Seven tales of everyday heroes

When "The Avengers" arrives in theaters on Friday it will represent an unprecedented Hollywood experiment – can the narrative threads from four film franchises come together to form a unified tapestry in a fifth, all-star franchise? (And by throwing in a couple of newer faces, can it even launch a sixth or seventh?)

International viewers seem to think so. The film raked in $185.1 million in 39 countries outside the US this past weekend, according to Disney. It set new records in the biggest box office opening weekend for any film in Mexico and Brazil. In the United Kingdom, it pulled in $24.7 million, which is the best weekend haul for a super-hero movie in the UK, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

The great thrill the movie offers is a sky full of iconic characters, but the danger is that without a story that can handle their combined weight, the movie will never get off the ground.

"This is something unprecedented,and some days that makes it exciting, and then there have been days along the way where it was nerve-racking or a little scary," said Kevin Feige, the president of Marvel Studios and the key architect of the latticework approach that connects "The Avengers" with the continuities of Iron Man, Thor, Captain America and the Hulk in their "home" franchises.