THE AVENGERS
Written by
Joss Whedon
"And there came a day, a day unlike any other, when Earth's
mightiest heroes and heroines found themselves united against a
common threat. On that day, the Avengers were born--to fight the
foes no single superhero could withstand! Through the years,
their roster has prospered, changing many times, but their glory
has never been denied! Heed the call, then--for now, the Avengers
Assemble!"
BURNING BLUE FLAMES. A smoky cube shape emerges - THE TESSERACT.
Filling the screen with BLACKNESS.
CUT TO:
EXT. THRONE ROOM, SPACE � NIGHT
Kneeling behind a THRONE, a CLOTHED, ARMORED FIGURE known as THE
OTHER, bows.
THE OTHER (V.O.)
The Tesseract has awakened. It is on a
little world. A human world. They would
wield its power,...
CUT TO:
THE OTHER faces a HORNED SHAPED SHADOW. LOKI. Loki is handed the
CHITAURI SCEPTER, a long golden handle, fitted with a blue gem
encircled with silver blades.
THE OTHER (V.O.)
But our ally knows its workings as they
never will. He is ready to lead. And
our force, our Chitauri, will follow.
HIGH WIDE ON: TENS OF THOUSANDS of CHITAURI stand ready in a
seething mass of neat rows and columns....the ground simply
QUAKES.
THE OTHER (V.O.)
The world will be his. The universe
yours. And the humans, what can they do
but burn?
CUT TO:
EXT. S.H.I.E.L.D. PROJECT P.E.G.A.S.U.S FACILITY � NIGHT
Out in the NEW MEXICO desert, a remote research facility is in a
state of panic. It's an evacuation. A SWOOPING helicopter flies
in.
CHAOS. Men in suits run around like in the typical `we have to
leave' fashion. Soldiers on foot jump onto Humvees, accelerating
the hell out of there. A VOICE bellows from hidden loudspeakers.
EXT. HELICOPTER PAD � CONTINUOUS
Standing a few yards from the landing pad, A Fed in a suit with
badass shades, peers at the helicopter as it lands. This is
SHIELD AGENT PHIL COULSON.
Walking out of the helicopter is SHIELD AGENT MARIA HILL, SEXY,
FIERCE AND DETERMINED. Following her, SHIELD DIRECTOR NICK FURY
climbs out. Hill and Fury approach Agent Coulson.
NICK FURY
How bad is it?
AGENT PHIL COULSON
That's the problem, sir. We don't know.
INT. FACILITY FLOOR � NIGHT
Agent Coulson leads Hill and Fury through the radiation section
of the facility. Hundreds of technicians and other staff run
around, taking only the essentials.
AGENT PHIL COULSON
Dr. Selvig read an energy surge from
the Tesseract four hours ago.
NICK FURY
NASA didn't authorize Selvig to test
phase.
AGENT PHIL COULSON
He wasn't testing it, he wasn't even in
the room. Spontaneous advancement.
AGENT MARIA HILL
It just turned itself on?
NICK FURY
What are the energy levels now?
AGENT PHIL COULSON
Climbing. When Selvig couldn't shut it
down, we ordered the evac.
NICK FURY
How long to get everyone out?
AGENT PHIL COULSON
Campus should be clear in the next half
hour.
NICK FURY
Do better.
CONTINUOUSLY HEADING DOWN TO RADIATION FACILITY FLOOR
AGENT MARIA HILL
Sir, evacuation may be futile.
NICK FURY
We should tell them to go back to
sleep?
AGENT MARIA HILL
If we can't control the Tesseract's
energy, there may not be a minimum safe
distance.
NICK FURY
I need you to make sure that PHASE 2
prototypes are shipped out.
AGENT MARIA HILL
Sir, is that really a priority right
now?
NICK FURY
Until such time as the world ends, we
will act as though it intends to spin
on. Clear out the tech below. Every
piece of PHASE 2 on a truck and gone.
AGENT MARIA HILL
Yes, sir.
(to standing agents)
With me.
INT. NASA SPACE RADIATION FACILITY, VACUUM CHAMBER � CONTINUOUS
Fury enters the lab facility where the Tesseract is being held
by a COMPACT MUON SOLENOID COIL CHAMBER.
NICK FURY
Talk to me, doctor.
DR. ERIK SELVIG emerges from behind the CMS machine, concerned.
The Tesseract is glowing unusually brighter and flare rings
shoot out at random.
SELVIG
Director.
NICK FURY
Is there anything we know for certain?
SELVIG
Tesseract is misbehaving.
NICK FURY
Is that supposed to be funny?
SELVIG
No, it's not funny at all. The
Tesseract is not only active,
she's...misbehaving.
NICK FURY
How soon until you pull the plug?
SELVIG
She's an energy source. If we turn off
the power, she turns it back on. If she
reaches peak level...
NICK FURY
We've prepared for this, doctor.
Harnessing energy from space.
SELVIG
We don't have the harness. Our
calculations are far from complete. Now
she's throwing off interference,
radiation. Nothing harmful, low levels
of gamma radiation.
NICK FURY
That can be harmful. Where's Barton?
SELVIG
The Hawk? Up in his nest, as usual.
We see CLINT BARTON, dressed in black tactical gear, is up on
the railings watching them below, Fury calls Barton on his
earpiece.
NICK FURY
Agent Barton, report.
BARTON rappels down from the catwalk. Walks up to Fury. They
both walk around the facility in a discreet manner.
NICK FURY
I gave you this detail so you could
keep a close eye on things.
CLINT BARTON
Well, I see better from a distance.
NICK FURY
Are you seeing anything that might set
this thing off?
NASA SCIENTIST
(TO SELVIG)
Doctor, it's spiking again.
CLINT BARTON
No one's come or gone. It's oven is
clean. No contacts, no I.M.'s. If there
was any tampering, sir, it wasn't at
this end.
NICK FURY
At this end?
CLINT BARTON
Yeah, the cube is a doorway to the
other end of space, right? The doors
open from both sides.
DR. SELVIG clacks away at the keyboard and sees on the
monitoring his worst nightmares. Suddenly- the Tesseract
THUNDERS and SHAKES the entire facility. Big enough where both
Agents Hill and Coulson can feel and they're at different ends
of the facility.
The flaring rings and glow of the cube spout out brighter and
louder, like a boiling pot of water. The Tesseract's energy
builds up into a BEAM much like the Bifrost Bridge, which HITS
at the end of a platform that is wired to the CMS device. The
great maelstrom beam FIRES the TESSERACT energy. The beam then
forms a VORTEX, which then opens up a PORTAL.
A BLACK HOLE IS CREATED. From the portal, the blackness of
SPACE, beautiful and mysterious, strewn with a billion stars
appears and a GUST of BLUE ENERGY CLOUDS fill the room, blinding
everyone.
The Tesseract's energy forms into a cloud that reaches to the
top the facility's vacuum chamber ceiling. It's abnormally
quiet. Then... HEAVY BREATHING is heard from the platform.
SHIELD GUARDS slowly approach, weapons in hands. A figure is
kneeling on the platform, smoke coming off it. It's LOKI.
Smiling in his mischievous manner, he raises his head. The smile
dies down. He looks deep into the eyes of Fury, Barton and
Selvig. He stands up, holing the scepter.
NICK FURY
Sir, please put down the spear!
Loki looks at his spear then suddenly points it at where Fury
and Barton are standing and SHOOTS OUT A BLUE EXPLODING LIGHT
TOWARDS THEM. BARTON TACKLES Fury and they both barely miss
Loki's fired shot.
ALL HELL BREAKS. Machine gun fire is shot at Loki, but the
bullets bounce off him like a boss. Loki jumps high from the
platform and ATTACKS those firing at him.
In the blink of an eye, Loki takes down several guards with his
KNIVES and ENERGY BLASTS from the scepter. He stops and waits to
see who will attack him next. Honestly, the whole lab has almost
gone to shit.
Barton tries to stand up. Loki quickly walks towards him. Barton
raises his gun, but Loki grabs Barton's hand.
LOKI
You have heart.
Loki points the head of his spear at Barton's head. Barton's
eyes suddenly glow BLACK. The ability to control Barton's mind
is now in Loki's hand. Barton puts his piece away and stands
straight.
As Loki is busy using his abilities to control the minds of
several S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel, Fury takes the Tesseract,
placing it back into its case and tries to leave the lab.Then...
LOKI
Please don't. I still need that.
NICK FURY
(TURNING)
This doesn't have to get any messier.
LOKI
Of course it does. I've come too far
for anything else. I am Loki of Asgard,
and I am burdened with glorious
purpose.
SELVIG
Loki? Brother of Thor?
NICK FURY
We have no quarrel with your people.
LOKI
An ant has no quarrel with a boot.
NICK FURY
You planning to step on us?
LOKI
I come with glad tidings, of a world
made free.
NICK FURY
Free from what?
LOKI
Freedom. Freedom is life's great lie.
Once you accept that, in your heart...
Like a gunslinger, Loki turns to face Selvig who's
standingbehind him and places his spear against Selvig's heart.
Selvig's eyes glow BLACK.
LOKI
You will know peace.
NICK FURY
Yeah, you say peace, I kind of think
you mean the other thing.
From the vacuum chamber ceiling, Tesseract's energy cloud
RAPIDLY builds into what may be an implosion.
CLINT BARTON
Sir, Director Fury is stalling. This
place is about to blow. Drop a hundred
feet of rock on us. He means to bury
us.
NICK FURY
Like The Pharaohs of Odin.
SELVIG
He's right. The portal is collapsing in
on itself. You got maybe two minutes
before this goes critical.
LOKI
Well, then...
Loki, looking at Barton, who doesn't even hesitate, SHOOTS FURY
WHO FALLS TO THE GROUND. Barton grabs the case containing the
Tesseract and leaves the lab with Loki, Selvig and the other
S.H.I.E.L.D personnel Loki is controlling.
INT. P.E.G.A.S.U.S BUNKER, ENTRANCE OF EXITING TUNNEL � NIGHT
Loki, Barton, Selvig and the other S.H.I.E.L.D personnel are in
the parking lot of the facility, quickly gathering certain
weapons. Agent Hill watches in confusion, referring to Loki.
CLINT BARTON
(pointing to the Loki team)
Need these vehicles.
AGENT MARIA HILL
Who's that?
CLINT BARTON
He didn't tell me.
Agent Hill looks suspiciously at them as they get into the truck
and turns to leave, as she's walking away...
NICK FURY
(through the walkie talkie)
Hill, do you copy?!
Loki and Barton SHARPLY look at Agent Hill.
BACK AT THE LAB
Fury is sitting up, pulling out the bullet, breathing heavily.
NICK FURY
Barton is...
INT. P.E.G.A.S.U.S BUNKER � NIGHT
Suddenly, Hill turns to SHOOT AT BARTON, but Barton is already
POINTING HIS GUN at her and starts SHOOTING, he moves the
driver's seat of the truck and DRIVES OFF as Hill keeps
shooting.
BACK AT THE LAB
Fury is holding his side, running.
NICK FURY
He's got the Tesseract! Track it down!
The energy is really brewing a fucking shit storm from the
vacuum chamber ceiling.
INT. P.E.G.A.S.U.S BUNKER/TUNNEL � NIGHT
Agent Hill SLIPS into a JEEP and follows after Barton's
truck.Loki's trucks SCREECH across the tunnel. Several SHIELD
trucks pull up to them. A drive-by shooting ensues.
Loki, who stands on top of the bed of the truck, uses his
scepter and EMITS energy blasts, flipping over SHIELD trucks.
They get in, the cars roar out after them. Agent Hill puts
herself at a distance.
INT. FACILITY FLOOR � NIGHT
Fury races out of the hallway, avoiding falling pipes. The
entire facility is now in a full earthquake.
INT. FACILITY FLOOR, ELSEWHERE � CONTINUOUS
Agent Coulson and several SHIELD agents fall down the steps,
dropping SILVER CASES of information. They attempt to grab them,
but...
AGENT PHIL COULSON
No! Leave it!
They run out of there like a bat from hell.
INT. P.E.G.A.S.U.S TUNNEL � NIGHT
Agent Hill's JEEP ROARS out of a side of Barton's truck and
pulls up alongside them on the left. She goes way ahead and
pulls her brake, swerving into a 360, facing Barton's truck and
driving in reverse.
Barton's ARMS reach out the open window and OPENS FIRE. Agent
Hill figures `fuck it' and SHOOTS her windshield OPENING FIRE on
Barton.
EXT. VAN � NIGHT
Agent Coulson jumps into a SHIELD VAN. On his walkie:
AGENT PHIL COULSON
You're clear, sir! You need to go!
EXT. HELICOPTER PAD � CONTINUOUS
Fury BOLTS out of the facility and jumps into a helicopter. The
surface of the pad gives way, PLUNGING the helicopter through
the surface. But Fury's chopper BARELY makes it out.
INT. P.E.G.A.S.U.S TUNNEL � NIGHT
Still in a chase and drive-by sequence, Barton's pushes the
pedal harder, which causes Agent Hill's JEEP to WOBBLE out and
put her back behind.
INT. RADIATION FACILITY, VACUUM CHAMBER � NIGHT
The Tesseract's energy cloud now SHRINKS into a SMALL BALL OF
WHITE LIGHT. Then...
A CLOUD OF BLUE LIGHT CONSUMES THE ENTIRE FACILITY AND PARTS OF
THE DESERT. Fury watches from below, a RAPID build-up into what
may be an implosion. Several miles away, Agent Coulson's van
feels a JOLT of the Tesseract's BLASTWAVE. THE ENTIRE FACILITY
SWALLOWS INTO ITSELF-- A TERRIFYING, UNIMAGINABLE IMPLOSION.
INT. P.E.G.A.S.U.S TUNNEL � NIGHT
The BLASTWAVE of the Tesseract causes the tunnel to cave it.
Like an ocean wave, blinding crumbles of falling rock, fall onto
Agent Hill's JEEP, leaving her NEARLY trapped under this blanket
of rock.
On the Barton's truck, they escape the tunnel and drive into the
desert landscape. Fury's helicopter ROARS over Barton's truck.
Loki looks up.
From the chopper's door, it slides open and Fury stands there,
holding a gun, SHOOTING at Barton's, giving an honoring image of
JULES WINNFIELD.
Loki looks at Fury and in a fit of RAGE, points his scepter
SHOOTS OUT THE BLUE LIGHT. The chopper CATCHES on fire, GOING
DOWN in a FIERY BALL. Fury, like the boss he is, JUMPS OUT and
touches down onto the desert floor. The chopper BARRELS along
the ground.
Fury, coming back to his senses, FIRES at Loki, but they're
toofar and too late. Loki looks back, smiling. Fury stands
there, MIND REELING. Then...
AGENT PHIL COULSON
(WALKIE TALKIE)
Director? Director Fury, do you copy?
NICK FURY
The Tesseract is with the hostile
force. I have men down. Hill?
INT. P.E.G.A.S.U.S TUNNEL � NIGHT
Agent Hill climbs out her JEEP, which is sandwiched in, but
luckily, not her.
AGENT MARIA HILL
A lot of men still under, don't know
how many survivors.
EXT. DESERT � NIGHT
NICK FURY
Sound the general call. I want every
living soul not working rescue looking
for that brief case.
AGENT MARIA HILL
(WALKIE TALKIE)
Roger that.
NICK FURY
Coulson, get back to base. This is a
LEVEL SEVEN. As of right now, we are at
war.
A beat.
AGENT PHIL COULSON
(WALKIE TALKIE)
What do we do?
Fury stands there. Thinking. He looks up. On his face is sign of
hope.
THE AVENGERS
EXT. RUSSIA, SOLENSKI PLAZA, 3RD FLOOR � NIGHT
Out in the outskirts, near a railroad, a still in construction
building is being occupied by GEORGI LUCHKOV, a LARGE, RUSSIAN
GENERAL along with his THUGS.
TALL THUG is in the middle of a brutal beating on NATASHA
ROMANOFF, a SLEWING, FOXY, UNBELIEVABLY SEXY SPY. He BACKHANDS
NATASHA'S face. She feels the pain, but does not breakdown.
LUCHKOV, smiling, walks up to her. Dialogue is in RUSSIAN.
LUCHKOV
This is not how I wanted the evening to
go.
NATASHA
I know how you wanted this evening to
go. Believe me, this is better.
LUCHKOV
I'd like to know why they sent you to
carry out a carrier, a stained glass
and other random items.
TALL THUG rocks her chair back, balancing her off the edge of an
open floor. Natasha is now scared.
NATASHA
I thought General Soholob was in charge
of the export business.
LUCHKOV
Soholob? Your reputation is quite a
progression. THE FAMOUS BLACK WIDOW.
Nothing but a pretty face.
NATASHA
You really think I'm pretty?
LUCHKOV slowly walks over to a table filled with tools. He picks
up a pair of pliers. TALL THUG opens up her mouth wide open.
LUCHKOV
We do not need the Lermontov to
transfer the tanks. Tell him, well,...
(IN ENGLISH)
You may have to write it down.
Suddenly, WEASELLY THUG'S cell rings. Confused, he answers.
WEASELLY THUG
Ya?
(looks at LUCHKOV)
It's for you.
LUCHKOV takes the phone, pissed.
LUCHKOV
Who the hell is...
AGENT PHIL COULSON
You're at 114 Solenski Plaza, 3rd floor.
We have an F22 exactly 8 miles out. Put
the woman on the phone or I will blow
up the block before you can make the
lobby.
HOLY SHIT. LUCHKOV places the cell phone against Natasha's ear
seeing how she's tied to a chair with her hands tied behind her
back.
AGENT PHIL COULSON
We need you to come in.
NATASHA
Are you kidding? I'm working!
AGENT PHIL COULSON
This takes precedence.
NATASHA
I'm in the middle of an interrogation
and this moron is giving me everything.
LUCHKOV
I don't give everything.
Natasha gives him a look.
NATASHA
Look, you can't pull me out of this
right now.
AGENT PHIL COULSON
Natasha. Barton's been compromised.
A beat.
NATASHA
Let me put you on hold.
She nods to LUCHKOV. As Luchkov comes to take the phone off her,
Natasha HITS him with her leg and HEADBUUTS him. Like a spider,
she stands up elegantly and starts ATTACKING TALL THUG by
KICKBOXING him in the face.
Still tied, she ROLLS over WEASELLY THUG after she trips him.
She then STOMPS on TALL THUG foot with peg of the chair, then
KNOCKS HIM OUT WITH HER HEAD.
Yeah, during all this Coulson is still waiting on the line. She
then FLIPS over and FALLS down hard on WEASELLY THUG, BREAKING
THE CHAIR. She sees TALL THUG stand.
Giving her momentum, she runs at him DROP KICKING him, FALLS
DOWN and FLIPS right back up and WRAPS HER LEGS AROUND HIS NECK
AND KNOCKS HIM OUT COLD.
She grabs LUCHKOV, wraps his leg around with a hanging chain and
drops him down the open floor, dangling. She picks up the phone
and her heels, like a boss.
NATASHA
Where's Barton now?
AGENT PHIL COULSON
We don't know.
NATASHA
But he's alive.
AGENT PHIL COULSON
We think so. I'll brief you on
everything when you get back. But
first, we need you to talk to the big
guy.
NATASHA
Coulson, you know that Stark trusts me
about as far as he can throw me.
AGENT PHIL COULSON
No, I've got Stark. You get the big
guy.
NATASHA
Bozhe moi.
EXT. INDIAN SLUM � NIGHT
A LITTLE GIRL runs through the crowd, trying to force a way
through.
INT. SHACK � NIGHT
A tiny shack. The LITTLE GIRL runs up the steps, only to be
stopped by an attending woman. Then, the LITTLE GIRL spots him.
BRUCE BANNER, their LOCAL doctor.
ATTENDING WOMAN
What are doing here?! Get out! You
shouldn't be here!
LITTLE GIRL
I have to see the doctor! It's my
father!
BANNER
Calm down. What's wrong?
LITTLE GIRL
My father...
Banner looks behind him seeing how the girl is staring at a few
people, lying down, looking very sick.
BANNER
Is he like them?
The LITTLE GIRL holds out all the money she has in the world.
LITTLE GIRL
Please.
EXT. SLUMS � CONTINUOUS
Banner and the LITTLE GIRL hastily run nearly to the edge of
town. The LITTLE GIRL gets ahead of herself. Banner spots local
government car, he turns around, blocking any view of him.
EXT/INT. LITTLE GIRL'S SHACK � NIGHT
Banner quickly follows the LITTLE GIRL inside her house. As he
walks in, the LITTLE GIRL ESCAPES THROUGH THE WINDOW. Banner is
left standing there like a dumbass.
BANNER
Should have got paid up front, Banner.
Natasha then appears from behind the curtains. Banner turns
around, quietly.
NATASHA
You know, for a man who's supposed to
be avoiding stress, you picked a hell
of a place to settle.
BANNER
Avoiding stress isn't the secret.
NATASHA
Then, what is it? Yoga?
BANNER
You brought me to the edge of the city,
smart. I uh... assume the whole place
is surrounded?
NATASHA
Just you and me.
BANNER
And your actress buddy, is she a spy
too? Do they start that young?
NATASHA
I did.
BANNER
Who are you?
NATASHA
Natasha Romanoff.
BANNER
Are you here to kill me, Miss Romanoff?
Because that's not gonna work out for
everyone.
NATASHA
No. No. Of course not. I'm here on
behalf of SHIELD.
BANNER
SHIELD. How did they find me?
NATASHA
We never lost you, doctor. We've kept
our distance, even helped keep some
other interested parties off your
scent.
BANNER
Why?
NATASHA
Nick Fury seems to trust you. But now I
need you to come in.
BANNER
What if I said no?
NATASHA
I'll persuade you.
BANNER
And what if the... other guy says no?
NATASHA
You've been more than a year without an
incident. I don't think you wanna break
that streak.
BANNER
I don't always get what I want.
NATASHA
Doctor, we're facing a potential global
catastrophe.
BANNER
Well, those I actively try to avoid.
NATASHA
This is the Tesseract. It has the
potential energy to wipe out the
planet.
She shows him a photo of the Tesseract on her cell phone. Banner
takes a closer look.
BANNER
What does Fury want me to do? Swallow
it?
NATASHA
Well, he wants you to find it. It's
been taken. It emits a gamma signature
that's too weak for us to trace.
There's no one that knows gamma
radiation like you do. If there was,
that's where I'd be.
BANNER
So Fury isn't after the monster?
NATASHA
Not that he's told me.
BANNER
And he tells you everything?
NATASHA
Talk to Fury, he needs you on this.
BANNER
He needs me in a cage?
NATASHA
No one's gonna put you in a...
BANNER
STOP LYING TO ME!
The THUNDEROUS TONE in is voice makes Natasha QUICKLY grab her
gun and point it at him, but something is now OFF in the
atmosphere. Banner stands straight up, smiling.
BANNER
I'm sorry, that was mean. I just wanted
to see what you'd do. Why don't we do
this the easy way, where you don't use
that, and the other guy doesn't make a
mess? Okay? Natasha...
Natasha, still wary, doesn't lower her gun. She lowers her gun
and speaks into her earpiece.
NATASHA
Stand down. We're good here.
EXT. OUTSIDE THE LITTLE GIRL'S SHACK � NIGHT
Amazingly, DOZENS OF SHIELD AGENTS are surrounding the shack
outside.
INT. LITTLE GIRL'S SHACK � NIGHT
Banner looks at Natasha, charming a smile at her.
BANNER
Just you and me?
Natasha fidgets now that she exposed her guard down.
INT. SHIELD ANALYTICAL ROOM � NIGHT
Fury is facing several LARGE MONITORS as he as a conference with
members of the WORLD SECURITY COUNCIL.
WORLD SECURITY COUNCIL #1
This is out of line, Director. You're
dealing with forces you can't control.
NICK FURY
You ever been in a war, Councilman? In
a firefight? Did you feel an
overabundance of control?
WORLD SECURITY COUNCIL #1
You saying that this Asgard has
declared war on our planet?
NICK FURY
Not Asgard. Loki.
WORLD SECURITY COUNCIL #2
He can't be working alone. What about
the other one? His brother.
NICK FURY
Our intelligence says, Thor is not a
hostile. But he's worlds away, we can't
depend on him to help. It's up to us.
WORLD SECURITY COUNCIL #1
Which is why you should be focusing on
phase 2, it was designed for exactly...
NICK FURY
PHASE 2 isn't ready, our enemy is. We
need a response team.
WORLD SECURITY COUNCIL #1
The Avengers Initiative was shut down.
NICK FURY
This isn't about The Avengers.
WORLD SECURITY COUNCIL #1
We're running the world's greatest
covert security network and you're
gonna leave the fate of human race to a
handful of freaks.
NICK FURY
I'm not leaving anything to anyone. We
need a response team. These people
maybe isolated, unbalanced even, but I
believe with the right push they can be
exactly what we need.
WORLD SECURITY COUNCIL #2
You believe?
WORLD SECURITY COUNCIL #1
War isn't won by sentiment, Director.
NICK FURY
No, it's won by soldiers.
INT. BROOKLYN GYM � NIGHT
Somewhere in an old, almost WWII-esque boxing gym, STEVE ROGERS,
a man out of time, THE FIRST AVENGER, FUCKIN' CAPTAIN AMERICA is
PUMMELING a punching bag. With every swing, it's like a memory
he's trying to fight off and repress.
EXT. HYDRA BASE � DAY (FLASHBACK)
Captain America is running through the forest, dodging mortars,
gunfire and the Tesseract's energy firearms.
STEVE (V.O.)
There's not enough time! I gotta put
her in the water!
INT. BROOKLYN GYM � NIGHT
Steve's rage keeps building as he punches the bag. It gets
harder...
INT. HORTEN H.XVIII, RED SKULL'S SHIP � DAY (FLASHBACK)
Steve places his COMPASS with an image of PEGGY CARTER. The time
is here for him to crash the plane.
INT. BROOKLYN GYM � NIGHT
Steve closes his eyes. Goes at the bag harder.
PEGGY (V.O.)
You won't be alone.
INT. HORTEN H.XVIII, RED SKULL'S SHIP � DAY (FLASHBACK)
The RED SKULL picks up the TESSERACT.
INT. BROOKLYN GYM � NIGHT
Steve opens his eyes and fuckin' tears the bag as the last
memory kicks in. I don't think he can physically stop...
SHIELD SCIENTIST (V.O.)
Oh my god!
INT. PROJECT P.E.G.A.S.U.S, ANTARCTICA � DAY (FLASHBACK)
A half frozen Steve Roger is lying down on a medical slab. Two
SHIELD SCIENTISTS run over hi-tech devices to see if his vitals
are up. And it seems...
SHIELD SCIENTIST
This guy is still alive!
INT. BROOKLYN GYM � NIGHT
Steve FUCKING tears the bag open, off its chain, spilling out
the sand. He stands, breathing hard, letting out 70 years of
over repressed feeling.
After taking a few breathers, Steve picks up another punching
bag, which is laying next another DOZEN BAGS. He hooks the bag
up and starts punching again. Fury walks in.
NICK FURY
Trouble sleeping?
STEVE
I slept for seventy years, sir. I think
I've had my fill.
NICK FURY
Then you should be out, celebrating,
seeing the world.
Steve stops punching and walks over to the bench, unraveling the
tape off his hands. He sits down.
STEVE
I went under, the world was at war, I
wake up, they say we won. They didn't
say what we lost.
NICK FURY
We've made some mistakes along the way.
Some very recently.
STEVE
You here with a mission, sir?
NICK FURY
I am.
STEVE
Trying to get me back in the world?
NICK FURY
Trying to save it.
Fury hands Steve a file on the Tesseract, along with other files
on HYDRA'S projects.
STEVE
Hydra's secret weapon.
NICK FURY
Howard Stark fished that out of the
ocean when he was looking for you. He
thought what we think, the Tesseract
could be the key to unlimited
sustainable energy. That's something
the world sorely needs.
STEVE
Who took it from you?
NICK FURY
He's called Loki. He's not from around
here. There's a lot we'll have to bring
you up to speed on if you're in. The
world has gotten even stranger than you
already know.
STEVE
At this point, I doubt anything would
surprise me.
NICK FURY
Ten bucks says you're wrong. There's a
debriefing package waiting for you back
at your apartment.
Steve turns and picks up a punching bag. Starts walking out of
the gym.
NICK FURY
Is there anything you can tell us about
the Tesseract that we ought to know
now?
STEVE
You should have left it in the ocean.
INT. OCEAN � NIGHT
Out in the Atlantic Ocean, TONY STARK, in his IRON MAN suit, is
cutting a PIPELINE TRANSPORT with a laser cutter coming from his
hand. He then places a STARK ENERGY REACTOR. It lights up. IRON
MAN rockets out of the water and flies towards STARK TOWER.
TONY
You're good on this end. The rest is up
to you.
PEPPER POTTS
(on the other line)
You disconnected the transition lines?
Are we off the grid?
INSIDE THE SUIT -- PEPPER APPEARS ON HIS HUD MONITOR.
TONY
Stark Tower is about to become a beacon
of self-sustaining clean energy.
PEPPER
Wow. So maybe our reactor takes over
and it actually works?
TONY
I assume. Light her up.
As IRON MAN flies to the STARK TOWER BUILDING, the power is
switched on and the STARK sign LIGHTS UP.
PEPPER
How does it look?
TONY
Like Christmas, but with more... me.
PEPPER
Gotta go wider on the public awareness
campaign. You need to do some press. I
can do some more tomorrow. I'm working
on the zoning for the next billboards.
TONY
Pepper, you're killing me. Remember?
Enjoy the moment.
PEPPER
Then get in here and I will.
TONY arrives at his skyscraper penthouse and is in the process
of taking off his IRON MAN suit through a hi-tech gauntlet of
gadgets.
JARVIS
Sir, Agent Coulson of SHIELD is on the
line.
TONY
I'm not in. I'm actually out.
JARVIS
Sir, I'm afraid he's insisting.
TONY
Close the line Jarvis. I got a date.
INT. TONY'S PENTHOUSE � NIGHT
PEPPER POTTS stares up at the monitors of the reactor device.
PEPPER
Levels are holding steady... I think.
TONY
Of course they are, I was directly
involved. Which brings me to my next
question: how does it feel to be a
genius?
PEPPER
Well, ha, I really wouldn't know now,
would I?
TONY
What do you mean? All this came from
you.
PEPPER
No. All this came from that.
Points to the energy in his chest plate.
TONY
Give yourself some credit, please.
Stark Tower is your baby. Give
yourself... twelve percent of the
credit.
PEPPER
Twelve percent?
TONY
An argument can be made for fifteen.
PEPPER
Twelve percent? For my baby?
TONY
Well, I did do all the heavy lifting.
Literally, I lifted the heavy things.
And sorry, but the security snafu? That
was on you.
PEPPER
Oooooh.
TONY
My private elevator...
PEPPER
You mean OUR elevator?
TONY
...was teeming with sweaty workmen. I'm
going to pay for that comment about
percentages in some subtle way later,
aren't I?
Pepper pours herself and Tony a glass of champagne.
PEPPER
Not gonna be that subtle.
TONY
I'll tell you what. Next building's
gonna say 'Potts' on the tower.
PEPPER
On the lease.
TONY
...Call your mom, can you bunk over?
JARVIS
Sir, the telephone. I'm afraid my
protocols are being overwritten.
AGENT PHIL COULSON
Stark, we need to talk. Tony picks up
his phone and looks into it at Coulson.
TONY
You have reached the life model decoy
of Tony Stark, please leave a message.
AGENT PHIL COULSON
This is urgent.
TONY
Then leave it urgently.
At that moment the elevator door opens and Coulson appears.
TONY
Security breach.
(TO PEPPER)
That's on you.
AGENT PHIL COULSON
Mr. Stark.
PEPPER
Phil! Come in.
TONY
Phil? Uh, his first name is Agent.
PEPPER
Come on in, we're celebrating.
TONY
Which is why he can't stay.
AGENT PHIL COULSON
We need you to look this over.
(he holds out a file towards
STARK)
Soon as possible.
TONY
I don't like being handed things.
PEPPER
That's alright, `cause I love to be
handed things. So, let's trade.
She passes her glass of champagne to Coulson and takes the file
from him, then takes her champagne glass back from Coulson and
passes the file over to Stark.
PEPPER
Thank you.
TONY
Official consulting hours are between
eight and five every other Thursday.
AGENT PHIL COULSON
This isn't a consultation.
PEPPER
Is this about The Avengers? Which I...I
know nothing about.
TONY
The Avengers Initiative was scrapped, I
thought. And I didn't even qualify.
PEPPER
I didn't know that either.
TONY
Yeah, apparently I'm volatile, self-
obsessed, don't play well with others.
PEPPER
That I did know.
AGENT PHIL COULSON
This isn't about personality profiles
anymore.
TONY
Whatever. Miss Potts, got a minute?
Pepper walks over to Tony who places the files into his own
databases.
TONY
You know, I thought we were having a
moment.
PEPPER
I was having twelve percent of a
moment. This seems serious, Phil's
pretty shaken.
TONY
How did you notice? Why is he Phil?
PEPPER
What is all of this?
TONY
This is, uh...
Tony EXPANDS his arms and different profiles appear in
holographic form floating in the air in front of Tony and
Pepper.
TONY
This.
Screens appear of CAPTAIN AMERICA IN ACTION, the HULK ROARING AS
HE ATTACKS THE ARMY AT CULVER UNIVERSITY, THOR FIGHTING THE
DESTROYER and another is of Loki and the Tesseract, to which
Stark and Pepper look on in awe.
PEPPER
I'm going to take the jet to D.C.
tonight.
TONY
Tomorrow.
PEPPER
You've got homework. You've got a lot
of homework.
TONY
Well, what if I didn't?
PEPPER
If you didn't?
TONY
Yeah.
PEPPER
You mean if you finished?
(Stark nods his head)
Well, um...then...
She whispers something in his ear. Tony GASPS. Coulson looks
away in embarrassment.
TONY
Square deal. It's the last date.
Pepper kisses him.
PEPPER
Work hard.
As Pepper leaves with Agent Coulson, Tony grabs the Tesseract in
holograph form, worried.
INT. QUINJET � DAY
Inside the QUINJET, Steve is sitting down, holding a TABLET,
watching the footage of the Hulk's attack on the Army at Culver
University.
PILOT
We're about forty minutes out from
base, sir.
Agent Coulson stands up from his seat and walks over to Steve.
STEVE
So, this Doctor Banner was trying to
replicate the serum that was used on
me?
AGENT PHIL COULSON
A lot of people were. You were the
world's first superhero. Banner thought
gamma radiation might hold the key to
unlocking Erskine's original formula.
The Hulk roars with fury as he slams a jeep apart.
STEVE
Didn't really go his way, did it?
AGENT PHIL COULSON
Not so much. When he's not that thing
though, guy's like a Stephen Hawking.
Steve looks confused.
AGENT PHIL COULSON
He's like a smart person. I gotta say,
it's an honor to meet you, officially.
Steve smiles at Coulson.
AGENT PHIL COULSON
I sort of met you, I mean, I watched
you while you were sleeping.
Steve looks down. He stands up, closes his laptop and walks to
the side with Coulson following.
AGENT PHIL COULSON
I mean, I was... I was present while
you were unconscious from the ice. You
know, it's really, it's just a... just
a huge honor to have you on board.
STEVE
Well, I hope I'm the man for the job.
AGENT PHIL COULSON
Oh, you are. Absolutely. Uh... we've
made some modifications to the uniform.
I had a little design input.
STEVE
The uniform? Aren't the stars and
stripes a little... old fashioned?
AGENT PHIL COULSON
With everything that's happening, the
things that are about to come to light,
people might just need a little old
fashioned.
Steve takes in Coulson's sentiment.
INT. UNDERGROUND LAB � DAY
Several soldiers under Loki's mind control run around, preparing
to infiltrate whatever Loki has planned. Loki sits down,
watching Selvig work with a CMS device. Loki meditates, until...
EXT. THRONE ROOM � NIGHT
...the scepter materializes him back into the throne room of THE
OTHER, fully armed in his horned helmet and armor. THE OTHER
appears from the steps.
THE OTHER
The Chitauri grow restless.
LOKI
Let them go at themselves. I will lead
them into glorious battle.
THE OTHER
Battle? Against the meager might of
Earth?
LOKI
Glorious, not lengthy. If your force is
as formidable as you claim.
THE OTHER
You question us? You question HIM? He,
who put the scepter in your hand, who
gave you ancient knowledge and new
purpose when you were cast out,
defeated?
LOKI
I was a king! The rightful king of
Asgard! Betrayed!
THE OTHER
Your ambition is little, born of
childish need. We look beyond the Earth
to greater worlds the Tesseract will
unveil.
LOKI
You don't have the Tesseract yet.
THE OTHER runs over to attack him, but stops as Loki points his
scepter.
LOKI
I don't threaten, but until I open the
doors, until your force is mine to
command, you are but words.
THE OTHER
You will have your war, Asgardian. If
you fail, if the Tesseract is kept from
us, there will be no realm, no barren
moon, no crevice where he can't find
you. You think you know pain? He will
make you long for something as sweet as
pain.
THE OTHER places his hand on Loki's head and transports him back
to Earth. Loki looks around, menacing.
EXT. HELICARRIER LANDING STRIP � DAY
The QUINJET lands down a MASSIVE BATTLESHIP known as the
HELICARRIER. It has two runways. One with direct access to a
hangar at the rear is aligned along the spine of the vessel.
Agent Coulson and Steve walk down the ramp, meeting up with
Natasha.
AGENT PHIL COULSON
Agent Romanoff. Captain Rogers.
STEVE
Ma'am?
NATASHA
Hi.
(TO COULSON)
They need you on the bridge. Face time.
AGENT PHIL COULSON
See you there.
Agent Coulson walks away leaving Steve with Natasha, walking
towards the railing of the ship.
NATASHA
There was quite the buzz around here,
finding you in the ice. I thought
Coulson was gonna swoon. Did he ask you
to sign his Captain America trading
cards yet?
STEVE
Trading cards?
NATASHA
They're vintage, he's very proud.
Without realizing, Banner doesn't notice them walking as he
isnervous as hell. He moves around as people keep walking in
hisway.
STEVE
Dr. Banner.
Steve walks up to Banner and shakes his hands.
BANNER
Oh, yeah. Hi. They told me you'd be
coming.
STEVE
Word is you can find the cube.
BANNER
Is that the only word on me?
STEVE
Only word I care about.
BANNER
(takes in the sentiment)
Must be strange for you, all of this.
STEVE
Well, this is actually kind of
familiar.
NATASHA
Gentlemen, you may wanna step inside in
a minute. It's gonna get a little hard
to breath.
Suddenly the HELICARRIER starts SHAKING as it prepares to fly
"sail."
STEVE
Is this is a submarine?
BANNER
Really? They wanted me in a submerged
pressurized metal container?
They both move closer to the edge of the HELICARRIER. FOUR HUGE
LIFT FANS MOUNTED ON THE SIDES STARTS TO LIFT INTO THE AIR IN
VTOL FLIGHT. Steve watches in AWE as Banner smiles.
BANNER
OH, NO. THIS IS MUCH WORSE.
INT. HELICARRIER BRIDGE � DAY
The doors part and we enter THE BRIDGE OF THE SHIP � a flurry of
activity � dozens of agents sit in front of their VIEWSCREENS.
Agent Hill shouts her instructs to leave. Turns to NICK FURY,
who is at the command chair.
AGENT MARIA HILL
We're at lock, sir.
NICK FURY
Good. Let's vanish.
EXT. SKY
The HELICARRIER rises high into the heavens. Suddenly, the
entire ship is covered in reflecting mirrors, which then
camouflages in the sky.
INT. HELICARRIER BRIDGE � CONTINUOUS
Steve and Banner walk through the glorious, gleaming bridge,
taking his position at the SCIENCE CONSOLE.
NICK FURY
Gentlemen.
Steve gives Fury 10 bucks, referring to his earlier statement
about never being surprised again. Fury walks over Banner and
extends his hand. Banner, reluctantly shakes it.
NICK FURY
Doctor, thank you for coming.
BANNER
Thanks for asking nicely. So, uh... how
long am I staying?
NICK FURY
Once we get our hands on the Tesseract,
you're in the clear.
BANNER
Where are you with that?
Nick Fury turns to Agent Coulson to explain, while Natasha
Romanoff eyes an image of Clint Barton on a computer screen.
AGENT PHIL COULSON
We're sweeping every wirelessly
accessible camera on the planet.
Cellphones, laptops. If it's connected
to a satellite, it's eyes and ears for
us.
NATASHA
That's still not gonna find them in
time.
BANNER
You have to narrow the field. How many
spectrometers do you have access to?
NICK FURY
How many are there?
BANNER
Call every lab you know, tell them to
put the spectrometers on the roof and
calibrate them for gamma rays. I'll
rough out a tracking algorithm based on
cluster recognition. At least we could
rule out a few places. Do you have
somewhere for me to work?
NICK FURY
Agent Romanoff, would you show
Dr.Banner to his laboratory, please.
Natasha nods and walks off, leading Banner down the hall.
NATASHA
You're gonna love it, Doc. We got all
the toys.
INT. UNDERGROUND LAB, VACUUM ROOM � DAY
Selvig and several scientists work around the CMS device.
Bartonwalks in, holding a tablet.
SELVIG
Put it over there!
(TO BARTON)
Where did you find all these people?
CLINT BARTON
SHIELD has not shortage of enemies,
Doctor.
He holds up a screen showing information on IRIDIUM.
CLINT BARTON
Is this the stuff you need?
SELVIG
Yeah, iridium. It's found in
meteorites, it forms anti-protons. It's
very hard to get hold of.
CLINT BARTON
Especially if SHIELD knows you need it.
SELVIG
Well, I didn't know!
(sees Loki coming)
Hey! The Tesseract is showing me so
much. It's more than just knowledge,
it's... truth.
LOKI
I know. What did it show you, Agent
Barton?
CLINT BARTON
My next target.
LOKI
Tell me what you need.
CLINT BARTON
I'll need a distraction.
(grabs his bow)
And an eyeball.
INT. HELICARRIER BRIDGE � NIGHT
As they are waiting to locate Loki using satellite facial
recognition, Coulson and Steve stand side by side, waiting.
AGENT PHIL COULSON
I mean, if it's not too much trouble.
STEVE
No, no. It's fine.
AGENT PHIL COULSON
It's a vintage set. It took me a couple
of years to collect them all. Near
mint, slight foxing around the edges,
but...
AGENT JASPER SITWELL
We got a hit. Sixty-seven percent
match. Weight, cross match, seventy-
nine percent.
AGENT PHIL COULSON
Location?
AGENT JASPER SITWELL
Stuttgart, Germany. 28, Konigstrasse.
He's not exactly hiding.
NICK FURY
Captain, you're up.
Steve nods. Leaves.
EXT. STUTTGART MUSEUM � NIGHT
Loki standing in front of the museum, dressed in 21st century
attire and with the scepter, disguised as a cane, walks up to
the entrance of the gala.
INT. STUTTGART GALA � NIGHT
Inside, a lavished gala with an orchestra playing, is
interrupted as the HEAD DOCTOR walks up to the mic.
INT. HELICARRIER, STEVE'S LOCKER � NIGHT
Steve walks into his own locker room. As he approaches to the
steel cabinet, the doors already reveal the updated CAPTAIN
AMERICA UNIFORM, along with the famous SHIELD. He stands in
silence.
EXT. STUTTGART MUSEUM � NIGHT
Outside the museum, GERMAN GUARDS stand in their positions. One
of them is standing on top of the roof, scoping. He then hears a
THWACK!
He looks down. One of his guards is shot with an ARROW. He
raises his gun. He is shot dead by an arrow. Falls down. Barton
and his CREW arrive at the doors of the locked science building.
Barton looks at the retinal scanner. He pulls out a SHIELD eye
scanner instrument.
INT. STUTTGART GALA � NIGHT
Loki looks from above the museum and descends down to where the
HEAD DOCTOR is. As he makes it down and near the stage, he FLIPS
his cane the other end. The guard there notices him, pulls out
his gun, but Loki CLUBS his head in. CHAOS ERUPTS.
Guests begin to leave the museum. Loki grabs the doctor and
flips him over onto a marble table of the mythological creatures
BILCHSTEIM. Loki pulls out an OPTICAL TORTURE DEVICE. He PLUNGES
down the doctor's eye. The doctor TWISTS in pain.
EXT. STUTTGART MUSEUM � NIGHT
Suddenly, from Barton's instrument, a holographic eye of the
head doctor appears and the image of the doctor appears on
screen.
The doors to the facility open. Barton walks in and finds in a
cabinet, a glass thermos with a cylinder of iridium.
EXT. STUTTGART GALA � NIGHT
As the crowd runs away, Loki slowly walks out and materializes
in his gold armor and helmet. The POLICE arrive and with no
hesitation, he BLASTS the cars, FLIPPING them over and over.
LOKI
Kneel before me.
The crowd ignores him. Another LOKI appears, blocking the crowd.
Loki after Loki appears, they all grin as they raise their
spears, encircling the crowd.
LOKI
I said. KNEEL!!!
Everyone becomes quiet and kneels in front him. Loki embracing
his arms out, smiling.
LOKI
Is not this simpler? Is this not your
natural state? It's the unspoken truth
of humanity, that you crave
subjugation. The bright lure of freedom
diminishes your life's joy in a mad
scramble for power, for identity. You
were made to be ruled. In the end, you
will always kneel.
As the words resonate to the kneeling crowd, an ELDER GERMAN MAN
refuses to kneel and stands, heroic.
ELDER GERMAN MAN
Not to men like you.
LOKI
There are no men like me.
ELDER GERMAN MAN
There are always men like you.
LOKI
Look to your elder, people. Let him be
an example.
Loki is about to execute him with his scepter as the light GLOWS
blue. Just as the ENERGY BEAM shoots out, FUCKING CAPTAIN
AMERICA arrives! He dives in just in time and BLOCKS the blast
with his SHIELD, knocking down Loki on his ass.
CAPTAIN AMERICA
You know, the last time I was in
Germany and saw a man standing above
everybody else, we ended up
disagreeing.
LOKI
(STANDING UP)
The soldier. A man out of time.
CAPTAIN AMERICA
I'm not the one who's out of time.
From above Cap, the QUINJET arrives. A machine gun is pointed
towards Loki.
NATASHA
Loki, drop the weapon and stand down.
Like greased lighting, Loki sends a BLAST of blue at the
QUINJET. Natasha MANEUVERS it just in time, giving Cap the time
to throw his shield at Loki. They both begin to DUKE IT OUT.
Loki FLINGS Cap to the ground. Cap then throws his shield, but
Loki SWATS it way. Cap, using all the moves of a boxer, is
KNOCKED down by Loki. Standing over him, he points the scepter's
tip on his helmet.
LOKI
Kneel.
CAPTAIN AMERICA
Not today!
Cap FLIPS and KNOCKS him out with his leg. Loki grabs him and
FLIPS him over.
INT. QUINJET � NIGHT
NATASHA
The guy's all over the place.
Suddenly, AC/DC's "Shoot to Thrill" overdrives the QUINJET'S
speakers.
IRON MAN
Agent Romanoff, did you miss me?
Both Cap and Loki look up at the sky. Tony flies over in his
IRON MAN suit and blasts Loki right back to the ground. IRON MAN
touches down. He stands up and pulls out every piece of weaponry
the suit has.
IRON MAN
Make your move, Reindeer Games.
Loki puts up his hands and surrenders. His armor materializes
away.
IRON MAN
Good move.
CAPTAIN AMERICA
Mr. Stark.
IRON MAN
Captain.
INT. QUINJET � NIGHT
Natasha watches the skies. THUNDER. Coming out of nowhere. Fury
speaks over her headset.
NICK FURY (V.O.)
Said anything?
NATASHA
Not a word.
NICK FURY (V.O.)
Just get him here. We're low on time.
With Loki tied up and cuffed to his seat, Tony and Steve watch
from a distance, whispering.
STEVE
I don't like it.
TONY
What? Rock of Ages giving up so easily?
STEVE
I don't remember it being ever that
easy. This guy packs a wallop.
TONY
Still, you are pretty spry, for an
older fellow. What's your thing?
Pilates?
STEVE
What?
TONY
It's like calisthenics. You might have
missed a couple things, you know, doing
time as a Capsicle.
Steve looks at Tony, finally meeting his ego match.
STEVE
Fury didn't tell me he was calling you
in.
TONY
Yeah, there's a lot of things Fury
doesn't tell you.
THUNDER and LIGHTNING nearly hit the jet, making it shake
violently.
NATASHA
Where's this coming from?
Thunder RUMBLES overhead. Loki stares out the window intently.
STEVE
What's the matter? Scared of a little
lightning?
LOKI
I'm not overly fond of what follows.
What the fuck? OUTSIDE THE JET A BLINDING LIGHT hits the jet.
Not a light. A King.
THE MIGHTY THOR. Thor OPENS the ramp and grabs Loki by the
throat and flies out. Steve and Tony are left dumbstruck. Tony
puts the IRON MAN helmet on.
IRON MAN
Now there's that guy.
NATASHA
Another Asgardian?
CAPTAIN AMERICA
Think the guy's a friendly?
IRON MAN
Doesn't matter. If he frees Loki or
kills him, the Tesseract's lost.
Tony turns and gets ready to jump off the jet to chase after
Thor.
CAPTAIN AMERICA
Stark, we need a plan of attack!
IRON MAN
I have a plan. Attack.
IRON MAN jumps out of the jet and chases after Thor. Cap grabs a
parachute to follow.
NATASHA
I'd sit this one out, Cap.
CAPTAIN AMERICA
I don't see how I can.
NATASHA
These guys come from legends, they're
basically gods.
CAPTAIN AMERICA
There's only one God, ma'am. And I'm
pretty sure he doesn't dress like that.
Cap JUMPS OUT of the jet.
EXT. MOUNTAIN LEDGE � NIGHT
Somewhere out in the European mountains, Thor throws Loki into
the side of the mountain. He raises the mighty hammer, MJ�LNIR.
He looks down at his brother, who he thought to be dead and is
angry to see him alive in this fashion.
THOR
Where is the Tesseract?
LOKI
(LAUGHS)
I missed you too.
THOR
Do I look to be in a gaming mood?!
LOKI
Oh, you should thank me. With the
Bifrost gone how much dark energy did
the Allfather have to muster to conjure
you here? Your precious Earth.
Thor drops MJ�LNIR, causing the mountain to quake. He picks up
Loki. His brother.
Although Thor is pissed for what he has done, a family is
everything to a man or god.
THOR
I thought you dead.
LOKI
Did you mourn?
THOR
We all did. Our father...
LOKI
Your father. He did tell you my true
parentage, did he not?
Thor lets go Loki, who walks away from Thor, causing an even
bigger wedge between them.
THOR
We were raised together, we played
together, we fought together. Do you
remember none of that?
LOKI
(TURNS AROUND)
I remember a shadow. Living in the
shade of your greatness. I remember you
tossing me into an abyss. I was and
should be king!
THOR
So you take the world I love as
recompense for your imagined slights.
No, the Earth is under my protection,
Loki.
LOKI
(LAUGHS)
And you're doing a marvelous job with
that. The humans slaughter each other
in droves, while you idly threat. I
mean to rule them. And why should I
not?
THOR
You think yourself above them.
LOKI
Well, yes.
THOR
Then you miss the truth of ruling,
brother. Throne would suit you ill.
Angrily, Loki shoves his brother to the side. He walks back up
to the ledge. Turns around.
LOKI
I've seen worlds you've never known
about! I have grown, Odinson, in my
exile! I have seen the true power of
the Tesseract, and when I wield it...
THOR
Who showed you this power? Who controls
the would-be-king?
LOKI
I am a king!
THOR
Not here! You give up the Tesseract!
You give up this poisonous dream! You
come home.
LOKI
I don't have it. You need the cube to
bring me home, but I've sent it off I
know not where.
Mj�lnir flies back to his grasp.
THOR
You listen well, brother. I...
THOR IS KNOCKED OFF THE MOUNTAIN BY IRON MAN WHO TACKLES HIM IN
MID-FLIGHT.
LOKI
I'm listening.
EXT. FOREST � CONTINUOUS
THOR and IRON MAN CRASH into the forest. Thor rolls himself up.
IRON MAN is still standing, but keeps his distance. The helmet
opens up.
THOR
Do not touch me again!
TONY
Then don't take my stuff.
THOR
You have no idea what you're dealing
with.
TONY
Shakespeare in the park? Doth mother
know you weareth her drapes?
THOR
This is beyond you, metal man. Loki
will face Asgardian justice!
TONY
He gives up the Cube, he's all yours.
Until then, stay out of my way...
tourist.
The IRON MAN helmet clamps up and he walks away. In one quick
move, Thor pulls Mj�lnir, throws it, and KNOCKS IRON MAN clear
across into a tree.
INSIDE THE SUIT
TONY
Okay.
From the mountain side, Loki watches in amusement. Thor raises
his hand. Mj�lnir flies back to his hand. Thor SWINGS the
hammer, summoning a ray of energy.
IRON MAN stands up and from his HAND BOOSTERS, a BLAST of ENERGY
KNOCKS the MIGHTY AVENGER on his ass. IRON MAN flies back up and
knocks Thor into a tree. Right back at you, bitch!
Thor, kneeling on the ground, pulls Mj�lnir to his hand, raises
it to the skies and pulls in LIGHTING and THUNDER! Thor points
the hammer at IRON MAN and the outpouring of bolts lighting
increases in intensity. IRON MAN falls back.
INSIDE THE SUIT
JARVIS
Power at 400% capacity.
TONY
How about that?
IRON MAN FIRES AWAY FROM HIS HAND BOOSTERS, pushing Thor to his
knees. Like two gunslingers ready to draw, both Thor and IRON
MAN fly towards each other and meet in the middle and ascend up.
EXT. SKY � NIGHT
The two battle. IRON MAN grasps THOR, elbowing him and SMASHING
him into the side of a mountain.
THOR LEAPS off the mountain and takes IRON MAN with him.
EXT. FOREST � CONTINUOUS
THOR and IRON MAN crash right back down, smashing down every
tree possible. IRON MAN YANKS Thor right up. Thor grabs both
HANDS BOOSTERS and begins to CRUSH them. Tony quickly CHARGES as
much energy as he can and SHOOTS ENERGY in Thor's face.
Thor FALLS back, losing his stance. IRON MAN HEADBUTTS Thor,
with his gold-titanium alloy helmet. Thor... HEADBUTTS him with
his fuckin' head and actually sends IRON MAN across the forest.
IRON MAN boosters up and flies back at Thor, grabbing him by the
arm and cape and SWINGS him into another tree. Thor looks up,
ready. Thor runs with all his patience out the window. IRON MAN
SWINGS and MISSES, giving Thor the momentum to grab him, lift
him and SMASH him down hard.
Thor summons back Mj�lnir to his hand. Just as he's about to put
the hammer down, IRON MAN uses his HAND BOOSTERS to SKID across
the ground and trip Thor over. Standing up, Thor looks for him,
but from behind him, IRON MAN CRASHES into his back. Thor stands
facing IRON MAN. Ready to pounce...
CAPTAIN AMERICA'S shield RICOCHETS off both Thor and IRON MAN,
stopping them. They look up and see CAPTAIN AMERICA standing on
top of a fallen tree with the shield back in hand.
CAPTAIN AMERICA
Hey! That's enough!
(comes down; looks at Thor)
Now, I don't know what you plan on
doing here.
THOR
I've come here to put an end to Loki's
schemes!
CAPTAIN AMERICA
Then prove it! Put the hammer down.
IRON MAN
Um, yeah, no! Bad call! He loves his
hammer!
THOR BACKHANDS IRON MAN LIKE A PIMP WITH MJ�LNIR.
Thor, losing all tolerance with this SENTENTIAL OF LIBERTY,
raises the hammer.
THOR
(TO CAP)
You want me to put the hammer down?
THOR LEAPS HIGH INTO THE AIR, RAISING THAT FUCKING HAMMER.
CAPTAIN AMERICA CROUCHES DOWN and HOLDS UP HIS SHIELD. THOR
brings that hammer down onto the shield and a MASSIVE IMPLOSION
OF LIGHT reacts to the vibranium shield creating a MASSIVE
SHOCKWAVE THAT BLOWS UP ANYTHING STANDING WITHIN A MILE.
IRON MAN stands up, looking around like `holy shit.' Lying right
next to him is Cap, who never takes his eye off Thor. Thor looks
at both men.
CAPTAIN AMERICA
Are we done here?
THOR, CAPTAIN AMERICA AND IRON MAN STAND THERE.
INT. HELICARRIER HALLWAY � NIGHT
DOZENS of SHIELD POLICE escort Loki, who is in handcuffs,
smiling. As they pass the HELICARRIER LAB, Banner stops working
on the CHITAURI SCEPTER and looks up. Loki eyes him as he walks,
nodding and smiling. BANNER rubs his head.
INT. HELICARRIER DETENTION SECTION � NIGHT
Loki is now free from his cuffs and is contained in a LARGE
GLASS CELL held by HYDRAULIC RIGS. Fury walks up the control
panel of the cell.
NICK FURY
In case it's unclear. You try to
escape. You so much as scratch that
glass.
Fury presses a button which OPENS UP a HATCH underneath Loki's
cell. Loki peers as much as he can from the glass.
Without seeing, the sounds of GUSTING WIND would make man shit
his pants. Not a god, though.
NICK FURY
Thirty thousand feet, straight down in
a steel trap. You get how that works?!
Fury closes the hatch. Points at Loki.
NICK FURY
Ant.
Then points at the button which would drop Loki into the steel
trap.
NICK FURY
Boot.
LOKI
(SMIRKING)
It's an impressive cage. Not built, I
think, for me.
NICK FURY
Built for something a lot stronger than
you.
LOKI
Oh, I've heard.
Loki looks into the camera.
INT. BRIEFING ROOM � CONTINUOUS
The others watch on the monitor Loki getting interrogated.
Banner looks at the monitor, intently.
INT. HELICARRIER DETENTION SECTION � CONTINUOUS
LOKI
The mindless beast, makes play he's
still a man. How desperate are you,
that you call upon such lost creatures
to defend you?
NICK FURY
How desperate am I? You threaten my
world with war. You steal a force you
can't hope to control.
(MORE)
NICK FURY (CONT'D)
You talk about peace and you kill
`cause it's fun. You have made me very
desperate. You might not be glad that
you did.
LOKI
Ooh. It burns you to come so close. To
have the Tesseract, to have power,
unlimited power. And for what? A warm
light for all mankind to share, and
then to be reminded what real power is.
NICK FURY
(SMILING)
Well, you let me know if Real Power
wants a magazine or something.
Fury walks off leaving Loki in his glass cell. Loki looks back
at the camera, smirking.
INT. BRIEFING ROOM � CONTINUOUS
Steve watches until the monitor goes black. Thor, who didn't
even look, just listened, stands there, torn apart. They all
just stand there in stunned SILENCE. Finally --
BANNER
He really grows on you, doesn't he?
STEVE
Loki's gonna drag this out. So, Thor,
what's his play?
THOR
(COMING TOO)
He has an army called the Chitauri.
They're not of Asgard or any world
known. He means to lead them against
your people. They will win him the
earth. In return, I suspect, for the
Tesseract.
STEVE
(SERIOUSLY)
An army? From outer space?
BANNER
So he's building another portal. That's
what he needs Erik Selvig for.
THOR
Selvig?
BANNER
He's an astrophysicist.
THOR
He's a friend.
NATASHA
Loki has him under some kind of spell,
along with one of ours.
STEVE
I wanna know why Loki let us take him.
He's not leading an army from here.
BANNER
I don't think we should be focusing on
Loki. That guy's brain is a bag full of
cats, you could smell crazy on him.
THOR
Have care how you speak. Loki is beyond
reason, but he is of Asgard, and he's
my brother.
NATASHA
He killed eighty people in two days.
THOR
He's adopted.
BANNER
Iridium, what did they need the Iridium
for?
TONY
It's a stabilizing agent.
(walks in with Coulson; to
COULSON)
I'll fly you there. Keep the love
alive. Means the portal won't collapse
on itself, like it did at SHIELD.
TONY (CONT'D)
(TO THOR)
No hard feelings, Point Break. You've
got a mean swing.
(referring to the Iridium)
Also, it means the portal can open as
wide, and stay open as long, as Loki
wants.
(TO CREW)
Uh, raise the mid-mast, ship the top
sails. That man is playing GALAGA!
Thought we wouldn't notice. But we did.
(covering his eye, looks
AROUND)
How does Fury do this?
AGENT MARIA HILL
He turns.
Tony looks around the monitors and places a BUTTON SIZE HACKING
IMPLANT under Fury's desk, without anyone noticing.
TONY
Well, that sounds exhausting. The rest
of the raw materials, Agent Barton can
get his hands on pretty easily. Only
major component he still needs is a
power source. A high energy density,
something to kick start the cube.
AGENT MARIA HILL
When did you become an expert in
thermonuclear astrophysics?
TONY
Last night. The packet, Selvig's notes,
the Extraction Theory papers. Am I the
only one who did the reading?
STEVE
Does Loki need any particular kind of
power source?
BANNER
He's got to heat the cube to a
hundredand twenty million Kelvin just
to break through the Coulomb barrier.
TONY
Unless, Selvig has figured out how to
stabilize the quantum tunneling effect.
BANNER
Well, if he could do that he could
achieve Heavy Ion Fusion at any reactor
on the planet.
TONY
Finally, someone who speaks English.
STEVE
Is that what just happened?
Tony and Banner shake hands. A glimmer in their eyes shines as
the mutual respect for each other shows.
TONY
It's good to meet you, Dr. Banner.
You're work on anti-electron collisions
is unparalleled. And I'm a huge fan of
the way you lose control and turn into
an enormous green rage monster.
BANNER
(LOOKS DOWN)
Thanks.
NICK FURY
(WALKING IN)
Dr. Banner is only here to track the
cube. I was hoping you might join him.
STEVE
Let's start with that stick of his. It
may be magical, but it works an awful
lot like a HYDRA weapon.
NICK FURY
I don't know about that, but it is
powered by the cube. And I'd like to
know how Loki used it to turn two of
the sharpest men I know into his
personal flying monkeys.
THOR
Monkeys? I do not understand.
STEVE
I do! I understood that reference.
Tony rolls his eyes, while Cap looks proud of himself.
TONY
Shall we play, doctor?
BANNER
Let's play some.
As Banner and Tony walk out, the GALAGA PLAYER turns ever so
discreetly, watches as everyone else disperses and goes back to
playing.
INT. BANNER'S LAB - NIGHT (LATER)
Banner continuously scans with a gamma ray detection scanner on
the scepter for radiation.
Tony looks at his monitors, shifting and solving as many
algorithms and equations.
BANNER
The gamma readings are definitely
consistent with Selvig's reports on the
Tesseract. But it's gonna take weeks to
process.
TONY
If we bypass their mainframe and direct
a reroute to the Homer cluster, we can
clock this around six hundred
teraflops.
BANNER
All I packed was a tooth brush.
TONY
(SMILES)
You know, you should come by STARK
TOWERS sometime. Top ten floors, all
R&D. You'd love it, it's candy land.
BANNER
Thanks, but the last time I was in New
York I kind of broke...Harlem.
TONY
Well, I promise a stress free
environment. No tension. No surprises.
Suddenly, Tony pokes Banner with a MINIATURE ELECTRICAL PROD.
Steve walks in on them, pissed at Tony.
BANNER
OW!
Tony looks at Banner closely.
TONY
Nothing?
STEVE
(TO BANNER)
Hey! Are you nuts?
TONY
You really have got a lid on it,
haven't you? What's your secret? Mellow
jazz? Bongo drums? Huge bag of weed?
STEVE
Is everything a joke to you?
TONY
Funny things are.
STEVE
Threatening the safety of everyone on
this ship isn't funny. No offense,
doctor.
BANNER
No, it's alright. I wouldn't have come
aboard if I couldn't handle pointy
things.
TONY
You're tiptoeing, big man. You need to
strut.
STEVE
And you need to focus on the problem,
Mr. Stark.
TONY
You think I'm not? Why did Fury call us
and why now? Why not before? What isn't
he telling us? I can't do the equation
unless I have all the variables.
STEVE
You think Fury's hiding something?
TONY
He's a spy. Captain, he's the spy. His
secrets have secrets.
(points to Banner)
It's bugging him too, isn't it?
BANNER
(bobbling the words)
Uh...I just wanna finish my work here
and...
STEVE
Doctor?
A beat.
BANNER
'A warm light for all mankind, Loki's
jab at Fury about the cube.
STEVE
I heard it.
BANNER
(pointing at Tony)
Well, I think that was meant for you.
Even if Barton didn't post that all
over the news.
STEVE
The Stark Tower? That big ugly
(Tony gives him a look)
...building in New York?
BANNER
It's powered by Stark Reactors, self-
sustaining energy source. That building
will run itself for what, a year?
TONY
That's just the prototype. I'm kind of
the only name in clean energy right
now.
BANNER
(referring to Tony)
So, why didn't SHIELD bring him in on
the Tesseract project? I mean, what are
they doing in the energy business in
the first place?
TONY
I should probably look into that once
my decryption programmer finishes
breaking into all of SHIELD's secure
files.
STEVE
(taken by that)
I'm sorry, did you say...?
TONY
Jarvis has been running it since I hit
the bridge. In a few hours we'll know
every dirty secret SHIELD has ever
tried to hide.
(holds out a bag of blueberries)
Blueberry?
STEVE
Yet you're confused about why they
didn't want you around?
TONY
An intelligence organization that fears
intelligence? Historically, not
possible.
STEVE
I think Loki's trying to wind us up.
This is a man who means to start a war,
and if don't stay focused, he'll
succeed. We have orders, we should
follow them.
TONY
Following is not really my style.
STEVE
(SMILING)
And you're all about style, aren't you?
TONY
(a nerve hit)
Of the people in this room, which one
is; A. wearing a spangly outfit, and B.
not of use?
BANNER
Steve, tell me none of this smells a
little funky to you?
Steve takes in the possibility, but as an obedient soldier,
shakes it off.
STEVE
Just find the cube.
Steve walks out of the lab. Still torn apart by the possibility,
he walks away, towards the HULL of the ship.
BACK IN THE LAB
TONY
That's the guy my dad never shut up
about? Wondering if they shouldn't have
kept him on ice.
BANNER
The guy's not wrong about Loki. He does
have the jump on us.
TONY
What he's got is an ACME dynamite kit.
TONY (CONT'D)
It's gonna blow up in his face, and I'm
gonna be there when it does.
BANNER
And I'll read all about it.
TONY
Uh-huh. Or you'll be suiting up like
the rest of us.
BANNER
Ah, see. I don't get a suit of armor.
I'm exposed, like a nerve. It's a
nightmare.
TONY
You know, I've got a cluster of
shrapnel, trying every second to crawl
its way into my heart.
(points at the MINI-ARC
REACTOR in his chest)
This stops it. This little circle of
light. It's part of me now, not just
armor. It's a... terrible privilege.
BANNER
But you can control it.
TONY
Because I learned how.
BANNER
It's different.
Banner tries to read the computer screen, but Tony slides the
data aside with his finger so the two can see face-to-face.
TONY
Hey, I've read all about your accident.
That much gamma exposure should have
killed you.
BANNER
So you're saying that the Hulk... the
other guy... saved my life?
(MORE)
BANNER (CONT'D)
That's nice. It's a nice sentiment.
Saved it for what?
TONY
(A BEAT)
I guess we'll find out.
Banner and Stark get back to work at their respective computers.
BANNER
You might not like that.
TONY
You just might.
INT. HULL HANGAR, SECURE STORAGE 10-C � NIGHT
Steve, with all his MIGHT, slides the HEAVY IRON door and
STEALTHILY walks in. SECURE STORAGE 10-C is a large warehouse,
filled with METAL CRATES stacked.
Steve looks up, seeing another level. He LEAPS up high and holds
onto the catwalk railing. Steve continues to move forward.
INT. VAN � NIGHT
Inside this particular van, Selvig and a few other SOLDIERS are
driving inside a long tunnel. With the CMS device inside, Selvig
carefully picks up the small cylinder shape IRIDIUM with metal
prongs and lightly places it a SLOT within the CMS. THE CMS
ACCEPTS IT. Selvig looks at it, devilishly smiling.
INT. BRIEFING ROOM � NIGHT
On a SHIELD monitor is a photo and record of JANE FOSTER. Thor
looks at her, remembering. With him is Agent Coulson.
AGENT PHIL COULSON
As soon as Loki took the doctor we
moved Jane Foster. We've got an
excellent observatory in Traunsee. She
was asked to consult there very
suddenly yesterday. Handsome fee,
private plane, very remote. She'll be
safe.
THOR
Thank you. It's no accident Loki taking
Erik Selvig. I dread what he plans for
him once he's done. Erik is a good man.
AGENT PHIL COULSON
He talks about you a lot. You changed
his life. You changed everything around
here.
THOR
They were better as they were. We
pretend on Asgard that we're more
advanced, but we...we come here
battling like BILCHSTEIM.
AGENT PHIL COULSON
Like what?
THOR
BILCHSTEIM? You know; huge, scaly, big
antlers. You don't have those?
AGENT PHIL COULSON
Don't think so.
THOR
They are repulsive, and they trample
everything in their path.
Thor walks over to the side of the ship and looks out the
window, lamenting about what has happened and what may come.
THOR
When I first came to earth, Loki's rage
followed me here and your people paid
the price. And now again. In my youth I
courted war.
NICK FURY (O.S.)
War hasn't started yet.
(WALKING IN)
You think you can make Loki tell us
what the Tesseract is?
THOR
I do not know. Loki's mind is far
afield, it's not just power he craves,
it's vengeance upon me. There's no pain
that would prize his need from him.
NICK FURY
A lot of guys think that, until the
pain stops.
THOR
What are you asking me to do?
NICK FURY
I'm asking. What are you prepared to
do?
THOR
Loki is a prisoner.
NICK FURY
Then why do I feel like he's the only
person on this boat that wants to be
here?
Thor doesn't answer.
INT. HELICARRIER DETENTION SECTION � NIGHT
Loki walks back and forth inside his glass cell. Suddenly, he
stops.
LOKI
There's not many people that can sneak
up on me.
(turns to see NATASHA
STANDING THERE)
NATASHA
But you figured I'd come.
LOKI
After. After whatever tortures Fury can
concoct, you would appear as a friend,
as a balm. And I would cooperate.
NATASHA
I wanna know what you've done to Agent
Barton.
LOKI
I'd say I've expanded his mind.
NATASHA
And once you've won. Once you're king
of the mountain. What happens to his
mind?
LOKI
Is this love, Agent Romanoff?
NATASHA
Love is for children. I owe him a debt.
LOKI
(SITTING DOWN)
Tell me.
NATASHA
(she pulls up a chair as
WELL)
Before I worked for SHIELD, I
uh...well, I made a name for myself. I
have a very specific skillset. I didn't
care who I used it for, or on. I got on
SHIELD's radar in a bad way. Agent
Barton was sent to kill me, he made a
different call.
LOKI
And what will you do if I vow to spare
him?
NATASHA
Not let you out.
LOKI
(LAUGHS)
Ah, no. But I like this. Your world in
the balance, and you bargain for one
man?
NATASHA
Regimes fall every day. I tend not to
weep over that, I'm Russian... or was.
LOKI
What is it you want?
NATASHA
It's really not that complicated. I've
got red in my ledger, I'd like to wipe
it out.
LOKI
Can you? Can you wipe out that much
red? DRAKOV'S daughter? S�O PAULO? THE
HOSPITAL FIRE? Barton told me
everything. Your ledger is dripping,
it's gushing red, and you think saving
a man no more virtuous than yourself
will change anything?
(STANDING; ANGRY)
This is the basest sentimentality. This
is a child at prayer... PATHETIC!
INTERCUTS
- Tony and Banner continuously work at their monitors.
LOKI (V.O.)
You lie and kill in the service of
liars and killers.
- Agent Hill checks every VIEWSCREEN in the bridge. Fury
oversees.
LOKI (V.O.)
You pretend to be separate, to have
your own code, something that makes up
for the horrors. But they are a part of
you, and they will never go away!
- Steve opens a STEEL crate. Angry, he looks behind him and
looks back into the crate. THE CRATE IS FILLED WITH AN ARRAY OF
HYDRA WEAPONS.
INT. HELICARRIER DETENTION SECTION � NIGHT
Loki SLAMS his cell, making Natasha FLINCH.
LOKI
I won't touch Barton. Not until I make
him kill you! Slowly. Intimately. In
every way he knows you fear! And when
he'll wake just long enough to see his
good work, and when he screams, I'll
split his skull! This is my bargain,
you mewling quim!
NATASHA turns around, walks away from Loki, disgusted.
NATASHA
(QUIETLY; DISTRAUGHT)
You're a monster.
LOKI
(LAUGHS)
No, you brought the monster.
NATASHA
(turns back around; poised)
So, Banner... that's your play.
LOKI
(STAGGERED)
What?
NATASHA
(ON EARPIECE)
Loki means to unleash the Hulk. Keep
Banner in the lab, I'm on my way. Send
Thor as well.
(TO LOKI)
Thank you for your cooperation.
Natasha quickly walks out, leaving Loki frozen.
INT. BANNER'S LAB � MORNING
Fury walks in SURPRISED to see Tony and Banner stop working on
the scepter.
NICK FURY
(ANGRY)
What are you doing, Mr. Stark?
TONY
Uh...kind of been wondering the same
thing about you.
NICK FURY
You're supposed to be locating the
Tesseract.
BANNER
We are. The model's locked and we're
sweeping for the signature now. When we
get a hit, we'll have the location
within half a mile.
TONY
And you'll get your cube back, no muss,
no fuss.
(suddenly his monitor show a
collection of SECRET FILES)
What is PHASE 2?
Suddenly, Steve drops a HYDRA ASSAULT RIFLE on the table causing
Fury, Banner and Tony to turn around. Cap looks pissed.
STEVE
PHASE 2 is SHIELD uses the cube to make
weapons.
(TO TONY)
Sorry, the computer was moving a little
slow.
NICK FURY
(trying to explain)
Rogers, we gathered everything related
to the Tesseract. This does not mean
that we're...
TONY
I'm sorry, Nick.
Tony moves the computer screen towards Fury which shows plans of
THE WEAPONS.
TONY
What were you lying?
STEVE
I was wrong, director. The world hasn't
changed a bit.
At that moment, Thor and Natasha walk into the lab. Natasha
keeps her eyes right on Banner. Banner looks at her, PISSED.
BANNER
Did you know about this?
NATASHA
You wanna think about removing yourself
from this environment, doctor?
BANNER
I was in Calcutta, I was pretty well
removed.
NATASHA
Loki's manipulating you.
BANNER
And you've been doing what exactly?
NATASHA
You didn't come here because I bat my
eyelashes at you.
BANNER
Yes, and I'm not leaving because
suddenly you get a little twitchy. I'd
like to know why SHIELD is using the
Tesseract to build weapons of mass
destruction.
NICK FURY
Because of him.
(pointing at Thor)
THOR
(STUNNED)
Me?
NICK FURY
Last year earth had a visitor from
another planet who had a grudge match
that leveled a small town. We learned
that not only are we not alone, but we
are hopelessly, hilariously, outgunned.
THOR
My people want nothing but peace with
your planet.
NICK FURY
But you're not the only people out
there, are you? And, you're not the
only threat. The world's filling up
with people who can't be matched, they
can't be controlled.
STEVE
Like you controlled the cube?
THOR
You're work with the Tesseract is what
drew Loki to it, and his allies. It is
the signal to all the realms that the
earth is ready for a higher form of
war.
STEVE
A higher form?
NICK FURY
You forced our hand. We had to come up
with something.
TONY
Nuclear deterrent. `Cause that always
calms everything right down.
NICK FURY
Remind me again how you made your
fortune, Stark?
STEVE TONY
I'm sure if he still made Wait! Wait! Hold on! How is
weapons, Stark would be neck this now about me?
deep... I'm sorry, isn't THOR
everything?
I thought humans were more
evolved than this.
NICK FURY
Excuse me, did WE come to YOUR planet
and blow stuff up?
THOR
Did you always give your champions such
mistrust?
NATASHA BANNER
Are you all really that Captain America is on
naive? S.H.I.E.L.D monitors potential threat potential
threats? watch list?
TONY STEVE
(to Steve) I swear to God, Stark, one
You're on that list? Are you more crack...
above or below angry bees?
Threatening! I feel
threatened!
As the "team" argues, they don't realize the BLUE GEM on Loki's
scepter is glowing brightly.
INT. AIRCRAFT CARRIER � DAY
Outside the HELICARRIER, a lone carrier slowly hovers over the
ship.
SHIELD BASE VOICE
661 Bravo, please relay your pass code.
What is your hull, over?
BARTON
Arms to ammunition, over.
Inside, BARTON and his crew suit up and arm themselves. Barton
pulls out his hi-tech bow and arrows.
INT. BANNER'S LAB � MORNING
Back in the lab, the egos of these people keeping rubbing off
each other and at any moment, the shit will hit the fan.
THOR
You speak of control, yet you court
chaos.
BANNER
It's his M.O., isn't it? I mean, what
are we, a team? No, no, no. We're a
chemical mixture that makes chaos.
We're... we're a time-bomb.
NICK FURY
You need to step away.
TONY
(puts his arm around Steve)
Why shouldn't the guy let off a little
steam?
STEVE
(pushes Tony off)
You know damn well why! Back off!
TONY
(comes face-to-face with Cap)
Oh, I'm starting to want you to make
me.
STEVE
Big man in a suit of armor. Take that
off, what are you?
TONY
Genius, billionaire, playboy,
philanthropist.
STEVE
I know guys with none of that worth ten
of you. Yeah, I've seen the footage.
(MORE)
STEVE (CONT'D)
The only thing you really fight for is
yourself. You're not the guy to make
the sacrifice play, to lay down on a
wire and let the other guy crawl over
you.
TONY
I think I would just cut the wire.
STEVE
(SMILING)
Always a way out... You know, you may
not be a threat, but you better stop
pretending to be a hero.
TONY
(that did it)
A hero? Like you? You're a lab rat,
Rogers. Everything special about you
came out of a bottle!
OUTSIDE THE HELICARRIER
The ramp of the carrier opens. The carrier maneuvers next to one
of the large turbine engines. Barton stands at the base, holding
out his bow. He pulls out a GRENADE TIPPED ARROW. He points
right at the engine.
Then...Barton moves his AIM and points the arrow about a hundred
feet from the engine. He releases. The arrow flies out,but then
SHARPLY heads for the engine. The arrow is punctured onto the
engine. It has a visible timer which is COUNTING DOWN.
INT. BANNER'S LAB � MORNING
Back in the lab, Steve puffs up his chest at Tony, who just
stands there, unmoving.
STEVE
Put on the suit, let's go a few rounds.
Thor laughs at them.
THOR
You people are so petty... and tiny.
Tony rubs his head. Moves away from Cap.
BANNER
Yeah, this is a tee...
NICK FURY
Agent Romanoff, would you escort
Dr.Banner back to his...
BANNER
Where? You rented my room.
NICK FURY
The cell was just in case...
BANNER
In case you needed to kill me, but you
can't! I know! I tried!
(A BEAT)
I got low. I didn't see an end, so I
put a bullet in my mouth and the other
guy spit it out! So I moved on. I
focused on helping other people. I was
good, until you dragged me back into
this freak show and put everyone here
at risk!
Banner slowly gets upset as he looks at Romanoff, who gets
unnerved.
BANNER
You wanna know my secret, Agent
Romanoff? You wanna know how I stay
calm?
BLACK WIDOW and Fury have their hands down to grab their guns.
STEVE
Doctor Banner... put down the scepter.
BANNER LOOKS DOWN AND IS SHOCKED TO SEE HE'S HOLDING LOKI'S
SCEPTER. The computer beeps. They all turn to it.
TONY
Got it.
Banner puts down the scepter and walks over to the computer.
BANNER
Sorry, kids. You don't get to see my
little party trick after all.
THOR
Located the Tesseract?
TONY
I can get there faster.
STEVE
Look, all of us...
THOR
The Tesseract belongs on Asgard, no
human is a match for it.
Tony turns to leave, but Steve stops him.
STEVE
You're not going alone!
TONY
You gonna stop me?
STEVE
Put on the suit, let's find out.
TONY
I'm not afraid to hit an old man.
STEVE
Put on the suit.
At that moment Banner who's looking at the monitor notices
something about the Tesseract.
BANNER
Oh, my God!
OUTSIDE THE HELICARRIER
Barton PULLS THE TRIGGER ON HIS BOW. The arrow then EXPLODES THE
ENGINE RIGHT OFF THE HELICARRIER!
INT. BANNER'S LAB � MORNING
Everyone is thrown in every direction. Steve, Fury, Thor and
Tony are thrown across while Natasha and Banner is down in the
lower equipment room. Steve looks up at Tony.
STEVE
Put on the suit!
TONY
Yep!
Steve helps Tony up and out of the lab. Fury sits up, clutching
his ribs. He puts on his EARPIECE.
NICK FURY
Hill?!
INT. HELICARRIER BRIDGE � DAY
PANDEMONIUM ERUPTS. Emergency alarms set off, fire extinguishers
activate near surrounding fires and every agent is in a spinning
scramble for their positions and armaments. Agent Hill keeps the
bridge as calm as possible.
AGENT MARIA HILL
Turn up that engine! Number 3 engine is
down! Can we get a run in?
(runs over to GALAGA PLAYER)
Talk to me.
GALAGA PLAYER
(points to monitor)
Turbine's loose. Mostly intact, but
it's impossible to get out there and
make repairs while we're in the air.
AGENT MARIA HILL
We lose one more engine, we won't be.
Somebody's got to get inside and patch
that engine.
INT. BANNER'S LAB � MORNING
NICK FURY
Stark! You copy that?!
TONY (V.O.)
I'm on it!
NICK FURY
Coulson! Initiate official lock down in
the detention section then get to the
armory! Move out!
INT. HELICARRIER BRIDGE � DAY
Agent Coulson runs out of the bridge.
INT. LOWER EQUIPMENT ROOM, CARRIER � MORNING
Natasha looks over to Banner, who is breathing heavy, having
landed hard. He is gripping the grated floor to maintain
control, but his eyes are green, his face intense.
NATASHA (CONT'D)
(quietly, to herself)
I'm okay. We're okay, right?
EXT. HELICARRIER DECK � DAY
Barton leads his men into the air ducts of the ship. They rappel
down into a corridor.
BARTON
Get that engine down! Detention! Get
him through the dark! Come with me.
Two of his men follow him. They head towards the bridge.
EXT. ND HALLWAY, CARRIER � MORNING
Tony and Cap run through a dim, debris filled hall.
TONY
Find engine three. I'll meet you there.
Cap peels off as Tony approaches a tech room. Inside, Tony's
IRON MAN suit stands waiting, lit above in all its glory.
INT. LOWER EQUIPMENT ROOM, CARRIER � CONTINUOUS
ON BANNER'S FACE in the dim light as he struggles to suppress
the rage, but his face is growing, changing slowly.
Natasha is pulling herself painfully free, talking to Banner...
NATASHA
Doctor... Bruce, you gotta fight it.
This is just what Loki wants. We're
gonna be okay. Listen to me.
Two approaching SHIELD soldiers arrive to check on her. She
furiously WAVES them away. They bolt out of there.
NATASHA
We're gonna be okay. Right? I swear on
my life I will get you out of this, you
will walk away, and never...
BANNER
Your life?
His voice has the change in it -- the bitter amusement is
morphing to a growled threat. Another explosion rocks the
carrier -- and he turns to look at her, transforming just as the
lights go out.
NATASHA
(PLEADING)
Bruce.
Banner suddenly starts transforming into the HULK and gives
Natasha one last knowing look. Natasha STRUGGLES FREE of the
rubble. She stops.
The HULK, sensing her, turns his head and puts on a face of a
disturb monster. Natasha JOLTS up the stairs with the HULK
chasing after her. Natasha maneuvers like a black widow should.
She rolls under a turbine, starts to crawl within the maze of
pipes. The HULK pulls them out from above the catwalk.
Natasha falls through under the catwalks and quickly and
stealthily escapes. The HULK lets out a ROAR OF RAGE unlike
anything. PRIMAL. Not human.
INT. HELICARRIER DETENTION SECTION � DAY
Loki looks up, smiling mischievously.
INT. HELICARRIER BRIDGE � DAY
Fury RUNS in and sees the chaos has increased even more than
before. The HELMSMAN is in complete disarray.
NICK FURY
Bring the carrier inwards and head
south. Take us to the water.
HELMSMAN
Why water? Navigations recalibrated
after the engine failure.
NICK FURY
Is the sun coming up?!
HELMSMAN
Yes, sir.
NICK FURY
Then put it on the left! Get us over
water! One more turbine goes down and
we drop.
EXT. HELICARRIER PORT SIDE � DAY
CAPTAIN AMERICA, pushing with all his strength the door to
portside, sees SHIELD tech in full oxygen masks shoot fire
extinguishers and cover from sparks -- largely unable to do
anything.
Engine 3 is totally dead. A LARGE CHUNK of the port side in TORN
OFF.
CAPTAIN AMERICA
Stark, I'm here!
TONY
Good. See what we got.
Tony flies in his IRON MAN suit and gets close to the damaged
engine.
INSIDE THE SUIT
Tony observes within his viewscreen at the damaged engine and
its layouts.
TONY
I gotta get this super conducting
cooling system back online before I can
access the rotors and work on
dislodging the debris.
EXT. HELICARRIER PORT SIDE � DAY
IRON MAN begins PULLING on the stuck rotors. Looks over atSteve.
IRON MAN
I need you to get to that engine
control panel and tell me which relays
are in overload position.
IRON MAN flies into giant cooling conductors. CAPTAIN AMERICA
JUMPS over to the other side of the broken railing. CAPTAIN
AMERICA gets himself to the control panel and opens it up. For a
man who grew up as a YANK, what the fuck is this!
IRON MAN
What's it look like in there?
CAPTAIN AMERICA
It seems to run on some form of
electricity.
IRON MAN
Well, you're not wrong.
INT. LOWER EQUIPMENT ROOM, CARRIER � DAY
Natasha continuously crawls under the catwalk. She stops.
Then...BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. The room vibrates. Rhythmically.
Natasha pulls out her gun and slowly walks out onto the catwalk
and spins.
...and then a ROAR. THE HULK. Natasha FIRES a shot into a liquid
nitrogen pipe that hits the hulk in face. The HULK SMASHES THE
SHIT OUT OF IT. Natasha begins to run through the maze of
corridors. The sound the monster is coming.
Finally, she reaches and a long corridor. As she runs, behind
her, the HULK TEARS up the hallway, coming at her.
Natasha turns to see, but the HULK SLAPS her into the wall,
SMASHING INTO THE GROUND.
The HULK marks his territory. Natasha looks up. A fear she has
never felt begins to seep out. The HULK raises his hand and IS
KNOCKED OFF HIS FEET BY THOR WHO TACKLES HIM INTO the next room.
INT. HELICARRIER AIRCRAFT PORT � CONTINUOUS
Both Thor and HULK roll across the floor. Every person runs the
hell out. Thor looks up at this magnificent beast. The HULK
stands up and moving like a boxer, wants Thor to make his move.
The HULK makes his move.
SWING AND A MISS. Thor swings his massive hand and almost knocks
HULK off his feet. HULK keeps swinging and missing, pissing him
off. Finally, he brings down his arm, but Thor grabs it and
wraps around it.
THOR
We are not your enemies, Banner! Try to
think!
HULK lifts his arm up, to Thor's surprise, and he SENDS HIM
FLYING AS HE PUNCHES THOR'S FACE WITH HIS FIST.
EXT. HELICARRIER PORT SIDE � DAY
IRON MAN continuously BLASTS broken debris off the turbine
engine. It's bad, but still fixable.
CAPTAIN AMERICA (V.O.)
The relays are intact. What's our next
move?
TONY
Even if I clear the rotors, this thing
won't re-engage without a jump. I'm
gonna have to get in there and push.
EXT. HELICARRIER PORT SIDE � DAY
CAPTAIN AMERICA
Well if that thing gets up to speed,
you'll get shredded!
TONY
Then stay in the control unit and
reverse polarity long enough to
disengage mag...
CAPTAIN AMERICA
Speak English!
TONY
See that red lever? It'll slow the
rotors down long enough for me to get
out. Stand by it, wait for my word.
CAPTAIN AMERICA looks over at the other side where he was. He
sees the red lever and JUMPS towards it.
INT. HELICARRIER AIRCRAFT PORT � DAY
Thor CRASHES into another stack of crates. As he raises his
head, he feels something on his lips. BLOOD. As he swipes it
off, the ROAR of the HULK is not too far. Thor extends his hand
out.
The ROAR gets LOUDER and CLOSER. Thor focuses. His hand strains
toward mid-air. His eyes tight in concentration. The HULK runs
right at him. At the last second, MJ�LNIR flies into his hand
and Thor UPPERCUTS HULK, WHO CRASHES INTO A FIGHTER JET.
HULK stands up, shaking his head like `what the fuck just
happened.' He SHAKES it off and ANGRILY rips off the TAIL of the
jet, TORQUES HIS BODY LIKE A GREEK DISCUS THROWER AND... HURLS
THE MASSIVE PLATE AT THOR.
Thor SLIDES and DUCKS under the tail. Jumping up, he throws
Mj�lnir with all his strength, knocking the HULK head over
heels. HULK falls down, hammer in hand. HE tries to lift it, but
can't. Mj�lnir rests atop his hand.
Struggle as he may, HULK wraps his hand around the hammer. The
hammer doesn't move. To no avail -- he strains with all his
might, SCREAMS from the effort, BELLOWING.
Thor jumps up again, KNEEING HULK in the face. Thor grabs his
hammer, jumps on him, using the hammer as a lock for his
CHOKEHOLD. Hulk tries to pull him off.
INT. HELICARRIER BRIDGE � DAY
Fury and Agent Hill look over their monitors.
NICK FURY
We need a full evac on the lower hangar
bay.
Agent Hill nods. She leaves to exit out, but a SLIDING GRENADE
appears.
AGENT MARIA HILL
GRENADE!
The grenade goes off, sending her down the steps. Fury FIRES a
shot at the open entrance. He moves over behind the side of the
entrance. A handful of Barton's men enter. Watchful, ready,
waiting... Fury steps out, his GUN drawn.
A SHOOT OUT and HAND-TO-HAND ensues, but Fury is unable to stop
one of them, which is why he is shot in the head by Agent Hill,
who looks hot and sexy holding her gun.
INT. HELICARRIER ARMORY SECTION � DAY
Agent Coulson walks up the armory door. He places his head into
a FACIAL RECOGNITION SCANNER. Walks into the room.
AGENT JASPER SITWELL (V.O.)
We got perimeter breach! Hostiles are
in SHIELD gear. Hold on to every
junction.
INT. HELICARRIER AIRCRAFT PORT � DAY
HULK CRASHES from under the floor, sending Thor on his ass. HULK
grabs him by the neck.
INT. HELICARRIER BRIDGE � DAY
A gunfight opens up. AGENTS exchange fire with brutally
efficient tactical soldiers.
AGENT JASPER SITWELL (V.O.)
Sir, the HULK and Thor are in shuttle
levels 2, 3 and 4!
AGENT MARIA HILL
Sir, the Hulk will tear this place
apart!
NICK FURY
Get his attention.
AGENT MARIA HILL
(on her EARPIECE)
Escort 606, proceed to 270 MAIN
SHUTTLE! Don't get too close.
ESCORT 606 PILOT (V.O.)
Copy.
EXT. SKY � DAY
ESCORT 606'S jet BANKS to the right, heading towards the
shuttle.
EXT. OUTSIDE SHUTTLE
ESCORT 606 PILOT slowly makes his way in. sees the action going
between Thor and the HULK.
ESCORT 606 PILOT
Target acquired. Target engaged.
(pulls the trigger; fires
guns at HULK)
A SHOWER OF BULLETS SPRAYS THE HULK EVERYWHERE. Thor ducks for
cover. The HULK turns around, letting out his PRIMAL ROAR. He
jumps up, TAKES A RUNNING START AND LEAPS...
ESCORT 606 PILOT LOOKS LIKE HE TOOK A SHIT.
ESCORT 606 PILOT
TARGET ANGRY! TARGET ANGRY!
HULK LANDS ON THE JET'S NOSE. THE JET SPINS WILDLY. As the HULK
tears it apart, ESCORT 606 PILOT pulls his ejection seat, but
HOLD THE FUCKIN' DOOR!
THE HULK CATCHES HIM, WAVES HIM AROUND AND THEN THROWS HIM AWAY.
ESCORT 606 PILOT pulls his parachute. THE JET EXPLODES. THE HULK
PLUMMETS TO EARTH, ROARING HIS SWAN SONG.
EXT. HELICARRIER PORT SIDE � DAY
IRON MAN laser cuts a big piece of broken metal. He then JUMPS
on it, relieving the rotors.
On the other side, BARTON'S men enter the port side. CAPTAIN
AMERICA looks down, pondering if they are help. Evidently not as
they begin SHOOTING at him and throwing grenades.
CAPTAIN AMERICA jumps to the other railing and down with
Barton's men. He begins to TAKE THEM DOWN, even goes as far as
throwing one off. A few more enter, FIRING.
CAPTAIN AMERICA grabs a NOVESKE RIFLEWORKS DIPLOMAT (big word
for big fuckin' gun) and jumps back up to his position, firing
down at them.
INT. HELICARRIER BRIDGE � DAY
The gunfight has gone down, but more of Barton's men enter and
are taken by Fury, who is confused as to why they keep coming.
NICK FURY
They are not getting through here, so
what the hell...
Suddenly, Barton LOOSES an arrow down to the bridge and EXPLODES
critical spots. Barton releases a multi-tipped arrow towards
Fury, but instead hits his command desk, right above a USB
OUTLETS.
Fury FIRES at Barton, but is already gone. The arrow then self-
activates and inserts itself into the outlets, hacking every
single monitor and main frame. The hacking causes Engine 1 to
shut off. Suddenly, the HELICARRIER begins to DANGEROUSLY TILT
to one side.
AGENT JASPER SITWELL (O.S.)
Sir, we've lost all power in Engine 1.
NICK FURY
It's Barton. He took out our systems.
He's headed for the detention level.
Does anybody copy?
INT. LOWER EQUIPMENT ROOM, CARRIER- DAY
Still shaken by the HULK ordeal, Natasha sits there, rocking
back and forth, after crying for a while. Summoning back all her
coolness, she touches her EARPIECE.
NATASHA
This is Agent Romanoff. I copy.
Natasha SPRINGS up and runs for Barton.
EXT. HELICARRIER PORT SIDE � DAY
IRON MAN begins to push the rotor using BOOSTERS from his boots.
NICK FURY (V.O.)
Stark, we're losing altitude.
IRON MAN
Yeah. Noticed.
The rotors start propelling faster and faster as IRON MAN'S
BOOSTERS get more and more bright.
On the other side, CAPTAIN AMERICA continuously shoots at
Barton's men. Blinking at the wrong moment, CAPTAIN AMERICA
loses the upper hand and SLIDES off the railing, but grabs onto
a LOOSE CABLE.
INT. HELICARRIER DETENTION SECTION � DAY
Thor runs into the detention section where he finds Loki,
escaping.
THOR
NO!
Thor CHARGES at his brother. Loki walks up to him and CROUCHES
down to attack. THOR ONLY GOES THROUGH HIM. The false Loki
dissipates into nothingness. THE REAL LOKI comes out from behind
the cell door, which closes on THOR, locking him up. Loki
smiles.
LOKI
Are you ever not going to fall for
that?
INT. LOWER EQUIPMENT ROOM, CARRIER � DAY
Barton walks alone down the catwalk. In a lightning fast move,
Barton nocks an arrow, and points it at NATASHA. A hand-to-hand
fight ensues. Natasha CRAWLS her way around Barton, making
Barton to drop his bow, but pulls out a KNIFE on her.
INT. HELICARRIER DETENTION SECTION � DAY
Thor, in a fit of anger, SLAMS MJ�LNIR onto the glass cell. To
his surprise, the cell door only CRACKS, but violently SHAKES
the ship. Loki stands there in caution, as does his GUARDING
SOLDIER.
LOKI
(smiles; walks over to the
CONTROL PANEL)
The humans think us immortal. Should we
test that?
Suddenly, GUARDING SOLDIER falls down like a tree. AGENT COULSON
stands there, holding PHASE 2 WEAPON PROTOTYPE.
AGENT PHIL COULSON
Move away, please.
Loki moves away from the switch.
AGENT PHIL COULSON
You like this? We started working on
the prototype after you sent THE
DESTROYER. Even I don't know what it
does. Do you wanna find out?
A LOUD GASP. AGENT COULSON IS IMPALED THROUGH THE HEART. THE
REAL LOKI STANDS BEHIND COULSON.
THOR
Nooo!
Loki sends Agent Coulson against the wall. Agent Coulson slumps
down, breathing fast. Loki makes his way to the control switch.
He gives his brother one last look. Thor looks at him, hopeful.
Loki opens the HATCH. Thor still hopes. LOKI HITS THE BUTTON AND
DROPS THOR OUT OF THE SHIP.
INT. LOWER EQUIPMENT ROOM, CARRIER � DAY
Barton and Natasha continue attacking each other. Natasha
KICKBOXES Barton's face. Feeling that, Barton takes a SWING at
her, but she grabs his arm, TWISTING it. BARTON WRITHES IN PAIN.
Using his other arm, he tosses the knife over and begins to
SLASH at Natasha. She dodges every move, but finds herself in a
LOCK HOLD with him. As he forces the knife down, she BITES his
wrist. Barton lets go of the knife.
Natasha WRAPS her legs around his neck, FLIPS him over and arm
LOCKS him. She SLAMS his head into a pipes rail. Barton goes
down, hard. He looks up her, almost coming to his real senses.
BARTON
Natasha...
Natasha COLDCOCKS him. Barton is out.
EXT. SKY
Thor, trapped in the glass cage, BOUNCES off the JUMBLING cell
pod. As it draws closer to land, Thor tries to swing at glass,
but misses. Land draws closer.
In a final attempt before crashing, Thor positions himself onto
the glass door and LEAPFROGS just as the cage is about to hit
the ground. The cell CRASHES into the shore as Thor crashes out
into the meadow.
INT. HELICARRIER DETENTION SECTION � DAY
Loki has no remorse as he looks down. He closes the hatch and
proceeds to leave. A WEAK VOICE.
AGENT PHIL COULSON
You're gonna lose.
LOKI
(TURNING)
Am I?
AGENT PHIL COULSON
It's in your nature.
LOKI
Your heroes are scattered, your
floating fortress falls from the
sky...where is my disadvantage?
AGENT PHIL COULSON
You lack conviction.
LOKI
I don't think I...
AGENT COULSON SHOOTS LOKI WITH HIS PHASE 2 WEAPON PROTOTYPE,
CAUSING LOKI TO BE BLOWN THROUGH THE WALL BEHIND HIM.
AGENT PHIL COULSON
So that's what it does.
INT. HELICARRIER BRIDGE � DAY
Back in the bridge, Fury sees on his VIEWSCREEN that the hatch
has been open. Knowing Agent Coulson was sent there, he goes to.
EXT. HELICARRIER PORT SIDE � DAY
IRON MAN continuously SPINS Engine 3, giving it all he has. THE
ROTORS ARE PROPELLING PROPERLY AND FAST. The HELICARRIER LEVELS
itself.
INSIDE THE SUIT
TONY
Cap, I need the lever!
STEVE (V.O.)
I need a minute here!
TONY
Lever. Now!
Tony lets go of the rotors. They spin by themselves. Tony is
then caught in one. He is now fucked. IRON MAN slips into the
rotors, getting chewed up.
EXT. HELICARRIER PORT SIDE � DAY
CAPTAIN AMERICA CLIMBS up the loose cable and reaches the
railing.
BARTON'S MAN opens fire once more. CAPTAIN AMERICA pulls himself
up and finally PULLS the lever.
A VENT opens up from Engine 3. IRON MAN falls out, but the suit
heavily damaged, hardly keeping him up. IRON MAN heads for Cap.
BARTON'S MAN turns his AIM to IRON MAN, who TACKLES him into the
wall. IRON MAN rolls over, tired. Cap lets out a sigh of relief.
OUTSIDE THE HELICARRIER
The carrier that brought Barton and his team now leaves, taking
Loki and his scepter. The carrier flies into the distance.
INT. HELICARRIER DETENTION SECTION � DAY
Fury runs in finding Agent Coulson still alive, barely.
AGENT PHIL COULSON
Sorry, boss. They got rabbited.
NICK FURY
Just stay awake. EYES ON ME!
AGENT PHIL COULSON
No. I'm clocked out here.
NICK FURY
Not an option.
AGENT PHIL COULSON
It's okay, boss. This was never going
to work... if they didn't have
something... to...
Agent Coulson looks away. Sighs his last breath. Nick Fury looks
on grimly at Coulson. The medical team arrives.
INT. HELICARRIER BRIDGE � DAY
NICK FURY (V.O.)
Agent Coulson is down.
Agent Hill is being treated for a gash on her head, listens on
her headset, standing up.
SHIELD AGENT (V.O.)
Paramedics are on their way.
NICK FURY (V.O.)
They're here.
INT. HELICARRIER PORT SIDE � DAY
Steve and Tony listen in as well.
NICK FURY (V.O.)
They called it.
INT. HELICARRIER BRIDGE � LATER
Fury gathers Tony and Steve back into the briefing room everyone
there has a look as if in a daze. A look of numb shock is shown
on their devastated faces.
NICK FURY
These were in Phil Coulson's jacket.
Guess he never did get you to sign
them.
Fury throws Coulson's CAPTAIN AMERICA TRADING CARDS on the table
towards Steve. Steve picks them up, STAINED WITH BLOOD.
NICK FURY
We're dead in the air up here. Our
communications, location of the cube,
Banner, Thor. I got nothing for you.
Lost my one good eye. Maybe I had that
coming.
(A BEAT)
Yes, we were going to build an arsenal
with the Tesseract. I never put all my
chips on that number though, because I
was playing something even riskier.
There was an idea, Stark knows this,
called THE AVENGERS INITIATIVE. The
idea was to bring together a group of
remarkable people, see if they could
become something more. See if they
could work together when we needed them
to, to fight the battles that we never
could. Phil Coulson died still
believing in that idea, in heroes.
Tony gets up and walks off, not wanting to hear it anymore.
NICK FURY
Well, it's an old fashioned notion.
EXT. MEADOW � DAY
Thor walks out far into the meadow. He looks down. MJ�LNIR.
INT. ABANDONED BUILDING � DAY
Banner wakes up, in human form. He looks around and sees he is
IN A PILE OF RUBBLE and looks up at the OPEN CEILING HE CRASHED
IN. AND IS COMPLETELY NAKED. A SECURITY GUARD stands there,
amazed.
SECURITY GUARD
You fell out of the sky.
BANNER
(COMING TO)
Did I hurt anybody?
SECURITY GUARD
There's nobody around here to get hurt.
You did scare the hell out of some
pigeons though.
BANNER
Lucky.
SECURITY GUARD
Or just good aim. You were awake when
you fell.
BANNER
You saw?
SECURITY GUARD
The whole thing, right through the
ceiling. Big and green and buck ass
nude. Here...
He throws Banner a pair of big pants. Banner pulls on his pants.
SECURITY GUARD
I didn't think those would fit you
until you shrunk down to a regular size
fella.
BANNER
Thank you.
A beat.
SECURITY GUARD
Are you an alien?
BANNER
What?
SECURITY GUARD
From outer space, an alien?
BANNER
No.
SECURITY GUARD
Well then, son, you've got a condition.
INT. HELICARRIER MEDICAL ROOM � DAY
Barton is strapped down. Natasha watches over him as Barton
tries to shake off Loki's mind control.
NATASHA
Clint, you're gonna be alright.
CLINT BARTON
You know that? Is that what you know? I
got...I gotta go in though. I gotta
flush him out.
NATASHA
We don't have that long, it's gonna
take time.
CLINT BARTON
I don't understand. Have you ever had
someone take your brain and play? Pull
you out and send something else in? Do
you know what it's like to be unmade?
NATASHA
You know that I do.
CLINT BARTON
Why am I back? How did you get him out?
NATASHA
Cognitive recalibration. I hit you
really hard in the head.
CLINT BARTON
Thanks.
(Natasha unfastens the
RESTRAINTS)
Tasha, how many agents?
NATASHA
Don't. Don't do that to yourself,
Clint. This is Loki. This is monsters
and magic and nothing we were ever
trained for.
CLINT BARTON
Loki, he got away?
NATASHA
Yeah. I don't suppose you know where?
CLINT BARTON
I didn't need to know. I didn't ask.
He's gonna make his play soon though.
Today.
NATASHA
We gotta stop him.
CLINT BARTON
Yeah? Who's we?
NATASHA
I don't know. Whoever's left.
CLINT BARTON
Well, if I put an arrow in Loki's
eyesocket, I'd sleep better I suppose.
NATASHA
Now you sound like you.
Natasha sits next to her partner and friend.
CLINT BARTON
But you don't. You're a spy, not a
soldier. Now you want to wade into a
war. Why? What did Loki do to you?
NATASHA
He didn't, I just...
(SHE PAUSES)
CLINT BARTON
Natasha.
NATASHA
I've been compromised. I got red in my
ledger. I'd like to wipe it out.
INT. HELICARRIER DETENTION SECTION � DAY
Tony look at the empty cell container. He stands not saying a
word. Steve walks in.
STEVE
Was he married?
TONY
No. There was a uh...cellist, I think.
STEVE
I'm sorry. He seemed like a good man.
TONY
He was an idiot.
STEVE
Why? For believing?
TONY
For taking on Loki alone.
STEVE
He was doing his job.
TONY
He was out of his league. He should
have waited. He should have...
STEVE
Sometimes there isn't a way out, Tony.
TONY
(WALKS AWAY)
Right. How did that work for him?
STEVE
Is this the first time you've lost a
soldier?
TONY
(turns around sharply)
WE ARE NOT SOLDIERS! I am not marching
to Fury's fife!
STEVE
Neither am I! He's got the same blood
on his hands as Loki does. Right now
we've got to put that aside and get
this done. Now Loki needs a power
source, if we can put together a
list...
TONY
(looking at the blood stained
WALL)
He made it personal.
STEVE
That's not the point.
TONY
That is the point. That's Loki's point.
He hit us all right where we live. Why?
STEVE
To tear us apart.
TONY
He had to conquer his greed, but he
knows he has to take us out to win,
right? That's what he wants. He wants
to beat us and he wants to be seen
doing it. He wants an audience.
STEVE
Right, I caught his act at Stuttengard.
TONY
Yeah. That's just a preview, this is
opening night. Loki's a full-tilt diva.
He wants flowers, he wants parades, he
wants a monument built in the skies
with his name plastered...
(PAUSE)
Sonofabitch!
EXT. STARK TOWER � DAY
Selvig works around the CMS device that has already been set-
upon the rooftop of Tony's tower.
INT. HELICARRIER MEDICAL ROOM � DAY
Steve walks in full uniform. Natasha looks at him, unprepared.
STEVE
Time to go.
NATASHA
Go where?
STEVE
I'll tell you on the way. Can you fly
one of those jets?
Barton walks out of the restroom. Looks at Cap.
CLINT BARTON
I can.
Steve looks at Natasha and she nods her head to confirm Barton's
on their side.
STEVE
You got a suit?
CLINT BARTON
Yeah.
STEVE
Then suit up.
MONTAGE
- KRAKAKABOOM! A blinding BOLT OF LIGHTNING strikes down from
above, colliding on MJ�LNIR. The explosion is massive. THE
MIGHTY THOR.
- CAPTAIN AMERICA pulls on his HELMET and SHIELD.
- Tony WELDS his IRON MAN helmet. LIGHT slips down over IRON
MAN's eye holes.
- BLACK WIDOW attaches a GLOVE GAUNTLET with her rounds on her
wrist. A BLUE LIGHT CHARGES.
- HAWKEYE slips on his QUIVER of arrows.
EXT/INT. QUINJET � DAY
Cap, Widow and Hawkeye walk towards and into the QUINJET. A
YOUNG SHIELD PILOT looks and stands in their way.
YOUNG SHIELD PILOT
You are not authorized to be here...
CAPTAIN AMERICA
Son... just don't.
INT. HELICARRIER BRIDGE � DAY
Fury looks the window of the ship, contemplating. Agent Hill
walks up to him, knowing.
AGENT MARIA HILL
Sir.
NICK FURY
Agent Hill?
AGENT MARIA HILL
Those cards, they were in Coulson's
locker, not in his jacket.
NICK FURY
They needed the push.
(holding Coulson's cards)
A LOUD NOISE SCREECHES. Fury looks out to see IRON MAN flying
off as well as the QUINJET.
NICK FURY
They found it. Get our communications
back up, whatever you have to do. I
want eyes on everything.
AGENT MARIA HILL
Yes, sir.
EXT. NEW YORK CITY SKYLINE - STARK TOWER � DAY
IRON MAN arrives at STARK TOWER where Selvig, ACTIVATES the CMS
device, holding the Tesseract.
JARVIS
Sir, I took off the arc reactor. The
device is already self-sustained.
TONY
Shut it down, Dr. Selvig.
SELVIG
It's too late! It can't stop now. He
wants to show us something! A new
universe.
IRON MAN
Okay.
IRON MAN aims his hands toward the CMS and FIRES. The energy
from his boosters SHATTERS with a deafening CRACK! Selvig falls
backwards. DOWN BELOW, CITIZENS OF NEW YORK look up at STARK
TOWER. IRON MAN stares in disbelief at the CMS ... unharmed.
JARVIS
The barrier is pure energy. It's
unbreachable. The Mark VII is not ready
to be deployed.
TONY
Skip the spinning rims. We're on the
clock.
TONY lands his SUIT and goes through the gauntlet and unsuits
him. LOKI looks up at him, smiling. They proceed to walk into
the penthouse.
INT. STARK PENTHOUSE � DAY
Loki walks in, holding the scepter. Tony casually walks down the
steps, towards the bar.
LOKI
Please tell me you're going to appeal
to my humanity.
TONY
Uh...actually, I'm planning to threaten
you.
LOKI
You should have left your armor on for
that.
TONY
Yeah, it's seen a bit of mileage.
You've got the blue stick of destiny.
Would you like a drink?
LOKI
Stalling me won't change anything.
TONY
No, no, no! Threatening. No drink? You
sure? I'm having one.
LOKI
The CHITAURI are coming, nothing will
change that. What have I to fear?
TONY
THE AVENGERS.
(Loki looks at him, confused)
It's what we call ourselves, sort of
like a team. `EARTH'S MIGHTIEST HEROES'
type of thing.
LOKI
Yes, I've met them.
TONY
(SMILING)
Yeah, takes us a while to get any
traction, I'll give you that one.
TONY (CONT'D)
But, let's do a head count here. Your
brother, the demi-God; a super soldier,
a living legend who kind of lives up to
the legend; a man with breath-taking
anger management issues; a couple of
master assassins, and you, big fella,
you've managed to piss off every single
one of them.
LOKI
That was the plan.
TONY
Not a great plan. When they come, and
they will, they'll come for you.
From underneath the bar table, Tony pulls on COLANTOTTE
BRACELETS, a honing device.
LOKI
I have an army.
TONY
We have a HULK.
LOKI
I thought the beast had wandered off.
TONY
You're missing the point. There's no
throne, there is no version of this,
where you come out on top. Maybe your
army comes and maybe it's too much for
us, but it's all on you. Because if we
can't protect the Earth, you can be
damned well sure we'll avenge it.
LOKI
(slowly walks up to him;
raising the scepter)
How will your friends have time for
me,when they're so busy fighting you?
Loki TAPS Tony on the chest with his scepter. PING! Nothing.
Confused, Loki tires again. PING! NOTHING.
LOKI
It should work.
TONY
Well, performance issues. You know?
In anger, Loki GRABS Tony by the throat and FLINGS him across
the room.
TONY
Jarvis. Anytime now.
Loki grabs Tony by the throat again.
LOKI
You will all fall before me.
LOKI THROWS TONY OUT THE WINDOW. Tony FREEFALLS down the tower.
From behind Loki, an elevator opens and a RED POD SHOOTS out.
The pod LASER SIGNALS the COLANTOTTE BRACELETS on Tony. The POD
begins to TRANSFORM into the MARK VII suit.
It LATCHES onto Tony. IRON MAN. The suit FLIES up before he hits
the ground or the gazing people. Loki looks up, angry.
IRON MAN
And there's one other person you pissed
off! His name was Phil.
Loki raises the scepter. IRON MAN FIRES at Loki, sending him on
his ass.
EXT. STARK TOWER � DAY
Selvig looks up at the sky. The Tesseract's energy BEAMS into
the sky. The beam then forms a VORTEX, which then opens up
ANOTHER PORTAL.
EXT. VASTNESS OF SPACE
A hole in space rips open, and from it, the CHITAURI ARMY SPILLS
out in FLYING CHARIOTS, carrying ENERGY RIFLES with a bayonet on
the end.
INSIDE THE SUIT
TONY
Right. Army.
IRON MAN flies up towards the portal. From his shoulders, a
miniature multiple rocket launcher, pops out and FIRES. Like the
JERICHO MISSILE, several targets are taken down unlike no
missile. It's useless. THOUSANDS OF CHITAURI FLY OUT. IRON MAN
flies towards the city.
EXT. MANHATTAN � DAY
The CHITAURI UNLEASH. New Yorkers fill the streets, staring at
the fire fight in the distance. BOOM!!! The CHITAURI unleashes
BLASTS as it goes, blowing up cars, setting storefronts aflame.
AN EXPLOSION RIPS OUT THE WINDOWS OF THE TOP CORNER OF
BUILDINGS. FLAME AND STONE RAIN DOWN. A DOMINO-EFFECT OF
EXPLOSIONS RIPPLING ACROSS THE BRIDGE.
EXT. STARK TOWER � DAY
Loki walks onto the balcony as the SOUNDS of the CHITAURI rings
out. He admires his soon to be kingdom. THOR LANDS ON THE TOWER.
Loki turns to his ENEMY.
THOR
Loki! Turn off the Tesseract or I'll
destroy it!
LOKI
You can't. There is no stopping it.
There is only the war!
THOR
So be it.
Loki and Thor rush at each other. They and their weapons
collide. The two battle -- Loki unleashing another pent-up rage
and jealousy, Thor having no choice but to defend himself.
EXT. MANHATTAN � DAY
SOLDIERS AND COPS have taken positions covering the streets.
They see from the sky, IRON MAN leading a trail of CHITAURI
towards his tower.
EXT. SKY � DAY
The QUINJET BOOMS into the city.
BLACK WIDOW (V.O.)
Stark, we're heading north east.
INSIDE THE SUIT
IRON MAN
What, did you stop for drive-thru?
Swing up PARK, I'm gonna lay 'em out
for you.
EXT. STARK TOWER � DAY
IRON MAN BANKS around his tower. Sees Thor and Loki still going
at it. IRON MAN SWOOPS down the street, causing a CHITAURI to
crash.
Flying up, IRON MAN puts the following CHITAURI in view of the
QUINJET. BLACK WIDOW takes out machine gun and FIRES at the
CHITAURI.
INSIDE THE SUIT
JARVIS
Sir, we have more incoming.
TONY
Fine. Let's keep them occupied.
IRON MAN heads back to the portal.
EXT. STARK TOWER � DAY
Thor and Loki battle savagely. Loki fires ENERGY from the
scepter, sending Thor sliding across the floor.
INT. QUINJET � DAY
HAWKEYE looks out to his left window, finding a target.
HAWKEYE
Yeah.
BLACK WIDOW
See them.
HAWKEYE BANKS the jet towards STARK TOWER. Aims the MINIGUN at
Loki. Loki AIMS the scepter at the QUINJET and FIRES A BLAST OF
ENERGY. Thor gets to his feet, TACKLING Loki down hard.
THE QUINJET is soon caught on fire. HAWKEYE maneuvers one wing
of the jet. They SPIN and SLOW. DROPPING OUT OF THE AIR AS IT
PASSES OVER SKYSCRAPERS. Then... they SLAM into the street.
INT. QUINJET � DAY
With everyone okay, HAWKEYE and BLACK WIDOW unfasten their
seatbelts and open the ramp. CAPTAIN AMERICA runs down, followed
by HAWKEYE and BLACK WIDOW. Each one has their respected weapons
in hand.
EXT. FOUR WAY STREET � DAY
The TRIO arrives in the middle of a four-way street. Suddenly,
the city LURCHES to a stop. A DEEP, PRIMAL RAGE BELLOWS OUT.
With that roar, a SHADOW comes over them.
EXT. VASTNESS OF SPACE
From the portal, a FUCKING CHITAURI LEVIATHAN FLIES OUT!
Carrying hundreds of SOLDIERS, the CHITAURI LEVIATHAN PASSES
OVER the TRIO.
EXT. BRIDGE STREET � DAY
They look up, out of their element. From both sides, CHITAURI
SOLDIERS CLING OFF and attach themselves to the sides of the
buildings, sliding down. Some CRASH into these buildings and
begin FIRING from their ENERGY RIFLES at innocent people.
CAPTAIN AMERICA
Stark, are you seeing this?
INSIDE THE SUIT
TONY
I'm seeing, still working on believing.
Where's Banner? Has he shown up yet?
CAPTAIN AMERICA (V.O.)
Banner?
TONY
Just keep me posted. Jarvis, find me a
soft spot.
IRON MAN quietly flies behind and parallel with the CHITAURI
LEVIATHAN.
EXT. STARK TOWER � DAY
Thor holds down Loki's face straight ahead, forcing him to watch
the city falling to ash.
THOR
Look at this! Look around you! You
think this madness will end with your
rule?
LOKI
(tries to look away)
It's too late. It's too late to stopit.
THOR
No. We can. Together.
Loki looks at his brother, showing a sign of hope. Then... Loki
stabs Thor with a small knife. Thor keels over.
LOKI
Sentiment.
Thor gets up, KICKS Loki and lifts him into the air. Thor then
SLAMS him down, hard. Loki, bleeding, rolls over the edge. Thor
looks down. LOKI IS RIDING ON A FLYING CHARIOT. DOZENS of
CHITAURI follow his lead.
EXT. BRIDGE STREET � DAY
The TRIO runs behind upside taxis. They look up and see Loki
taking his band down the street and FIRES at the street IN A
CHAIN OF EXPLOSIONS. SMASHING CARS AND HURLING PEOPLE AS IT GOES
IT GOES OFF IN ONE FINAL CONFLAGRATION.
TERRIFIED PEOPLE running from Loki, looking over their
shoulders, coming straight at us. CAPTAIN AMERICA looks down the
bridge.
CAPTAIN AMERICA
Those people need assistance down
there.
CHITAURI SOLDIERS that have landed near them and begin FIRING at
them. BLACK WIDOW pulls both pistols and FIRES. Turns to Cap.
BLACK WIDOW
We got this. It's good. Go!
CAPTAIN AMERICA
(AT HAWKEYE)
You think you can hold them off?
HAWKEYE
Captain.
(pulls a trigger on his bow;
a narrow is mechanically
CHOSEN)
It would be my genuine pleasure.
HAWKEYE shoots an ARROW into the creature's head, gaining a few
seconds for CAPTAIN AMERICA as he falls down the bridge,
followed by an EXPLOSION.
Cap races over to the plaza, jumping over dozens of EXPLODING
cars. THE FIRST AVENGER RUNS LIKE A FUCKING CHEETAH.
HAWKEYE runs over a bus full of people. From the windows, SMALL
CHILDREN are held by their parents for HAWKEYE to pull them out
to safety. He runs over to the jammed door and JERKILY opens it.
People begin to run out.
BLACK WIDOW empties out her CLIPS. HAWKEYE fires ARROWS into the
ranks of the CHITAURI, hitting his mark each time he shoots.
BLACK WIDOW
Just like BUDAPEST all over again!
HAWKEYE
You and I remember Budapest
verydifferently.
EXT. MANHATTAN � DAY
The COPS continuously fire at the flying chariots. It's pretty
pointless. A YOUNG COP runs over to his POLICE SERGEANT.
YOUNG COP
We need to get out! They gotta bring
the National Guard!
POLICE SERGEANT
National Guard? Does the army know
what's happening here?
YOUNG COP
Do we?
CAPTAIN AMERICA jumps in front of them. They look up at this
ridiculous looking man.
CAPTAIN AMERICA
I need men in these buildings. There
are people inside that can run into the
line of fire. You take them through the
basement or through the subway. You
keep them off the streets. I need a
perimeter as far back as 39th.
POLICE SERGEANT
Why the hell should I take orders from
you?
Suddenly, an EXPLOSION comes up from behind Cap. An ENERGY BLAST
is blocked by his SHIELD. TWO CHITAURI SOLDIERS attack. The cops
watch in shock as CAPTAIN AMERICA FIGHTS them off with ease. The
Sergeant turns to his officer.
POLICE SERGEANT
I need men in those buildings, lead the
people down and away from the streets.
I need a perimeter as far back as 39th.
EXT. SKY LINE � DAY
IRON MAN swerves around a building and faces the CHITAURI
LEVIATHAN. He pulls out his miniature multiple rocket launcher
and FIRES. The CHITAURI LEVIATHAN ROARS in annoyance. The
CHITAURI LEVIATHAN turns to him.
IRON MAN
(TO JARVIS)
We got his attention. What the hell is
step two?!
IRON MAN flies away.
EXT. BRIDGE STREET � DAY
HAWKEYE TRIPS a CHITAURI SOLDIER and RAMS an arrow down its
throat. BLACK WIDOW gets her hands on an ENERGY RIFLE and
STICKFIGHTS the hell out of them.
CAPTAIN AMERICA joins back in and using his SHIELD, SWAPS and
WHACKS oncoming CHITAURI SOLDIERS. It's all too much on them,
until...
Lightning strikes down from the sky, channeling the blast,
firing the electricity out at the CHITAURI SOLDIERS around them.
They're blasted back in a massive shockwave. The CHITAURI
SOLDIERS convulse, drop dead to the ground. THOR TOUCHES DOWN.
CAPTAIN AMERICA
What's the story upstairs?
THOR
The powers surrounding the cube is
impenetrable.
IRON MAN (V.O.)
Thor is right. We gotta deal with these
guys.
BLACK WIDOW
How do we do this?
CAPTAIN AMERICA
As a team.
THOR
I have unfinished business with Loki.
HAWKEYE
Yeah, get in line.
CAPTAIN AMERICA
Save it. Loki's gonna keep this fight
focused on us and that's what we need.
Without him these things could run
wild. We got Stark up top, he's gonna
need us...
Just then, BANNER ARRIVES ON A SMALL MOTORBIKE. Getting off, he
looks around the city.
BANNER
So, this all seems horrible.
BLACK WIDOW
I've seen worse.
BANNER
Sorry.
BLACK WIDOW
No. We could use a little worse.
CAPTAIN AMERICA
Stark? We got him.
IRON MAN (V.O.)
Banner?
CAPTAIN AMERICA
Just like you said.
INSIDE THE SUIT
TONY
Then tell him to suit up. I'm bringing
the party to you.
IRON MAN comes out from behind a building. The CHITAURI
LEVIATHAN follows, impatiently.
EXT. BRIDGE STREET � DAY
The rest of the AVENGERS look up, getting ready and standing
still.
BLACK WIDOW
I... I don't see how that's a party...
IRON MAN SWOOPS down the street. The CHITAURI LEVIATHAN also
swoops down, BARRELING down the street like a FREIGHT TRAIN that
keeps building and building its intensity.Banner looks behind.
Cap looks at him. Banner begins to walk towards the monster.
CAPTAIN AMERICA
Dr. Banner. Now might be a really good
time for you to get angry.
BANNER
That's my secret, Captain. I'm always
angry.
Banner's body starts to swell and stretch and harden. GREEN
SHOOTS THROUGH HIS BODY. THE HULK.
Aaaannndddd.........SSSMMMAAASSSHHH!!!! HULK POPS the CHITAURI
LEVIATHAN IN THE NOSE. THE CREATURE FLIPS OVER A 360.
IRON MAN, in mid-flight, extends his arm out and a ROCKET, ready
to shoot. IRON MAN FIRES -- the rocket hits a SOFT SPOT � LARGE
CHITAURI LEVIATHAN are BLOWN COMPLETELY AWAY. Real pain from the
CHITAURI LEVIATHAN. Other pieces of meat CATCH FIRE and
withdraw... SIZZLE as they hit the pavement. CAPTAIN AMERICA
raises his SHIELD to block them.
From above and on the buildings, the CHITAURI ARMY watches in
horror as a group of EARTH'S MIGHTIEST HEROES FIND THEMSELVES
UNITED AGAINST A COMMON THREAT. TO FIGHT THE FOES NO SINGLE
SUPER HERO COULD WITHSTAND! THE AVENGERS ASSEMBLE!
EXT. SKY � DAY
Loki watches below, motionless.
LOKI
Send the rest.
EXT. VASTNESS OF SPACE
From the portal, THOUSANDS MORE OF CHITAURI SOLDIERS AND EVEN
MORE CHITAURI LEVIATHANS FLY OUT!
EXT. BRIDGE STREET � DAY
THE AVENGERS look up. Way out of their fucking element.
BLACK WIDOW
Guys.
IRON MAN
Call it, Cap.
CAPTAIN AMERICA
Alright, listen up. Until we can close
that portal up there, we're gonna use
containment. Barton, I want you on that
roof, eyes on everything. Call out
patterns and strays. Stark, you got the
perimeter. Anything gets more than
three blocks out, you turn it back or
your turn it to ash.
HAWKEYE
Wanna give me a lift?
IRON MAN
Right. Better clench up, LEGOLAS.
IRON MAN lifts HAWKEYE up to the building.
CAPTAIN AMERICA
Thor, you've gotta try and bottleneck
that portal. Slow them down. You've got
the lightning. Light the bastards up.
(Thor flies up; to Natasha)
You and me, we stay here on the ground,
keep the fighting here. And Hulk.SMASH.
THE HULK SMILES A MOST MAGNIFICENT GRIN AND LEAPS, SOARING HIGH
UP INTO THE NEAREST BUILDING, HULK RUNS UP THE WALL HITS SEVERAL
CHITAURI SOLDIERS, SNAPPING IN HALF.
HE DIVES TOWARDS A BUILDING ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE STREET,
THROWING THE DEAD CHITAURI SOLDIERS TOWARDS OTHER SOLDIERS. The
CHITAURI SOLDIERS fire at him. THE HULK BACKHANDS THEM, SEIZES
THEM AND WITH RAW POWER, THROWS THEM DOWN.
IN HIS MOST POWERFUL LEAP YET, THE HULK FLIES UP AND IS IN THE
MIDDLE OF A FLYING CHARIOT TRAFFIC JAM, TO WHICH HE SMACKS THEM
OUT OF ALTITUDE.
EXT. EMPIRE STATE BUILDING � DAY
Thor grabs onto the tower. Raises MJ�LNIR and KRAKAKABOOM! A
BLINDING BOLT OF LIGHTNING strikes down from above, colliding on
MJ�LNIR. THOR AIMS THIS MASSIVE SHOCKWAVE TOWARDS THE PORTAL.
THOR CHANNELS THE BLAST AND FIRES THE ELECTRICITY OUT AT THE
CHITAURI SOLDIERS FLYING OUT OF THE PORTAL. THEY'RE BLASTED BACK
IN A MASSIVE SHOCKWAVE. THE CHITAURI SOLDIERS CONVULSE, DROP
DEAD TO THE GROUND. HE EVEN RIPS THE SHIT OUT OF A CHITAURI
LEVIATHAN, WHICH THEN FUCKING EXPLODES.
INT. HELICARRIER BRIDGE � DAY
Back in the bridge, Fury sees on his VIEWSCREEN the destruction
going on in NEW YORK. Agent Hill walks up to him.
AGENT MARIA HILL
Sir. The council is on.
OH SHIT. Fury presses his screen.
EXT. ROOFTOP BUILDING � DAY
Atop the rooftop, HAWKEYE fires ARROWS into the streaming flow
of the CHITAURI RIDERS, hitting his mark each time. Hell, heeven
AIMS his bow behind him, WITHOUT LOOKING and releases the arrow,
EXPLODING a RIDER.
HAWKEYE
Stark. You got a lot of strings
sticking to your tail.
IRON MAN
Just try and keep them off the streets.
HAWKEYE
Well, they can't bank worth a damn.
Find a tight corner.
IRON MAN
I will roger that.
IRON MAN does so and leads towards TIGHT CORNERS and in
HAWKEYE'S view, who fires arrow upon and arrow, EXPLODING the
CHITAURI RIDERS. IRON MAN keeps leading CHITAURI RIDERS UNDER
TUNNELS, THROUGH OPEN PARKING GARAGES. He looks back. None left.
INSIDE THE SUIT
TONY
Nice call. What else you got?
HAWKEYE (V.O.)
Well, Thor's taking on a squadron down
on 6th.
TONY
And he didn't invite me?
EXT. OFFICE BUILDING - CONFERENCE ROOM � DAY
We are looking INTO a conference room where office workers sit
around a table. But the NOISE has caught one worker's eye, then
another, and soon they are all rising, stepping to the window,
mesmerized by what lies beyond.
WORKERS' POVA CHITAURI LEVIATHAN SWIMS right in front of them.
EXT. OFFICE BUILDING - CONFERENCE ROOM � DAY
Suddenly, another NOISE catches the worker's attention. THE HULK
CRASHES THROUGH THEIR FLOOR. SLASHES HIS THROUGH THE ROOM,
POUNDING AWAY AND JUMPS OUT ONTO THE JAW OF THE CHITAURI
LEVIATHAN. THE CHITAURI LEVIATHAN BEGINS TO HEAD DOWN, TRYING TO
WAVE OFF THE HULK.
EXT. BRIDGE STREET � DAY
BLACK WIDOW, using the ENERGY RIFLE, is taken off her feet by a
CHITAURI SOLDIER. She TIRESOMELY takes it down by cutting its
throat. She grabs the ENERGY RIFLE, turns to attack. Cap stands
there, holding his SHIELD. She slumps back, tired.
BLACK WIDOW
Captain, none of this is gonna mean a
damn thing if we don't close that
portal.
CAPTAIN AMERICA
Our biggest guns couldn't touch it.
BLACK WIDOW
Well, maybe it's not about guns.
(gestures the flying
CHARIOTS)
CAPTAIN AMERICA
You wanna get up there, you're gonna
need a ride.
BLACK WIDOW
I got a ride. I could use a lift
though.
BLACK WIDOW backs up giving herself a running start. Cap lifts
and angles his SHIELD.
CAPTAIN AMERICA
Are you sure about this?
BLACK WIDOW
Yeah. It's gonna be fun.
BLACK WIDOW RUNS AT CAPTAIN AMERICA. BLACK WIDOW DOES A PARKOUR
MOVE, USING HER FEET TO RUN UP THE CAR AND JUMPS UP ON CAP'S
SHIELD, WHO GIVES HER A BOOST WITH THE SHIELD. SHE GRABS ONTO A
FLYING CHARIOT.
[Note: The following sequence will take us through the action in
one extended shot.]
- BLACK WIDOW climbs onto the chariot and CUTS the turret
shooter's linkage to it. She then JUMPS on the rider and STICKS
her knives into his nervous system. She gets him to BANK over a
building.
- IRON MAN arrives and SHOOTS any other CHITAURI RIDERS
following her. He makes his way down to CAPTAIN AMERICA, who
fights off more CHITAURI SOLDIERS. IRON MAN points his HAND
BOOSTERS at his SHIELD. The energy comes off and Cap uses it as
a REFLECTION BEAM and takes down nearby CHITAURI.
- From above them, HAWKEYE sends down remaining arrows. He sends
one across the street, taking down a CHITAURI RIDER following
IRON MAN.
- Finally, we have THOR and HULK fight on top the back of the
CHITAURI LEVIATHAN, tearing apart and fighting SOLDIERS. HULK
BREAKS OFF A MASSIVE PIECE OF ARMOR AND SLAMS IT DOWN ONTO THE
SPINE OF THE CHITAURI LEVIATHAN. Summoning all his strength he,
THOR RAISES, DRAWING LIGHTNING TO IT FROM ALL SIDES, AND BRINGS
IT DOWN WITH A FINAL, TERRIBLE BLOW--
INT. HISTORY MUSEUM � DAY
The CHITAURI LEVIATHAN CRASHES into a history museum. DEAD. THOR
and HULK stand on the BACK of the CHITAURI LEVIATHAN after
bringing it down. They stand still, admiring. HULK PUNCHES THOR
WITH HIS ENORMOUS HAND. THOR GOES FLYING. HULK SMIRKS.
EXT. STARK TOWER � DAY
SELVIG WAKES UP FROM LOKI MIND CONTROL. He looks around,
confused where he is. He looks up at the sky, amazed.
EXT. BRIDGE STREET � DAY
Several HUMVEES aim their MOUNTED .50 Cal guns into the sky,
FIRING and HITTING CHITAURI RIDERS. CAPTAIN AMERICA fights off a
SOLDIER who is pinning him down with its energy rifle. Cap
BREAKS ITS LEG. He stands up, pickingup his SHILED.
HAWKEYE
Captain, the bank on 42ndpast MADISON,
they caught a lot of civilians there.
CAPTAIN AMERICA
I'm on it.
INT. 42NDBANK � DAY
Dozens of civilians are gathered in bank. Tension and
uncertainty surround them. THREE CHITAURI SOLDIERS oversee them,
pointing their weapons at them. One of them charges a BOMB. It
BEEPS.
CAPTAIN AMERICA jumps through the window and throws his SHIELD
at the CHITAURI BOMBER. The TWO CHITAURI SOLDIERS aim their
rifles, but Cap heads for cover under a desk, which he KICKS at
them.
CAPTAIN AMERICA jumps over the desk, HEADLOCKS A SOLDIER, while
BACKHANDING another one over the railing. The crowd moves away.
A CHITAURI SOLDIER attacks him from behind and RIPS OFF HIS
HELMET. The bomb is beeping faster.
CAPTAIN AMERICA
Everyone! Clear out!
CAPTAIN AMERICA flips over the SOLDIER, grabs his SHIELD and
just as the BOMB is about to GO OFF, CHITAURI BOMBER dives for,
trying to stop it, but it GOES OFF, sending CAPTAIN AMERICA
through the window, landing very hard on a car. The civilians
look up from below. They're okay.
EXT. OUTSIDE THE BANK � CONTINUOUS
Cap gets off the car, looks around the city. Destroyed. The
police and firemen arrive, pulling out those civilians he saved.
A WAITRESS looks back, thankful.
INT. HELICARRIER BRIDGE � DAY
Back in the bridge, Fury sees on his VIEWSCREEN the WORLD
SECURITY COUNCIL.
WORLD SECURITY COUNCIL #2
Director Fury, the council has made a
decision.
NICK FURY
I recognize the council has made a
decision, but given that it's a stupid
ass decision, I've elected to ignore
it.
WORLD SECURITY COUNCIL #1
Director, you're closer than any of
oursubs, you scramble that jet...
NICK FURY
That is the island of Manhattan,
Councilman. Until I'm certain my team
can't hold it, I will not order a
nuclear strike against a civilian
population.
WORLD SECURITY COUNCIL #1
If we don't hold them in the air, we
lose everything.
NICK FURY
I send that bird out, we already have.
Fury shuts off his viewscreen.
EXT. MANHATTAN � DAY
BLACK WIDOW, still driving the chariot with the RIDER, is hit at
her side. She looks about, wondering whose ENERGY FIRE it was
she looks behind.
BLACK WIDOW
Oh. You.
LOKI FOLLOWS IN HOT PURSUIT. They RACE DOWNWARD, trailing
between buildings. They RACE MADLY, driving and dodging.
EXT. ROOFTOP BUILDING � DAY
HAWKEYE looks at BLACK WIDOW, astonished.
HAWKEYE
Nat, what are you doing?
BLACK WIDOW (V.O.)
Uh... a little help!
HAWKEYE pulls the trigger twice, nocks an arrow, and points it
at Loki, smiling.
HAWKEYE
I've got him.
FIRES. THE ARROW STREAKS DOWN THE CITY, STRAIGHT AT THE LOKI'S
HEAD...
SNATCH! LIKE A CAT, LOKI GRABS THE ARROW STRAIGHT OUT OF THE
AIR...LOOKS STRAIGHT AT HAWKEYE, SMILING...
BBOOOOMMM!!! THE ARROW EXPLODES IN LOKI'S FACE, CRASHING INTO
THE STARK PENTHOUSE PAD.
BLACK WIDOW looks down and building her momentum, she JUMPS of
the chariot, lands on top of STARK TOWER, rolling herself to the
edge.
EXT/INT. STARK PENTHOUSE � DAY
As Loki looks up, shocked at what just happened, THE HULK IS
LEAPING UP AND KICKS LOKI, HURTLING TOWARDS THE GLASS WINDOW. He
COLLAPSES as he hits the wall. THE HULK jumps in, ready to
attack. Loki ROLLS himself up in a flurry of broken glass,
STANDING UP TO THE HULK.
LOKI
ENOUGH! YOU ARE, ALL OF YOU ARE BENEATH
ME! I AM A GOD, YOU DULL CREATURE, AND
I WILL NOT BE BULLIED...
HULK GRABS LOKI BY THE LEGS AND SMASHES HIM AGAINST THE FLOOR
REPEATEDLY AND FINALLY THROWS HIM ASIDE TO THE GROUND,
FLATTENING LOKI.
HULK
PUNY GOD.
LOKI WHIMPERS IN PAIN.
EXT. STARK TOWER � DAY
BLACK WIDOW walks up the CMS machine. Selvig, slumped down,
weakened, looks at her desperately. The Tesseract's energy is
firing towards the portal, gaining in strength, at the surge of
energy moving through the sky.
BLACK WIDOW
Doctor.
SELVIG
Loki's scepter, the energy...the
Tesseract can't fight. You can't
protect against yourself.
BLACK WIDOW
It's not your fault. You didn't know
what you were doing.
SELVIG
Well, actually I think I did. I built
in a safety to cut the power source.
BLACK WIDOW
Loki's scepter.
SELVIG
It might be able to close the portal.
(Selvig looks down. He sees a
GOLD GLEAM)
And I'm looking right at it.
EXT. MANHATTAN � DAY
THOR rides on top of chariot, SMACKING SEVERAL RIDERS with the
hammer. As Thor takes the reins, a CHITAURI LEVIATHAN crashes
through a building, knocking him down to where Cap is, fighting
off SOLDIERS.
IRON MAN flies right next to the CHITAURI LEVIATHAN and aims his
LASER BOOSTER at it. Nothing.
JARVIS
Sir, we will lose power before you cut
through that shell.
IRON MAN flies up ahead, facing the oncoming monster.
IRON MAN
JARVIS. You ever hear the tale of
Jonah?
JARVIS
I wouldn't consider him a role model.
IRON MAN FLIES TOWARDS THE CHITAURI LEVIATHAN, UNLEASHING EVERY
ARSENAL ON THE SUIT. The CHITAURI LEVIATHAN opens its mouth.
IRON MAN flies in and BURSTS out the other end, making the
CHITAURI LEVIATHAN collapse. IRON MAN rolls down the street. The
wind is knocked out of him. He looks up with an overwhelming
sigh as a SMALL BAND of CHITAURI SOLDIERS rush towards him,
holding out their rifles.
EXT. ROOFTOP BUILDING � DAY
HAWKEYE turns to fire HIS LAST ARROW. Using his bow as a staff,
he knocks some CHITAURI SOLDIERS, before yanking his last arrow
off the dead body a CHITAURI SOLDIERS.
HAWKEYE nocks his arrow, DIVES DOWN THE BUILDING and FIRES his
GRAPPLING ARROW up into the side of building. Falling down,
HAWKEYE finds the MOMENTUM and SWINGS himself into a building
and CANNONBALLS in.
EXT. MANHATTAN � DAY
The HULK holds CHITAURI SOLDIERS by the face and SLAMS them
down. More keep coming. HULK looks up. HUNDREDS OF RIDERS HOVER
OVER HIM. Then... they begin to fire ENERGY BLASTS. HULK TAKES
THEM LIKE HE'S RUNNING THROUGH A LIGHT RAIN. BLOCKING THE STREAM
OF STREAKING BLASTS, AS THOUGH SWATTING AT BEES.
EXT. HELICARRIER DECK � DAY
A lone pilot sits in his cockpit, listening.
WORLD SECURITY COUNCIL #2
DIRECTOR FURY is no longer in command.
Override order, 7 ALPHA 11.
7 ALPHA 11 PILOT
7 ALPHA 11, confirmed. Prepare to
takeoff.
He ignites his engine.
INT. HELICARRIER BRIDGE � DAY
Back in the bridge, Agent Hill sees on her SCREEN 7 ALPHA 11
preparing to leave.
AGENT MARIA HILL
Sir, we have a bird in motion! Anyone
on the deck, we have a rogue bird! We
need to shut it down! Repeat! Take off
is not authorized!
EXT. HELICARRIER DECK � DAY
NICK FURY RUNS OUT TO THE DECK, HOLDING A FUCKING AIRTRONIC RPG-
7. He takes AIM and FIRES, HITTING the TAIL END of the jet. The
jet SKIDS OFF towards the edge. PILOT UNHARMED.
Suddenly, another 7 ALPHA 11 JET FLIES off. Fury stands there,
knowing he can't do anything about it.
NICK FURY
Stark, you hearing me? We have a
missile headed straight for the city.
IRON MAN (V.O.)
How long?
NICK FURY
Three minutes, at best. Stay low and
wipe out the missile.
EXT. MANHATTAN � DAY
IRON MAN fights off as many CHITAURI SOLDIERS as he sustain.
IRON MAN
Jarvis, put everything we got into the
thrusters!
JARVIS
I just did.
IRON MAN leaves the streets and flies up into the sky.
EXT. SKY � DAY
7 ALPHA 11 arrives outside the city. He flips the switch to
press the button. He presses it. THE MISSILE IS FLYING OUT TO
MANHATTAN.
7 ALPHA 11
Destination is in 2 minutes, 30 seconds
mark.
EXT. MANHATTAN � DAY
CAPTAIN AMERICA AND THOR BATTLE, SIDE TO SIDE. Cap and Thor both
throw their respected weapons. Thor catches MJ�LNIR, but as Cap
turns, an ENERGY BLAST strikes him down hard. Thor runs over to
a broken car, swings the hammer and flips the car over and over
on its side, crushing a few CHITAURI SOLDIERS.
Cap tries to get up. Thor helps him back to his feet. Cap raises
his SHIELD back up.
THOR
You ready for another bout?
CAPTAIN AMERICA
What? You gettin' sleepy?
EXT. STARK TOWER � DAY
Selvig, back in scientist mode, CLACKS away at his laptop.
Henods. BLACK WIDOW grabs Loki's scepter, slowly breaks into the
FORCE FIELD, almost touching the Tesseract.
BLACK WIDOW
I can close it! Can anybody hear me? I
can shut the portal down!
EXT. MANHATTAN � DAY
CAPTAIN AMERICA
Do it!
IRON MAN (V.O.)
No, wait!
CAPTAIN AMERICA
Stark, these things are still coming!
INSIDE THE SUIT
TONY
I got a nuke coming in, it's gonna blow
in less than a minute. And I know just
where to put it.
EXT. SKY � DAY
IRON MAN catches up, now comes at the missile from behind. The
missile speeds on. IRON MAN grabs it from behind, gripping it
tightly.
With a mighty effort, he wrenches the rocket off its course.
Steering it from behind, he accelerates quickly, flying straight
up into sky, towards the portal.
INSIDE THE SUIT
CAPTAIN AMERICA (V.O.)
Stark, you know that's a one-way trip?
TONY
(TO JARVIS)
Save the rest for return, J.
JARVIS
Sir. Shall I call Miss Potts?
IRON MAN
You might as well.
INT. STARK JET � DAY
PEPPER, along with her crew, watches on T.V., in horror, the
destruction in NEW YORK. On the table, her cell is VIBRATING,
with Tony's picture on it.
INT. HELICARRIER BRIDGE � DAY
Back in the bridge, every single agent holds their breath as
they too watch IRON MAN fly up into the portal.
EXT. SKY � DAY
IRON MAN climbs higher and higher over the city, gaining speed,
suddenly flings himself through the portal. Communications die.
The suit begins to freeze. Tony looks in horror.
INT. HELICARRIER BRIDGE � DAY
Every single agent CHEERS. Fury smiles. He tries to communicate
with Tony. NOTHING.
EXT. SPACE
We then see Tony's horror. AN ARMADA. The black sky is filled
with what must be ninety ships in a vague cluster. Most of them
hang still in the air. Some move swimmingly about.
IRON MAN lets go of the missile. It whistles off into the
blackness as IRON MAN IDLY falls back down the portal's opening.
The missile reaches the MAIN SHIP. The MAIN SHIP IMPLODES,
causing the entire ARMADA to burst into a supernova, creating a
spectacular heavenly display.
EXT. MANHATTAN � DAY
Suddenly, all of the CHITAURI SOLDIERS and CHITAURI LEVIATHANS
KEEL OVER and begin to SHAKE, then stop. They all fall over. THE
AVENGERS look up at their CONSULTANT, not sure if he'll make it
through.
EXT. STARK TOWER � DAY
Still holding the scepter in hand, BLACK WIDOW shifts around,
waiting.
BLACK WIDOW
Come on, Stark...
EXT. MANHATTAN � DAY
Thor and Cap see the supernova coming towards them. Thor nods to
Cap.
CAPTAIN AMERICA
(to BLACK WIDOW)
Close it.
EXT. STARK TOWER � DAY
Without hesitating, BLACK WIDOW pulls the scepter out, the
TESSERACT turns off its energy beam. The PORTAL QUICKLY CLOSES.
A SMALL FIGURE is hurled backwards into the open now closed
portal. IRON MAN. Plummeting to the earth.
EXT. MANHATTAN � DAY
CAPTAIN AMERICA
(SMILING)
Son of a gun!
TIGHT ON IRON MAN: He keeps falling. And falling. And falling.
EXT. MANHATTAN � DAY
THOR
He's not slowing down.
Thor swings Mj�lnir around. Just as Thor flies up, THE HULK
SNAGS IRON MAN OUT OF THE AIR, BOTH CRASHING AND SLIDING DOWN A
BUILDING.
EXT. BRIDGE STREET � DAY
HULK throws IRON MAN off him. Thor and Cap run over to him. Thor
RIPS off Tony's helmet. He appears to be dead. They stand around
not sure. Then... THE HULK YELLS IN FURY. THE NOISE STARTLES
TONY AWAKE.
TONY
What the hell? What just happened?
Please tell me nobody kissed me?
CAPTAIN AMERICA
(A BEAT)
We won.
TONY
Alright. Hey. Alright. Good job, guys.
Let's just not come in tomorrow. Let's
just take a day. Have you ever tried
shawarma? There's a shawarma joint
about two blocks from here. I don't
know what it is, but I wanna try it.
THOR
(looking up at Stark Tower)
We're not finished yet.
A beat.
TONY
And then shawarma after.
INT. STARK PENTHOUSE � DAY
Loki crawls onto the stair, looking like a piece of shit rag
doll. He takes a few breathers, senses someone is behind him. He
turns TO FIND THE AVENGERS STARING AT HIM, PISSED.
LOKI
If it's all the same to you. I'll have
that drink.
THE HULK SNORTS AT HIM.
WEEKS LATER.
INT. SHIELD ANALYTICAL ROOM � DAY
In TV news montage about THE AVENGERS, we see various reports of
what happened. Some people agree that the avengers did good,
protecting the city. Others believe it was their cause.
OLD MAN (STAN LEE)
Superheroes? In New York? Give me a
break!
SENATOR BOYNTON
These so called heroes have to be held
responsible for the destruction done to
the city. This was their fight. Where
are they now?
WAITRESS
What? That this was somehow their
fault? Captain America saved my life.
Wherever he is, wherever any of them
are, I just wanna say thank you.
EXT. CENTRAL PARK � DAY
The Avengers take Thor and Loki, who is handcuffed and muzzled,
to a blocked area. Thor shakes hands with his team and gives
Selvig a hug. Tony opens the Tesseract's case.
Banner takes it out and places inside a glass tube, held by
Thor. Thor gives Loki the other end, who reluctantly takes it.
The Asgardians leap into the energy beam. GONE.
Then, one-by-one, the group splinters off, strolling into
different directions. Banner climbs in with Tony in his
sportscar. Steve rides away in his Harley. Natasha and Clint
climb back into SHIELD cars. They all part. For now.
INT. SHIELD ANALYTICAL ROOM � DAY
Fury is facing once more members of the WORLD SECURITY COUNCIL.
WORLD SECURITY COUNCIL #3
Where are the Avengers?
NICK FURY
I'm not currently tracking their
whereabouts. I'd say they've earned a
leave of absence.
WORLD SECURITY COUNCIL #2
And the Tesseract?
NICK FURY
The Tesseract is where it belongs: out
of our reach.
WORLD SECURITY COUNCIL #1
That's not your call.
NICK FURY
I didn't make it. I just didn't argue
with the god that did.
WORLD SECURITY COUNCIL #1
So you let him take it and the war
criminal, Loki, who should be answering
for his crimes?
NICK FURY
Oh, I think he will be.
WORLD SECURITY COUNCIL #1
I don't think you understand what
you've started. Letting the Avengers
loose on this world. They're dangerous.
NICK FURY
They surely are. And the whole world
knows it. Every world knows it.
WORLD SECURITY COUNCIL #1
Was that the point of all this? A
statement?
NICK FURY
A promise.
Fury walks out, towards the bridge.
INT. HELICARRIER BRIDGE � DAY
Fury and Agent Hill walk together, toward the window looking out
into the world.
AGENT MARIA HILL
Sir, how does it work now? They've gone
their separate ways, some pretty
extremely far. We get into a situation
like this again, what happens then?
NICK FURY
They'll come back.
AGENT MARIA HILL
You really sure about that?
NICK FURY
I am.
AGENT MARIA HILL
Why?
NICK FURY
Because we'll need them to.
Agent Hill turns around. Fury looks out, smiling.
INT. STARK PENTHOUSE � DAY
TONY AND PEPPER UNVEIL A NEW DESIGN FOR STARK TOWER. CAMERA
PULLS OUT, showing the letters for "STARK TOWER" have been blown
away, and all that remains is a giant A.
THE END
