Like the return of the swallows to
Capistrano or the swarming of the Monarchs from Mexico, the arrival
of spring each year is announced with almost natural periodicity by
the flocking of moviegoers to the new episode of Marvel Studios'
comic book superhero spectacular! Studio head Kevin Feige could
probably set his own watch to the volume of ticket receipts pouring
in, having masterminded the most lucrative business model in the
industry; An interconnected series of lean, lighthearted action films
that play to the people's love of Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.),
Captain America (Chris Evans), the mighty Thor (Chris Hemsworth), the
Incredible Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson),
Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and an ever growing cast of other costumed
do-gooders.
All signs would suggest that the
fandom's appetite to see Earth's mightiest heroes teaming up again
would be as insatiable as it was the first time they hit the big
screen together in 2012's box office champ The Avengers.
Writer-director Joss Whedon returns for this hotly anticipated
sequel, Avengers: Age of Ultron, and wastes no time in giving
the public what it wants, kicking off the super-squad's newest
adventure with that 'money shot' you've already seen a hundred times
in the trailers and TV ads:
