With
Avengers Edamame finally getting the spoiler curtain dropped I figured now was the time to bring up a question. What made
the Avengers the smash hit of the 2010's? At the end of the day what makes
the Avengers stand out compared to
Justice League, the Raimi
Spider Man films, and Fox's efforts (sans
Deadpool)? A lot of people have dug into a lot things;
Age of Ultron's fantastic afterparty, "I'm Always Angry," the alterations to Thanos, Tom Holland's Amazing Spider Man (pun intended), RDJ's Tony Stark. But for me the answer is not exactly mine, it's actually my father's answer when we got out of the theater after seeing
Iron Man.
I was exactly 12 when I saw
Iron Man, I know that because I'm pretty sure my Dad took me and my brother to see it for my Birthday as my birthday was a few weeks after Iron Man came out. I thought it was great, it got me interested in Iron Man pretty well, but I can't remember why, I just remember reading up a lot on Iron Man's Wikipedia page after seeing the film. But one thing I remember is that on our way home my Dad told me about one scene that stuck out to him as the best scene, the first scene. It's when Tony Stark is dicking about with some soldiers before getting royally blown up by the Ten Rings.
My Dad liked how vulnerable and human Tony and the soldiers were in that moment, how casual they were. And in my opinion, whether he knew it or not, my Dad had just summed up the next 11 years of comic book movies. We see it pop up everywhere; in a later Iron Man scene Tony admits that he shouldn't be alive unless it was for a reason. We first meet Captain America as a bullied weak man who wants to do what's right and watch him change into a man out of time who lost everything. Falcon as a man who is trying to adjust to coming home from war and how that makes him and Cap kindred spirits. Black Widow as a woman trying to overcome her dark past and trying to be a better person. Ant-Man trying to see his daughter again and adjust to a post-prison life. Yondu admitting that he knows about Rocket's flaws because those same flaw's that destroyed Yondu. Hell, the Guardians of the Galaxy being able to bond and come together the way they do is what makes them memorable.
And what happens when the character is unsympathetic, too invincible, and seemingly flawless? (Outside of Kirito) Thor is what happens. I don't know about you but for me
Thor's 1 and 2 are boring films starring a character who isn't in real danger because he's the Norse God of thunder. His only personality is that he's an arrogant shithead who needs to be knocked down to just being cocky. And what happens after that?
Thor: The Dark World, the worst marvel movie (admittidley still decent) the only good part is what happens with Loki and his response to his mother's death. The rest of the movie sucks and it's because I could not relate to Thor or whoever Natalie Portman was playing (why does she get the worst action roles?) Don't get me wrong, he's decent on a team like the Avengers but just doesn't get much and frankly I don't blame Hemsworth; he's clearly worthy, it's just the George Lucas effect of directing, script, and all around story dragging him down.
And then Takka Watti takes over for the third movie,
Ragnarok, and suddenly Thor is just on fire throughout the whole movie. He's still his cocky self but it's juxtaposed with how much his shit get's kicked in and how thoroughly humbled he is and that is actually pretty funny. Plus he's suddenly very sympathizable, trying to hold himself together while his entire world literally comes apart. And then again in during
Infinity War when his shit gets even more wrecked and is essentially the cause of the greatest failure of the Avengers. By the time
Endgame (SPOILERS TILL END OF PARAGRAPH) rolls around and we get that 5 year time jump, it makes sense that Thor has become a washed up and fat deadbeat. So you sympathize with him when he tries to get his groove back throughout the movie and seeks solace in his mother (time travel eh?).
But that's what I feel makes the Marvel Cinematic Universe work, humanity. You can be comic accurate all you want but if you lack the soul and humanity to make these characters vulnerable and sympathetic you wind up with just about everything before Fox's
X-Men films. Namely the 1970's
Spider-Man tv series, the only show that as far as I know Stan Lee ever shit talked and the 1990
Captain America movie, a film so bad it took another 21 years to make another Cap film. And given the head of Marvel's movie division claim that big events like
Infinity War are done for now it seems like that will continue for the future. Just never lose sight of where you started, four folks in a humvee dicking around in the desert.
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