Joss Whedon: Avengers will be funny

Los Angeles - Joss Whedon says there will be a "great deal of humour" in The Avengers.

The director insists the superhero film - which has a star-studded cast including Robert Downey jnr, Chris Evans and Scarlett Johansson - isn't supposed to be entirely comical, but there are a number of funny moments.

No Spider-Man

He said: "This isn't the kind of movie where we're going to wink at the audience.

"There's a great deal of humour and there are a couple of things where people will go, 'Oh, that guy and that guy!' It's not 'Where's Waldo?'"

The movie will feature a number of Marvel Studios characters including Iron Man (Robert), Captain America (Chris), Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) and Thor (Chris Hemsworth), but Joss confirmed Spider-Man will not be appearing in the film, despite actress Jenny Agutter previously appearing to confirm he would be.

He added to Total Film magazine: "There is no Spider-Man in this movie! I feel so bad for Jenny [Agutter].

"I think she just slipped on a name and the reporter ran with it."