I like the fact that they got Lou Ferrigno to voice the Hulk again (like he did in the '08 film). That amuses me for some reason

A little surprising to see such a spectacular Bechdel Test failure from a writer/director so notable for his awesome lady characters.

I say bad idea. In Thor they establish that whoever holds the hammer gets ultra superpowers so by picking it up Cap would have been transformed into Captain Asgard and Thor would've become a mortal.

I read that almost as Odin taunting Thor or at trying to get him motivated. Because he's basically saying you are no longer worthy to be Thor. Anyone else wanna give it a shot? And yes, it is just a spell to make sure Thor can't pick it up and regain his powers until he's worthy.

It's basically a combination of Hercules and Arthurian legend. The gods remove his godhood and turn him into a man, and he needs to prove that he can be a true hero before he can lift the sword from the stone and become a god again.

I'm also not a fan of the whole you just have to be really strong to pick up Mjolnir thing. It kinda undermines that whole otherworldly powers thing that asgard has going on. I've always seen it as Thor having some sort of deep seated almost magical connection to Mjolnir, which is why he can call it to him at will, and it can make him fly etc etc.

Maybe that happens(I can't recall that one way, or the other)... But, I'm not suggesting that Capt. get the powers.
But, something more along the lines of "the sword in the stone" ! You know ? Only those worthy can even pick the thing up !?!
Just to show more of Cap.'s character being "true of heart/pure" /etc.....
And because of this, maybe the other characters see that this is one of Steve Rogers' greatest strengths, just like Erskine saw in him.

My point exactly.

It's worth bearing in mind that Mjolnir is merely Thor's weapon of choice, it may have powers (principally over weather and lightning, and allow him to 'fly') but it's neither the source of his powers nor his only power (as evidenced in Avengers when he's fighting without it). It's easy to confuse what happened with the hammer in the Thor film, which was a specific test of his character, with Thor generally.

There have been other wielders of the hammer throughout the comic run, and some have been able to use Mjolnir's powers, but none to my knowledge have stripped Thor of his own natural ones. (In fact, there's a long run where Thor fails to prove himself worthy and ends up killing most of the Marvel heroes without it anyway.)

Saw Avengers last night here in London. All good loud dumb fun. The biggest laugh was when the Hulk throws around Loki, although it reminded me a bit of the old Looney Tunes Bugs Bunny violence. Everyone is indestructible and no matter how many buildings they get thrown into, it's just a matter of brushing off the rubble and making a few groaning sounds, and it's back into the fray. That super-gun that Coulson had merely  knocked Loki over (one of hundreds of times he was knocked over) and he just gets up again. Whack-a-mole. Or WWF.

The end battle was a visual spectacle (similar FX to the end of Transformers 3), but all without any tension. Surely in Avengers 2, then can solve the 'too many characters' problem by adding a few more and then killing a few off to show that they are vulnerable. And did a single civilian get injured? If you're going to hurl exploding cars through the streets of NYC, you're going to crush kiddies and their cute pet kittens. More of the consequences/stakes please in the blu-ray (which doesn't have to be PG-13 rated) or Avengers 2.

Also, Loki says 'what is an ant to a boot' but this 'boot' seems very keen that the ants kneel in servitude. Gods make themselves petty if they care so much whether the ants are worshipping them enough. If a Hollywood star becomes A-list, they tend to resent the constant adulation and want to retreat and be normal. Loki comes across more as a needy C-list celeb.

What else? The forced bickering is become a lazy, cliched way to show character interaction. This got boring in the first season of 'House'. Everyone in movies seems to have Asperger's these days. The flying aircraft carrier was cool. You guys are right about Fury & the Plinkett test. Good call.

Last edited by avatar (2012-05-17 17:57:48)

If you guys don't want to see that, I get it. And I understand. But, from a nerd's perspective, Cap.'s always been a favorite of mine. And to show something like that, is just one more feather in his hat.
I realize that the non-comics readers don't want to have tons of "inside" nerd nods thrown at them, only to fly right over their heads, but .....
When Hulk mentions trying to commit suicide, only to have "the big guy spit the bullet right back out." .... that's from a comic story arc.
There are tons of cool little nods. Maybe the hammer thing would be too much, but, maybe we can see something cool like that in the next Avengers films.

Awesome.
And to be extra clear to anyone who misunderstood: I never wanted to see Cap. inherit Thor's powers. Just to showcase that he is not someone who craves power, or anything close to that. But, he is clearly someone who intends nothing but the best. He is absolutely a good guy. There is no evil in his heart.