The Avengers (2012) is the culmination of a long term plan by Marvel to bring the Avengers to the big screen.Here are some facts and figures about the film:

1.First "big screen" adaptation of Marvel's the Avengers.

2.First Marvel film to make 1 billion dollars.

3.The original Avengers were created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby and consisted of: Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, Ant-Man, and Wasp.

4.First "big screen" fight involving Thor and Iron Man.

5.First "big screen" fight involving Black Widow and Hawkeye.

6.First "big screen" appearance of Thanos.He appears in a brief scene during the end credits of the film

7.First film by Marvel Studios to feature 2 post-credits scenes.The first scene features Thanos and The Other; the second scene features the Avengers eating at a restaurant in silence.This second post-credits scene appears to have been included in the United States release of the film, and not the UK and Europe.

8.Thor v Hulk: The fight involving Thor and the Hulk in the Avengers is NOT the first time it's happened.The first "live action" fight happened in the 1988 TV movie, The Incredible Hulk Returns.

9.The Avengers (2012) is NOT the first superhero crossover.One contender for that honour probably goes to the 1960s TV series Batman, whereby The Green Hornet and Kato visit Gotham City to track down a criminal, and consequently run into Batman and Robin.

10.The Avengers (2012) is currently the highest grossing comic book movie to date.