Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION The Anywhere Machine The official Avengers movie thread - SPOILERS

I wont say who bought the big one, but I do have to wonder if it was a LMD, since they carefully mentioned it in the movie for no apparent reason.

Re-introducing Hank and Jan for the modern day, I'd at least borrow from Ultimate Jan, that she's got powers innately, not merely as a result of being tinkered on by Hank. (I'm not sure if they can use the word 'mutant,' because of Fox owning the X-Men movie rights, 'though.)

Jan's father could end up hiring grad-student-from-hell Pym to come up with a solution for his daughters tendency to zap people she touches (more elegant than wearing a rubber suit). Pym, having just finished PHDs in entomology, computer networking and particle physics, is intrigued by the offer of having his student loans paid off and Janet's unique condition. And so they meet, and being Pym, his 'cure' involves Pym particles (allowing her to shunt excess energy to wherever the excess mass goes when they shrink), tying their 'origins' together.

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I think the coolest thing about Ruffalo's Banner is that he was more like the Bill Bixby Banner, a bit jaded with his situation, while the movie Banners have been a bit closer to their origin, and been much less in ownership of their 'condition.' (Son, you got a condition...) I would *not* have liked Banner being portrayed as meek or easily cowed or afraid of 'the Other Guy,' and this interpretation of Banner was neat in that he seemed very aware of how close he was to being a 'person of mass destruction.' Even in the room with Thor, Captain America, Iron Man and surrounded by SHIELD agents, Banner never looked intimidated, and even came across as intimidating, himself.

I like that Whedon used as many characters as he did. Pepper Potts wasn't needed in this movie, and yet her presence was a welcome sight.

I read an interview with the director after Captain America, and he mentioned that the script called for Cap to crack some jokes, but that Chris Evans objected, saying that they were out of character, and that somebody else should crack the jokes while Cap stayed 'the straight man.' When I initially heard how funny this movie was going to be, I was afraid that Cap would be out of character, to 'fit in' with a more Iron Man level of quippyness. (Joss is known for his characters witty banter, after all!) I was happy to see that this was not the case. Cap remained pretty serious, and I'm glad that the 'most be funny because it worked in Iron Man!' mandate didn't get spread out to mangle the characterization of everyone else.

Just got back with the family from seeing this.

Joss Whedon did a great job with this.

Thor coming back to Earth was touched on in an almost throwaway line from Loki.

Mark Ruffalo was brilliant as Banner. Just the right amounts of everything to make his 'revelation' believable. The Hulk was unbelievably fun in this movie. I do really hope they give him a chance at a solo shot with some real villains to smash. A re-imagined U-Foes could be fun...Maybe a Wrecking Crew.

The rest of the cast was great. RDJ continues to chew through any scene that he is in. I really cannot ever see another actor taking over for him eventually.

Like the reveal in the credits as to who was pulling the strings.

Loved the final scene as well. Too funny. Glad they decided to include it.

Re: Hank & Jan, there was a scene I had planned for my now-discounted "Stern-verse" Avengers stories where a super-powerful villain has Hawkeye cornered, and Hank as Giant-Man sneaks up behind the villain and does essentially what you-know-who did to you-know-who-else in one of the most memorable scenes of the Avengers movie (the scene Set referred to earlier in this thread as the gorilla and the luggage scene.)

I think Dane should be introduced as a SHIELD Agent (ala Widow and Hawkeye). Master of all things knife and sword related.

I'd rather see Dane with an origin more faithful to his comics one. He could still work for SHIELD, but as a timid scientist turned reluctant swashbuckler.

I finally saw it last night, and I loved it. My favorite line was Thor's sheepish, "He's adopted."

Only disappointment: I expected that the serpentine thing that was shown in the trailer would be the Midgard Serpent. Turned out it was just one of the alien invader ships.

I skipped the trailers, so I was taken completely by surprise by the serpent-ships. Weirdly enough, they reminded me of Marrina's true form from the opening issues of the Walt Simonson run of the Avengers comic -- an impressive visual to be sure, thanks to John Buscema, but far from one of the high points of nearly 50 years of Avengers mythos.

Eh, probably just a coincidence.

I actually thought the ships were more fish-y than serpent-y! They were a very cool visual!

They do have fish heads, that's true...

<span class="spoiler_containter"><span class="spoiler_wording">Click Here For A Spoiler</span><span class="spoiler_text">Fish heads, fish heads, roly poly fish heads
Fish heads, fish heads, eat 'em up, yum</span></span>

I do have a complaint about the Avengers movie. Chris Evans was not shirtless in it. I feel ripped off.

Yes, in the movie they were definitely fish-like. Iron Man even made a "Jonah" reference. But you couldn't tell that from the trailer.

An acquaintance e-mailed something interesting to me. But don't open the spoiler box unless you've seen the movie.

<span class="spoiler_containter"><span class="spoiler_wording">Click Here For A Spoiler</span><span class="spoiler_text">Someone wrote in with this comment on Tom Brevoort's Blog:
Joss Whedon has actually, in the last few days, mentioned... "For me, the greatest Avengers was the Avengers Annual that Jim Starlin did."</span></span>

Interesting...veddy interesting.

I know I'm late to the party but how cool were Hawkeye and Black Widow!

I thought those big ships were really cool too.

Hiddleston was a great Loki, he almost has me rooting for him (like I was in Thor)

I didn't get to see the second scene! I left when the lights came up ...

It's never too late to join THIS party!!

I'm delighted that all the Scarlett haters have been left eating crow.

Marvel: Six hero's to equal one DC hero!

Oh, Mr. Whedon, I'll do anything to get a role in the sequel...anything...

Do you plan on seeing the movie again or do you want it spoiled?

Wasn't the dialogue in that second ending scene brilliant?

Yeppers. Could not have been worded any better.

I'm just now catching up with the thread since I saw the movie today, so if my comments overlap with others, I'll edit my posts as I go along.

A few other deaths I noticed:

<span class="spoiler_containter"><span class="spoiler_wording">Click Here For A Spoiler</span><span class="spoiler_text">Hawkeye kills at least two guards while under Loki's control, and one of Loki's soldiers falls out of the helli-carrier while fighting Cap. Also, it wasn't clear to me if the guy whose eye gets plucked out dies or not.</span></span>

While watching these scenes, the thought occurred to me that modern audiences are probably more sophisticated than they were when I was reading Avengers stories as a kid (and well into adulthood). Most kids these days probably realize people die in armed conflict, and heroes don't always have time to spare the lives of their enemies.

In fact, that's probably also a concession of translating the book to film. Super-hero tropes such as "heroes don't kill" would probably throw most viewers out of the story.

Although it's not shown, and the newscast at the end makes no mention of this, a lot of civilians had to die when all the carnage happened in Manhattan.

100 percent agreed. Ruffalo has emerged as my favorite portayer or Hulk/Banner, even eclipsing Bill Bixby.

Ruffalo was an inspired casting choice. He comes across as a middle-aged, frumpy scientist, not a Hollywood-handsome hero, as Banner is usually protrayed. Physically, he seems out of place with Downey, Evans, and the rest, but personality wise, he stole the show. He was utterly credible as a guy who is trying not to lose control in a situation where he and everyone else should be tense all the time.

The Hulk has never been one of my favorite characters, and yet, my favorite scene in the whole move . . .

<span class="spoiler_containter"><span class="spoiler_wording">Click Here For A Spoiler</span><span class="spoiler_text">. . . was Hulk bashing the floor with Loki! </span></span>

It's the kind of thing we all feel like doing to someone at some point, and it reminds me why Hulk is so popular: He lets readers vicariously vent their rage.

Also agreed. Johansson really pulled off the fake damsel in distress bit in her scene with Loki.


Yeah. The one issue I have with casting is that Hiddleston came over as a more convincing god than Hemsworth did. Loki is just delicious: spoiled, egotistical, a prince of the realm in every sense. Everything from his accent to his smile reeked of superiority. Thor not so much. (And yes, Thor is a good guy, but he was too humble, and his accent seemed forced.)

I agree with your other casting comments, too.