Snakkle Reveals the Cast of The Avengers Before They Became Superheroes!

tom hiddleston the life and adventures of nicholas nickleby british movie tv release 2001 photo

Then: Tom Hiddleston in The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (2001)

A classically trained graduate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (2005), Tom Hiddleston made his TV debut in The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby while he was still studying. He appeared with Kenneth Branagh in the BBC detective drama Wallander, and that led to Hiddleston auditioning for the role of Thor in the Branagh-directed film, and then as Loki, which he landed after four months of testing.

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Now: Tom Hiddleston as Loki in The Avengers

Reprising the role of Loki, Thor’s adopted brother with major sibling rivalry issues, Tom Hiddleston starts out The Avengers bent on ruling humanity on Earth since he’s been banished from Asgard. Loki's a demigod with immense power, and Hiddleston says Loki maintains his look of intended majesty with one heck of an ornate costume: “On one level, it’s incredible because it does so much of the work for me. When you’re wearing 30 pounds of leather, then you get very hot, and then all the heat that would normal escape through your head is just kind of encased inside this steel balaclava and your brain slowly turns to scrambled eggs… so it has its challenges.”

scarlett johansson young senior high school candid yearbook 2002 photo

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Then: Scarlett Johansson, Senior Year at the Professional Children’s School, New York City (2002)

Scarlett Johansson started acting at age 9 and worked steadily until she got singled out for her role in the film The Horse Whisperer (1998). After that, her career really took off and she transitioned into more adult roles in Ghost World, Girl with a Pearl Earring, and Lost in Translation.

scarlett johansson young senior high school candid yearbook 2002 photo the avengers marvel movie 2012

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Now: Scarlett Johansson as Agent Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow in The Avengers

Scarlett Johansson first appeared as super spy Natasha Romanoff in Iron Man 2 and she reprises that role in The Avengers as a full member of S.H.I.E.L.D. tasked with bringing Bruce Banner into the organization’s fold. Smack in the middle of the film’s battles, the actress told the IrishTimes that she doesn’t have much in common with Black Widow. “We both have a lot of conviction; other than that I can’t think that we’re at all similar. It’s funny because since making the film I have a very inflated idea of my badassness. I keep thinking I could actually take my costars down in real life. But actually I’m not at all badass.”

samuel l jackson young honor society high school 85h grade 1961 yearbook photo

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Then: Samuel L. Jackson, Eighth Grade at East 5th Street Junior High School, Chattanooga, Tennessee (1961)

A longtime geek, Samuel L. Jackson admits to being a comic book, anime, and Star Wars fan from his childhood into his adulthood. Originally a theater actor with occasional small parts in films, Jackson garnered film buzz in 1991 with Jungle Fever. After that, Jackson became a character actor staple who appears in everything from classic dramas to sci-fi epics like the new Star Wars films.

samuel l jackson young honor society high school 85h grade 1961 yearbook photo the avengers marvel movie 2012

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Now: Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury in The Avengers

Sam Jackson stepped into the Nick Fury role for the first time with a cameo in Iron Man and then again in Iron Man 2, Thor, and Captain America: The First Avenger, a prequel to The Avengers. Now he rocks the authoritarian eye patch as S.H.I.E.L.D. director Fury, and we definitely see a glimmer of that famous swagger way back in Sam’s grade school days.

robert downey jr young junior yearbook 1982 high school photo

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Then: Robert Downey Jr., Junior Year at Santa Monica High School, Santa Monica, California (1982)

Even at 17, Robert Downey Jr. had that smart-ass smirk. Not long after this picture, Robert dropped out of high school and moved back to New York City to pursue acting professionally. He acted off Broadway until he became a cast member of Saturday Night Live in 1985. He was fired soon after but then costarred in films like Less Than Zero and The Pick-up Artist, becoming a satellite member of the Brat Pack.

robert downey jr young junior yearbook 1982 high school photo the avengers marvel movie 2012

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Now: Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man in The Avengers

Robert Downey Jr.’s hugely successful comeback performance as billionaire genius Tony Stark in Iron Man was the catalyst for The Avengers ever happening. Robert helped put the Marvel character on the mainstream movie map and worked closely first with Jon Favreau and then Joss Whedon to help craft Tony’s character arc and persona in the films.

mark ruffalo yearbook senior yearbook young 1986 photo

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Then: Mark Ruffalo, Senior Year at First Colonial High School, Virginia Beach, Virginia (1986)

A longtime theater actor and cofounder of the Orpheus Theatre Company, Mark Ruffalo transitioned into film in the late '90s and gained huge accolades for the indie You Can Count on Me (2000). Ruffalo’s been busy ever since doing indies and more mainstream films from The Kids Are All Right to 13 Going on 30.

mark ruffalo yearbook senior yearbook young 1986 photo the avengers marvel movie 2012

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Now: Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/The Hulk in The Avengers

The third actor to give the character of Bruce Banner/The Hulk a try, Mark Ruffalo was handpicked by director Joss Whedon to inhabit the gamma ray infected doctor who isn’t very nice when he gets angry. Asked if he has a lot of his own rage, Ruffalo recently told the New York Daily News that he channeled his youthful anger issues. “You should have seen me in my 20s, man. I was the poster definition of an angry young man with a persecution complex.”

jeremy renner young senior high school yearbook 1989 photo

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Then: Jeremy Renner, Senior Year at Beyer High School, Modesto, California (1989)

Acting in television shows and films since 1995, Jeremy Renner spent 14 years working in the trenches before becoming an overnight sensation in 2009 with his Academy Award-nominated performance in The Hurt Locker.

jeremy renner young senior high school yearbook 1989 photo the avengers marvel movie 2012

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Now: Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton/Hawkeye in The Avengers

Is it scary at all that Hawkeye’s spiky do in The Avengers is a little reminiscent of Jeremy’s high school hairdo? However, Hawkeye is looking a whole lot more suave. Reprising the cameo role he played in Thor, Renner takes on the look and skills of S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Clint Barton, a master marksman who possesses no superpowers but is a freakishly accurate shot. Though his character's a loner in life, Renner told Collider that Black Widow is Hawkeye’s de facto partner: “They’ve done a lot of missions together and they fight well together, and so you definitely get a sense that they’ve seen a lot of s*** together, and they complement each other.”

gwyneth paltrow young senior high school yearbook candid 1990 photo

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Then: Gwyneth Paltrow, Senior Year at Spence School, New York City (1990)

As the daughter of actress Blythe Danner and film and producer/director Bruce Paltrow, Gwyneth Paltrow was pretty much destined for a career in the creative arts and she’s certainly found success with that fate. She started acting in 1990, the same year this candid high school shot was snapped.

gwyneth paltrow young senior high school yearbook candid 1990 photo the avengers marvel movie 2012

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Now: Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts in The Avengers

Already a veteran of the two Iron Man films, Gwyneth Paltrow returns in The Avengers as Pepper Potts, Tony Stark’s loyal friend, CEO of Stark Industries, and now girlfriend. The Avengers director Joss Whedon revealed to the L.A. Times that Robert Downey Jr. actually wooed his gal pal to appear next to him in the film: “He really thought Gwyneth would bring something great to the table, and we all thought so as well, but he was the one who convinced her to come and do it."

cobie smulders young sophomore high school yearbook 1998 photo

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Then: Cobie Smulders, Sophomore Year, Lord Byng Secondary School, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (1998)

Cobie Smulders started out as a teen model and transitioned into acting by 2000. She guest-starred on TV shows like Jeremiah, Andromeda, and The L Word. However, she’s most known as Robin Scherbatsky (a.k.a. Robin Sparkles) on the hit sitcom How I Met Your Mother.

cobie smulders young sophomore high school yearbook 1998 photo the avengers marvel movie 2012

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Now: Cobie Smulders as Agent Maria Hill in The Avengers

Having worked full-time for the last seven years as Robin on How I Met Your Mother, Cobie Smulders makes her movie blockbuster debut with The Avengers. As lethal Agent Maria Hill, she plays Nick Fury’s loyal, right-hand woman at the head of S.H.I.E.L.D.

clark gregg law and order svu season 1 episode 12 tv show 1990 photo

Then: Clark Gregg in Law and Order: SVU (2000)

An actor, writer, and director, Clark Gregg has been working steadily for the last 25 years in theater, film, and television, most notably in shows like The West Wing and The New Adventures of Old Christine. He’s also married to Dirty Dancing actress Jennifer Grey.

clark gregg law and order svu season 1 episode 12 tv show 1990 photo the avengers marvel movie 2012

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Now: Clark Gregg as Agent Philip Coulson in The Avengers

Clark Gregg was cast in Iron Man as Agent Coulson, an original character created for that film who was subsequently added to all of the Marvel Avenger member films to link them together for The Avengers. Thrilled to be in the latest film, Gregg told SuperHeroHype, “I was just very lucky that they chose to expand that character and chose to put him more into the universe of it. It's really a blast!"

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Then: Chris Hemsworth (2005)

One of three acting siblings from Australia, Chris Hemsworth made his U.S. film debut in CA$h, but he gained real attention in 2009 playing heroic George Kirk, the father of James T. Kirk, in Star Trek.

chris hemsworth red carpet 2005 photo the avengers marvel movie 2012

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Now: Chris Hemsworth as Thor in The Avengers

Handpicked by director Kenneth Branagh to play the Norse demigod Thor in the Marvel movie of the same name, Hemsworth bulked up to look like the superhero and sell the character to mainstream audiences. Mission accomplished, because Thor was a success and Hemsworth is back in The Avengers, trying to stop Loki, his adopted brother, from subjugating Earth. Interestingly, Hemsworth told /Film that working with the ensemble psyched him out a little: “I walked on that set the first day and was a bit rattled by that group and everyone and thought, 'S***, hang on. Wait a second. I’m in a red cape and this feels kind of ridiculous.' It didn’t feel as comfortable as I did in my own film, but pretty fast it all fell into place.”

chris evans yearbook senior year young high school 1999 photo

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Then: Chris Evans, Senior Year at Lincoln Sudbury Regional High School, Sudbury, Massachusetts (1999)

Can you look more all-American than Chris Evans did in high school? A year after this photo, Evans made his film debut in The Newcomers. Not Another Teen Movie was his first hit, and that led him to playing his first Marvel superhero—Johnny Storm in Fantastic Four (2005).

chris evans yearbook senior year young high school 1999 photo the avengers marvel movie 2012

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Now: Chris Evans as Steve Rogers/Captain America in The Avengers

In The Avengers, Chris Evans reprises his role of Steve Rogers, who first showed up in Captain America: The First Avenger (2011). Only recently awoken in the present time after being frozen for decades, Cap is a man without a home... and a spankin’ new costume. As Chris recently described it to Moviefone, “It is certainly more flexible than the first suit, but the cowl is a lot more difficult. The first one was a helmet, so you could just take it on and off at will. But this one is actually this kind of rubber thing that goes into the suit. So once it's on, it's on. And it doesn't breathe.”