Assembling The Avengers Night Part ll

Tonight's marathon is a continuation of where last weeks building towards Avengers night part l left off. From where we finished last time, Tony Stark revealed to the world that he is indeed Iron Man, Capt America is brought to New York in present time and infiltrated by The Shield, Thor went back to Asgard and realizes he's not ready to be king, and Bruce Banner defeats his evil nemesis Blonsky in The Incredible Hulk and goes back into hiding after fleeing New York. Where last Friday's marathon ended is precisely where this evenings lineup picks up at. This time we get a flashback to the true origins of The Hulk from where he began as well as origins for the Marvel iconic character Spiderman, a sequel to Iron Man, and finally the Avengers team uniting to save the world. For tonight's menu we have the following:

                  Hulk 2003, The Amazing Spiderman 2012, Iron Man 2 2010, and The Avengers 2012

 

Now that the bulk of the origin stories of the Avengers team is out of the way, the second act can focus on answering some questions that the previous marathon inspired such as where did The Hulk come from and how did he get to the point he was at in the previous movie? One felt that the best way to answer that question is to go back and rewatch Ang Lee's 2003 Hulk film as a flashback to the events of The Incredible Hulk. While Incredible Hulk delivered on the notion that Hulk would be smashing things, it never presented a true origin story outside of the opening credits. Ang Lee's film
focuses more on the storyline aspect of Bruce Banner and shows how he transformed and became The Hulk, while making it more of a psychological character study as well as a human drama. The film received heavily mixed reviews from critics and audiences upon it's release in 2003 with the consensus being too much talking and not enough action. Eric Bana's Hulk received criticism for it's
physical appearance in the form of CGI, although the performances were heavily praised. Ang Lee's film may not be among the greatest comic book films ever made, but it provides the backstory needed for the character of The Hulk. In this film Bruce Banner played by Eric Bana is a genetics researcher with a tragic past who suffers an accident causing him to transform into a raging green monster when his stress level goes through the roof. Jennifer Connelly, Sam Elliot, and Nick Nolte all play strong supporting roles as the girlfriend, the father of the damsel in distress, and the father/villain of our strong lead male. Any questions that were presented about Hulk's backstory in Edward Nortons 2008 film are answered here. The second film of the lineup is the 2012 reboot titled The Amazing Spiderman starring Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Dennis Leary, Martin Sheen, and Sally Field. The film centers around a young Peter Parker being bitten by a genetically altered spider and gaining spider-like powers and senses. He ventures out into the night using these powers to solve the mystery of his parents mysterious death. The inclusion of Spiderman in this marathon comes at a perfect time since Marvel just recently obtained the rights to Spiderman, making him apart of the Avengers universe now. While he does not appear in any of the recent Avengers films, there is strong hinting that he will make it to the third film. The third film in the lineup is Iron Man 2 starring Robert Downey Jr. with Don Cheadle replacing Terrence Howard this time, Gwyneth Paltrow, Scarlett Johansson, Sam Rockwell, and Mickey Rourke. In this chapter, Tony Stark has finally let the world know about his identity as Iron Man and must contend with his declining health and a vengeful mad man who carries personal ties to his father's legacy. The character of Black Cat played by Scarlett Johanssen is introduced in this film as well as the character of Nick Fury played by Samuel Jackson, making them major players in the Avengers universe. Although the movie wasn't as well received as it's predecessor nor is on the same level in terms of overall quality, the film serves as the perfect intro into the final film of the evening which is Josh Whedon's blockbuster The Avengers. The Avengers brings all the characters of Iron Man, Thor, Captain America and Hulk together along with Iron Man 2's Nick Fury and Black Cast on a special mission to save the world. In this epic comic book adaptation, Earth's mightiest heroes must come together and learn how to fight as a team if they want to stop their arch nemesis Loki and his alien army from enslaving humanity. The Avengers is generally considered the landmark Marvel film and is the greatest superhero movie of all time on their front and the only one to match the heights of The Dark Knight in terms of critical acclaim.

So what are these movies trying to say within all their carnage and action. The Hulk 2003's message says that the damage of an emotional wound can be far harder to heal than physical damage. Amazing Spiderman says that talents can sometimes come with the responsibility to use them in helping others. Iron Man 2 says that almost anything is achievable with technology. Avengers ultimately says that every world needs heroes and if everyone works together as a team, they can defeat evil.

Our heroes for this evening:

 

 

 

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