Over the past couple of weeks, Marvel has been releasing bits and pieces from the special features that will be included on the upcoming Blu-ray release of The Avengers, but the studio was also planning to release an ultimate collector’s set to coincide with The Avengers’ home video release. “Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase One – Avengers Assembled” was announced earlier this year as a collector’s Blu-ray set that included all the Marvel films that have been released thus far—Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger, and The Avengers—on Blu-ray in one handy box set.One of the draws to the bundle was its briefcase-like packaging that mirrored the case containing the all-important Tesseract from The Avengers.  It was a neat idea and superfans were eager to get their hands on it, but there was just one problem: Marvel neglected to get permission from the briefcase’s maker to reproduce and distribute it to hundreds of thousands of fans.  As such, the release of the collector’s set has been halted indefinitely.  Hit the jump for more. [Update: More info follows after the jump.]Though the set was initially to be available on September 25th, a lawsuit against Marvel from the German luggage company Rimowa BhmbH has put an indefinite hold on its release.  The company states their case (hey-oh!) in court documents that were recently released (per THR):

“Marvel did not obtain any license or authorization from Rimowa to make replica copies of the case for any purpose . . . the plastic ‘replica case’ [is] a close copy of Rimowa’s Topas attaché case in every respect but quality -- from the proportions and coloring, to the style of the handle and latches, and, of course, in the use of the trademarked parallel ridges around the body of the case.”

The case was used by Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury in The Avengers, and Marvel subsequently decided it would make some fine packaging for their collector’s set.  Rimowa is perfectly fine with the use of the case in The Avengers, they’d just (understandably) like to be notified if their product is being used to sell an expensive and highly anticipated item.

There’s no word on how soon the lawsuit will be settled, and hence no update on when “Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase One – Avengers Assembled” may be available to the public.  The pre-order option has been taken down from the Amazon page, so there’s no way for fans to even reserve a copy at this time.  The set came with some truly stunning artwork for each film as well as some nice bonus discs, so hopefully a resolution can be met.  In the meantime, The Avengers will be available on standard Blu-ray, DVD, and digital download on September 25th.

Update: According to ComingSoon.net, the Phase One set will be available in the Spring of 2013 rather than later this month.  Expect some design changes to the case as well, though we're not sure to what extent just yet.  Also,  Disney Movie Rewards members can now redeem points from the 4-Disc Combo Pack of Marvel's The Avengers for a digital version of the film's soundtrack, a digital comic book of Avengers Assemble #1 and for a collectible Matt Ferguson poster (with the option of buying three more to complete the set).