With you on this 100%. I practically peed myself when Hulk...interrupted Loki.

I dunno about some of those last comments. X-Men, under Grant Morrison's guiding hand, managed to do some interesting commentary about the condition of youth, drug use, counter-culture and religious fanaticism. Maybe it's just because he's Grant Morrison, though.

The scene where Hulk is chasing Romanoff hulk-smashing everything was spectacular, I was on the edge of my seat. The amazing thing to me about the Hulk/Loki scene is how short it was but even in the faction of a second it lasted it made all the difference.

THE HULK IN THIS MOVIE MADE ME WANT A GOOD HULK MOVIE... MAYBE THIRD TIME IS THE CHARM?

CAN SOMEONE EXPLAIN TO ME WHAT EXACTLY LOKI'S PLAN WAS WITH GETTING CAPTURED AND TAKEN TO THE SHIELD BASE? ROMANOFF SAID SOME JUNK ABOUT LOKI GETTNG THE HULK TO BE ALL HULKED OUT, BUT THAT DIDN'T REALLY SEEM TO MAKE MUCH SENSE.

BUT YEAH... SO THE SPECULATION IS THAT THAT THANOS WILL BE THE VILLAIN OF THE NEXT THOR MOVIE, NOT THE NEXT AVENGERS MOVIE.

Graham - your typing makes the voices in my head yell at me. Caps lock is not cruise control for cool.

As for his idea: I think Loki was counting on the Hulk being an uncontrollable force that all of the heroes would have to spend their time chasing. Additionally, Banner was the only person who could figure out where the cube was. He does so in the movie ("oh my god" as the location blinks on screen), immediately before Hulking out. The reason Loki had to get captured was that the staff has properties to sow dissension and other strife among the characters, similar to the way it controlled hearts (except Iron Man's... *tink*).

A+ stuff. Fucking Thanos made me squeal with delight. Thanos is in a summer tentpole movie.

The geeks have truly inherited the Earth.

Your review is pretty right on, but this review: http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Avengers-… is right on-er.

Ruffalo as Banner was awesome. He played the scene when he burst out yelling at Black Widow in the first part of the movie perfectly, I jumped out of my seat. And then right back to understated Ruffalo. The Stark-Banner dynamic was fun and intriguing as well, but could have been a movie all by itself. Black Widow's manipulation/interrogation scene with Loki was very good and meanwhile all the action you wanted from a popcorn flick. Not mind-changing stuff, just a completely solid from start to finish superhero movie, with few if any missteps.

Agree the Loki-Hulk 10 second battle was fucking genius. Best use of the big-setup to sudden ending gag since Indy shot that dude twirling the sword in the original Raiders.

I'm not 100% convinced that Coulson is dead.

OMG, I nearly fell out of my seat laughing during the Hulk/Loki showdown. So fucking perfect.

Hulk was the biggest delight to me. I thought overall The Avengers was a good movie, and I liked the treatment of all the superheroes generally. But Hulk really shined, maybe because all of the previous attempts at a standalone Hulk movie have failed to be more than decent. Or maybe he works better in small doses as part of an ensemble. Or maybe it was some combination of Mark Ruffalo's acting or Whedon's directing. Whatever it was, the Hulk seemed more pitch perfect in this film than in any previous Hulk incarnation.

The only minor letdown was the flying aircraft carrier. It just seemed too ludicrous, even for a superhero movie. It didn't spoil the movie for me, but I just couldn't get into that particular element.

The battle over Manhattan lasted juuust a bit too long for me; I grew a little weary. That's pretty much my only complaint though.

Coulson will be back as an LMD. :) I'd bet money on it.

These are all really great points, Paul, and I was sort of thinking them myself before you articulated them exactly (I sensed and spotted Kirby in the visual designs, yet they seemed to lack his truly dynamic power). I want to resist what you're saying in the final paragraph, but I think it's what I've always felt about Marvel heroes, and thus have kept an emotional distance from them for a few decades. Sometimes the coolest, the most self aware and superior, are the least likely heroes you'll want to spend a lot of time with.

Wow. A bunch of men and a Smurfette. Where the fuck else can I get THAT combination? I can't see any AT ALL.

@14: Yeah. Black Widow was good, the other two named women characters were bland, and the film totally failed at Bechdel. BW was a Token, even if she was a well-crafted Token.

I'm just gonna point out that a lot of "chick flicks" fail the Bechdel Test as well.

By the power of Sharma, I rebuke you, Loki!

I think the criticisms about Black Widow being token are a little silly to direct at Joss Whedon, a guy who writes some of the most powerful female characters to hit a tv screen. The reality is, the fault for the lack of prominence or general girl power in the Avengers is a lot more the result of the writing and history of the production from Marvel's end rather than the interpretation of it from Whedon's.