2. The Avengers, 2012.
Directed by Joss Whedon.
Starring Robert Downey Jr. (Tony Stark/Iron Man) , Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Chris Evans (Steve Rogers/Captain America), Mark Ruffalo (Bruce Banner/The Hulk), Scarlett Johansson (Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow), Jeremy Renner (Clint Barton/Hawkeye), Tom Hiddleston (Loki), Samuel L. Jackson (Nick Fury), Clark Gregg (Agent Phil Coulson), Cobie Smulders (Maria Hill), Stellan Skarsgård (Erik Selvig), Gwyneth Paltrow (Pepper Potts) and Paul Bettany (J.A.R.V.I.S.).
Bringing together the most iconic characters at the studio’s disposal, Joss Whedon’s superhero epic The Avengers was a Marvel fan’s dream, delivering the customary blend of action, humour and spectacle as Earth’s Mightiest Heroes fend off an alien invasion led by the God of Mischief, Loki.
The first Marvel Studios movie to be distributed by Disney, The Avengers shattered records at the box office, becoming the biggest hit of 2013 and the third-highest grossing movie of all time with over $1.5 billion in receipts. Last year, our writers voted this as the fourth-best comic book movie of all time behind X2, Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, but it looks like we’ll need to revamp that list as The Avengers only manages to place second in our ranking of the Marvel Cinematic Universe…
Read our reviews of The Avengers here, here, here and here.
Originally published August 13, 2014. Updated April 12, 2018.
