The Avengers

Loki (Tom Hiddleston) comes to Earth and steals the Tesseract, a powerful cube whose energy the secret organization S.H.I.E.L.D. is trying to harness. In the process, he brings S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner) and Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgård), the scientist working on the Tesseract, under his control. For S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), what started as a research project has now turned into a global threat. His response to this has, so far, existed mainly as an idea: the Avengers.

Fury has his eye on the right people. Whether they’ll work together is another question. Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), as Iron Man, possesses highly advanced armor and little interest in taking orders. Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) is the super-soldier Captain America, who has only just arrived in the present after decades spent frozen in ice. Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) is primarily trying to prevent himself from turning into the Hulk. Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) works for S.H.I.E.L.D., just like Barton. And Thor (Chris Hemsworth) has yet another reason to intervene: Loki is his brother.

This group has no shortage of extraordinary abilities. But it does lack reasons to trust one another. The recruitment process quickly reveals how differently Fury’s candidates react to the same threat. Natasha pulls Banner out of his self-imposed seclusion, Rogers is relatively easy to convince to join the mission, and Stark treats S.H.I.E.L.D. much the same way he treats institutions in general: as an invitation to find their weaknesses.

When Thor shows up to retrieve his brother Loki, the supposed allies clash directly for the first time. Iron Man confronts him, and Captain America finally tries to put an end to the confrontation. The fact that three of the film’s most powerful characters end up fighting each other in the middle of a forest says a lot about Fury’s plan: Being on the same side doesn’t necessarily mean functioning as a team.

They don’t find peace even aboard the Helicarrier, S.H.I.E.L.D.’s massive flying headquarters. Although Loki is held there as a prisoner in a security cell, mistrust and tension continue to grow among his opponents. Stark provokes Rogers, Banner tries to keep his cool, Thor wants his brother back, and Natasha knows that Barton is still under Loki’s influence. Banner, in particular, offers a refreshing contrast to the usual superhero persona. Mark Ruffalo doesn’t portray him as someone waiting to finally show his true strength. He wants to prevent exactly that. Amid all the men demonstrating their abilities, his most remarkable ability at first is simply to remain seated calmly.

When the attack reaches New York, there’s hardly any room left for internal conflicts. Captain America takes charge of coordination, Iron Man moves between the streets and the sky, and Thor and the Hulk go wherever their strength is needed. Natasha and Barton fight on equal footing, even though things are already happening around them that make a pistol and a bow seem rather modest by comparison.

A long camera sweep ultimately connects several of these battles. It follows one Avenger, finds the next, and passes the movement on. What previously consisted of individual characters, conflicts, and abilities actually comes together for a moment.

For the first time, you don’t see Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, or the Hulk on their own. You see the Avengers.