Fanboys (and fangirls), the wait is almost over. The highly anticipated multi-hero action flick, ‘The Avengers’ is set to arrive in theatres. But for all of you who aren’t familiar with the many characters in this comic book-come-to-life piece of cinema, here’s a little cheat sheet. Steve Rogers/Captain America: Chris Evans plays the 98-pound asthmatic who became a superhero after taking an experimental serum in the 1940s. While battling the baddie Red Skull, Cap and his shield wound up frozen in the Arctic, only to be discovered and revived 70 years later. Tony Stark/Iron Man: Robert Downey Jr again takes on the role of the industrialist who initially created an indestructible suit to escape from terrorists wanting him to design a weapon of mass destruction. Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow: While we were originally led to believe that she was simply one of Tony Stark’s assistants, it turned out that Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) is actually a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent with some pretty sweet assassin skills. Bruce Banner/The Hulk: Mark Ruffalo flexes his muscles as a scientist who, thanks to being exposed to gamma radiation, morphs into a giant green monster whenever he gets angry. Clint Barton/Hawkeye: Portrayed by Jeremy Renner, this S.H.I.E.L.D. agent would most certainly give Katniss Everdeen a run for her money in the bow-and-arrow department. Thor: Chris Hemsworth plays The God of Thunder who, while banished from Asgard by his father after some god-on-giant violence goes awry, put his exile on Earth to good use by protecting it from his sinister brother Loki. Loki: Having had his plans to destroy Earth thwarted by his brother, Thor, Loki (Tom Hiddleston) is back for an encore in hopes of wiping the Earth off the face of the universe once and for all. Nick Fury: In a nutshell, if it wasn’t for the efforts of Samuel L. Jackson’s director of the international peacekeeping organisation, S.H.I.E.L.D., to bring all our heroes together, there’d be no ‘Avengers’.
