Why Marvel's The Avengers is still one of the best MCU movies ever

 

Before we begin, I would like to note that this post contains SPOILERS for

Marvel's The Avengers. If you have not seen the movie, or plan not to for the foreseeable future, DO NOT READ THIS POST! Thank you.

The year was 2012. It was early in the new year. The world was anticipating the motion picture event of the year that the Mayans predicted was when the world was going to end (ppppfth, yeah right!), and with bated breath.

This motion picture event is what the past few movies have been building up to. It all began with a movie called Iron Man back in 2008. At the time of IM1's release, many people thought it was going to be a standalone movie, a one-and-done title. But the post-credits scene showed that it was leading up to something bigger. Oh, something much bigger, that will change the course of superhero movies forever.

With each and every individual, character-focused picture, Kevin Feige connected the pieces one by one. He connected the five initial pieces together over the course of five years. Then, after the five initial pieces were locked in, there came the big event that those five pieces were all building up to.

That motion picture event of 2012 was simply, Marvel's The Avengers.

The sixth movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the final film in Phase 1, Marvel's The Avengers was written and directed by Joss Whedon, and was released in theaters on May 4, 2012. It was the highest-grossing movie of 2012, with the worldwide gross at $1,518,812,988, it is currently the 10th highest-grossing film ever, and it has a Certified Fresh 91% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and it's not hard to find out why.  

Not only did the leadup to the first superhero movie of its kind pay off in spectacular fashion, it also deserved praise for the way the movie successfully balances spectacle with heart. Whedon skillfully blends humor, character development, drama and action together, and in one enjoyable package, with solid writing.  

12 years on, Marvel's The Avengers continues to define what a first-ever live-action superhero team-up theatrical movie of its kind should be.

We start off with Loki (Tom Hiddleston) making a deal with the Other (Alexis Denisof), to seek out an artifact called The Tessaract, and exchange it so he can build an army composed of nonhuman creatures, called the Chitauri, in order to subjugate humanity and to take over Earth. He agrees, and we then see a remote S.H.I.E.L.D. facility somewhere on Earth. Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) comes in with Dr. Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgard), Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders), and Clint Barton (AKA Hawkeye) (Jeremy Renner), alongside agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg), and they are all studying the Tessaract.    

Just then, Loki comes in, and the first thing that he does is inflict mind control on both Hawkeye and Selvig, making them his puppets. The S.H.I.E.L.D. representives give chase to Loki and try to stop him, but the evil trickster god successfully escapes and sets off to take over the world while building his army by brainwashing innocent individuals. This leads Fury to kickstart the Avengers Initiave and call in some powerful heroes to stamp out Loki's nefarious plan.  

He then assembles Natasha Romanoff (Black Widow), Bruce Banner (Hulk), Steve Rogers (Captain America) and Tony Stark (Iron Man), as well as the Asgardian Thor. The storylines for each individual start off separately, before coming together with the individuals meeting on the Helicarrier, and with the eventual heroes mobilizing together for the big climax.    

Fury recruits those individuals, but assembling them together isn't easy. All of the heroes that Fury recruits for the Avengers Initiave are struggling with various internal issues. Steve is a individual who has slumbered through WWII by being encased in ice, and who has super strength. Natasha is an ex-Russian who was trained from infancy to be an assassin, and who was once a baddie. Tony Stark is a super-wealthy tech genius who is an arrogant loner. Thor is an alien demigod whose brother is wanted by officials to subjugate humanity. Bruce Banner is a scientist who has a big secret: He turns into a giant green monster known as the Hulk whenever he is pushed to his rage-breaking point. Hawkeye is an ex-assassin turned government agent who spends much of the movie being Loki's puppet.        

Marvel's The Avengers explores those six characters' internal dilemmas as their choices lead their own stories to interact with each other and unknowingly cause devastating consequences for each other, as well as the world. Iron Man, Thor and Captain America first meet up, and rather than exchange warm greetings, fight with each other. Thor tries to reason with his brother Loki, but he speedily rejects, and his brother's mischief is the reason why the worst of his heroic brother was brought out on him. Steve and Tony were still arguing with each other, unaware of why they were called to be a team. Then, the mind-controlled Hawkeye infilitrates the Helicarrier, and stage an attack on it, which causes Bruce to lose his temper and turn into the Hulk, starting his rampage, and Natasha running away in fear. Natasha confronts Hawkeye and snaps him out of his mind control. Loki uses the chaos to break free from his prison, get away from the Helicarrier, and, in the process, gets Coulson killed.  

Now, devastated by Coulson's cruel demise, it's up to the six heroes to stop the mess that they started, but not without a little help from Fury, who helps them overcome their differences and their dilemmas by giving them a push and utilizing Coulson's sad fate as a reason to assemble and to stop Loki's nasty schemes once and for all. Stark coins the team name by saying "If we can't protect the Earth, you can be sure we'll avenge it."

The moment when the Avengers themselves make peace with each other after fighting with each other for much of the film, deciding to trust each other before taking on Loki, is beautifully realized. The six individuals set aside their differences, and agree to put an end to the insane baddie's plans to endanger the planet and as the fate of humanity hangs in the balance, is immensely a cathartic moment to witness.

The six heroes all head out to New York, where the stage is set for the final battle. Loki has gotten the Tessaract ready to unleash his army onto Earth. Fury also manages to free Selvig from being Loki's puppet during the process, too. 

What makes the climax of The Avengers work is that it's not just a fireworks display of explosions and the good guys punting the forces of evil - it also showcases the heroes helping innocent people caught in the crossfire, too. They help evacuate the innocent bystanders and shield them from the invading Chitauri. It shows that the heroes are willing to rescue others from complete oblivion - not just the Earth. 

Both Hawkeye and the Hulk manage to take down Loki, but not before he keeps the portal open. A missile is sent to destroy the aliens, but Tony Stark, readying himself, grabs the missile and flies it into the portal, where he manages to make it out before it closes up completely and blows up the portal, thus stopping the alien invasion. Loki's efforts, because of the Avengers, failed, as the Tessaract is retrieved and he is sent back to Asgard to pay for his crimes.    

With the day won and the world saved, the Avengers are celebrated by the civilians of New York, but others see them as a threat and blame them for the extensive damage that they have caused to New York, when it was really Loki who caused the conflict.

The Avengers themselves triumphed over Loki because they began to trust each other. And once they trusted each other, they developed a plan. This plan is what helped them to save Earth from getting decimated and triumph over Loki. They developed a plan in conjunction with Nick Fury, who was the one who helped them out. Whereas Coulson was the one who was close to nearly every member of the team, Fury was the one who successfully brought the team together, and motivated the six individuals to band together and win the day.

After saving New York and being praised with accolades, The Avengers, now good friends who depend on each other, go their separate ways, but not before enjoying a good meal together by eating at a Shawarma joint. Meanwhile, the Other, displeased with the failed attack on Earth, and Loki's humiliating defeat, consults to the overall Big Bad of the movie, and for the rest of the MCU's first three phases to come, who reveals himself as...Thanos.

Marvel's The Avengers is about six very different individuals who are brought together to confront a threat that was not only affecting them and their loved ones, but also affecting everyone all around the world - be it a human or a non-human. These six individuals had to get over their internal hurdles and only by finding an enemy to bring down and a greater goal to work towards, is what ultimately brings the six together, allowing them to develop a plan and win the day. By working together to avert the threat and save humanity from being subjugated by Loki and his army, the Avengers were able to become different, better individuals, and be good companions.

After all these years since its release in theaters, Marvel's The Avengers still holds up because it was the payoff of a buildup that began with five smaller-scale, character-focused solo movies that came before it. It still holds up because of how well-written it is. Its success gave Marvel Studios more confidence to expand their Cinematic Universe, introducing new characters into the fold and making even normal people care about them.  

It not only paved the way for sequels to their established characters, but also introduced new characters like Ant-Man, Black Panther, and even Doctor Strange into the fold, as well as a team of intergalactic misfits who are the space-faring counterpart to The Avengers (I'll get to them in a future blog post). Not to mention, three more Avengers movies that would since top the original in terms of box office grosses. And a 2-parter that concludes the first story arc of the MCU with a bang and a high note.  

It also solidified the MCU as a movie franchise centered on essentially making big-budget PG-13-rated kids' flicks aimed at all four quadrants - the over and under 25s, and males and females. It was the first-ever MCU film to not be distributed solely by Paramount, but by Disney - who purchased Marvel back in 2009 and would go on to distribute all other MCU films moving forward. It solidified the MCU's place in pop culture. 

Marvel's The Avengers was a big event when it was released back in 2012, but today, it is seen as a stepping stone to the 2-part conclusion of the Infinity Saga: Infinity War and Endgame - both of which surpassed the original in box office gains. 

It also kickstarted the trend of nearly each and every other studio to start their own cinematic universes in an attempt to replicate the MCU's success - but many of them failing - even canned after only single entries because they failed to realize what made Marvel work.

Marvel's The Avengers is one of those movies that cannot be embraced to the fullest just by reading about it or watching clips of it on YT - you have to watch the entire film to fully embrace the work. When you read about it or only watch clips of it, you're missing out on the complete experience. 

Humor, heart, spectacle, and high-flying action are all of the ingredients why Marvel's The Avengers succeeded with critics and audiences upon being released in 2012, and why it still holds up even after a decade of its theatrical release. It was a box office juggernaut in 2012, and it raised the bar for the superhero genre of movies and the MCU moving forward. It is still an immensely rewatchable MCU film for many, and for some people, it can even be embraced just by watching it once. It's a fun, action-packed movie that emphasizes a solid story and teaches lessons about the powers of trust, togetherness, teamwork and friendship combined. It teaches that when individuals trust each other and work together as one, they are stronger together. It teaches viewers of almost any age - from 5 to 100-plus - that it is better to work together as one team than on their own. 

Marvel's The Avengers is still one of the best-ever MCU films and the best phase 1 film (arguably!), and it still holds up, twelve years after its release, and is still a classic.