The Avengers shouldn’t have worked. The idea of building a film mythology of the big Marvel characters to lead up to one ensemble work featuring Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, Hulk, Black Widow and Hawkeye, alongside other favorite characters: Loki, Nick Fury and Agent Coulson, is an insane one for a studio to make. Not only that, it would take a writer, director and team of hugely talented creatives to pull it off, find a narrative that would work and would allow all the characters time to breath and each stand out amongst this clash of big personalities.
Thankfully, Marvel chose not only the right person for the job but arguably the only one who could have conceivably done the job. Despite not having a great track record in the film world, Joss Whedon has demonstrated through numerous works in TV that he knows how to craft stories and juggle a lot of characters, which he does here absolutely beautifully. Most importantly, he is also someone who knows how to appeal to fanboys without pandering to their every whim and he can also preach to the unconverted, hence the film’s impressive global box office haul.
All that said, the most considerable contribution that Whedon brings to this overwhelming franchise is (aside from a fairly poor opening) a brilliant lightness of touch and a wicked sense of humor that fits absolutely perfectly. Indeed, it was a funnier film than most “comedies” of 2012 with stand out, laugh out loud, memorable character moments and it would have been a huge mistake to go the way of Nolan and turn The Avengers into a real world, gritty crime drama.
The fact that Whedon knows this whole thing is ridiculous and actually finds moments to mock the sheer ludicrousness of what we are watching (Thor: You have no idea what you’re dealing with. Iron Man: Shakespeare in the Park? Doth mother know you weareth her drapes?) demonstrates a great understanding of his audience and of the material he is working with.
The fact it even exists is impressive and the fact it works to the extent it does is nothing short of a miracle. And that is down to the bold producing power of Kevin Feige and the genius of Joss Whedon.
