The Avengers

I never ever thought this movie would happen. Sure, now it seems like nothing. Marvel characters (and, separately, DC characters) pop up together in films all the time. But in 2012 the MCU wasn’t even five years old and the idea of a shared universe of comic movies was still new; for years before, superhero movies had never crossed over as all the rights were kept separate between different studios.

And then, Marvel pulled it off. Hot damn, Avengers is fun. It’s not the best MCU movie and the pacing is a bit odd in the middle, but whatever, Marvel did the big comic book team-up movie and it rocked. The action is exciting, each character is given plenty of screen time, and we finally get to see these heroes interact and it’s just the best. Thor fighting Iron Man! Cool shit! I remember seeing this movie twice in theaters because I couldn’t believe it was real. And while the success of The Avengers and the greater MCU contributed to Hollywood becoming a superhero- and IP-obsessed slop machine, it doesn’t change that the MCU’s first big crossover movie was a blast. – ZZ