Since Joss is currently working on the Script to the Avengers it is a good time to lay out some hopes. I want to point out that this is not quite the usual wish list. Someone looking for a more specific presentation of the Comics themselves would suggest other things. One such list already exists on this Site and was well done. Mine is instead filled with broader ideas that seem core concepts for the Avengers.
I realize we do not know how the Movie is going to work. It might all take place over a few days or a few weeks or even months. I am going to mostly assume the first movie will not span more than 2-3 weeks and will deal with the assembling itself. If in fact the Movie covers more time then my references to sequels become suggestions for the first Movie like everything else.
Just for the sake of clarity I should mention that I believe Joss Whedon is perfect for this job. I will not list his resume but to my eyes he understands everything a Director/Writer needs to know to make this a proper Avengers Movie. The Avengers has been one of my favorites since I learned to read so they matter quite a bit to me. Knowing that they will be done well is... hard to describe really. Kinda comfy, a little surprised, but very, very pleased.
Only the Justice Society means more to me than the Avengers. I already have a very respectful and well done TV show with a number of them. To me that is a very good start on the original Team.
On to the list for...
The Avengers!
10. They become Public Heros.
We had a little of this in Spider-Man III & Iron Man II but I want more. The Avengers do not operate in the shadows they are a very public Team. In the Comics the world depends on the Avengers and I want to see the beginning of that relationship. Not just some press conference but direct contact and reactions from real people.
They may start covert but I hope by the end of the first movie that changes. The Avengers are just too big to hide in the shadows and it is not how they are supposed to be.
9. 1940s Ultimate Cap becomes 2010 616 Cap.
It took me a loooong time to get into the Ultimates for one simple reason: They are all a bunch of jerks. I know Millar needed to upend the goody-two-shoes personalties but jeeze. What I came to realize is that the Ultimates are so much more realistic than anything previously done that those personalities make perfect sense. They also mean (and man do a lot of people miss this one) that the Characters can evolve into better people as they spend more time as Heros. This is the beginning of the Avengers and it is in so many respects just stunning.
Today we like to overlook the problems of the past. But if you are honest you should acknowledge that the men of the 1940 were quite often Racist and other ugly things. To be plucked from the 1940s and dropped into today would be a challenge most would fail.
But Captain America is not most is he?
So what I want to see is Cap dealing with the changes in the world. I want to see him become the man from the 616 comics but just not too fast. A crucial moment in this journey would be the next item.
8. Thor recognizes Cap's greatness.
Thor calls Steve Rogers the greatest living mortal and other even more positive things. I want to see this opinion form over the course of the movie or perhaps movies. Thor has been a warrior for an unknown amount of time. It is natural that he will think little of ANY mortal without a lot of convincing. Standing up and fighting is not enough but if done right Captain America has so much more. At some point in the films I would like to see this happen for the first time.
7. Do Hawkeye right not comic relief.
This is a Movie so we have to watch out for this one. Hawkeye can be the smart-ass of the group sure. He can, and should, stand up to Captain America once along the line I agree. But it would be far too easy to turn him into Spider-Man with wise-cracks flying out of his mouth every other line.
Avengers should be a fairly serious movie. They are not stopping some guy covered in tin-foil who can toss some electricity around. Whatever the reason for them to assemble it has to be Epic. Jokes have their place but I hope that Hawkeye will come across more bad-ass than funny man.
6. Some Emotional Heroic Speeches.
This should come from Cap. When I was a kid there were those moments in Comics that choked me up. I want one of those speeches that only Captain America can give that combines 'We can do this' with 'We ARE going to demolish them'. Some people reading this are about to boo me because they are too damn cynical for their own good but I really don't much care.
Remember this...
...Perhaps it's fate that today, July the Fourth, we will once again fight for our freedom. Not from tyranny, persecution or oppression. But from annihilation. We're fighting for our right to live, to exist.
And should we win the day the the fourth of July will no longer be known as an American holiday. But as the day that the world declared in one voice we will not go quietly into the night. We will not vanish without a fight. We gonna live on. We are going to survive. Today we celebrate our Independence Day...
So please Joss. I know you have it in you. These are large than life Characters. They are modern day Gods let them have at least one moment where that shines through.
5. Hulk as part of the team.
Even though the Hulk as their first problem suits me just fine I have to admit I want to see him as part of the Team first. There is a brilliant set of scenes from the Ultimates when Cap manipulates Hulk into killing, and eating, a shape-shifting foe. Cap could never beat the guy so he used the Hulk to do it. Brilliant and logical as all hell. Cap then sends the Hulk after the hovering spacecraft by telling Hulk they called him gay. It is rude but it is also quite good.
Captain America from a Helicopter to Hulk on the ground...
"YOU SEE THESE SPACECRAFT IN THE SKY? THE BIG TRIANGULAR MACHINES?"
"WELL, I WAS TALKING TO THE PILOTS EARLIER AND YOU KNOW WHAT THEY TOLD ME? YOU KNOW
WHAT THEY WERE SAYING ABOUT YOU, HULK?"
"THESE GUYS CALLED YOU A SISSY-BOY BUDDY--"
"YOU REALLY GONNA LET THEM GET AWAY WITH THAT?"
And the Hulk responds...
NO! HULK NOT SISSY-BOY..."
"HULK STRAIGHT!!"
As he leaps at the spacecraft in question.
To see Hulk an actual part of the Team even for a short time would be nice. They called him the nuclear option in Ultimates and that pretty much works. Ok I would rather Bruce Banner not be treated the way he is in that series. In fact I would be happy with a Hulk that is almost under control. Almost anything could push him over the edge so the possibilities are endless. Loki of course is the obvious but not the only one.
4. Strong people who somehow connect.
A team is not just a group of people. It is not even just people who have trained together. There is something more that allows them to fully connect and work as one. This means that along the way each member of the Team has to find some sort of connection to all the others. Obviously showing all of this would pretty much fill up the whole movie so that would be bad.
As Joss well knows these moments can often happen in battle so I kinda suspect he will do a fair bit of that.
3. Captain America actively leading the team.
This is his classic job and I want to see him do it. Few CBMs have even tackled a group and those that have did not do very well. X-Men until X3 was all about solo combat. The Avengers should be a team from the very beginning and that means they have to be coordinated by someone. That someone is Captain America.
Being a team is more than fighting together. The whole becomes greater than the sum of the parts. The Avengers will need to learn how and Cap should already know.
2. Intense Massive Fights -- UltraAction!
To be successful any CBM has to have a nice balance of elements. You cannot just make a 2 hour fight with colorful characters and expect it to work. We have to know about the people and their motivations.
Ok obligatory nod to Reality over...
Comics are about big fights. UltraAction is what I hope they label the Avengers. Not only more than the normal movie but better, faster, more complex, more intense than anything anybody has even seen. I want Joss to take the intensity level and push it to 11. We can take it. Critics will lose their minds but we can take it and we will like it.
I want Quentin Tarantino to say "How can I top that?". Ok he has all the blood on his side but otherwise I want him worried. I want Steven Spielberg to go "Now that is what I call Epic!".
1. Let there be War!
Yes I realize this one is much like the last. I trust that makes the proper point on what I think a SuperHero Comic Book Movie should be like.
The Avengers cannot assemble for anything small. No matter how the Movie plays out I see the Team surrounded by the rubble that used to be a major city. Not because some bomb went off in a split second but because a battle was fought there. Cars thrown, buildings crumble around the warriors, lesser minions die in uncountable numbers, in short War.
It is where Captain America will finally feel the most at home. I think it is possible that Steve might want to lead a normal life when he is found. Seeing the remains of the battlefield should clear his vision and give him a purpose to replace WWII. He can still live but he must remain ready to answer the call...
Avengers Assemble!