I really have to credit Marvel Comics for educating me as a kid about intellectual property rights. Growing up, of course you just assumed that even though Marvel and DC were being published by different companies they could still interact (The publication of a
Marvel vs. DC comic in the mid-90s only exacerbated this childhood misconception). And, hell, sometimes Marvel could throw down with the
Street Fighter and
MegaMan characters too, right? There were two
Marvel vs. Capcom games going around at that point. As you get older, you find out legally why this doesn't really happen all that often if at all and you find out why the X-Men couldn't cross paths with Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man with the way Marvel had licensed out their properties to save themselves from bankruptcy for a pittance compared to what they're worth now. So you just kind of assumed that all these Marvel superheroes would never, ever cross paths in live action and would just have to be content with the comics for any crossovers.
When Marvel Studios announced they were building a shared universe, I was cautiously optimistic; we couldn't even get Superman to face Batman (In hindsight, be careful what you wish for there, I suppose) much less have four individual properties team up. And yet gradually, all those pieces came together on the chess board all stemming from Nick Fury breaking into Tony Stark's house to taunt him back in 2008. Four years later, all the major players were assembled and ready to launch their own joint adventure. If you still take that for granted, look at
Batman v. Superman,
Justice League, and Universal's multiple efforts to get their own shared Dark Universe off the ground. Marvel Studios understood the value of the long game instead of forcing everything together like square pegs in round holes.
Back in 2012,
The Avengers was a full-on event and every time I went to the theater to see it (all, uh, three times), the house was completely packed and everyone was blown away by seeing Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America share the screen even for the quiet moments; I still get chills all these years later thinking about it. A multi-year promise had finally culminated and that it gets all those spinning plates going puts a big smile on my face as I sit back to break it all down.
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| I never want the Battle for New York to end. |
The Avengers is about an unlikely family coming together because they're facing down something that can't take on their own and at the heart of it all is the friction between Steve Rogers and Tony Stark; the rich kid who is now working with his long-lost dad's favorite person and the hopelessly naive idealist trying to get along with the loud-mouthed cynic. That dynamic is the glue that simultaneously keeps the team together and threatens to split it apart (with the amount of times Iron Man and Captain America have fought in the comics, can we even call those two friends?). Tony is basking in the glow of a brand new skyscraper with his name emblazoned across it for all of Manhattan to see. Steve can't sleep with everything that's overwhelming him in his new world so he stays up
all night boxing so he doesn't have to think about what he's lost. Everyone else is secondary (sorry Hawkeye fans!); this contrast is everything we need to know about the team. And when Iron Man makes the sacrifice play to save New York from a nuke, you know this monumentally selfless act is done from working alongside Cap really just for a matter of hours.
Which isn't to say the rest of the cast doesn't do a good job. Mark Ruffalo is a welcome addition as a Hulk that isn't quite as tortured as his predecessors reluctantly embracing his destructive potential when absolutely needed. Hawkeye is brainwashed for the bulk of the film (Jeremy Renner was vocally annoyed about this when doing press) so he just scowls a lot which is really like most Jeremy Renner performances so cut the check. Scarlett Johansson isn't leered at left and right and center this time around which is a good change but her best performances as Black Widow aren't here. Thor is just kind of there (I do like the scene where he smiles when finally finds a worthwhile opponent in the Hulk) because his brother is fucking shit up. What doesn't get mentioned a lot is Nick Fury and the full extent of how ruthlessly manipulative he is to get the job done. Also, I'm pretty sure this movie is the big reason I enjoy shawarma.
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| If only we could get Chris Pine, the Legion of Hollywood Chrises would be complete. |
While babysitting a friend's kid and watching him play at the local playground, I saw kids pretending to be the Avengers. That wouldn't have happened before 2012; you'd be lucky if kids were pretending to be the X-Men because most of those movies aren't great. But this flick really struck a chord with people who had no idea who these characters were for the longest time. It was that moment that I realized comic books were now irrevocably mainstream; kids had read comics growing up but ditched them by middle school to fit in (myself included).
The Avengers brought it all home and shows no signs of slowing down.
