The Avengers Assemble

Joss Whedon, the director of Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Cabin in the Woods, brings us the movie blockbuster that we have all been waiting for. The Avengers Assemble follows a group of superheroes, including Iron Man/Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), The Hulk/Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Black Widow/Natasha Romanov (Scarlett Johansson), Hawkeye/Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner), and Captain America/Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), as they have to learn to work together and overcome their personal differences in order to save the world. It would seem though, that their world is not the only world that is in need of saving, as these Marvel characters were first introduced during the great depression in America, therefore their return signifies a time of need.

The Avengers are brought together by Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), the director of S.H.I.E.L.D a peace keeping organisation, in order to track down the tesserat, a powerful energy source which acts as a gateway to the other side of space. The tesserat has been taken by Loki (Tom Hiddleston), Thor’s brother and he is using it to allow an alien army to rage a war and take over earth. This is where the Avengers come in. They have to learn to overcome their own egos in order to form an alliance and bring their strengths together if they stand a chance in defeating Loki and his army from space.

All the avengers, with the exception if Thor have dual identities and their essence lies in their alter egos, as it is who they become when they put on their costumes, or ‘suit up’ as Iron Man calls it, that defines who they really are. They are, however, considered to be vigilantes in society as they bring with them destruction and chaos. Set in an sub-urban landscape the avengers becomes signifiers of social anxieties, as they can be read to represent unruly adolescents, especially the Hulk who embodies the pubescent teenager as he gets big, hairy, angry and his voice deepens. These unruly adolescents are considered to be dangerous and volatile and the cause of the destruction to the city. Does this sound familiar, with all the recent riots that have occurred?

This unsettled environment is a breeding ground for anxiety and suggests that society today is in a volatile state, as recession takes hold and people are fighting to survive with rising unemployment. It feels like we are under attack and people, therefore, loose hope in the authorities. Therefore, people look to other places for answers and in The Avengers the people look to superheroes. This is a film about finding an identity, which is made pretty explicit by the costume of Captain America. He symbolises America and suggests a need to return to tradition. The actions of Captain America suggest that there are certain American-centric views surrounding this film.

Despite being an abstract fantasy film about superheroes and villains, The Avengers is fully grounded in our reality, as it deals with many of our social anxieties that we otherwise would not deal with. This genre of film is in constant play with social issues and anxieties, which make them even more interesting to watch.

The Avengers brings together some of comics greatest superheroes and creates a fantastic film that must not be missed. With action, suspense and even comedy this is definitely one of the best films released so far this year. It’s an awesome film that is enjoyable for all.