Growing up I collected X-men comics. It wasn’t exclusively X-men, but it was pretty damn close. I had a very narrow view of the Marvel Universe at that time, and anything that wasn’t X-men was crap. Unfortunately this meant that while I was aware of who Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, and Nick Fury were, I remained ignorant on their importance and history within the Marvel Universe. So when May 2008 rolled around and a little indie art flick called Iron Man was released, well, I was pleasantly surprised at its quality. Not really being an Iron Man fan I had no idea what to expect. My friends educated me, though: Robert Downy, Jr. was Tony Stark. I had no reason to disagree. In fact, Iron Man, along with The Dark Knight, were my two favorite movies that year.
Unsurprisingly Iron Man made everyone else’s Top 10 lists for that year, ensuring a sequel. Edward Norton’s The Incredible Hulk was also released that year. While it didn’t do Iron Man numbers, it made money for Marvel. And then the whispers started. Iron Man’s success greenlit Thor and Captain America. Then there were more whispers. In the faintest of voices, the comic lovers of geekdom dared to dream: Would Marvel make an Avenger’s movie? All the pieces seemed to be falling into place. Iron Man. Thor. Captain America. Hulk. They were all there. If only someone could pick up the pieces and put them together. Who would have the massive cojones required to pull all these characters together and tell a good story? Or, a better question to ask, who would be just crazy enough to try?
