3. The Avengers

Release Date: May 4, 2012

Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Jeremy Renner, Scarlett Johansson, Samuel L. Jackson, Colbie Smulders, Stellan Skarsgaard, Tom Hiddleston.

Director: Joss Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

First Time I Saw It: Opening weekend. This had a bigger build than Rock vs. Hogan. Some movies you can wait a week and avoid the opening weekend insanity. This was one of the those movies where you could not do that. Risk a spoiler through social media? Hearing other people talk about it? No way. It had to be seen opening weekend, I could not wait. Patience, was not welcome here.

Importance in the Marvel Universe: This was not only the culmination of the series of individual films leading to Avengers, but the first time in a long time where any film could unite a cast like this and keep every character relevant. This also proved how superhero team films can work if built correctly. Marvel laid down the foundation for a big plan, and this proved it worked. As for the Marvel Universe, we have seen unexpected cameos, introduction of top-tier supporting characters, the Marvel Universe is a big place, there has to be room to play.

Why I Love It: it meshed everything a movie should have. Serious tone, yet room for sarcasm and comedy. We did not need character development for six people, it was done in the prior films. This unified everything great. Seeing an A-List of Marvel superheroes and how they would interact in a real-world setting? Fantastic. Making comic-book fantasy into a “What-If” reality? Perfect.

Best Moment: Hulk slamming Loki over and over and over again before muttering “Puny God.” Hulk had such a bad run with poorly developed solo films, but Mark Ruffalo and the creative mind behind Avengers gave Hulk his spotlight. –Michael Dworkis

[php] wp_link_pages(array(‘before’=>’

‘)); [/php]

============================================================================================================================================