Amph "You think you're the only superhero in the world?" - The Marvel Cinematic Universe

I can see why that scene did not make the cut, and why that band name is already taken.

 

Continue on the road to Infinity War, next up Marvel's The Avengers
Release Date: May 4, 2012 - Worldwide box office = $1.5 Billion



I'm not sure if there's more anticipation for Infinity War or the anticipation for The Avengers back in 2012.

I remember feeling a little uneasy about the film when it was announced that Edward Norton was being replaced by Mark Ruffalo. I like Norton so much as an actor and I had a hard time seeing Ruffalo filling his shoes. Moreover, I wasn't sure about Joss Whedon directing the film as he didn't have a large resume for films; just Serenity. Also, I wasn't sure about the chemistry of the cast and the characters. I mean, I felt Robert Downey, Jr. was just going to dominate throughout the film as his Tony Stark/Iron Man was the most popular and outstanding character of the MCU films thus far. Of course, there was the hype and anticipation factor. The Avengers was the culmination of Phase I and also a celebration of the MCU at that point. With such high expectations, The Avengers was bound to be a disappointment, right? At best, I was hoping The Avengers would be as well liked as Singer's X-Men films, as that was the standard of super hero team films at the time since Fantastic Four was pretty much unremarkable.

The Avengers: in a word AWESOME.

Not only did the film live up to the hype, it exceeded all expectations. Joss Whedon did an outstanding job writing and directing this film and the movie was the figurative expression of a "page turner." Every scene was eaten by both fan boys and general audiences alike. The first act was a nice introduction of the characters as well as setting the stage of the film opening with Loki receiving the scepter and army, which was the McGuffin for the heroes to unite. That first act also featured Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner, which he immediately wiped away any traces of memory of Ed Norton as he made Banner his own. And when he threaten Black Widow with potential Hulk rage and then Widow drawing her gun at him, the audience gasped. Speaking of Widow, her first scene with her being tied up in a chair was classic. And then we come to the first juicy part of the film, when the "Big Three" come together.




This was their first interaction and set the tone for the chemistry and relationship between the characters not only for The Avengers film, but the rest of the subsequent MCU films, and it was glorious. It was the characters coming off the comic book page and onto the screen.

The Avengers wasn't a simple team up and go get the big evil type of super hero movie. The movie had growing pains and a story arc for the team, that's what separated it from the X-Men films. The film suggests that putting the team together with the Hulk was a bad idea, which Loki used to his advantage; a twist in the film that was much appreciated it. It was the death of Coulson that was the catalyst the unites the team rather than a big baddie; which Fury use to his advantage. It was also a great way to serve and payoff Coulson's involvement in the MCU.

The third and final act is really where The Avengers makes it mark as Whedon wonderfully gives each character a moment to shine, but none more brilliantly than the Hulk. Avengers gave Hulk the vehicle to showcase him in the best possible way and that's rage on and smash, as Cap ordered him to do. Which was capped off by this most memorable scene...



It's so perfect.

The invasion of the NYC was mixed with well choreographed action, intense drama with the nuclear threat option and the right amount of levity for comic relief to release the tension but not under mind the climatic build. It was a very satisfying ending to The Avengers and Phase I. But not only did the film provide an excellent close to Phase I, it launch the anticipation for everything to come to follow with our first look at Thanos. It ended on the highest of notes that any film could have ended on.

The final credit scene was prefect too, as it really humanized the heroes. That's what the MCU does so well, it makes their characters so identifiable and empathetic; so despite their super powers, the audience can share their struggles and emotions, as well as just taking a moment to relax and grab a bite to eat. Saving the world isn't as easy as it looks.





The Avengers was a revolutionary film as it literally changed the Hollywood landscape, as in the following years studios were looking to create their own tent pole films and shared universe. At the time, The Avengers was the third highest grossing film at the worldwide box office only trailing Avatar and Titantic. It was the film that established the MCU as a bankable franchise and allowing Marvel Studios to take risks on less known and obscure characters like Guardians of the Galaxy and Ant-Man.

Marvel's The Avengers, fulfilled the expectations of fanboys, no easy task as proven by the DECU and most of the post Star Wars Original Trilogy films and accessible to non-comic book readers; thus generating a new audience for the Marvel characters.

The Avengers is a 10/10.

 

Will wait patiently for @Sith_Sensei__Prime's subsequent reviews as I respectfully say thee nay on the Avengers. It boils down to my of Joss Whedon, Loki and the misuse of Hawkeye - which, for me, has yet to be corrected.

It was a great debut for Ruffalo though. As much as I like Edward Norton as Banner, Mark just makes him so much more human and vulnerable.

 

Whedon learned the one rule of filmmaking, and why Raiders of the Lost Ark is a near perfect film: if your entire film is driving towards something -- promising it -- then you need to keep it hidden until you show it. And you need to show it. So, much like Raiders promises the "Wrath of G-d" the entire film, you never quite believe it, whether due to Indy's skepticism or whatever, but then you get it.

With The Avengers, you have the Hulk. You're told he's a bigger job than most when Natasha -- immediately after dispatching an entire arms dealing ring without so much as a flinch -- gives off a "bozhe moi" when being told she's going to have to get Banner. You're told he's the key to Loki's whole plan as a monster being brought into the team. You've seen his entire struggle over the film, and the fake-out with the Thor fight on the helicarrier. And then you get a small, critical scene with one of the greatest character actors of all-time (Harry Dean Stanton) who gives Banner to answer he already knew -- that it's okay because, subconsciously (tying back into the very end of The Incredible Hulk), he knows what he's doing and he shouldn't necessarily worry about losing control.

And then we get
this:





"I'm always angry."

It's the perfect catharsis for the entire movie, and one of the greatest lines in all of the MCU. Without that, you don't get the Loki scene you posted, no "Puny god...", no smirk after "And Hulk? Smash..." -- plus the payoff of the first hero shot of them in the circle immediately after the above.

RDJ is perfect as Iron Man. Hemsworth IS Thor. Evans IS Captain America. But this movie doesn't work without Ruffalo's Banner and, somewhat more importantly, Hulk.

 

I’m so far behind on my Infinity War marathon... Plus I just found out it comes out earlier in NZ than the rest of the world, so I’m another week behind. I’m gonna have to watch Thor, Cap, Avengers, Iron Man 3 and Thor 3 over the next week.

 

@dp4m - for me, Banner/Hulk was the only character besides Stark that Whedon nailed. And, yes, I agree about Raiders (one of the few near perfect movies for me too.)

 

If you're a fan of Iron Man 3, you may want to skip my review of that next week.

 

I like Ben Kingsley in it even though he was a fake out (because of the washed up actor part of it), but they seriously dropped the ball with the Mandarin. I forget everything else about it. So I will probably agree with you once again in terms of IM3.

 

I didn't know there was going to be a Silver Sable/Black Cat film. I thought I heard about there being a SS movie but not that it was finalized.

 

^ I don't even know what's coming out between Deadpool and Aquaman this year.

 

Chris hemsworth says he is done with Thor

Well, if so this could be an opportunity for Ms Thor. Not sure Portman would come back as Jane Foster. But make no mistake Foster as Thor in the comics has been one of the best series ever.

 

Just substitute Sif. You could use some kind of cancer allegory if they had to be faithful. Have her lose her abilities as a result os Asgard being destroyed or something. I like Jamie enough to want to see her get that due. I am not a fan of Foster-Thor (yes, I have read a chunk of it), I realize that Aaron was using a Donald Blake tweak (cancer in lieu of being lame) to humanize her, but it just did not resonate with me. Aaron gets Thor, but he’s not my thing.

I like Hemsworth. BTW the comics and movie appearances as of late, I won’t miss the character, especially since we have Doctor Strange now,

All that said, I’d love a Sif and The Warriors movie - which won’t happen. I suspect if they run with a lady Thor it’ll be Valkyrie.

 

"Sif fell to Earth and was mysteriously covered in tattoos, and can't remember anything of her former life. However, muscle memory provides her with amazing combat skills and brilliant intelligence, plus the ability to speak multiple languages... watch as she tries to reclaim her life, and discovers teamwork and love along the way!"

 

In case anyone is interested in reading the screenplays for Logan, Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2 or Thor: Ragnarok, this page has links where you can download all three. I forgot that around Oscar time, scripts get released (was surprised to see GoG vol. 2 and T:R.)

 

...Hemsworth didn’t say he was done in that article, so hold your horses.

 

How wonderfully timely

But the actor was discussing her new film Annihilation with Screen Rant when she revealed that an eventual return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe is not out of the cards.

"I'm completely open to everything, but I have no news about that," Portman said with a laugh.

 

I... wouldn't say she was missed. At all.

 

Please don't come back. We don't need anymore Slowpokeking fan videos.

 

After watching Thor and Cap 1, I had an interesting thought about The Avengers. What if Loki AND Red Skull were supposed to be the villains in The Avengers? I mean think about it, they both fell into unknown realms. They both wanted the Tesseract. The only problem is Hugo Weaving didn’t like playing Red Skull and didn’t want to return. Maybe he turned it down.

 

There are alot of fans that want to see the Red Skrull return to the MCU. Some are hoping for Infinity War or Avengers 4, as who knows what the "Infinity Gauntlet" will be bring once Thanos as obtained all the stones. But yeah, Hugo Weaving didn't want to reprise his role as the Red Skull, but since he was under alot of make up, Marvel could have simply recast him, much like Terrance Howard and Edward Norton if they wanted to use Red Skull. Moreover, Weaving, like Natalie Portman was under contract and they could have forced him to reprise the role if they wanted him to.

From Den of Geek

However, I don't think the Red Skull was suppose to share villain duties with Loki in The Avengers flick because it would diminish the quality of both characters to split the role of the Big Baddie. Moreover, Whedon was paying homage to the Avengers #1 comic book with Loki being to sole villain.

 

@Sith_Sensei__Prime - thanks. I'll rent Black Panther (unless it's still out here at the end of March) and definitely see Deadpool & Infinity War in May. Outside of that, still waiting/debating Aquaman in December (If I see that, it'll be late in the month.) My film plans have not changed.

As far as the Red Skull, I was hoping once he was absorbed in the Tesseract, the MCU would have followed Brubaker's run a bit more closely (a la Red Skull and the Cosmic Cube in that case.) Ah well.

 

There may have been plans to do more with the Red Skull, either in "The Winter Soldier" or "Civil War". Both films lent themselves towards bringing him back and would have appropriately tied everything together. But at least Marvel and to a lesser extent Disney, have opted not to force Weaving to return. You don't see that too often in studios these days.

 

He could be recast, but I'd like Zola to pop up again somewhere even more. I was so bummed the Russos said they were almost considering that Zola walk away from the rubble at Camp Lehigh in CATWS.