The Avengers Preview

April 2, 2012
By J.D. Cook

Release Date: May the 4th (Be with You) 2012

This movie looks like the culmination of four years of work! Oh wait, IT IS! With the success of Iron Man in 2008, the road was paved for this film. Marvel Studios has handled this whole cross universe experiment brilliantly. They have never ventured too far from their blockbuster formula while injecting a good amount of humanity and fun into each film. The film that had the biggest potential to flop was 2011’s Thor, but it actually became one of my favorites. Now The Avengers is looming like some giant mountain in the distance that we never thought we’d reach only to discover that we have arrived at its foot.

The man behind this flick is Joss Whedon. Any self respecting nerd knows him and adores him as his track record for all things super is well, super. He started on the lauded Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which I didn’t really get into but has a huge fan following. Where I first encountered him was during his stint as the writer for The Astonishing X-Men. Up to this point in my life I can honestly say I have never been so attached to a run of comic books. Whedon’s work on The Astonishing X-Men was truly fantastic and once his run ended I literally stopped reading the series because it just would not have been the same and from what I’ve seen the quality has diminished a great deal. After this I went back and investigated his short lived Sci-Fi series Firefly and then the film about the show Serenity. Both proved outstanding. Whedon’s talent lies in dealing with ensemble casts and strangely the crew of the Serenity and the X-men during Whedon’s run are very similar in all the best ways. So it is a natural progression for Whedon to go from those two stories to the Avengers; the ultimate ensemble cast film.

Now the cast is excellent. I still feel a bit bummed that Norton didn’t join the crew only because it would have totally upheld continuity in what fans call the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but I’ve met Mark Ruffalo personally and he is an awesome guy who really looks like the first post-Lou Ferrigno Hulk that will stick. The rest of the cast proved their talents in their various stand alone films and I can’t wait to see them interact with each other.

Now onto some speculations about the plot! There has been a huge amount of internet gossip about who the villains for The Avengers film will be. Various fans have hypothesized every villain from the Skrulls to the Kree. My personal belief has shifted to this. I think Loki (the films main antagonist) will gain control of the Cosmic Cube (which was detailed fully in last summer’s Captain America) and then use it to conjure up his own personal army. These foot soldiers may be Frost Giants since the Frost Giant’s King Laufey died in Thor and Loki is technically the heir to that throne. I do not think Whedon would introduce a totally unfamiliar villain to battle the Avengers because it would waste valuable screen time that needs to be used setting up the Avengers themselves.

As for the rest of the film it seems pretty clear the Avengers will team up after a few mishaps; I’m looking at you Hulk and Iron Man. My only hope is that Marvel leaves us with a hint as to the villain of a future Avengers film with a post credits scene. My advices is to definatelty get exicted for this one and go see it! It has the Big Blue Bullfrog stamp of approval for a summer movie you should check out!

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