On screen， theyre Earths mightiest heroes. But in Hollywood， they were has-beens and never-weres. That is， until Marvel got a hold of them.

Avengers： Age of Ultron kicks off the summer movie season with a whirlwind of superheroes joining forces to once again save the world and shatter boxoffice records. The director and several key stars in the ensemble cast either kick-started their film careers with Marvel Studios （Chris Hemsworth as Thor， Chris Evans as Captain America， director Joss Whedon） or staged a dramatic comeback （Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man）.

The next few months could mark the most lucrative summer in Hollywood history， thanks to a wave of followups to major franchises. After Avengers， some of the most anticipated entries include Mad Max： Fury Road， Jurassic World， Terminator： Genisys， Mission Impossible： Rogue Nation and the Despicable Me spinoff Minions.

Those moviegoers who prefer original stories over digitally created dinosaurs also have a surprising surfeit of choices， as Hollywood has learned that summer can be a smart time for sophisticated counterprogramming. Two of the most celebrated movies from Januarys Sundance Film Festival， the dark comedy Me， Earl and the Dying Girl and hip-hop comedy Dope， both released in June.

But in a summer with 18 sequels， reboots， spinoffs and comic-book adaptations， its the second Avengers that will set the tone. The film also demonstrates a new casting calculus in Hollywood， in which its not the actors who make the character， but the character who makes the actor.

Disney-owned Marvel has mastered that approach and made A-listers out of previous unknowns. Chris Pratt， for example， was best known for his supporting role on the sitcom Parks and Recreation. Then he landed the starring role in last summers Guardians of the Galaxy， by far the seasons biggest box-office winner， bringing in $774 million. Hes now one of Hollywoods most sought-after leading men and starred in Jurassic World this June.

Marvel takes the same approach with directors—in contrast to competitors like Warner Bros.， which has entrusted its superheroes to highend auteur Christopher Nolan and experienced action director Zack Snyder. Kenneth Branaghs career directing big-screen Shakespeare adaptations petered out several years before Marvel picked him to direct Thor. After that film hit it big， Mr. Branagh continued a second career in big-budget movies such as last years Jack Ryan： Shadow Recruit and Marchs live-action Cinderella.

“Everyone pays attention to whos starring， whos directing， whos writing Marvel movies，”said producer and former Sony executive Michael De Luca. “Because of their track record… how can you not pay attention to their farm system？”

Marvel Studios is certainly not the first company to pluck unlikely candidates for superhero films. Its a tradition that dates back to Christopher Reeve in 1978s Superman and continued with Tim Burton directing 1989s Batman and Hugh Jackman in the pivotal role of Wolverine in 2000s X-Men.

But no company has eschewed A-list talents as consistently and effectively in the modern age as Marvel. All but one of its 10 films released so far have been hits， a record rivaled only by Pixar Animation Studios. And none have featured a major star or established action director.

Money is a key reason， say people who have done business with Marvel. The Disney subsidiarys chief executive， Ike Perlmutter， is notoriously frugal and doesnt believe that the millions rivals like Warner Bros. spend to get bigname stars like Ben Affleck and Will Smith are worth it.

“They are in the business of hiring the guy who hasnt had a big success， because they dont have to pay that guy very much，” said Mr. Whedon， adding that he made more money on his self-produced Internet series Dr. Horribles SingAlong Blog than he did directing the first Avengers， which cost $230 million to produce and grossed $1.5 billion worldwide.

Mark Ruffalo， like Scarlett Johansson， made the leap from respected indie film actor to event movie star when he first played the Hulk in 2012s Avengers. “That decision，” Mr. Ruffalo said， “puts me on a shorter list than I used to be for any job. ”

To secure lead actors for its series of interlocking sequels and spinoffs， Marvel typically signs them to sixmovie deals. For stars， upfront salaries are paltry by Hollywood standards， often just barely over $1 million per picture for the first two films in a deal， after which they start to rise.

“Marvel has proved they can succeed without having to step up the way other studios traditionally do，”said one veteran agent who has negotiated deals with the studio.

Still， with more than $7 billion in box-office returns and counting， even Marvel has been forced to become a little more generous. Other lead actors in Avengers： Age of Ultron were able to renegotiate their deals to get upfront salaries of more than $5 million， according to people familiar with the arrangement.

Most actors and directors have only good things to say about the experience of working on a Marvel movie. The companys successful track record ironically allows for more experimentation in genre and form than is typically allowed in Hollywood these days—so long as its done with comicbook characters. Its unthinkable that any other studio would greenlight a big budget political thriller like next years Captain America： Civil War or a science-fiction action-comedy like last years Guardians of the Galaxy.

In addition， since the studio makes only two to three movies a year， its president and top creative executive Kevin Feige is personally involved with every project， and the company rarely develops scripts it doesnt intend to make.

Mr. Feige is said to be a firm believer that the characters and the Marvel brand itself are the stars of his films. That approach syncs well with Mr. Perlmutters tight-fistedness and gives Mr. Feige the leeway to make bold choices. He cast Mr. Downey as Iron Man in 2008， even though the actors career was on the rocks at the time， because his showboating bad-boy persona mirrored the character of Tony Stark， the man behind the Iron Man mask.

Comedy star Paul Rudd plays the title role in Julys AntMan， and next year Benedict Cumberbatch， recently Oscar nominated for The Imitation Game， will portray a master of the dark arts in Doctor Strange. The two are arguably the biggest stars to take on Marvel title roles， signifying the companys growing appeal to actors with well-established， if not massive， careers.

New talent will be critical to Marvel as the multi-picture deals of many of its current stars expire in the next few years. Infinity War could mark the last appearances of Downey， Hemsworth and Evans， unless they choose to sign new contracts with the company. And a slew of new talent has yet to be selected for movies scheduled between now and 2019， including a new Spider-Man and galactic team The Inhumans.

But the disappearance of Marvels first wave of stars likely wont mark the disappearance of Iron Man and Thor， nor a reboot of their origins， like 2012s The Amazing SpiderMan， produced by Sony Pictures. Rather， Mr. Feige is said by people familiar with his thinking to favor the model of James Bond， who has been recast and aged down seven times over the past 53 years.

在大銀幕上，他們是地球上最強大的英雄。但在好萊塢，他們是已經(jīng)過氣或無人問津的角色——直到漫威把他們收入麾下。

《復(fù)仇者聯(lián)盟：奧創(chuàng)紀(jì)元》為夏天電影季拉開了帷幕。這股超級英雄旋風(fēng)再次拯救了地球的同時還打破了票房記錄。劇組名單中的導(dǎo)演和幾個主要演員要么是通過漫威工作室進入電影行業(yè)的新人（如飾演雷神的克里斯·海姆斯沃斯，飾演美國隊長的克里斯·埃文斯，導(dǎo)演喬斯·威登），要么是卷土重來的過氣明星（如飾演鋼鐵俠的小羅伯特·唐尼）。

多得一大波后續(xù)的同類型大制作，接下來夏季的幾個月將會是好萊塢歷史上獲利最豐厚的一段時間?！稄?fù)仇者聯(lián)盟》后最值得期待的影片包括：《瘋狂的麥克斯：狂暴之路》、《侏羅紀(jì)世界》、《終結(jié)者：創(chuàng)世紀(jì)》、《碟中諜：神秘國度》和由《卑鄙的我》衍生出的《小黃人》。

不喜歡數(shù)字技術(shù)創(chuàng)造的恐龍而想看原創(chuàng)故事的電影觀眾同樣有非常多的選擇，夏季是劇情巧妙的反主流影片上映的好時機，好萊塢深明此理。一月份舉行的圣丹斯電影節(jié)上最矚目的兩部電影——黑色喜劇《我和厄爾以及將死的女孩》和嘻哈喜劇《酷斃了》——都在六月上映。

但這個夏天，在18部上映的電影續(xù)集、重拍影片、衍生影片和漫畫改編影片中，《復(fù)仇者聯(lián)盟2》占據(jù)了最重要的位置。這部電影同時展現(xiàn)了一種新的好萊塢演員成名方式——不是演員造就角色而是角色造就演員。

迪士尼公司旗下的漫威工作室深諳此道，并把之前默默無名的演員捧成了一線大牌明星。例如，克里斯·帕拉特，他最為人熟知的角色是情景喜劇《公園與游憩》中的一名配角。后來他主演了去年夏天上映的《銀河護衛(wèi)隊》，該電影是至今為止這一季度的最大贏家——票房收入為7.74億美元。他現(xiàn)在已躋身好萊塢最受追捧的男一號之列，今年六月份上映的《侏羅紀(jì)世界》就是由他主演的。

漫威也以同樣的方式發(fā)掘?qū)а荨c其競爭對手不同，如華納兄弟公司，華納兄弟把超級英雄電影交給了高端而有個性的導(dǎo)演克里斯托弗·諾蘭和經(jīng)驗豐富的動作指導(dǎo)扎克·斯奈德?？夏崴埂げ祭{夫執(zhí)導(dǎo)的莎士比亞原作改編電影逐漸淡出銀幕，幾年后，漫威才選中他當(dāng)《雷神》的導(dǎo)演。這部電影大獲成功后，布拉納夫先生繼續(xù)執(zhí)導(dǎo)大制作電影，如去年的《一觸即發(fā)》和今年3月份上映的真人版《灰姑娘》。

“每個人都在關(guān)注漫威電影的主演、導(dǎo)演和編劇，”制片人、索尼前管理人邁克爾·德·魯卡說。“因為他們的票房記錄……你怎么能不關(guān)注他們的運作體系？”

漫威工作室當(dāng)然不是第一家敢在超級英雄電影中起用沒有名氣的演員、導(dǎo)演的公司。這是一個傳統(tǒng)，從1978年克里斯托弗·里夫主演《超人》，到1989年蒂姆·伯頓執(zhí)導(dǎo)《蝙蝠俠》，再到2000年休·杰克曼在《X戰(zhàn)警》中出演主要角色“金剛狼”。

但在當(dāng)代，沒有一家公司像漫威那樣持之以恒而又卓有成效地避開了一線大牌。目前為止，十部上映的電影中有九部都大受歡迎，能與之匹敵的就只有皮克斯動畫工作室。這十部影片沒有用過一位大牌明星和有名的動作指導(dǎo)。

錢是關(guān)鍵所在，曾跟漫威合作過的人說。迪士尼子公司總裁艾克·佩爾穆特是出了名的節(jié)儉，他覺得競爭對手（如華納兄弟）花幾百萬請本·阿弗萊克和威爾·史密斯這樣的大明星是不值得的。

“他們就是要請那些還沒獲得巨大成功的演員，因為這樣他們就不必付很高的報酬，”惠登先生說，還說他自己制作的網(wǎng)絡(luò)連續(xù)劇《恐怖博士的歡唱博客》比他導(dǎo)演的第一部《復(fù)仇者聯(lián)盟》還要賺錢，后者制作花費了2.3億美元，全球票房收入15億美元。

馬克·魯法洛在2012年的《復(fù)仇者聯(lián)盟》中飾演綠巨人后，和斯嘉麗·約翰遜一樣，從受人尊敬的獨立電影演員一躍成為大片明星。“那個決定，”魯法洛先生說，“讓如今的我在競逐任何角色時都比以前得到更優(yōu)先的考慮?！?/p>

為了保證主演出現(xiàn)在劇情相關(guān)的續(xù)集和衍生影片中，漫威通常跟他們簽下六部電影的合約。以好萊塢的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)來看，這些明星的前期片酬簡直少得可憐，通常前兩部電影每部片酬只有一百多萬美元，后來才會上升。

“漫威證明了他們不必依照其他工作室的傳統(tǒng)做法也能成功，”一位曾跟漫威商談協(xié)議的資深經(jīng)理人說道。

然而，有著七十億美元的票房收入（還在不斷增加），漫威也不得不變得大方一點了。據(jù)了解協(xié)議的人士透露，其他《復(fù)仇者聯(lián)盟：奧創(chuàng)紀(jì)元》的主演能重新談判，獲得超過五百萬美元的前期片酬。

對于在漫威電影的工作經(jīng)歷，大部分演員和導(dǎo)演都贊不絕口。跟現(xiàn)今的好萊塢相比，該公司成功的票房記錄讓它能夠嘗試更多不同的類型和形式——只要是以漫畫人物為核心。給一部大預(yù)算的政治驚悚片或科幻動作喜劇開綠燈——如明年上映的《美國隊長：內(nèi)戰(zhàn)》和去年的《銀河護衛(wèi)隊》——對于其他工作室來說是不可想象的。

另外，由于該工作室每年只制作兩到三部影片，其總經(jīng)理兼最高創(chuàng)意總監(jiān)凱文·費格會親自參與每一個項目，公司甚少隨便創(chuàng)作腳本，寫出來了就一定會制作成影片。

據(jù)說費格先生堅信角色和漫威品牌本身就是他電影里的賣點。這與佩爾穆特先生的節(jié)儉作風(fēng)不謀而合，也給了費格先生作出大膽選擇的自由。他在2008年的《鋼鐵俠》中請了唐尼先生主演，那時可是唐尼先生的事業(yè)擱淺期，因為唐尼那愛炫耀的壞男孩形象很符合托尼·斯塔克一角——鋼鐵俠面具下的男人。

喜劇明星保羅·路德出演七月上映的《螞蟻俠》主角，憑《模仿游戲》獲奧斯卡提名的尼迪克特·康伯巴奇將在明年的《奇異博士》中飾演黑魔法大師。這兩位算是漫威電影起用過的最大牌明星了，他們的出演說明該公司對一些有名氣的演員（也許不能說是巨星）越來越有吸引力。

由于目前很多明星簽下的多部影片合約在接下來幾年將陸續(xù)到期，發(fā)掘有潛力的新人對漫威來說至關(guān)重要?！稛o盡之戰(zhàn)》或許是唐尼、海姆斯沃斯和埃文斯的最后一部漫威電影，除非他們選擇與該公司簽訂新的合同。該公司要為現(xiàn)在到2019年的電影挑選大量新人，包括新版《蜘蛛俠》和銀河系團隊《異人族》。

但第一代漫威明星的離開并不代表鋼鐵俠和雷神或其新版本會消失，像索尼影視于2012年制作的《超凡蜘蛛俠》。相反，據(jù)熟悉費格先生想法的人表示，他更喜歡詹姆斯·邦德這樣的英雄，而這個形象在過去53年已被翻拍、年輕化七次之多。