The original slate of Marvel movies started with X-Men, which was released back in 2000 by 20th Century Fox (I’m leaving out Marvel movies such as Blade and The Punisher and sticking with the traditional Marvel superheroes). X-Men was soon followed by Spider-Man, Daredevil and Hulk. I really enjoy the X-Men franchise and the first two Spider-Man movies were also pretty solid. I liked Daredevil, but I don’t think anyone else did so I think we have to chalk that one up under failure. Hulk was one of the top five worst movies of all time. In 2005, 20th Century Fox released Fantastic Four, which I didn’t think was any good but of course we needed a sequel that was much worse and put the franchise to bed.

In 2007, the X-Men had already made their last stand and Tobey Maguire was 32-years-old. Despite being way to old to play Spider-Man, the franchise lived on for one last hurrah with the release of Spider-Man 3 (Of course now it’s going to be rebooted but it was the death of that franchise). The trailer for Spider-Man 3 looked amazing but the movie disappointed. It was a sad way to see that successful slew of movies end. With this slate of Marvel characters dying off, Marvel decided to form its own studio.

Four years ago, Marvel Cinematic Universe released Iron Man starring Robert Downey Jr. The movie was fantastic and revamped Downey Jr.’s career. As the credits rolled my friends and I all looked at my friend Jeremy because for some reason we all think he soon know if there’s a scene after the credits. As we all stared at him he said something along the lines of, “Yeah, there’s a scene after the credits.” If I remember correctly I don’t think he actually knew there was a scene after the credits but he just said yes and it’s a damn good thing he did.

At the end of the credits, Downey Jr. walked into his house to find Samuel L. Jackson (Nick Fury) in his living room. Out of the few lines Jackson had, the most important was, “I’m here to talk to you about the Avenger Initiative.” I thought to myself, “So wait…a movie with a bunch of superheroes in it as once? That sounds epic! Which ones will they choose?”

It was at this point where I found out certain studios had rights to certain superheroes so Marvel Cinematic Universe couldn’t use Wolverine, Spider-Man or The Thing among others. The Marvel Cinematic Universe was able to resurrect The Hulk in the 2008 movie The Incredible Hulk starring Edward Norton. After Iron Man 2 (A film in which Black Widow was unveiled), Marvel Cinematic Universe needed to get the other three Avengers out there before the 2012 movie.

Thor was a surprisingly good movie, in which Hawkeye played a very small role. Finally, the studio released Captain America: The First Avenger, for which I didn’t really care, and everything was set for The Avengers.

I want to start by complimenting the end-credits scenes in all of the movies leading up to The Avengers. The scenes served as an extended trailer for The Avengers. Everything just connected and came together so well. The Avengers didn’t have to explain anything because we already knew about everything because the movies and post-credits scenes put it all together for us. That allowed The Avengers to jump right into the conflict and provide non-stop action. There wasn’t a dull moment.

I can’t say enough about the casting, acting and writing. Robert Downey Jr. is Iron Man. If a role was ever made based on his personality it’s Iron Man. Downey Jr. has absolutely nailed that character in every movie and because of that The Avengers was really able to build off his persona. Chris Hemsworth (Thor) impressed me again. Chris Evans (Captain America) continued to embody his character. Mark Ruffalo (Hulk) did a fantastic job in a new role for him. Jeremy Renner (Hawkeye) and Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow) also did very well in much more significant roles. Samuel L. Jackson was Samuel L. Jackson. Everyone truly got it done.

The writing was phenomenal. Everyone in the movie had so many great and humorous lines. Everything about the dialogue was fantastic. I won’t say any of the lines to ruin it, but judging by the massive box office success you’ve probably already seen The Avengers.

I honestly don’t know what else I can say. The Avengers was absolutely incredible. Every character, every fight scene, every special effect was truly remarkable. I didn’t see the movie in 3-D so I really can’t attest to that visual. It was truly beautiful and it embodied Marvel Studios, which combines a perfect blend of comedy, action and drama.

I guess I have one flaw. I feel as though Thor should have been more powerful than he portrayed in the film. This is a guy that almost single-handedly took on an entire race in Thor. I don’t think he should have had as much trouble as he did in some of his fights. That’s the only thing that kind of sort of bothered me.

Where does it rank?

Is The Avengers the greatest superhero movie of all time? I will say it’s the greatest superhero movie based on Marvel characters. However, it’s tough to put it up against some of my favorite movies ever, which so happen to be superhero movies. The Dark Knight, Batman Begins, Watchmen and V for Vendetta are all in my top 10 favorite movies of all time. If not, they’re very close. The Avengers belongs up there with those movies by I find them impossible to compare. They’re all superhero movies but they all go about their stories in different ways.

Like I said earlier, The Avengers has an equal blend of comedy, action and drama. It’s more of a fun movie that kids of all ages can see. The Dark Knight and Batman Begins are much darker. They still have the comedy and no grotesque gore but the movie has much more drama. Watchmen and V for Vendetta are extremely dark. They have R ratings for a reason. The subject matters are very deep and somewhat sickening at times. The images created are quite graphic.

Because of this, I honestly believe you have to put them all on the same playing field. I don’t think The Avengers is better than The Dark Knight nor do I think The Dark Knight is better than The Avengers. They’re just two spectacular movies that went about their script and characters in different ways. (I really hope you understood all that because I don’t think I did a good job of explaining it)

THE BOTTOM LINE: With years of anticipation, The Avengers was set up perfectly by its predecessors and delivered an all-around motion picture that was well worth the wait.

For the first time in Cup of Joe’s short history, I’ll hand out my first perfect rating. I’ll give The Avengers 5 out of 5 cups.

The Avengers totaled a staggering $207 million in its opening weekend, which is the biggest opening weekend ever. It clobbered Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2‘s opening weekend by about $40 million dollars. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 held the previous mark with a $169 million opening weekend.

As of May 16, The Avengers made a domestic total of approximately $396 million versus a production budget of $220 million, according to Box Office Mojo.

The Avengers has a rating of 93% at Rotten Tomatoes while users at the Internet Movie Database gave it 8.7 out of 10 stars.

To see the movie trailer for The Avengers, click here.