Who is God?
MARVEL AVENGERS ASSEMBLE
Director: Joss Whedon
Cert. 12A
Running time: 143 minutes
Marvel Avengers Assemble brings together the superheroes Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, the Incredible Hulk, Black Widow and Hawkeye, assembled by Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury, with no lesser task than to save the world from Thor’s megalomaniac half-brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston).
Smart, manipulative and twisted by jealousy, hubris, power and perhaps a little bit of fear, Loki makes a truly scary villain. Nonetheless, Thor’s efforts to reason with and rein in his brother are noble, if somewhat ambitious.
Found family
As with much of writer-director Joss Whedon’s work, there’s a mistrust of authority and the dangers of excessive power, but also the theme of found family, where broken characters come together (sometimes reluctantly) to find meaning and purpose and love beyond themselves. In some ways, it’s representative of the church (though not in terms of relationship with God).
As such, the character interaction is one of the best things about Whedon’s stories, and this is no exception. As the Avengers assemble, their differences become very apparent and manifest themselves in the form of highly quotable verbal sparring, not to mention actual fighting. Thus, the action sequences, rather than being mere set-pieces, move the story forward organically.
Marvel Avengers Assemble works as a film in its own right, though if you’ve seen the characters’ previous films, you’ll have a greater understanding of where the individual characters are coming from, before they come together to form a team.
Content-wise, there’s violence in the film, but what’s (deliberately) more shocking is psychological in terms of the places that some of the characters would go, morally speaking. There are a few instances of bad language, including the one in the first full trailer, and one archaic but reportedly very bad word.
Loki plays God, seeking to rule the people of earth, and the Avengers defy him. This could be construed as an atheistic statement (and probably is, given that Joss Whedon’s a clear atheist), but also could work as a rejection of the tyranny of a false god. As Thor tells Loki, if he thinks himself above his (planned) subjects, then he’s not fit to rule. (Though the film doesn’t recognise it, what a contrast with the true God who became human and laid down his life for his people.)
Redemption
The theme of redemption is present, with one character being told that their ledger is dripping red from all the blood that they’ve spilt over the years. The film, as with the rest of Whedon’s work (especially Angel), seems to view redemption less in terms of specific atonement and more in terms of moral realignment and relating to others in love. While this is a very important part, it’s not the whole story. True atonement is only possible through Jesus.
Good versus evil
As opposed to the likes of Watchmen and even The Dark Knight, Marvel Avengers Assemble is interested in reconstructing rather than deconstructing the superhero genre. In fact, it critiques a pragmatic, ends-justify-the-means philosophy. As such, it’s a relatively old-fashioned tale of good versus evil, celebrating heroic values such as courage, sacrifice and teamwork through wit, heart and spectacle.
