Introducing: The Avengers

So the cast of characters are assembled and the stage is set; all four key members of the Avengers are finally here. With 2007's Iron Man and 2008's The Hulk establishing the joint universe of the Avengers, 2011 saw the final two major components of the Marvel comic book team reach the big screen: Thor and Captain America. Next summer the hype will begin, but before we go there, here is a basic rundown of who the Avengers are and why if a Justice League of America movie is ever made, it will have a lot to live up to. Its time to get my geek on:

Iron Man

Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is the playboy head of Stark Industries, a major military contracting company inherited from his father. When kidnapped by a Supervillain-Terror group, 'The Ten Rings' in Afghanistan, he is forced to build a weapon, but instead secretly builds an exosuit to escape, a suit the media eventually dubs the Iron Man.

Nick Fury

General Nicholas Joseph "Nick" Fury (Samuel L Jackson) is a member of S.H.I.E.L.D, an espionage and law-enforcement agency whose initial  stands for the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division. This organization have been charged with gathering together the members of the Avengers. Being led by Sam Jackson, automatically solidifies its badass status.

The Hulk

The Incredible Hulk (Edward Norton and Mark Ruffalo and err... Eric Bana, kinda ) is the emotional and impulsive alter ego of the withdrawn and reserved physicist Dr. Bruce Banner. Because of his exposure to gamma radiation, he automatically transforms into the Hulk when stressed, enraged, or excited.

Black Widow

Natasha 'Black Widow' Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) originally appeared in the comics as a highly trained former Soviet spy working for S.H.I.E.L.D. In Iron Man 2 she initially appears as Pepper Pot's (Tony Stark's assistant) personal assistant Natalie Rushman, and proves to be somewhat of a rival of Pepper for Stark's affections. She eventually reveals herself as a Matrix type babe, skilled in multiple ways of kicking a guy into ten shades of blue.

Thor

Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is the Norse 'god' of thunder. Problematic because of his 'god' status (yeah its shirk), this superhero is exiled from his homeland of Asgard to Earth, where he falls in love with a woman, pursued by other mythical type creatures and finally recruited by the Avengers.

Captain America

A character from a time when America was still cool and not hated, Captain America (Chris Evans) was once a sick Depression era child name Steve Rogers who finds himself enhanced to 'the peak of human perfection' by an experimental serum helped developed by Tony Stark's father during the 1940s. The serum develops him into the 'First Avenger', a title Marvel prefer to use when promoting the film abroad, because most people outside of the US are not really digging the whole Captain America name.