Marvel began planning a film built on the Avengers in 2003, aiming to release solo films for each hero before merging them into a crossover. Zak Penn wrote the first script, but when Joss Whedon was hired in 2010 he felt the draft lacked character connections and told Kevin Feige to pretend it had never happened. Whedon started at square one, writing a five-page treatment and the tagline Avengers: Some Assembly Required, riffing on the comic book slogan. He wanted to explore how heroes who do not belong together become a family, and he cited films such as The Dirty Dozen as inspiration for their team dynamic. Casting continued through 2010, adding Jeremy Renner and Mark Ruffalo, with Ruffalo replacing Edward Norton. The film was released in May 2012.

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.