Bloopers That Make Us Love The Avengers Even More

In the realm of superheroes, especially Norse mythology-derived superheroes, you're only as good as your accessories. Thor has lots, like his long red cape, his long blond hair, and Mjolnir, otherwise known as Thor's mighty hammer. It's said to be so powerful that (pretty much) only Thor is worthy to lift it ... except that movies are make-believe. In this blooper, Thor's hammer breaks about as easily as a hammer Chris Hemsworth could've picked up at the dollar store on his way to the set.

Bruce Banner is a very good scientist—after all, he was privy to all that gamma radiation that turned him into the Incredible Hulk. It's easy for the comic book version of Banner to just rattle off scientific term after scientific term because an artist just writes them into a speech bubble. It's a bit harder for actors sometimes because actor Mark Ruffalo just can't deliver what's clearly a mouthful of technical mumbo-jumbo.

It's supposed to be a tender, romantic moment—a big kiss between Tony Stark and Pepper Potts! But before the boss and employee can violate what's certainly a Stark Industries human resources policy, the kiss doesn't go down. Neither Robert Downey Jr. nor Gwyneth Paltrow can keep the laughter from coming out of their mouths.

Paul Bettany used to have to just provide the voice of JARVIS in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but now he's using his whole self to play Vision. He's barely recognizable under all that red paint, and the lines are just as difficult. Technical terms? Stay cool and stoic? That's a tall order, and Bettany wryly catches himself flubbing a couple of times.

Why do film actors get paid such huge salaries to wear funny costumes and play make believe? Because they can emote (or at least make it look like they're emoting) on command. That's not easy to do; one moment, they're standing around on set, eating snacks off the craft services table and chatting with their fellow members of the beautiful Hollywood elite, and then, when the scene is finally set up by the director and crew members, they jump into their character and convincingly convey what they're feeling in that moment. Then the director calls cut, and they're themselves again. Actors must turn personalities off and on like a light switch, and that could reasonably lead to the occasional disconnect. While filming this straight-from-the-pages-of-a-comic-book tableau, a lineup of stern, determined-looking heroes for Avengers: Infinity War, Benedict Wong just couldn't keep the steely resolve of his character, Wong, on his face for more than a few seconds.

Film productions are often subject to lockdowns. It's an attempt to keep secret all details about a highly-anticipated film, like, say, Avengers: Infinity War, a Marvel Cinematic Universe installment that features the tantalizing concept of somewhere in the neighborhood of three dozen famous superheroes fighting alongside one another. After all, leaked details means fans disappointed by spoilers, not to mention the potential loss of box office revenue. But try as a studio might to protect a film with security guards, closed set protocols, and signed non-disclosure agreements for cast and crew, they can't control everything. The unfortunate result: a seemingly consistently bugged set of Avengers: Infinity War. No, but really, the making of the superhero film was cursed by bugs — as in insects. Robert Downey, Jr. (Iron Man), Mark Ruffalo (Hulk), Downey again, and Gwyneth Paltrow (Pepper Potts) all had to break character and start scenes over when various flying nuisances wouldn't leave them alone.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe, and comic books in general, couldn't have asked for a better ambassador than Stan Lee. The one-time chief editorial mind at Marvel Comics created or co-created virtually a bunch of major Marvel superheroes, including Spider-Man, Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, Black Panther, the X-Men, and Ant-Man. Lee was a gregarious guy who seemingly never turned down the chance to appear on camera, and when his characters started to appear in TV shows and movies, filmmakers often included a Lee cameo. (For example, he and Lou Ferrigno, TV's Hulk, play security guards in 2003's Hulk, and he appears as a beauty pageant judge in Iron Man 3.) 

One of the last appearances he shot before his death in 2018 was for Ant-Man and the Wasp. As Ant-Man, the Wasp, and their associates battle bad guys through the twisty streets of San Francisco, Lee shows up as a guy whose car gets shrunk by Ant-Man's signature technology. "Well, the '60s were fun, but now I'm paying for it," he quips. It turns out that's just the take filmmakers decided on; they had Lee go through a huge list of funny possibilities.

The Ant-Man movies are the funniest of all the Avengers standalone movies. Star and co-writer Paul Rudd and director Peyton Reed are well aware of the objective silliness of the films — adult man grows to building size and shrinks to bug size thanks to a science-suit — and they embrace it, creating a couple of crackling, highly entertaining films. The casts of both Ant-Man and Ant-Man and the Wasp are filled by performers with a knack for comedy, including Walton Goggins (Sonny Burch), Michael Peña (Luis), Randall Park (Jimmy Woo), and Judy Greer (Maggie). Even so, it's a pleasant surprise for viewers to suddenly encounter Tim Heidecker, a comedy innovator known for his bizarre, boundary-pushing work on cult TV favorites like Tom Goes to the Mayor and Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! In Ant-Man and the Wasp, he plays the leader of a San Francisco Bay boat tour guide. His usual pointing out of things gets interrupted by Ant-Man's shenanigans, and he rolls with it — particularly because the filmmakers wisely let Heidecker riff and say whatever was on his mind.

Doctor Strange was a harder sell than your typical superhero movie. Rather than using a bow and arrow, mighty hammer, or a "Hulk Smash" to fight enemies, the good Doctor Stephen Strange's powers stem from an ability to connect with the worlds of mysticism and magic. To effectively ground that in reality (and the Marvel Cinematic Universe), filmmakers required the services of an extra-good actor, one with extensive classical training and an impressive résumé full of award-winning dramatic roles. That actor: Benedict Cumberbatch, who earned widespread acclaim for his work in Sherlock and The Imitation Game.

But who knew that Cumberbatch could be so silly? Underneath all the pomp and circumstance, he's just as goofy on set as a wacky comic actor. Judging from this blooper reel, he's especially down to get down, breaking into dance routines while filming his scenes. (It's apparently contagious, because co-star Tilda Swinton's just gotta dance, too.)

There are lots of weird actors in film history, but they mostly wind up playing supporting roles. Only a few have risen to the ranks of leading man status despite their notable quirkiness — including Christopher Walken, Nicolas Cage, and arguably the greatest of them all, Jeff Goldblum. In the '80s and '90s, he brought a disarming charm and off-center sensibility to his roles in otherwise straightforward movies like Jurassic Park, The Fly, and Independence Day, and in doing so made them much better than the forgettable genre pictures they could've been. Likewise, when director Taika Waititi took the Thor movies in a wild cosmic and comedic direction with Thor: Ragnarok, the production wisely brought Goldblum in for an ideal role: Grandmaster, the most hedonistic of all the Elders of the Universe. The actor brings his trademark looseness and an almost jazz-like approach to the movie, which is noticeable even when he's goofing off between takes. Fun fact: Jeff Goldblum can wiggle his ears and lure Tom Hiddleston into a beat-box session.

Science fiction films and superhero movies are both rife with mythology, backstory, and their own sets of rules. Iron Man 3 is a sci-fi film as well as a superhero movie, and it's got a lot specific words and jargon its actors need to clearly and slowly spout off so the action around them makes sense. That's a delicate balance, to nail the terminology that's been part of a comic or cinematic universe for years, so that it satisfies both hardcore fans and newbies alike. But that's why Marvel and its filmmakers hire top-notch talent to deliver the written lines: people like Robert Downey Jr. have the training, skill, and talent necessary to talk the technical talk in a believable way. Still, it's hard to get those words out, because even for an actor of Downey's caliber, there's a lot to remember. In Iron Man 3, Tony Stark (Downey) must call into his service his various super-suits. There are a lot of them, and in this blooper, Downey needs the assistance of the Heartbreaker armor to help out the armor whose... name escapes him. All he can do is mug and hope the name "Red Snapper" pops into his head.