2. The Avengers

Do you remember where you were when you went to see The Avengers in 2012? This was the first time an all-star cast from a bunch of different, but connected, movies would come together to make one movie that furthers all their stories. The cast consisted of Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark / Iron Man, Chris Evans as Steve Rogers / Captain America, Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner / Hulk, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow, Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton / Hawkeye, Clark Gregg as Phil Coulson, Cobie Smulders as Maria Hill, Stellan Skarsgård as Erik Selvig, Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, and Tom Hiddleston as Loki.

The movie begins with Loki’s meeting with The Other, the leader of an alien race called The Chitauri. They strike a deal where if Loki retrieves the Tesseract, The Other promises Loki an army with he can attack Earth. Nicky Fury and Agent Maria Hill arrive at a S.H.I.E.L.D facility during an evacuation, where Dr. Selvig and his team have been experimenting on the Tesseract. Agent Coulson explains it has been radiating strong energy which then opens up a wormhole allowing Loki to reach Earth. Loki takes the Tesseract and uses his scepter to mind control Dr. Selvig and Barton/Hawkeye which they then escape. Fury then initiates the “Avengers Initiative”. Agent Romanoff is sent to Calcutta to recruit Bruce Banner so he can trace the Tesseract radiation emissions. Agent Coulson meets with Stark to have him look over Dr. Selvig’s research, while Fury approaches Steve Rogers to retrieve the Tesseract.

In Stuttgart, Barton steals Iridium, needed to stabilize the Tesseract’s power while Loki creates a distraction, which leads to a confrontation between Captain America, Iron Man, Black Widow, which ends with Loki’s surrender. While being escorted to S.H.I.E.L.D, Thor arrives and takes him, wanting him to return to Asgard and forget his evil plan. After a brief scuffle, Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor agree to take Loki back to S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Hellicarrier. When the arrive, Loki is imprisoned while Banner and Stark attempt to locate the Tesseract.

The Avengers become divided with what to do with Loki, and when they discover S.H.I.E.L.D.’s plans to use the Tesseract to make weapons to use against alien races if needed. While arguing Hawkeye and other controlled agents attack the Hellicarrier, disabling one of its engines and enraging Banner into the Hulk. Tony and Rogers work to restart the engine, while Thor attempts to calm down the Hulk. Romanoff fights Hawkeye and knocks him unconscious, breaking Loki’s mind control. Loki escapes but kills Agent Coulson and sending Thor crashing to Earth and the Hulk falling to the
ground from attacking a S.H.I.E.L.D. aircraft jet. Loki then uses the device Dr. Selvighas made for him while under his mind control to open a wormhole over Stark Tower to allow the Chitauri army to attack.

Captain America, Iron Man, Black Widow, Hawkeye, and Thor begin defending New York when Banner arrives transforming into the Hulk and together all of them fight the Chitauri while the civilians evacuate New York City. Black Widow makes it to Dr. Selvig and his machine where he is no longer being mind controlled and reveals Loki’s scepter can shut down the generator opening the wormhole. Meanwhile, Nick Fury’s superiors at the World Security Council decide to launch a missile towards Manhattan in an attempt to stop the invasion. Iron Man intercepts the missile and carries it through the wormhole, projecting it to the Chitauri command ship destroying it and shutting down the Chitauri, but sends him falling back to Earth just before Romanoff closes the wormhole and the Hulk catches Stark before hitting the ground. In the aftermath, Thor returns with Loki to Asgard with the Tesseract, while Fury states the Avengers will be there if ever needed again. In a mid-credits scene, the Other confers with his master, Thanos, about the failed attack on Earth. In a post-credits scene, the Avengers eat in silence at a shawarma restaurant.

The Avengers movie was a gift a lot of comic book nerds like myself never thought that we would ever be seeing on the big screen before out own eyes, and boy did it not disappoint. The action, the story, everything about this movie did not disappoint. If the Marvel Cinematic Universe wasn’t big from the other movies before it, it exploded with this movie. This movie had such a cultural impact, it broke records, and did something that a lot of people never thought could be done by bring in so many big named actors into one movie while telling multiple stories as one. It is a movie that may not have won prestigious awards, but will always be remembered and rightfully deserves it’s #2 spot.

So what do you think? Does The Avengers deserve its spot at #2? Should it be #1 or should it be lower? Let us know in the comments below!