CHAD’S GRADE: A
You have to hand it to Marvel. They were patient and methodical when they started working on their shared universe of films, beginning with 2008’s “Iron Man.” They gave solo movies to the big gun heroes that they still owned rights to (Iron Man, Hulk, Thor & Captain America) while mixing in a few supporting players with cameos (Black Widow & Hawkeye.) Then add in appearances by Agent Coulson and Sgt. Fury to show they are all playing in the same sandbox. They did this over four years, and their patience would pay off with one of the biggest hits of the MCU.
Marvel was fortunate to have most of their solo movies land well with both critics and audiences, with only one bad apple (2008’s The Incredible Hulk.) You compare this to the rush job that DC implemented for their shared universe with 2013s “Man of Steel,” followed by the underwhelming “Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice” and the truly terrible “Suicide Squad” in 2016. Just about everyone rightly panned the last two films. The result was Marvel releasing hit after hit of fun populist fare with DC struggling to figure out a vision for their cinematic universe.
That’s not to say that “The Avengers” wasn’t a considerable risk for Marvel. At this point in the superhero genre, no one had attempted the feat of bringing several heroes in a single film—especially a series of films with different tones and pacing. Marvel was pioneering the shared universe concept, and they needed an architect to pull all the strands together.
Enter Joss Whedon, hand-picked by producer/showrunner Kevin Feige to write and direct the colossal superhero extravaganza. Whedon was a demi-god among the geek set in the late ’90s and early aughts, thanks to his two groundbreaking TV series “Buffy: The Vampire Slayer” & “Firefly.” Those series had the flavor of comic-book-style sagas brought to life on the small screen. Also, the prolific Whedon was a feature film script doctor on such films as “Speed,” “Toy Story,” and “Alien Resurrection.”
The film opens with Sgt. Fury and the Shield organization trying to harness the power of the Tesseract, last seen in “Captain America: The First Avenger.” Instead, the Tesseract opens a portal to the mystical realm of Asgard, allowing Loki, the trickster god and brother of Thor, to arrive on Earth. Loki promptly takes possession of the Tesseract and plans to invade Earth with the alien Chitauri army and become its ruler. Fury and Agent Coulson assemble Earth’s greatest heroes – Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk, Thor, and shield agents Black Widow & Hawkeye – to form the Avengers and thwart Loki’s grand scheme. The film’s closing set-piece, the spectacular “Battle of New York,” would be an event that ripples across many MCU films and TV shows.
Originally intended as a straight-up adaption of the Marvel revisionist comic “The Ultimates,” where the newly formed Avengers try to subdue an out-of-control Hulk rampaging through New York, writer/director Whedon smartly jettisoned that concept. Instead, he pulled elements from the various MCU films, like Loki from “Thor” and the tesseract from “Captain America,” and treated the film as a series finale. This approach played to Whedon’s strength as one of TV’s premier showrunners and worked beautifully.
A hallmark of Whedon’s writing is his character-based storytelling. This approach saves the film from turning into a cosplay parade of actors hamming it up for the screen, and once the Avengers are assembled (no pun intended), they blend cohesively into a team. The film does wonders for Hawkeye and Black Widow, who were relegated to cameos until this point, and gives them personalities and backstories. The Hulk also gets a much-needed makeover, recasting Edward Norton (who left over a pay dispute and creative differences) with Mark Ruffalo. Mr. Ruffalo is such a massive improvement, with the acclaimed actor playing Bruce Banner like a timid Stephen Hawking with a dark secret. He quickly became a fan favorite and was used extensively in other MCU films.
The film also benefits from its huge budget, with Marvel now having access to that Disney money. There was worry that Whedon, primarily a TV director, could pull off the complicated action sequences. Those fears were quickly put to rest as there’s not a bad one in the bunch. The standout is the Heli-Carrier set-piece, where Loki and his minions escape thanks to a rage-filled and rampaging Hulk (who’s more terrifying in this single sequence than the entirety of “The Incredible Hulk”).
And then there’s the “Battle of New York” finale that set the template for superhero finales in the future. There are so many superhero films, and Marvel included, that feature a vast portal threatening a large metropolis. But Whedon and his stunt team nail the epic scale of the battle, with the ferocious Chitauri army and their massive leviathans laying waste to New York. Whedon’s camera seems to be everywhere, never missing the various Avengers as they battle to save the Earth from Loki, crescendoing with that epic, swirling shot of our heroes standing defiantly.
All the actors bring their A-game from their previous films, but the standouts are Ruffalo and Tom Hiddleston as Loki. It’s hard to top Hiddleston’s earlier menacing turn in “Thor,” but he does it here. And Scarlet Johansson deserves mention for imbuing Black Widow with real gravitas and mystery, especially after her sexpot introduction in “Iron Man 2.” It’s such a shame that Marvel waited ten years to give her a solo film.
The film does have a few blemishes. Much of the pop culture-infused, quippy dialogue, a Whedon trademark, hasn’t aged particularly well. The shocking death of Agent Coulson, while playing into the narrative, was diluted when Coulson was revived less than a year later in the “Agents of Shield” TV show. There is a boys club feel to the proceedings with Black Widow, Maria Hill, and a cute cameo by Gwyneth Paltrow as the only female characters. And the recent allegations of Joss Whedon’s toxic work environment on his shows have cast a rain cloud over his many contributions to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He would develop the “Agents of Shield” TV series and direct the Avenger’s sequel “The Age of Ultron” before leaving the MCU altogether due to the proverbial creative differences.
MCU WORLD BUILDING:
“The Avengers” is the engine that would power the MCU shared universe. Let’s start with the “Battle of New York,” which would be referenced as the “Incident” in numerous Marvel films and TV shows, most notably in the “Hawkeye” series on Disney plus. The film’s success convinced ABC to create the “Agents of Shield” series that would run for seven seasons. Also, Maria Hill, the right-hand woman to Sgt. Fury and played wonderfully by Cobie Smulders made her debut. The ferocious Chitauri army used by Loki would be seen again in the MCU, most notably in Avengers “Infinity War” & “Endgame.” And we get the introduction of a significant MCU villain (more on that later.)
INFINITY STONE ALERT:
There are two infinity stones featured in the movie. The Tesseract, which houses the space stone, appears again after debuting in “Captain America: The First Avenger.” The Shield organization studied the blue orb for decades before Loki uses it to open a portal for the Chitauri army. A second infinity stone, the mind stone, gets introduced here. The yellow stone is inside Loki’s scepter, where it can control the mind, like Hawkeye and Dr. Selvig in the film. The stone would be removed from the scepter and placed on the Vision’s forehead in “Avengers: Age of Ultron” a few years later.
WHERE’S STAN?
This is a quick “blink, and you’ll miss it” cameo. Near the end of the film, the camera pans across various news feeds with people and multiple personalities discussing the appearance of Super-Heroes. In one of these feeds, Stan Lee turns to the camera and quips, with a heavy dose of irony, “Super Heroes! In New York! Give me a break!” It’s fast, cute, and a fun eye wink to the movie’s theme—one of the better uses of Mr. Lee.
POST CREDIT TEASER:
This was the first Marvel film with two post-credit scenes. The first appears mid-credit, then after sitting through what seems like 20 minutes of scrolling names, we get the post-credit teaser. This would become standard for future Marvel movies.
In order, they are:
- In the reaches of deep space on an asteroid, a creature known as the “Other” reports Loki’s defeat. The camera pans closer to a floating throne where a familiar purple face turns and smiles menacingly. This was the first introduction of the Mad Titan Thanos. Again, you must applaud Marvel for thinking long-term.
- The second teaser is a sweet but short one. An exhausted team of Avengers, after saving New York, sit silently eating the middle eastern dish Shawarma. This remains one of the more famous post-credit scenes among MCU fans.