The viral marketing campaign for "The Avengers" kicked of in May of 2008 with the release of "Iron Man" and the extreme tease of a clip that played after the credits. However, "Iron Man" wasn't the only Marvel superhero movie to release in 2008 - their reboot/sequel/re-imagining of the Hulk, "The Incredible Hulk" was released in June of 2008. While not as huge of a success as "Iron Man," it was still received fairly well by the masses, especially over the flop that came out a few years before. The most exciting part of this movie, however, did not take place during the main part of the film. Just like in "Iron Man," there was a little clip that showed just after the credits rolled. I can't seem to find the clip on YouTube, so I'll just tell you what happened. After the events of "The Incredible Hulk" have taken place, General Ross is seen drinking in a bar. In walks none other than Tony Stark himself, and he approaches Ross with a proposition. "I'm putting a team together," Iron Man says - and the clip ends.
At first, all we got was a teaser that there was a bigger universe than just the one that Iron Man occupied. But, with "The Incredible Hulk," we see that the characters of these movies live together in that same universe. So, not only is Marvel making an Avengers movie - but they are making solo films for each of the characters first, and then bringing them, and all of the actors associated with the films, together to bring this movie to life.
And so, with two huge reveals in 2008, the viral marketing was off to an unprecedented start. I'll keep reminding you - no "Avengers" announcement had been made by this point. And yet still, EVERYONE was hyped up for this eventual film. This could be the smartest viral marketing campaign I've ever seen...
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