Back to Avengers, I really want a high-res screencap of the 2nd post-credits scene for my desktop. Found one, but it's crappy.

Boom, found one that will do. [link]

Boom, found one that will do.

I love in that scene how Banner is the only one who half laughs. The rest are too bone tired.

I saw Avengers this morning.

Even as someone who isn't really that up on the back story, THAT WAS AWESOME.

I missed the second post-credits scene though. I guess I will have to go watch it next weekend too, after I watch Captain America and Thor.

I think I have to duel ita ! for Chris Evans. Dammit.

Why do you think I've resigned myself to having his little brother steered my way?

When the chitauri was peeling his mask off I was thinking "THANK YOU! Now, do the audience a favor and try for the shirt too!"

One question about the movie:

when Stark and Loki face off at the top of Stark Tower, Tony slips a bracelet on. I figured that was what protected him from Loki's mind control, but don't have any confirmation. Anyone know exactly what the bracelets were? Were they referenced in a previous movie?

Based on the falling scene, I think the bracelet allowed the Iron Man Mk VII armor to home in on him.

That makes sense. And I did think it was pretty cool, how it mapped itself onto his body. In that case, though, how did he avoid getting mind-controlled? It can't just be that he hit the arc reactor, could it? You'd figure Loki can tell the difference betwee "poink poink" and "clang clang".)

I think that was it. The arc reactor blocked the scepter's mojo. It's repelling metal, after all.

A fanart drawing of my favorite scene: [link]

Spoiler, of course.

I have seen Avengers! I can now catch up with this thread!

I went in trying to keep my expectations low, since I'm not much of a comics person, and I was underimpressed by both Thor and Captain America. I also have issues with the Asgard types, because they just seem to break the world for me: superheroes made from science? Ok! superheroes who are demigods from another dimension? Nope!

Anyway, that was fun! And it felt so much like Joss, the way the lines were set up and then undercut. There was also a lot of great physical characterization: Steve paying off his bet with Fury, Stark & Banner's interactions in the lab, Pepper comfortable enough in her relationship to forego the towering stilettos. That's the sort of thing that not every director makes an effort to include: it's very Joss, and it really fills out the emotional context of the film.

I can't really list all the things I liked, because y'all have already done so. I did appreciate that Maria Hill got to be entirely badass, even if she was in a ridiculous jumpsuit. Don't costume-designers know how useless they are? It's one thing to wear a jumpsuit for an hour-long performance, but you can't put working soldiers in them!

I also loved Natasha: she was excellent, even if she never realized that maybe zipping up her kevlar costume would be a good idea, with all that shrapnel flying around. And her makeup was way too perfect, as was Hill's. I don't question that Natasha would wear makeup, but nobody's looks that good after thirty-six hours of fighting.

My other complaint is: why waste the opportunity to have Pepper in Stark Tower, helping defend the city? Instead she and Jane are safely off-site, even though they've been clearly established as women with both interest and an aptitude for getting involved.

I totally missed Enver, although I caught Denisof's name in the credits.

Anyway, like I said, way fun, and I'm kind of tempted to see it again. Now if only it had passed the Bechdel test...