The Avengers

After the credits roll on a movie, it’s always good to sit around with friends and talk about your favorite moments.

When Entertainment Weekly got a conversation going about The Avengers, the friends just happened to be Iron Man, Nick Fury, Thor, Captain America, Hawkeye, Black Widow, and the Hulk, or at least the stars who played them — who swear a lot more.

Miniature versions of the heroes as Hasbro playthings were scattered around the table, but they stayed mostly quiet, unless their buttons were pushed. (The stars were more focused on pushing each other’s buttons.)

The Avengers writer-director Joss Whedon says his biggest challenge with the actors was getting them to stop goofing around on set, but now that the film is finished — and has since pulverized Harry Potter’s claim to the opening-weekend box office record — you can see him here dropping the vice principal act and joining forces with the troublemakers.

Check out our exclusive video with Whedon and his cast (seated left to right, Whedon, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Hemsworth, Jeremy Renner, Robert Downey Jr., Mark Ruffalo, and Samuel L. Jackson) below. Their far-ranging discussion included such matters as: Who has the most serious battle scar, who blew the most takes by forgetting lines, and … did Whedon really cry while discussing Black Widow’s origin story?