In one of the most anticipated movies of the decade, six different heroes will come together on the big screen to form The Avengers. The movie hits theaters on May 4 and is sure to become one of the most memorable movies for the comic book fanatics.
The Avengers is a cultivation of five different movies over the last four years with each one of them introducing a new character or characters. Each movie featured a post-credits scene that gave the audience a sneak peek of the next movie, until a trailer for The Avengers was finally shown after the credits of Captain America.
The journey toward The Avengers began in 2008, when actor Robert Downey Jr. climbed his way back into the spotlight by playing Tony Stark in Iron Man. The film earned a little under $600 million and captivated audiences with its high-flying action scenes as well as Downey’s sarcastic humor.
Marvel continued to introduce new characters in the next four films, including revamping The Hulk which became a box office disaster back in 2003, and finally ended in 2011 when Captain America: The First Avenger was released.
The films accumulated a whopping 2.3 billion dollars at the box office and that number will only continue to climb with the release of The Avengers. However, although the film appears destined for success, The Avengers faces a long list of questions.
The first question is about the film’s director, Joss Whedon, whose only directing experience is from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Firefly. His resume doesn’t really strike a lot of confidence in audience members even though Whedon is a self-proclaimed comic book nerd.
Another question revolves around actor Mark Ruffalo, the third “Hulk” since Lou Ferrigno. Ruffalo will become the new Hulk after Edward Norton, who played the role in The Incredible Hulk, didn’t get recast due to contract reasons . However, audiences may not like the character change and prefer Norton who did a phenomenal job as the Hulk in 2008.
Perhaps the largest mountain The Avengers will need to climb is continued character development. Between Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, Loki, The Hulk, Nick Fury, The Black Widow, and Hawkeye, Whedon will have his work cut out for him when it comes to revitalizing characters.
Luckily, The Avengers features an experience and star-studded cast with Robert Downey Jr., Samuel L. Jackson, Chris Evans, Jeremy Renner, Scarlett Johansson, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Clark Gregg. The cast, along with high-flying action sequences, which should feature some of the most epic battle scenes in comic book history, will propel this film to box office glory.
