Weber sighed softly. He had also been waiting for this day for far too long.

It had been a long wait, a wait that spanned five whole years.

"The film is highly anticipated."

Another voice drifted over—it was the two journalists sitting close by, discussing the film's potential issues. "But this film crams in way too many characters. Especially the Big Three—Iron Man, Captain America, and Black Widow—they all have incredibly distinct images and personalities. Blending them together is going to be a massive problem. If they mess it up, the film will just become a hodgepodge."

The other reporter also nodded.

Unlike those two journalists, Rune Weber was brimming with confidence in The Avengers. He believed this film would deliver a spectacular show for them.