The movie industry changed when 'The Avengers' assembled

Scarlett Johansson (from left), Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Jeremy Renner, Robert Downey Jr., and Mark Ruffalo teamed together in 2012’s “The Avengers.” (Walt Disney Pictures/MovieStillsDB.com)

Ultimate Movie Year finds the best films from weekends past to build an all-star lineup of cinema.

"The Avengers"
Released May 4, 2012
Directed by Joss Whedon

In short order, the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies have become the biggest box office franchise of all time, eclipsing the Star Wars movies and making more money than the James Bond, Batman, and Harry Potter movies combined. There have already been two dozen films released so far, with lots more on the way. There's no doubt that the success of Marvel shocked and changed the movie industry for the foreseeable future.

And yet, it was only eight years ago when nobody was exactly sure how this was all going to pan out.

That's not to say superhero movies weren't a reasonably safe bet for box office dollars. Richard Donner's "Superman: The Movie" was the first major comic book that scored with audiences, the second top-drawing picture of the year. Just over a decade later, Tim Burton's "Batman" in 1989 was another phenomenon. Meanwhile, Marvel suffered from years of cheap and delayed films before getting the right pieces together for 1998's "Blade," 2000's "X-Men," and 2002's "Spider-Man," the latter of which became an immediate, massive hit.

The problem was that despite some big hits, most of the other superhero movies didn't match the quality of the films mentioned above, or the sequels were frequently suffering from diminishing returns with rare exceptions. There was no real consistency to the quality of filmmaking and writing from movie to movie, even after the debut of the MCU with 2008's "Iron Man."

Assembling, or "There was an idea …"

Kevin Feige, then-president of Production at Marvel Studios and creative leader, devised a plan that was common in comic books but previously unexplored in the modern film: Take the heroes of individual franchises and put them together as a team. Marvel Studios would introduce several characters in their cinematic universe in a series of films to lead up to "The Avengers." But "Iron Man," 2008's "The Incredible Hulk," 2010's "Iron Man 2," and 2011's "Thor" and "Captain America: The First Avenger" received mixed notices from audiences, not unlike the superhero movies that came before. There was little to indicate to audiences that this wasn't just more of the same standard of quality for superhero movies: Little more than popcorn movies with our fingers crossed, they would be good. As "The Avengers" approached, we again had our fingers crossed, but for all we knew, it could easily go either way.

Marvel hired Joss Whedon, the creator of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," who amassed tons of geek cred over the years, to write and direct "The Avengers." Whedon worked with Zak Penn's original story and was able to craft a screenplay that continued the characterization established in the other movies while expanding Scarlet Johansson's Black Widow and offering more of an introduction to Jeremy Renner's Hawkeye. Meanwhile, Edward Norton, who played Bruce Banner in "The Incredible Hulk," was replaced with Mark Ruffalo. The pieces were finally all on the board.

Revelations, or "That's my secret"

"The Avengers" has a simple plot that anybody familiar with comic books could have sketched out: Alpha heroes must find a way to work together to overcome a common enemy that threatens to take over the planet. Whedon grasped that's what people wanted to see, but also made it distinctively Marvel. The early Marvel Comics created by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Steve Ditko also introduced heroes with feet of clay; individuals who were not above letting their egos and tempers get the better of them as they fought other heroes ... almost as much as they battled villains. While those tropes became clichéd in comics, they were new to movie audiences. The only other major superhero team films before "The Avengers" were the various X-Men films, and Brad Bird's "The Incredibles" from 2004. While the heroes in those films had tension with each other, they never came to physical fights with each other as those early Marvel books had depicted. Whedon wisely incorporated that early Marvel feeling while employing his talent for witty dialogue and quips for modern audiences.

The film begins with the arrival of Loki (Tom Hiddleston, previously introduced as Thor's brother the 2011 movie), promptly stealing a cosmic cube called the Tesseract from S.H.I.E.L.D., a security force designed to protect Earth from enhanced threats. S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) immediately realizes this particular threat is beyond his command, so he calls upon special S.H.I.E.L.D. operative Natasha Romanoff AKA the Black Widow; gamma scientist Bruce Banner; the recently returned World War II hero Steve "Captain America" Rogers (Chris Evans); and Iron Man creator Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) to neutralize Loki, who has already brainwashed Clint "Hawkeye" Barton. Meanwhile, Thor (Chris Hemsworth) has returned to Earth to take custody of Loki, who is taking personal delight in manipulating the heroes to turn on each other.

"The Avengers" benefits from much of the heavy lifting that the prior MCU movies did in establishing the major characters, but new audiences can grasp their distinct personalities as well. Whedon crafts the script around exploring the differences between the heroes, as well as their similarities. The best capabilities of the heroes are also well illustrated throughout the film, even though they have a wide range of abilities. Notice how each member of the Avengers has an individual confrontation with Loki at some point in the film, which not only infers their strengths to viewers but also offers additional reactions and responses from Hiddleston, who is delightfully engaging as the villain we love to root against.

When "The Avengers" was released, audiences were amazed by the experience. The characters were engaging, the story delivered, and there were plenty of kicks, 'splosions, and laughs. It was built in such a way that almost everybody who plunked down 10 bucks for a ticket and got their hands filled up at the concession stands got their money's worth and more. It's easy to diss corporate Hollywood blockbusters most of the time. Still, when it excels at its task as "The Avengers" did, it becomes the best reason for the continued health of movie theaters, because we are all reacting to the twists and turns with the largest audience. It's a thrilling communal experience.

The legacy, or "We have a Hulk"

"The Avengers" was a massive success at the box office, opening with the biggest first-weekend haul of all time up until that point, and eclipsing every previous MCU film to top out at $1.5 billion gross worldwide. It was a big deal for the industry as well, as the idea of a cinematic shared universe became viable because of Marvel Studios. Warner Brothers, already in production of their Superman reboot film "The Man of Steel" in 2013, plotted out their own universe with DC heroes. Universal, who had success with their monster movies of the 30s, 40s, and 50s, green light the reboots for their "Dark Universe." Both attempts failed because they didn't understand Marvel's key to success laid with their focus on characters. While the first movies from Marvel Studios may have had mixed results, "The Avengers" was an unqualified success and boost of confidence moving forward. Overseen by Feige, the hits were becoming more consistent with ticket sales and approval, as their cinematic universe continued to expand with more heroes both on Earth and in space. Very quickly, the entire planet understood the appeal of those early Marvel Comics stories.

The best superhero movies succeed with enduring characters and giving people something they had never seen before. Richard Donner showed audiences a man could fly with "Superman," Sam Raimi introduced an underdog with amazing abilities in "Spider-Man," and Christopher Nolan depicted the terror of chaos in "The Dark Knight." Whedon's "The Avengers" showed us what could happen when extraordinary individuals put their egos aside to become something greater, and we've been marveling ever since.

The Weekend: There was no way this weekend was going to be anything other than a Marvel movie, because, since 2002, those characters have dominated the top box office crown on the first weekend of May 15 times. Even before the Marvel Studios taking the reigns back on their own story, Sony released Raimi's "Spider-Man" in 2002, becoming an immediate smash that set the template for the years to come. Fox and Sony studios took turns with their respective franchises to open the box office in May, with "X2: X-Men United" dropping in 2003, and "Spider-Man 3" premiering in 2007.

The first Marvel Studios movie, "Iron Man," debuted in early May 2008. A well-made, crowd-pleasing adventure that propelled both the character and its star from also-ran to A-list status, "Iron Man" solidified the stranglehold Marvel Studios would have on that first weekend of May. "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" premiered in 2009 (no MCU film that year) and "The Amazing Spider-Man" launched in 2014 ("Captain America: The Winter Soldier" came out a month earlier), but check out this run of debuts: "Thor" in 2011, "Avengers" in 2012, "Iron Man 3" in 2013, "Avengers: Age of Ultron" in 2015, and "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" in 2017. While 2010's "Iron Man 2" and 2016's "Captain America: Civil War" are technically Week 19 debuts, they both were released on the first Friday of May. "Avengers: Infinity War" in 2018 and "Avengers: Endgame" in 2019 were both initially slotted to premiere in Week 18, but the studio moved their openings up one week. Both of those films still dominated the box office in their second weeks. And the only reason why the streak won't continue in 2020 is that movie theaters have closed due to the Coronavirus pandemic, and "Black Widow," initially targeted for May, has been pushed back to November. Still, rest assured that Marvel already has the next several first weekends of May plotted out.

So yeah, obviously, Week 18 is going to be ruled by Marvel movies. While it seems weird to remember a time when early May wasn't a designated movie date for almost everybody going to the cineplexes, Memorial Day was often thought of as the start of the summer blockbuster season from 1977 to about 2000, so, therefore, there are a surprising amount of clunkers and a few hidden gems that opened on this weekend.

John Hughes was the writer behind comedy hits like "National Lampoon's Vacation" and "Mr. Mom." Still, when he got his first chance to direct, he made a generational favorite with "Sixteen Candles," which premiered this weekend in 1984. The teenage comedy made a star out of Molly Ringwald and officially started the incredible run of successful films Hughes directed in the mid80s, including "The Breakfast Club," "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," and "Pretty in Pink." While "Sixteen Candles" has several scenes and characters that, to use the parlance of our time, PROBLEMATIC, it is also often surprisingly hilarious.

When it was released in 1997, "Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery" wasn't a big hit at the theaters. Comedian Mike Myers developed and portrayed the lead character, a British super spy from the 60s who was frozen for three decades before awakening in the 90s. Myers also played Austin's arch-nemesis, Dr. Evil, who became a pop culture sensation and cinematic icon as well. The initial release of "Austin Powers" didn't break any box office records, but audiences found the film at rental stores and made it a cult favorite. By the time the sequel came out two years later, the Austin Powers franchise had entered blockbuster status.

As the century turned, more high-profile movies were opening in early May. Director Ridley Scott turned back the clock with his swords-and-sandals epic, "Gladiator." Released in 2000, the movie was not only a box office hit with actor Russell Crowe battling his way through arenas in ancient Rome, but was so well-regarded by critics, audiences, and the industry that it nabbed the Academy Award for Best Picture the following year. High-concept blockbusters and franchise sequels continued the success of "Gladiator" in the years since, with "The Mummy Returns" dropping in 2001, and "Mission: Impossible III" in 2006. Another Best Picture winner, "Crash," premiered to audiences in 2005.

If there was any non-Marvel movie released on this weekend over the past 20 years that became an essential, beloved favorite of many, it's gotta be 2004's "Mean Girls." Directed by Mark Waters, "Mean Girls" starred Lindsay Lohan and Rachel McAdams as high school frienemies dueling each other to take over their popular clique and win the heart of a handsome boy. With Tina Fey serving as the film's scriptwriter and one of the supporting stars, "Mean Girls" remains one of the best teen comedies in history. It would be a strong choice for the weekend's recommendation, had it not become synonymous with Marvel movies.

Other films of note include the classics "Going My Way" and "Gaslight" in 1944, and "The Postman Always Rings Twice" in 1946; cult favorites "Breakin'" in 1984, "Gymkata" in 1985, and "The Craft" in 1996; Spike Lee's "He Got Game" in 1998, the remake of "A Nightmare on Elm Street" in 2010, and "Long Shot" in 2019.

Next Week: "Bridesmaids"

Follow me on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to find out when new columns are released, or to just chat up movies.