It’s a Good Summer to Be a Nerd

As I’m sure you all know, with The Avengers, Marvel has done the seemingly impossible. They produced 5 individual origin story movies for their characters leading up to their big team-up – which is something that DC has been unable to do for Justice League outside the small screen (to be fair, that show was great). It’s still a little hard to wrap my head around the idea that this movie exists – what’s even more difficult is the fact that they hired Joss Whedon to both write and direct it. I’ve been a huge Joss Whedon fan since season 3 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, so hearing the news that he was doing The Avengers made my head explode (not my whole head, just the super-nerd part of my head…my brain…also, not literally – just metaphorically). Of course, all this anticipation can lead to the ultimate let down, but I’m optimistic that we’re gonna get a fun ride with this one.

With about 2 weeks till the The Avengers opens, I’m starting my re-watch of the existing Marvel movies. I was debating on which movie to start with since Captain America largely takes place the earliest. I’ve decided to start with Iron Man. It kicked off this whole Marvel Studios movie-verse with a bang – plus that means I get to end with Captain America (a high point) rather than The Incredible Hulk (a low point, but last chronologically…I think). With Iron Man (and, come to think of it, ALL the Avengers lead in movies) Marvel managed to make me care about these characters to which I previously had only a superficial awareness – by which I mean, I did not give a shit about any of them. I like comics, but I’ve never been a steady reader – particularly not of Marvel comics. Leading up to the release of Iron Man, I was definitely intrigued by the casting of Robert Downey Jr. as I had a great enough knowledge of Tony Stark to see that he could be an interesting choice. He, as we all know, knocked it out of the park. He brought the character to life in a way that made me, as a viewer, every bit as interested in Tony Stark as I was in Iron Man (the same cannot be said of all comic book movies).

There’s also a sense of joy in these movies that makes re-watching them a pleasure. I love the Christopher Nolan Batmans (I can’t wait for The Dark Knight Rises!!) – but those are some dark movies (as they should be). The Marvels are just fun rides – and that’s why I love them.

So over the next 2 weeks the order is:

Iron Man

Iron Man 2

Thor

The Incredible Hulk

Captain America: The First Avenger

The Avengers

There are a bunch of movies to look forward to this summer and The Avengers kicks it off May 4th. I’ll let you know May 5th if I hate it.

casualken