Avengers

The Avengers: one of the best superhero films ever!

Unbelievable! It has been over ten years since The Avengers hit the cinemas. Even though this wasn't the first film in the MCU, and certainly not the last, it was unquestionably the most important! The Avengers proved in 2012 that something as immense as the Marvel Cinematic Universe can work in the long term. Above all, however, it was the fulfilment of all the dreams of millions of comic fans who had been eagerly awaiting this moment at least since the release of Iron Man, or more precisely the end credits scene with Nick Fury. Expectations were astronomically high. And yet The Avengers was able to fulfil and even surpass them all. The film won over fans and critics alike. It grossed over one and a half billion dollars and is still one of the most successful films of all time. And for us, it is one of the best superhero films. Why is that?

A groundbreaking team

Today, the concept of putting several superheroes in one film sounds about as thrilling as changing your health insurance. But in 2012 it was quite different! It's true there had been team-ups in the past, for example in the 1930s when Universal unleashed its famous monsters on each other. But that doesn't even begin to compare to the size, ambition and cost of the MCU. And when the time finally came for half a dozen Marvel heroes to meet in one film, it was as groundbreaking as it was goosebump-inducing.

The epic scale of this achievement is hard to put into words today. Especially since Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Hawkeye, Black Widow and Hulk were played by big-name stars in solo films, where they were accustomed to having the spotlight entirely to themselves. But this potential pitfall is precisely what transformed The Avengers into a key pillar for the MCU. Because it is precisely the dynamic (or should we say the verbal bickering?) between the heroes that sets The Avengers apart. "Big man in a suit of armour, take that away and what are you?" "Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist ..." Extra kudos to director Joss Whedon who somehow managed to give all these characters something cool to do.

It's not what you say, but how you say it

Clearly, The Avengers didn't invent humour for the MCU, the previous films were funny too. But the wide array of snarky characters and deft dialogue showed that superhero films can be great action comedies too. This also allowed Marvel to pave the way for even wackier adventures like Guardians of the Galaxy and Thor: Ragnarok, in which humour plays an even more prominent role. The rather relaxed prevailing mood forms an excellent contrast to the darker moments, which are even more impactful as a result. (Agent Coulson, anyone?)

The Avengers is a refreshingly bright, colourful film — why is that so rare? What you get here is just under two and a half hours of fun, with no shortage of passion, in-depth characters, dark threat and outrageous action sequences. It's a comic book adaptation in the very best sense! Which is not to say that doing things the other way round is wrong. In the same year as Iron Man, for example, The Dark Knight was released, which many people (justifiably) regard as one of the best superhero films of all time. And as befits Batman, the whole thing is really dark. It can be interpreted as a critique of the Bush era and deals with themes such as terrorism and the dangers of a surveillance state. Sounds fun, right? Don't get me wrong, The Dark Knight is also one of our favourite films. But in contrast, we can watch The Avengers over and over again and have great fun every single time.

And everything that followed

Apologies, we are getting a bit over-enthusiastic here! We could probably list three thousand more reasons why The Avengers is one of the best superhero films of all time. But who has time for that? So let's limit ourselves to thinking about the future it made possible. In the post-credits scene, we meet Thanos for the first time, who would later turn out to be rather vital for the MCU. But the plot of The Avengers also shapes subsequent films in other ways, most notably Iron Man 3 and even the much later Spider-Man: Homecoming. Most of all, the success of The Avengers showed that the MCU could be so much more. Without Avengers, there is no Endgame, no multiverse, no Phase Five. Or as Nick Fury put it: "There was once an idea. The so-called Avengers Initiative. The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people, to see if they could become something more."

All this is music to our ears at Elbenwald because the film was and continues to be really important in terms of our Avengers merchandise. You'll find everything your heart desires in our Avengers Fan Shop. From Avengers T-shirts to Avengers figures to high-quality replicas like Thor's hammer Mjölnir or the Iron Man Gauntlet with the Infinity Stones. But that's by no means the end of it when it comes to Avengers merchandise! You will find wonderful card games as well as knitted sweaters, jackets, socks, baseball caps and Funko figures. And with the MCU likely to continue for a long time to come, we can almost guarantee we won't run out of epic new releases.