*MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS*
If you haven't seen The Avengers, and want to avoid spoilers, don't read. If you have seen it, or don't mind spoilers, please read on.
So, here we are in 2012, and 5 years ago we got our teaser from the end of Iron Man with Samuel L. Jackson making his first appearance as Nick Fury, the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics Division) and the world went into a frenzy, awaiting the day that a film came under the title of Avengers.
Later that same year, Edward Norton debuted as Bruce Banner/The Hulk in the sequel/reboot to Ang Lee's Hulk, The Incredible Hulk. While an improvement over the first Hulk film, it still left much to be desired for me. What was definitely interesting was General Ross' description of the Super Soldier Program *coughCaptainAmericacough* and the adrenaline pumping fight between Hulk and Abomination.
Along came Iron Man 2 which relied heavily on setting up Tony Stark as a member of the Avengers, and introducing the character of Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow as well as S.H.I.E.L.D Agent Phil Coulson. Now, chronologically speaking, the ending of Incredible Hulk happens after Iron Man 2, with Stark becoming a cosultant and approaching Ross. For those who are unaware, a short film called "The Consultant" was made for the special features of Thor. In which, Agent Coulson and another S.H.I.E.L.D agent discuss the boards movement to include Emil Blonsky/The Abomination in on the Avengers. So, Coulson sets up Stark to talk to Ross to make sure that The Abomination would never be let out of US Army Custody. With this successfully completed, Agent Coulson heads to the New Mexico desert, where a crater containing Mjolnir has been discovered.
Thor introduced us to a world beyond our own, the Realm of Asgard. Ruled by Odin (played by Anthony Hopkins) Thor, the arrogant warrior is banished from Asgard and sent to Earth where he meets Jane Foster and Dr. Erik Selvig. Loki, Thor's adopted brother, causes havoc back on Asgard, using the sleep that Odin falls under as an excuse to be King of Asgard. He uses the Realm's gateway, the Bifrost, as a means to destroy Jotunheim, realm of the Frost Giants, where Loki is originally from. Once regaining his powers, Thor returns to Asgard to stop Loki, who lets himself fall into space, and disappears into another realm. Our post credit scene found Dr. Selvig talking to Nick Fury, who shows him the Cosmic Cube/Tesseract. A self sustaining source of power. Limitless power. While Selvig comtemplates researching it, Loki appears in a mirror beside him.
The final film to set up the Avengers, Captain America: The First Avenger. Steve Rogers, a skinny kid from Brooklyn is recruited to a Super Soldier Program headed by Howard Stark (Yes....Tony's father) and is genetically altered to a super human. Speed, strength, and even immune to alcohol. Cap's job is to stop HYDRA, an army working under Hitler and the Third Reich, and headed by Johann Schmidt/The Red Skull. Using the Tesseract (you must remember, this is WWII and long before Nick Fury got ahold of it. Schmidt takes it from a man who was safeguarding it. It was left on Earth by Odin) Schmidt powers HYDRA's weaponry to outmatch the U.S's weapons. Fortunately, Captain America saves the day. Schmidt, trying to control the power of the Tesseract, is warped into space, and his whereabouts are still unknown, and Rogers, lands a plane carrying a bomb headed for New York, in the Arctic. Captain American becomes encased in ice and preserved, and it eventually fished out along with Rogers, by Howard Stark. 70 years later, Rogers awakens in modern day New York, only to be recruited as an Avengers.
Cue Joss Whedon and 2012.
Dr. Selvig's research into the Tesseract proves fatal when it opens a portal in space, and Loki emerges. Now in control of the Chitauri army, Loki begins his assault on Earth. Realizing they're are outmatched, Fury calls in Rogers and Stark while Black Widow travels to Calcutta to track down Dr. Bruce Banner (Now played, and absolutely owned, by Mark Ruffalo) Tracking Loki down to Germany, Rogers and Stark take Loki into custody, and on the way back to base, Thor is summoned to Earth by Odin to bring Loki home. This of course, causes Stark to lose it, and the battle begins between Iron Man and Thor, and Captain America ends it. Now working as a team, they must race against time as Loki seeks to unleash his army upon Earth, and take it as his own to rule.
I personally loved this film and what it was going for. It sought to bring four of Marvel's characters into the same film without pushing one character on us (Joss Whedon, the director, did say that Steve Rogers had more of a perspective than others, but it's not forced) Each character gets his and her own screen time, and it's enough to satisfy. Interactions between Tony Stark and Bruce Banner on an intellectual level, and sizzling moment between Stark and Rogers, in terms of leadership.
The film is a great outing for all ages. Not much swearing (a few words that come and go, nothing major) and it's a terrific comic book film. It knew what it was going for, and it brought it home. This said, it definitely leaves much to look forward to with Iron Man 3, Thor 2 and Captain America 2. It's hard to tell at the moment if The Hulk will have another go at his own movie, but if so, it better be Ruffalo.
Besides, who wouldn't be excited with Thanos being revealed in the mid-credit sequence?
