Samuel L. Jackson’s brief cameo at the end of Iron Man in 2008 forever changed the possibilities for superhero films. No longer did every franchise have to be a distinct entity – multiple movies could now take place in the same fictional universe, and the collective imagination of fans everywhere exploded at the potential for a massive crossover event bringing everyone together in one film.

With The Avengers, Marvel has achieved a seemingly impossible task: not only did they spend years building the foundation that supports this film by bringing together A-list stars from different franchises, but they managed to turn a project that could have collapsed under the pressure of its own ambition into one of the most crowd-pleasing superhero movies ever created.

Look no further than the 2002 series “Firefly” and its spinoff film Serenity for proof that Joss Whedon was the perfect choice to corral all of these monumental heroes into one storyline. Whedon is one of the best writers in the business, and he really excels at crafting meaningful relationships among ensemble casts and writing strong female characters, two things that were a requirement for a successful film adaptation of The Avengers. He was helped here by a terrific stable of actors, veterans of the industry who understand one of Marvel’s greatest strengths in these properties: the ability to keep the story critical to the film but allow enough humor that it won’t suffocate under its own seriousness.

The character work in The Avengers is fantastic, especially considering this particular team-up is jam-packed with characters that have already had entire films devoted to their singular adventures. Whedon gives each of them multiple moments to shine, and everything that we loved about them in previous films is on display here (and oftentimes it’s even improved). Even in scenes near the beginning of the film that contain massive amounts of setup and exposition, he manages to insert little “Whedonisms” to lighten the mood; there’s a gag with a $10 bet between Captain America and Nick Fury that’s a really small moment overall, but it brings a lot of humor to a sequence where people are just sitting around spouting information. Tony Stark has never been wittier, and Mark Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner actually has a personality outside of sulking in corners and fighting the beast inside him. (The Hulk is funny this time, too!) Natasha Romanoff is far better drawn than she was in the disastrous Iron Man 2, so ScarJo fans can rest easy.

The action sequences are spectacular and choreographed so that we know where our heroes are at all times. (That in itself is a pretty incredible feat because the sheer scope of this movie is so huge.) The climax is breathtakingly constructed, mixing spectacle and destruction with legitimate character moments and not letting the (admittedly awesome) visual effects take over the movie. There are memorable setpieces spaced throughout the movie, resulting in easily the most entertaining Marvel film so far.

Because there is so much ground to cover, I did feel a little like Loki’s villainous intentions were a bit unclear. He’s working with some sort of alien race, but we don’t ever find out why the destruction of Earth is so paramount to their greater mission. Also, how did Thor even arrive on Earth for this movie? At the end of Thor, they establish that the bifrost has been destroyed. I understand how things wrap up at the end of The Avengers, with the Tesseract from Captain America playing a key role in the travel element, but there was so much happening that they didn’t have time to get into the hows and whys of things like that. Granted, I’m not sure that I would have wanted them to if it meant cutting out anything from what we see in the final film; it’s easy to see how Whedon’s first cut was over three hours long, and I’d love to see that movie in its entirety at some point if it ever gets released.

But ultimately, the few tiny gripes I have are cancelled out by the sheer geeky thrills in this movie. Marvel is the new Babe Ruth: they called their shot, and freaking blasted it out of the park. At long last, The Avengers finally came together on screen and, thanks to the only man who could have made it succeed, it surpassed all the hype. I probably don’t need to tell you that this film deserves to be seen on the big screen to get the full impact, but I guess I just did (and you can skip the 3D – it’s passable, but not great). The Avengers is everything I wanted it to be and more, and I sincerely hope that a few years from now I’ll be writing about The Avengers 2 written and directed by Joss Whedon. But until then, we can thank him for giving audiences the most fun movie of 2012. Until next time…

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Joss Whedon’s The Avengers is unquestionably one of the most highly anticipated movies of 2012, and it might even have a legitimate shot at being one of the most anticipated films of all time. The way this movie came together is unprecedented, and now Marvel has teamed with Norton (not Edward, the antivirus company) to trace the origins of this superhero team-up film, featuring quick interviews with all of the major stars and even Whedon himself.

Here’s the official synopsis:

Marvel Studios presents in association with Paramount Pictures “Marvel’s The Avengers”–the Super Hero team up of a lifetime, featuring iconic Marvel Super Heroes Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America, Hawkeye and Black Widow. When an unexpected enemy emerges that threatens global safety and security, Nick Fury, Director of the international peacekeeping agency known as S.H.I.E.L.D., finds himself in need of a team to pull the world back from the brink of disaster. Spanning the globe, a daring recruitment effort begins. Starring Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner and Samuel L. Jackson, and directed by Joss Whedon, “Marvel’s The Avengers” is based on the ever-popular Marvel comic book series “The Avengers,” first published in 1963 and a comics institution ever since. Prepare yourself for an exciting event movie, packed with action and spectacular special effects, when “Marvel’s The Avengers” assemble in summer 2012. In “Marvel’s The Avengers,” superheroes team up to pull the world back from the brink of disaster when an unexpected enemy threatens global security.

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Earlier this month a German trailer for The Avengers hit the web and gave us some new snippets of footage. Now a Russian trailer has been released which is a mix of both the German and US trailers, but contains more shots Loki, the villain of the film once again played by Tom Hiddleston.

Watch below:

The Avengers, directed by Joss Whedon, will star Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man), Mark Ruffalo (The Hulk), Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow), Samuel L. Jackson (Nick Fury), Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Chris Evans (Captain America), Clark Gregg (Agent Coulson), Jeremy Renner (Hawkeye) and will be released May 4th, 2012.

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The German arm of Marvel has released a new trailer for Joss Whedon’s The Avengers. It’s similar to the teaser trailer we got earlier this year, but contains new footage of Black Widow and Bruce Banner meeting and a few new action shots. Those who don’t speak German probably won’t be able to understand it, but it’s still worth a watch.

From De.Marvel (via CBM):

The Avengers, directed by Joss Whedon, will star Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man), Mark Ruffalo (The Hulk), Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow), Samuel L. Jackson (Nick Fury), Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Chris Evans (Captain America), Clark Gregg (Agent Coulson), Jeremy Renner (Hawkeye) and will be released May 4th, 2012.

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When Marvel re-hired Captain America: The First Avenger screenwriters Stephen McFeely and Christopher Markus to start on a sequel 5 months before the movie was released one could have gotten the impression the company were eager to get the ball rolling again. However, in a recent interview Chris Evans says Marvel may hold off until 2014 to release Captain America 2 so as not to over-crowd the market.

From The Playlist:

“They may wait until 2014 until they release the next Cap. Marvel has a lot of balls in the air, they aren’t going to cannibalize their films.” And it could be very expensive for Marvel if Cap shows up in a non-Cap movie. “Out of those six films, if I pop up in one of those [other films], it counts as part of the deal. So if they needed me in a third Cap, and I say, ‘F*** you, give me $30 million,’ well…they want to avoid that.”

Marvel’s superheroes have been present during the summers of 2010 and 2011, and will be there again in 2012 with The Avengers and 2013 with Iron Man 3 and Thor 2. While I don’t think audiences will get bored of them (they’ve all been good movies so far) it’s best to spread them out.

Is Captain America 2 in 2014 a good target, or would you prefer to see the sequel earlier?

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Heading into Captain America, one question was at the forefront of my mind: could director Joe Johnston recapture the tone of his 1991 cult classic The Rocketeer and translate that into a superhero movie for today’s audience? Thankfully, the answer is yes. This movie probably isn’t going to be any Marvel fanboy’s favorite, but it has enough action and humor to make it one of the fledgling studio’s better efforts of the past couple years.

The newest in Marvel’s ambitious multi-film build-up to The Avengers, Captain America shows yet another side to the studio’s versatile approach to creating one consistent universe; while Thor delved into an entirely different world, Captain America takes place in a different time, making it Marvel’s first true period piece. Johnston, a protégé of Steven Spielberg and a former Acadby Award-winning effects artist (responsible for designing Boba Fett’s armor and the AT-AT units in Star Wars, among many other things), really starts to relish the look and feel of the 1940s in this movie. In a recent interview, Johnston revealed that he had two offices during the making of the film and one of thb was in the art department so he could supervise the design and creation of the world; clearly, that aspect of production remains close to his heart. His team pulled off a really cool look here, a stylized vibe that reminds me more of a propaganda poster than what that actual time truly looked like.

After an interesting casting battle that featured “The Office” star John Krasinski and TRON: Legacy‘s Garret Hedlund, actor Chris Evans – who notably already played a superhero in Marvel’s Fantastic Four series – accepted the role and did an admirable job with a pretty decent script. Once the scrawny Steve Rogers (a great bit of CGI trickery) becomes the jacked Captain America, the audience’s ability to relate to the character dissolves a bit. It’s tough to pull for a guy who’s seemingly invincible; even Superman has Kryptonite, but there’s never any real danger for Cap. He and his boys go around the world kicking ass, and it’s cool and everything, but I wish there would have been a little more importance attached to his missions.

Hugo Weaving as the villainous Red Skull was inspired casting, but he’s essentially wasted on a character that never shows the true evil of which he’s surely capable. He’s gotta have that Darth Vader moment where he completely destroys something on a massive scale for the audience to really fear him, but unfortunately the character is never allowed that moment. The makeup is great, and Weaving was solid, but the character himself didn’t really do much.

One of the reasons I liked Thor was because of how well the writers integrated the S.H.I.E.L.D./Avengers setup stuff, making it organic to the story instead of forcing it in (like Iron Man 2). Since Captain America is a period piece, it’s a little easier for them to deal with; the story revolves around the cosmic cube (referenced in Thor and surely an important part of the upcoming Avengers), and they incorporate Howard Stark’s involvement into the story, filling out that character and allowing for some fun moments for Dominic Cooper to chew some scenery as, essentially, an older version of Robert Downey, Jr.’s Tony. The rest of the supporting cast is serviceable, too. Names like Tommy Lee Jones and Stanley Tucci rarely disappoint, and more minor players like Neal McDonough (fantastic in “Band of Brothers”) and Sebastian Stan (entertaining in Hot Tub Time Machine, totally forgettable in the otherwise-brilliant Black Swan) also did some good work. (Though their parts are woefully underwritten.) Hayley Atwell (Cassandra’s Dream) takes center stage as Cap’s love interest, Agent Peggy Carter. Her character isn’t given much to do, but Atwell brings enough moxie to the part that I’m interested in seeing her again soon.

Like most of the other Marvel films, this one begins in media res and returns to the present time by the end. Aside from not detailing how exactly Cap is able to “sleep for almost 70 years” – and honestly, it doesn’t matter – I thought all of the storylines were nicely wrapped up and, without trying too hard, Captain America ended up being a pretty fun stepping stone towards next summer’s ultimate team-up flick. Until next time…

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This weekend it’s all about Harry Potter, but next weekend sees the release of Captain America: The First Avenger (in the US, anyway) and Marvel have released two new clips which showcase some shield wielding action.

The first clip features Steve Rogers coming across his future shield, and in the second clip we see him putting it into good use.

Captain America: The First Avenger will focus on the early days of the Marvel Universe when Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) volunteers to participate in an experimental program that turns him into the Super Soldier known as Captain America. As Captain America, Rogers joins forces with Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) and Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) to wage war on the evil HYDRA organization, led by the villainous Red Skull (Hugo Weaving).

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ComingSoon got their hands on the new international poster for Captain America: The First Avenger which features Chris Evans, Tommy Lee Jones, Hugo Weaving, Hayley Atwell, Sebastian Stan, Neal McDonough, and JJ Feild as their respective characters.

Check out the full poster below:

Captain America: The First Avenger will focus on the early days of the Marvel Universe when Steve Rogers (Evans) volunteers to participate in an experimental program that turns him into the Super Soldier known as Captain America. As Captain America, Rogers joins forces with Bucky Barnes (Stan) and Peggy Carter (Atwell) to wage war on the evil HYDRA organization, led by the villainous Red Skull (Weaving).

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With less than a month to go before Captain America: The First Avenger hits screens Marvel and Paramount are starting to pump out the TV spots. The second official trailer we got last week was impressive, and from these TV spots it’s clear Marvel are going to have a very good summer.

Watch them below:

Captain America: The First Avenger will be released July 22nd and stars Chris Evans as Steve Rogers, Hugo Weaving as Red Skull, Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter, Sebastian Stan as Bucky, Samuel L. Jackson as Nicky Fury and Tommy Lee Jones as General Chester Phillips.

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With Thor now officially a success the pressure is on Captain America: The First Avenger to deliver so as to ensure a smooth path to The Avengers next summer. The teaser trailer looked promising, and Marvel just released a new trailer which makes it look even better (although it does spoil the first act of the movie).

Watch below:

Horrified by the newsreel footage of the Nazis in Europe, Rogers is inspired to enlist in the army. However, because of his frailty and sickness, he is rejected. Overhearing the boy’s earnest plea, General Chester Phillips (Tommy Lee Jones) offers Rogers the opportunity to take part in a special experiment…Operation: Rebirth. After weeks of tests, Rogers is at last administered the Super-Solider Serum and bombarded by ‘vita-rays.’ Steve Rogers emerges from the treatment with a body as perfect as a body can be and still be human. Rogers is then put through an intensive physical and tactical training program and, three months later, is given his first assignment as Captain America.

Captain America: The First Avenger will be released July 22nd and stars Chris Evans as Steve Rogers, Hugo Weaving as Red Skull, Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter, Sebastian Stan as Bucky, Samuel L. Jackson as Nicky Fury and Tommy Lee Jones as General Chester Phillips.

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