A TEENAGER with a fascination for all things Avengers grabbed an early glimpse of the series’ latest film. . . thanks to the kindness of one of its directors.

Emma Barnott spent whatever time she could last spring and summer in Edinburgh, attempting to see the stars of the latest instalment in the Marvel Studios series: Avengers: Infinity War.

Filming began in the Capital in March, with Emma, who was in S6 at Dunbar Grammar School, heading to the city evenings and weekends to try to catch a glimpse of the movie stars.

During filming, she met stars such as Chris Evans (Captain America), Elizabeth Olsen (Scarlet Witch), Mark Ruffalo (Hulk) and Anthony Mackie (Falcon), as well the Russo brothers, who direct the latest film.

She also met Chris Hemsworth, who plays Thor, and previously starred in films such as Snow White and the Huntsman and Ghostbusters.

She said: “We saw Chris Hemsworth coming out of the Caledonian Hotel. He met us and took pictures with us. My mum loves him and I got him to hold up a sign saying ‘Hi Sue’ [her mum] and took a picture of it.”

Filming wrapped up at the end of April with the worldwide premiere taking place on Monday in Los Angeles. However, a sneak preview was shown at Edinburgh’s Cineworld this month, with tickets quickly snapped up.

Emma, 18, of Dunbar, was not one of the lucky ones to get a ticket for the 20-minute preview showing but the stars were shining for her when she received an unexpected boost.

She said: “I finally went to Cineworld and waited six hours for the event to start. Joe Russo [one of the film’s directors] left his car and I walked outside to meet him and he was so lovely and humble taking a picture with me and signing an autograph.

“I told him how we had followed the filming so closely last year and thanked him for coming to Edinburgh and said we tried so hard to get tickets but we couldn’t so he asked me if I was on my own. I told him I was with friends and he said he would see what he could do and told me to go inside and get warm.

“He came through the front entrance and I think he was surprised by how many people had turned up so he announced that he would put on a second screening just for us.

“He then came up to me later as he was meeting the fans and said they had me to thank as it was what I said that made him decide to put on a second screening. I then went and watched the footage and afterwards came out and got to tell him what I thought!”

The superhero series is based on the Marvel Comics and the films have been watched by millions of people across the globe.

Emma, in her first year of studying medicine at the University of Aberdeen, said: “I have been a fan of the Avengers ever since 2012. I went to go and see Avengers on my birthday and my fandom grew from there.”

Emma already had tickets for the midnight screening of the full film, shown last night (Wednesday).

She added: “I have been told that [my love of the Avengers] is a bit crazy but different people are passionate about different things.

“People are crazy football fans and go to the pub and watch football and scream at the television screen. I cannot really understand that and they cannot really understand me going to meet my idols!”