The original cast of the Avengers have reunited once again, only this time it is to dub the 2012 superhero film into the Lakota language as part of a project to shed light on this once-banned form of expression.
Marvel announced the project in a video on Friday, July 5, which included some behind-the-scenes looks at the stars learning to speak the language of the Sioux tribes and then acting and delivering their lines, alongside some native speakers.
Mark Ruffalo, who plays Bruce Banner/Hulk in the hit film, helped organize the project and explained how this difficult task was accomplished.
“This project came out of my relationship with the Lakota people,” Ruffalo, 56, explained in the video. “And it was just a fun thing that they wanted to do, where they wanted to take The Avengers, this crazy idea, we’re going to do a Lakota dub of The Avengers.”
The actor said he was inspired to participate in the Lakota Project as a way to help revitalize the language, in part, because “there aren’t a lot of people left who can speak it.”
Mark Ruffalo, 56, helped lead the effort to dub The Avengers (2012) into the Lakota language to shed light on the once-banned form of speech in an effort to revitalize the language of the Sioux tribes.
All of the main actors went to the studio and had to learn and perform their lines in Lakota, including lead actors such as Ruffalo (Bruce Banner/Hulk), Scarlett Johansson (Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow), Chris Evans (Steve Rogers/Captain America), Robert Downey Jr. (Tony Stark/Iron Man), Chris Hemsworth (Thor), and Jeremy Renner (Clint Barton/Hawkeye).
The clip showed Ruffalo in the studio delivering his lines in Lakota and then attempting to not only say the words but act them out.
Some of the other cast members seen dubbing their lines include Scarlett Johansson (Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow) and Robert Downey Jr. (Tony Stark/Iron Man), as well as some native Lakota language speakers.
One of the men involved in the Lakota Project maintains that his ancestors were punished for speaking their own language and, as a result, use of the Lakota language “went underground.”
“They only talked in the dormitories when the headmistresses weren’t there,” the anonymous man explained. “They talked in dark rooms where no one could hear them, but they talked anyway.”
Another Lakota speaker added: “Our idea is to bring the language back into the homes of its people and allow them to connect in such a way that they have fun watching a movie and become fully integrated with the language of our people.”
“Getting everyone on the same page was probably the hardest part, but everyone was involved,” Ruffalo said.
“It’s an intimidating language,” The Kids Are All Right star continued. “There are sounds that we don’t have in our own language that they have in theirs. But once you understand them, it feels really good.”
“It wasn’t just the dubbing, it was a re-creation of The Avengers with Lakota sensibilities and language,” Ruffalo said. “Basically, I’m acting with my other Native actor brothers and sisters. And we’re acting these scenes in the Lakota language, and I have to act it out, too. I can’t just say the lines, you have to act them out.”
Ruffalo was inspired to participate in the Lakota Project as a way to help revitalize the language because “there aren’t a lot of people left who can speak it.”
“This project came out of my relationship with the Lakota people,” Ruffalo explained in the video. “And it was just a fun thing that they wanted to do, where they wanted to take The Avengers, this crazy idea, we’re going to do a Lakota dub of The Avengers.”
Downey Jr. was seen excited to deliver his lines perfectly in the Lakota language.
Johansson could be heard saying, “That sounded great,” after a take of her lines in Lakota.
She is seen as Black Widow in a frame from the 2012 film.
“Getting everyone on the same page is probably the hardest thing, but everyone was involved,” Ruffalo said.
“They have the most famous film franchise in the world and some of the actors, celebrities and famous people speak our once forbidden Lakota language,” shared one of the native members of the project.
‘And I think one of the most beautiful things about the project is that our language no longer has to hide.
Lakota, also known as Lakhota, Teton, and Teton Sioux, is a Sioux language spoken by the Lakota people of the Sioux tribes, according to Wikipedia.
Lakota is mutually intelligible with both dialects of the Dakota language, especially West Dakota, and is one of the three main varieties of the Sioux language.
Like many indigenous languages, the Lakota language did not traditionally have a written form.
However, efforts to develop a written form of Lakota began, primarily through the work of Christian missionaries and linguists, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
For the project, which took 15 months to complete, organizers used 62 native speakers of the Lakota-Dakota language to help fill out the cast of supporting characters, according to Marvel.
Written and directed by Joss Whedon, The Avengers was a huge success at the worldwide box office, grossing $1.519 billion against a budget of $220-225 million.
The project took more than 15 months to complete, while the task included the use of 62 native speakers of the Lakota-Dakota language to help fill out the cast of supporting characters, according to Marvel.
Chris Hemsworth and Jeremy Renner do not appear in the video. However, it has been hinted that all six original Avengers worked together on the dubbing of Project Lakota.
Written and directed by Joss Whedon, The Avengers was a huge success at the worldwide box office, grossing $1.519 billion against a budget of $220-225 million.
The Lakota dub of The Avengers is now available to stream exclusively on Disney+.