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"Joss Whedon has said that The Avengers is inspired by '60s classic The Dirty Dozen and war movie Black Hawk Down . Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator Whedon, who writes and directs the superhero ensemble, revealed that Lee Marvin's Dirty Dozen was \"the first movie I referenced when Marvel asked me what I'd do if they gave me the [ Avengers ] script\". \"People forget, but that movie is an hour-and-a-half of training and 20 minutes of Nazi fighting,\" Whedon told Total Film . \"It helped me to say, you can have time to let these people get to know each other; their conflict can be as interesting as their conflict with the villain.\" Speaking about the influence of Ridley Scott's Black Hawk Down , which starred Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor and Eric Bana, Whedon added: \"That's when I realised we needed a war movie. With this many heroes, the only way you can really earn them - earn the idea that they are heroes - is that you put them through a meat grinder.\" The Avengers released a Japanese trailer earlier today (March 15), which confirmed that Iron Man 's Gwyneth Paltrow will reprise her role as Pepper Potts . &gt; Movie Poll: Most anticipated 2012 summer blockbuster? &gt; The Avengers set had no egos, says Joss Whedon Watch the latest Avengers trailer below:"
<https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a371398/joss-whedon-avengers-inspired-by-dirty-dozen-black-hawk-down/>