Avengers and beyond

Yesterday was the day that I had been waiting for almost 2 years when first word was waved round the campfire about the release of 'Avengers'. Marvel hasn't really done wonders in terms of being adapted to movies. Fantastic Four was a bloop while Captain America and Thor almost hurt the sentiments of comic book fans. So when 5 years ago Marvel Studio got the grant from Merrill Lynch, the buzz surrounding the event was obvious. Its true that Batman Begins and The Dark Knight took comic book movies to another echelon and Avengers comes nowhere close in explaining the philosophies imparted by Batman movies. And with the Dark Knight Rises looming large over the corner, it was a strategic move as well to launch Avengers, just in time.

So who are the avengers and whats does a superhero team do if its not the highly coveted Justice League. As popularized by Marvel as the earth's mightiest super heroes, the avengers are pretty close to the mightiest. Superman might be the face of popular comics and will always remain so but a demigod like Thor is certain to raise some eyebrows. Captain America is a super soldier who fought against Hitler in the WW2. Iron Man needs no introduction as it might be the most successful Marvel movie yet. While all this is happening, the new Spider Man movie is also making progress and going to hit the cinema soon. Nick Fury (played by Samuel L Jackson) is the key figure who decides to bring together a team of super heroes who can in times of trouble, can united and save the world over and over again. 

Like every other thing that Marvel Comic created, Avengers were also created by who else but Stan Lee

    Hey Kids, remember my face and name. I am the father of Spider Man, the Hulk, Iron Man, Thor and Fantastic Four.

The Avengers originally consisted of Iron Man (Tony Stark), Ant-Man (Dr. Henry Pym), Wasp (Janet Van Dyne), Thor, and the Hulk (Bruce Banner),  for those who are not aware of who Ant-Man and Wasp are, please refer Wikipedia. And Captain America was nowhere in picture and he joined the group when they revived him from the iceberg he was trapped in. 

From the moment Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) teases in the closing minutes of The Incredible Hulk by saying - What if I told you we were putting together a team?, the comic book fans were on their feet. Finally Marvel people were trying to make sense. Another scene that followed the ending of Iron Man introduced the powerful character of Nick Fury, who will be instrumental in bringing together these superheroes together. So anticipation was reaching its peak and then Marvel came up with the first trailer of this epic (not as a movie but as a concept of Marvel Universe)

This compilation is pretty self explanatory in all aspects about the road leading to the Avengers

The war has started and we are hopelessly outgunned

The movie has Loki waging war on humanity and trying to make them slaves (nothing new), and Nick Fury assembling the Avengers to combat him. Pretty ordinary storyline, some classic special effects and good over evil thingy yet again. So why the hush? and why is it different from any other Marvel Movie (I can hear some Batman fans shouting, bring me TDKR). So PEOPLE, the answer lies in small details and subtle dialogues. Anyone who has seen the movie must have realized the dominance of Iron Man's character in initial stages but as the movie grows, Captain America slowly takes the mantle of being the face of the Avengers. And this is the way its going to be forever, Captain will always be in command and others will just follow suit. the movie has these critical instances revealing that Tony Stark doesnt trust Shield, Cap doesnt trust Stark, Banner doesnt want to be a part of this act and others are just irrelevant.

As Bruce rightly mentions - we are not a team, we are time bombs. The reference is clear. None of these heroes are compatible with each other, they dont even want to be near each other, but its just about the greater good that compels them. And this is just the beginning, if the rumors at IGN are to be believed, Marvel people plan to make Marvel Civil War into a movie series too. Perhaps thats why introducing Avengers was even paramount.  

Finally this is what it will all lead to. Cap vs iron Man. Spider Man vs Fantastic 4. It all has to boil down to this. And add immoderate dosage of Punisher, the Hulk, Thor, Daredevil and Hercules.

But I am kind of getting ahead of myself right now. For the time being do some background research before watching Avengers to extract the maximum beauty out of this movie. And enjoy the ride when Loki ties to get angry at Hulk by telling him that he is a God and deserves respect. The Hulk retorts by giving 5 dhobi pachhads to the almighty Loki.