The Plain Dealer reported yesterday that Governor Kasich has announced that the upcoming film adaptation of Marvel Comics' The Avengers, scheduled for release in 2012, will be partially filmed in Cleveland, Ohio. This news follows after The Avengers production pulled out of Detroit, Michigan in February after producers couldn't get confirmation that they would still qualify for Michigan tax incentives.
The Avengers, directed by geek god Joss Whedon, is the culmination of an incredibly ambitious masterplan incorporating actors and characters from the films Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger. Recent rumors concerning the film's plotline claim that the villain Loki (introduced in Thor) will be the architect of the scheme that brings the Avengers together, just as he was in the team's first appearance in The Avengers (vol.1) #1. However, Loki will instead use the Cosmic Cube (introduced in Captain America: The First Avenger) to bring the shape-shifting aliens known as the Skrulls to Earth for an invasion.
Wayne Hill, chairman of the Greater Cleveland Film Commission, claims that The Avengers will be the largest film ever made in Ohio and that filming is expected to start sometime this fall. The truly important news here is that this will means jobs and an economic boost for the Cleveland area, which has been hurting badly over the past several years.
And in my own admitted self-interest, I just want to know if they're going to need any filming extras for crowd scenes or whatever. I have some prior experience as an extra in The Adventures of Superboy episode "Roads Not Taken, Part 2," so if anybody knows anything about extra work on The Avengers, please drop me a line, okay?