Just saw Avengers for the first time in the dollar movie. A great deal of fun, but I wish there had been more time to concentrate on the characters instead of having to give everybody screen time and shoehorn in the plot as well. It was definitely a case of "If you haven't seen the other movies, just try to keep up because we're not going to give you a reason to really care about anyone here." Fortunately, I've seen Thor and the Iron Man movies, so I wasn't completely lost.

I have a hard time being overly concerned during fight scenes that rip up cities, because it's so obviously just a movie. I find myself contemplating "How did they do that?" or "That shot got used a lot in Firefly and Serenity". If anything like that happened for real, it would destroy a city because no one would pay for the repairs, most of those buildings would be demolished, and the sheer carnage would probably topple the government.

Kudos for not beating us over the head with plot points: Tony realizing where the tesseract was, Steve realizing that Tony really is a hero, etc. Coulson as team-unifying symbol was certainly a bludgeon followed by a blinky neon arrow followed by an explanatory speech. All they missed was some reference to Pearl Harbor being necessary to pull America into World War II.

Is there a movie where Hawkeye is more fully explored? Because he certainly merits full exploration. And I was pleased they showed him running out of arrows. Though that should have happened sooner.

Is there a movie where Hawkeye is more fully explored? Because he certainly merits full exploration.

Nope, but he definitely does.

What about him piqued your interest more than, say, Coulson? Or Black Widow? Or Maria?

Where did he learn what he does? His command ability. Where does he get his weapons? Does he build them himself? Does he have a Q?

We got more information on Black Widow than we did him, and yes, she is interesting. Granted, a lot of the time Barton was on camera he was a slave of Loki, so we didn't have much case for delving into his background.

Is Maria the kickass woman running the bridge on the helicarrier?

Is Maria the kickass woman running the bridge on the helicarrier?

Yes, Maria Hill as played by Cobie Smulders (who was going to be Joss' Wonder Woman, actually).

Where did he learn what he does? His command ability. Where does he get his weapons? Does he build them himself? Does he have a Q?

We don't know any of those things about any of the non-movie people, though--Nick, Natasha, all of them come by their marvellousness by some mysterious fashion, as well as their toys and wardrobe.

Is Maria the kickass woman running the bridge on the helicarrier?

Yep.

I'm trying to work out if I found Hawkeye boring because I have a blind spot where Renner would register in my brain, or those are two separate boredoms.

Maria Hill rocked. I love that kind of unassuming competence.

Black Widow was nice. I liked her dealing with the stupid shoes--but it wasn't as nice as Helen Mirren in RED--and her hair was a rational length--though it was used against her in her fight with Barton. I can't wait for someone to pull Thor's hair. (I quite liked the exchange "It wasn't your decision." "No, but I didn't argue with the god who made it.")

While the idea of clearing her ledger is good, I would like to see more heroes without angsty pasts. Captain America comes closest, I think, he's got the angst, but it isn't what drives his basic mission. Granted, I haven't seen his movie, so I don't know if they added angst to his backstory. Other than Bucky, but he's a fallout from the job, not, I think, something Cap thinks he needs to atone for. I think Tony's making up for all the carnage his weapons have caused, and Thor's protecting the world from Loki and his ilk.

I can understand the amount of fic inspired by this, the potential oozes out of the thing.

I can understand the amount of fic inspired by this, the potential oozes out of the thing.

Science bros!

"Finally someone who speaks English!"

I see Pepper having Banner's cellphone on speed dial so she can call him and hand the phone to Tony when Tony starts babbling. And Tony making sure Banner has a nearly Hulk-proof phone.

Question re: Hulk. How much control does he really have? Does it depend on whether he chooses to change or if things get overwhelming and force the change?

Question re: Hulk. How much control does he really have? Does it depend on whether he chooses to change or if things get overwhelming and force the change?

The movie seemed to indicate that when he chooses to change, he has more control. I don't understand the logic behind him Hulking out, so I'm going to just go with the handwavium.