Age of MCU: 6 Problems With Avengers Assemble No-One Dares To Admit

You know, there was once a time when none of us could go out in public without grabbing someone off the street and shotuing “O MAI GAAWWWDD AVENGRZZ ASSEMBAAALL IZ OUT SOOON AAAAHHH SOOOO ECKSITAD!” into their terrified faces. Now, there’s going to be a time when we’ll look back on Avengers Assemble as that cute lil’ film that started it all while we continually wet ourselves over how awesome Avengers: Age of Ultron, Captain America: Civil War, Guardians of the Galaxy 2, Avengers: Infinity War will surely be (here’s hoping!).

We can safely say that Age of Ultron is on collision course with Avengers Assemble and will crush the living daylights out of it, which allows us to look back at that film with a more critical eye. It wasn’t perfect after all – fun, for sure, but by no means the Casablanca of superhero flicks. Let’s take a look then at six problems with Avengers Assemble that you wouldn’t dare to admit to anyone – even your pet goldfish.

 

6. Back-stories

Probably the most inevitable problem Avengers Assemble has (and therefore its most forgiveable) is the simple fact that one gets a harder kick out of it if you’ve watched every single MCU entry that came before this one. Each individual film that led up to Avengers Assemble has some level of world building and back-story going on that explained or hinted at how these plucky crusaders will come together to defeat a greater enemy than those they’ve faced single-handedly.

 

5. Captain America VS. Loki

Is it just me, or does Steve fight like any other regular bloke in the scene where Loki almost wipes out a group of people? I mean, we know by now that Loki is in fact a Frost Giant and not an Asguardian, but does that automatically mean that Loki is infinitely more powerful than the Super Solider? After all, Steve does get his ass whooped by Loki here. For all of Captain America: The First Avenger‘s emphasis on Steve’s superhuman abilities, this scene just doesn’t add up.

 

4. “I’m Always Angry”

Ah Bruce, you poor soul. The MCU hasn’t been kind to you AT ALL. You’ve really only made two substantial appearances in the MCU, and you were portrayed by different actors in either one. And with different actors, comes different characters. Sort of.

The Incredible Hulk gave us a glimpse into Bruce’s struggle as a rampaging monster on the loose. We often saw him having to transform into the Hulk rather painfully and against his own will. So it’s a tad odd here how Bruce transforms in the blink of an eye and with super swiftness.

Did something happen between The Incredible Hulk and Avengers Assemble to make Bruce gain a far stronger hold on his inner green monster? If it did, we sure as hell didn’t see it.

3. Kamikaze Pilot

Given the amount of heroes Avengers Assemble deals with, there is simply no room for any sub-plot whatsoever, and the whole film has a Kamikaze pilot feel to it – the one plot it has is so boisterous and large it ruins any chance for something deeper.

Without that extra depth that was often used in other pre-Avengers Assemble MCU films, Avengers Assemble looses its grip somewhat and struggles to make itself a substantial piece of film-making, at least in terms of story-telling.

 

2. Loki

Maybe Christopher Nolan‘s Batman trilogy has had a deeper impact on us than we think. Scarecrow, the Joker and Bane were an exceptional trio of cinematic bad boys that had a true sense of menace to them. Loki, on the other hand, does not. His disillusions of grandeur and plans for world domination are something of a step down from what previous MCU villains were after.

Plus, just look at that smile. He’s too damn charming to be taken seriously as a threat to humanity.

 

1. Saturday Morning

All the above five reasons ultimately make Avengers Assemble feel like a classically constructed Saturday morning cartoon. Probably the greatest Saturday morning cartoon we’ve ever seen, by all means, but campy villains, lack of subplot and an emphasis on sheer adrenaline makes Avengers Assemble feel like the kind of junk food you would pig on hen watching this film with your friends.

Of course, that’s not to say that make Avengers Assemble a BAD film – not at all! Avengers Assemble is a big, bright, colourful exercise routine in sheer giddiness of seeing everyone’s favourite superhero save the day. However, as discussed, there are moments where it shoots itself in the foot.