As Iron Man, Thor and Captain America all have movies in either pre or post-production we always knew all three would eventually be appearing in The Avengers along with Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury. However up until now we haven’t heard whether our green friend with anger issues would also be making an appearance. In the past producer Kevin Feige couldn’t answer the question of whether The Hulk would be in The Avengers, although he did say “there will be some members of the Hulk universe in the film”. Now in an interview with SFX Magazine (via SHH) he confirmed The Hulks involvement while discussing future Marvel films:

“My only concern is that when we launch a franchise–whichever character’s franchise that may be–it should stand on its own two feet… So by the time ‘The Avengers’ comes in 2012, it’s not just a team superhero movie with a bunch of characters with powers. It’s three people – four including the Hulk; five including Nick Fury – who you’ve seen before in other movies, coming together for the very first time.”

Catch that Hulk bit? Feige also said that he won’t rule out the possibility of a second Incredible Hulk film with Edward Norton. “That would be post-’Avengers,’ if it happened… I think there’s a chance. It’s certainly our intention to use the same actors from film to film where we can.”

Feige was asked it will be difficult to meld the fantasy of Thor with the high-tech science fiction in Iron Man and The Avengers. “No,” he said, “because we’re doing the Jack Kirby/Stan Lee/Walt Simonson/J. Michael Straczynski ‘Thor.’ We’re not doing the blow-the-dust-off-of-the-old-Norse-book-in-your-library ‘Thor.’ And in the ‘Thor’ of the Marvel Universe, there’s a race called the Asgardians. And we’re linked through this Tree of Life that we’re unaware of. It’s real science, but we don’t know about it yet. The ‘Thor’ movie is about teaching people that.”

Edward Norton said last year that having The Hulk as the villain in The Avengers “would be a fun way to go” and I agree, however I think there should be an even bigger villain that the team have to battle with, and they can only do that by getting the Hulk on their side. Zak Penn (X-Men: The Last Stand) is currently working on the script (lucky guy) and The Avengers will probably begin filming this time next year for it’s May 2012 release.

Some Iron Man 2 footage was shown at Comic-Con yesterday (read a description of what was seen here) and afterwards producer Kevin Feige took part in a Q&A session. As Marvel have IM2, Thor, Captain America and The Avengers coming up there are hundreds of questions people would like to ask, however one person asked a question everyone wants to know: Which heroes will be in The Avengers line-up?

I think we know. I think it’s going to be Iron Man and Thor, Captain America and Nick Fury. I think it’s safe to assume that there will be some members of the Hulk universe in the film as well. In terms of the additional I think Black Widow, sure. The SHIELD organization for sure. What’s exciting, for me, about The Avengers movie is seeing those four characters interact with each other. I think anywhere from the first issues of The Avengers to Civil War the dynamic between Steve Rogers and Tony Stark is just awesome, it’s fascinating. It brings out sides in others that won’t be brought out in the other franchises. Going forward with the mix is a whole other thing, I think it will be cool. So to pile on another 15 or 10, frankly more than four would be too many.

Is the Hulk in it?

Zak Penn is outlining it as we speak, so we’ll see.

In the past there has been talk of The Hulk actually being a villain in the film, which I think would be kinda cool.

What do you think of the line-up? Are there any other characters you think should appear in the film?

UGO recently got the chance to interview Marvel Films President Kevin Feige (click here to read the full interview, highly recommended) and he revealed a lot of interesting info regarding the future Marvel movies (Thor, Captain America, The Avengers). Here are some of the best bits:

Update: UGO were not supposed to post it yet! I’ll post again when it’s allowed to go up.