I know this is a bit hard to believe, but for a while now Disney has bought the rights to Marvel.

I'm serious.

I'm not kidding. 

They techincally still own the rights to the movies and all that, but Marvel murchandise and such are now being sold at Disney Stores. 

Since I was such in a Marvel mode last weekend after seeing X-Men: Days of Future Past, why not celebrate with some marvel themed facts shall we?

Righteo then.

Disney Freaks! Assemble!

Fact #811

The first movie fully produced by the Marvel studio was Iron Man in 2008.

Fact #812

Roughly 450 separate pieces make up Iron Man’s suit. 

Fact #813

JARVIS, standing for “Just A Rather Very Intelligent System,” is Tony Stark’s computer system. This is a tribute to Edward Jarvis, Stark’s butler from the comics. He was changed to artificial intelligence to avoid comparisons to Batman/Bruce Wayne’s butler, Alfred Pennyworth.

Fact #814

Right before the final press conference, Tony Stark is seen reading a newspaper with a poor-quality photo of Iron Man on the cover. This is actually from a video shot by onlookers hiding in the bushes during the initial filming. 

Fact #815

Agent Phil Coulson, portrayed by Clark Gregg, was originally a much tinier part, only having the name “Agent.” As filming went on, his chemistry with the other actors became apparent and he was given more scenes. 

Fact #816

Hugh Jackman was offered the role of Iron Man. He was also offered the role of the Hulk. 

Fact #817

The Hulk speaks a total of six words: "Leave Me Alone", "Hulk Smash", and "Betty". 

Fact #818

According to Louis Leterrier, the final scene where Banner is grinning as he turns green, was a deliberate shot meaning that Bruce has finally learned to control the Hulk. In The Avengers, he reveals his secret for staying calm – he’s always angry. 

Fact #819

The live news footage from Culver City in the S.H.I.E.L.D. office is from The Incredible Hulk (2008) showing that the events of the second half of that film happen after the events in Iron Man 2. 

Fact #820

Scarlett Johansson dyed her hair red before she even got the part of Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow because she wanted the role that bad.

Fact #821

Howard Stark’s idea of a futuristic city is heavily based on Walt Disney’s television reveal of his EPCOT center. The 3D map mimics EPCOT’s and the posters behind Stark are from the World’s Fair, which Disney had an influence in. 

Fact #822

The dance Justin Hammer does before his presentation of the drones at the Expo is something actor Sam Rockwell does to get into character. Coincidentally, Rockwell was almost cast as Iron Man. 

Fact #823

Director Kenneth Branagh asked Anthony Hopkins to improvise his role of Odin during Thor’s banishment scene. Members of the cast/crew were crying during the shoot.

Fact #824

Dr. Erik Selvig mentions a companion who got involved with S.H.I.E.L.D., whom he described as a “pioneer in gamma radiation,” which is an allusion to Bruce Banner. He also mentions Hank Pym, better known as Ant-Man one of the founding members of The Avengers in the comics, during a deleted scene. 

Fact #825

The Norwegian village shown in a flashback is the same one the Red Skull invades to steal the Tesseract in Captain America: The First Avenger. 

Fact #826

Stan Lee claimed he always wanted to play Odin, but admit that he was happy with Anthony Hopkins casting and performance. 

Fact #827

Chris Evans was initially uninterested in Captain America. He declined the role 3 times before accepting. 

Fact #828

At the exhibition, there is a mannequin dressed in a red jumpsuit under a glass dome, which is a reference to the original Human Torch.

Fact #829

In the film we see that the serum stolen by the Hydra agent is broken, but another one shows up later in The Incredible Hulk (2008) with “Vita-Ray” clearly written on the refrigerator storage container. According to many, there were several attempts to recreate the Super-Solider experiment, but for unexplained reasons, it has only ever worked on Steve Rodgers. 

Fact #830

Originally cameos had been planned for James Logan Howlett (Wolverine) and Erik Lensherr (Magneto) due to their existence during World War II (Logan as a solider and Erik as prisoner). However, because of rights issues these cameos were scrapped. 

Fact #831

The Captain America comic book shown in the movies bears the cover of the actual Captain America #1 released in 1941. 

Fact #832

After Thor removes Loki from the Quinjet onto the mountain side, you can see two large ravens flying overhead as they are talking. In Norse mythology, their father Odin had two ravens, Huginn and Muninn, that would bring Odin information from Midgard.

Fact #833

On the set, Robert Downey Jr. kept food hidden everywhere and no one could ever find it. When his character Tony Stark offers Dr. Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) blueberries, that moment was completely unscripted. He was just hungry. 

Fact #834

The scene where Bruce Banner confesses he once attempted to kill himself by shooting himself in the head is an exact reference to a deleted scene from The Incredible Hulk (2008) where Edward Norton’s version of Bruce Banner tried this in the middle of Alaska’s wilderness, only to be stopped by his transformation into the Hulk. 

Fact #835

In the film, Captain America is the founding member, but in the comic-verse, he was unfrozen in Avengers #4, when he was accidentally discovered by the team as they searched for Namor the Sub Mariner. 

Fact #836

In Thor, Jeremy Renner only shot with his right hand. To prepare for The Avengers, Renner trained with Olympic archers to use both hands. 

Fact #837

The reason Spiderman was not invited to The Avengers is because Marvel (comics) had sold the rights to Sony.

Fact #838

In true Tony Stark humor, he tells a young child with glasses he loved him in A Christmas Story. Peter Billingsley, who played Ralphie in that film, was an executive producer for Iron Man and even had a small role. 

Fact #839

The dragon tattoos featured on Aldrich Killan’s chest are a homage to another Iron Man villain, Fin Fang Foom. 

Fact #840

The original post-credits scene was Tony Stark blasting off to space, where he meets the Guardians of the Galaxy. Iron Man was intended to have a cameo role in that film, but due to Robert Downey Jr.’s announcement he might hang up his suit, they opted for the scene with Bruce Banner. Which Robert suggested. 

*********

Hope you all enjoyed these marvel facts as much as I did!

"Always we will fight as one

Till the battle's won

With evil on the run

We never come undone

Assemble, we are strong

Forever fight as one

Assembled we are strong

Forever fight as one

Avengers Assemble!"