I know. I know. I'm sorry, but I swear that this time we can be done and go back to our regularly scheduled coverage, I just can't leave it like that and I'm afraid I have too much to say for it to be a little throwaway so, yes, here's one more Avengers column. I haven't been able to shut up about it for what feels like months, I know, but it has been THE THING in the comic book universe for so long and now it's happened and I feel like we need closure. I mean, we've been seeing Avengers previews for, what, four years now? Also, I kind of feel like I owe you guys after linking to the Steve Rogers/Tony Stark Tumblr last week.

 

I actually hesitated to write this column because JG,FE has written an actual review of the movie that you should go read because it's excellent but it was pointed out that there is, literally, no other topic of conversation in the nerd herd this weekend. Seriously, find me a discussion about anything but The Avengers. Besides, I don't know if many of them are going to bring you the same joyous tidings that I will, namely that Joss Whedon is a big liarpants and there is, in fact, some honest-to-gosh romance there. Gwyneth Paltrow and Robert Downey Jr. light up the screen as Pepper Potts and Tony Stark and, while some people say that shouldn't have made the cut, I say they're insane. Pepper and Tony just hanging out in the penthouse of Stark Tower was both hilarious and sweet, both times it happened, and that's just the part that's not a giant spoiler waiting to happen. There's also a little blink-and-you'll-miss it Thor and Jane moment that made me feel all warm and fuzzy. That Chris Hemsworth does stoically concerned so well, it's amazing.

 

I've said it before and I'm sure I'll say it again, but it's these moments that ground our Avengers, that make them invested in our, admittedly, silly little world. And it was juuuuuust enough to break up the nonstop awesome fight scenes and blowin' stuff up that was the rest of the movie without dragging it down. Also, the bromance between Tony Stark and Mark Ruffalo's Bruce Banner was awesome and Jeremy Renner and Scarlett Johansson as Hawkeye and Black Widow had...I don't know. It was something. Something intriguing. We'll have to see how much they stick to the funnybooks on that one. I don't think they'll go with the actual Hawkeye/Black Widow story necessarily, they were too close for it in the movie, but I'll be interested to see how future releases tell that story. Honestly, it could go either way and, truth be told, I almost hope they make them just friends because, really, making them an item almost feels like the easy way out. Not that I wouldn't trade unspeakable things to see them together but let's think about the story here.

 

So! Now that I've totally backseat reviewed The Avengers (ilu, JG,FE, I couldn't help it) and dyed my hair red this weekend, that's that. It was fun, wasn't it, nerdlings? We have finally seen The Avengers, an event four years in the making. Now what the hell do we do? | Erin Jameson