A sequel to The Avengers has been confirmed.

The Marvel superhero movie - which features well known comic characters including Iron Man, Thor, Captain America and The Incredible Hulk - has been a huge box-office success and Disney are already planning a second insllalment.

"[The success of the film] is a great illustration of why we like Marvel so much," Disney CEO Bob Iger said, adding that demand for merchandise associated with the film has been strong. However, it will be some time before the Avengers sequel comes out with Iron Man 3, Thor 2 and possibly Captain America 2 all set to shoot first.

Stan Lee, the former president and chairman of Marvel Comics, who created many of the characters, recently revealed his hopes for the addition of some new characters in the sequel: "Oh, I'd be happy if they add Black Panther and maybe Dr Strange. Those two and probably Ant-Man, which I think they are working on. Maybe I'll play a little role in that."

He also admitted he is still surprised that some of his characters have become movie stars, and is "amazed" that The Avengers has been made into a motion picture before DC Comics have created a Justice League film: "I never imagined I'd see any of my characters become movies. But this was a logical thing to do. It was smart. I'm amazed that DC didn't beat us to it with the Justice League. But you've got to hand it to Marvel."