Marvel's amazing Avengers Assemble is out in UK cinemas today. And what better way to celebrate than with super-cupcakes?

Now, anyone who's spoken to me for more than 10 minutes is probably all-too-aware of my obsessive baking habits. From this James Bond birthday cake to the annual OscarNomnomnom Challenge, I love me some edible film goodness. So here you go: some freshly made Avengers cupcakes.

But rather than just post a picture and be all smug and fat about it (yes, I ate them all), I thought: why should I get to have all the fun? So read on for the full recipe and instructions to help you assemble your very own Avengers cupcakes. (Note: get an adult to help you with Arc Reactor part - or at least a robotic arm.)

Oh, and by all means send me pictures of yours if you think they're better (they probably are.) Bonus points if you come up a cupcake design for Black Widow that isn't just two massive balls of marzipan in a black icing jumpsuit. Mmmm.... Scarlett Johansson and marzipan...

Director: Joss Whedon
Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Samuel L. Jackson, Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson, Clark Gregg, Jeremy Renner, Tom Hiddleston
Certificate: 12A
Trailer

You could easily spend an Avengers Assemble review just quoting endless lines of dialogue. That's how good the script is. Yes, Marvel, the folks who brought us Iron Man 2, have just been praised for their astute screenwriting. Because Avengers Assemble is a superbly written film.

Throughout this colossal marketing campaign - and that's what The Avengers franchise has mostly been - Marvel have (Iron Man's bloated sequel aside) consistently beaten my expectations. And now expectations are actually high? They've gone and topped them again. Because rather than let producer Kevin Feige dictate the dialogue, the Marvel demi-god hired geek king, comic nerd, writer-extraordinaire and all-round love of my life Joss Whedon to make a movie. And holy purple shorts, he assembles the heck out of it.

It's not a Friday unless it involves Tony Stark and a Norse demi-god kicking the crap out of each other.

Earlier this week, Marvel released a new character poster for Avengers Assemble, entirely devoted to one man: Clark Gregg - or, when he's not giving his name to popular chain of sausage roll vendors, S.H.I.E.L.D's Agent Coulson.

Yes, Agent Coulson. The guy who popped up in the background of almost every film released in the past three years has been promoted to leading star status. 

It's good for him, really - I'm quite a fan of Clark's tight-lipped, deadpan delivery in things like (500) Days of Summer and Mr Popper's Penguins - but if it can happen to Agent Coulson, why not the other background players of Marvel's epic Avengers franchise? The robotic arm in Iron Man surely deserves a poster? Or how about that scene-stealing lamppost in Thor? Or that random soldier guy who walked past Captain America that one time in a field?

Then I stopped procrastinating in Photoshop and started thinking. A bit-part cameo player, brought to the foreground to tie together an endless string of sequels, prequels and other entries in a colossal franchise that will never end? We've seen that before...

And so I present to you, Agent Coulson: The Jim's Dad of Marvel's Avengers:

If Agent Coulson doesn't do it for you, feast your eyes on the Stifler's Mum of Marvel's franchise: a Scarlett Johansson Avengers clip is this way.

Marvel Avengers Assemble is out in cinemas on Thursday 26th April. Head this way to watch the official Avengers Assemble trailer.

Director: Joss Whedon
Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Tom Hiddleston, Stellan Skarsgård and Samuel L. Jackson
Certificate: TBC
Release Date: Thursday 26th April

Marvel Studios presents “Marvel Avengers Assemble”—the Super Hero team up of a lifetime, featuring iconic Marvel Super Heroes Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America, Hawkeye and Black Widow. When an unexpected enemy emerges that threatens global safety and security, Nick Fury, Director of the international peacekeeping agency known as S.H.I.E.L.D., finds himself in need of a team to pull the world back from the brink of disaster. Spanning the globe, a daring recruitment effort begins.

Starring Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner and Samuel L. Jackson, and directed by Joss Whedon, “Marvel Avengers Assemble” is based on the ever-popular Marvel comic book series “The Avengers,” first published in 1963 and a comics institution ever since. Prepare yourself for an exciting event movie, packed with action and spectacular special effects, when “Marvel Avengers Assemble" hits UK cinemas on April 26, 2012.

In “Marvel Avengers Assemble” superheroes team up to pull the world back from the brink of disaster when an unexpected enemy threatens global security.

It's official. The Avengers Super Bowl trailer has been released by Marvel - and Joss Whedon's superhero flick is full of action, CGI and Mark Ruffalo in full-on green mode. "I have an army," scowls Tom Hiddleston's Loki. Tony Stark's reply is short: "We have a Hulk."

Here it is:

The Avengers is out on Friday 27th April - and continues to look surprisingly good. There's more stuff on the official Avengers Facebook page.  

Captain America was released on DVD yesterday - and most fans of the comic book (and non-fans) received Joe Johnston's film pretty well. Even I grudgingly admitted that Marvel's evil campaign to take over Hollywood has remained consistently decent (Hulk movies and Iron Man 2 aside), with both Mr. USA and Thor proving a heck of a lot of fun.

But if you want to see a really impressive interpretation of The Avengers' most patriotic member, try this:

X-Men: First Class hit first place at the UK Box Office with an opening of £5.4m. 

That sounds pretty groovy for a 60s-set mutant prequel, but it's actually the weakest of the franchise since the original X-Men back in 2000. Arriving without any audience awareness of the series, Bryan Singer's comic book movie opened on £4.8m - Fox would have been hoping for slightly more evolved figures by now.

With the other X-Men films taking between £6m and £7m on their debuts, Matthew Vaughn's excellent blockbuster is quite a way behind. Still, it has far more positive buzz than Brett Ratner's X-Men 3 or 2009's Wolverine outing, which may keep its powers strong enough to claw together a stronger total.

First Class almost took second place in the UK Top Ten thanks to The Hangover II. Even with a 15 certificate and a lot of backlash, Todd Phillips' sequel, which took just under £4m in its second weekend, has already passed the £20m barrier. 

That's a horrendously high amount for a 2D comedy - in fact, it's earned more than three times the £7.7m The Hangover had totalled up over two weeks in 2009. Feel free to bash your head against a brick wall at any point in the next seven days.

Thor thundered ahead at the UK Box Office this week, holding on the top spot after its £5m debut. 

Marvel's superhero lost around 40% of last week's takings, but has hammered together a £9.5m running total, which will keep the makers of The Avengers happy for now.

Fast Five is right behind the God of Thunder with £1.6m stashed firmly in the boot. After three weeks on release, Vin Diesel's racer has accelerated past the £13.5m gross from the last Fast and Furious film, making it the fastest and most furious in the whole series. Bald men up and down the country will be sweating profusely with excitement.

Insidious, meanwhile, is in a strong third position, boasting a teeny 9% drop as people begin to spread the word about the Saw director's horror film. It's almost at the £4m mark in total, but expect this one to reach a fair bit higher than that.

All the three holdovers held back the weekend's new releases. Emerging at the head of the pack is Water for Elephants, the watery film about elephants and Robert Pattinson. Thanks to previews from Wednesday onwards, R-Patz beat Saoirse Ronan's Hanna to the UK Top Ten's fourth spot. But we all know she could take him in a proper fight.

Thor hammered its way to the top of the UK Box Office last weekend to take home £5.45m. 

Marvel were hoping that the Norse god of thunder would strike hard in the UK, given that Thor's the cornerstone for all upcoming Avengers releases.

To avoid any threat of the Royal Wedding distracting cinema-goers, they promptly stuck three days of previews on the front of the film, picking up £2.3m from Monday, Wednesday and Thursday combined. Include the bank holiday Monday on the other side of the weekend and Thor smashes clean past the £6m mark. 

It's a convincing show from Kenneth Branagh's superhero, one that matches the results from the less hirsute Fast and Furious Five on the weekend before. It's no surprise, then, that the Vin Diesel car flick is still speeding along in second place.

With a drop of less than 40%, Fast Five has a current total of £11m odd, which almost equals the £13.5m final gross from the fourth Fast and Furious film in 2009. No wonder Justin Lin is gearing up for a sixth.