Marvel Studios’ The Avengers directed by Joss Whedon premiered 10 years ago today.
Today, Marvel Studios’ The Avengers celebrates its 10th anniversary. It’s hard to believe it’s been a decade since the Avengers first assembled to save the world. However, the box office has never been the same since. Phase One of the Marvel Cinematic Universe capped off with this explosive team-up, redefining superhero movies.
Directed by Buffy and Firefly creator Joss Whedon, the first Avengers film was an unprecedented experiment in interconnected storytelling. As a result, it broke several box office records to become the highest-grossing comic-book adaptation upon release. It was also the highest-grossing film of 2012 and the third all-time highest-grossing film.
This first big team-up and the greater Marvel Cinematic Universe owe their success to the first entry in the MCU. 2008’s Iron Man was anchored by the unforgettably charismatic lead performance of Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark. Iron Man would go on to carry the shared universe into cinematic history. However, Chris Evans’ Captain America may be the “First Avenger” chronologically.
Chris Hemsworth joined Downey Jr. and Evans as Thor.
He is brother of the trickster god Loki, the primary antagonist of the Avengers played by Tom Hiddleston. In addition, Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow and Jeremy Renner’s Hawkeye earned their spots on the team as SHIELD members. They debuted in Iron Man 2 and Thor, respectively. Replacing Edward Norton from 2008’s The Incredible Hulk was Mark Ruffalo. His performance as Bruce Banner is the best iteration of the Hulk we have seen onscreen.
The events of the first Avengers movie echoed throughout the numerous sequels and spin-offs that followed.
Most memorably, the mid-credits scene that introduced Thanos. Damion Poitier originally played him before Josh Brolin took up the mantle. Thanos was set up as the overarching conflict involving the Infinity Stones that would conclude with Infinity War and Endgame. In addition, it boggles the mind to think of how far the Marvel Cinematic Universe has come. In conclusion, phase four continues with additional movies such as this weekend’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Disney+ current shows such as Moon Knight. It is clear that Marvel fans have much to digest.
