Not to be outdone by director Joss Whedon's personal note to fans, Marvel has also taken the opportunity to announce the official start of shooting on The Avengers. They also upped the ante by adding the first official set photo-- though before you get too excited, note that there's not a single human being or special effect in the image. Check it out below, then we'll go over some highlights of the press release.


Oddly, the production is referred to throughout the release as Marvel's The Avengers- I'm not sure if that's just a vanity mention on behalf of the studio sending out the release or something that's possibly going to be attached to the final product. In listing the cast for The Avengers the release also confirms the presence of Tom Hiddleston as Loki-- who has been rumored as the film's big villain--and Stellan Skarsgard as Professor Erik Selvig, confirming a rumor we previously heard.

Beyond that it's pretty much standard press release stuff, no surprise given that they've done a remarkable job so far of giving us the minimum amount of information about the film. The Avengers will be released on May 4, 2012, giving them just over a year to pull this massive project together.