Let me tell you a little story. We’ll call it:
The Evolution of a Geek
Once upon a time there was this movie called Iron Man that I kind of liked. A lot. I watched it once and then again, and I had the vague notion that it was based on a comic book character that I had honestly never heard of. So I did what I always do in times like this…I Wikipedia’d the hell out of it. I read up on Iron Man and I kinda liked what I read because he was a very different kind of comic book hero.
And then Iron Man 2 came out, and I didn’t like it quite as much, but I will watch Sam Rockwell in anything. Seriously.
At the end of Iron Man 2 there is a post-credits scene wherein a very distinctive hammer is found in the middle of the New Mexican desert. Being aware of Thor as a character, at least more aware than I had been of Iron Man, I recognized Thor’s hammer right away. And I thought, “Huh. That’s interesting.”
Sometime not long after that I saw The Incredible Hulk with Ed Norton. Being a part of the very small minority that adored Ang Lee’s Hulk, I had up until this point been studiously avoiding the 2008 reboot. But I think we were bored, or something, because we watched it, and I really did kind of hate it, right up until Tony Stark walked in at the end of the film and said that they were “putting a team together.”
And I thought, “That’s very interesting.”
Of course, fans of the comics were already aware that The Avengers film had been announced several years before, but it wasn’t until they confirmed Joss Whedon as the director that I really sat up and took notice. Joss Whedon, who writes comic tragedy like he was born to do it. Joss Whedon, who does truly fantastic work with ensemble casts. When he described the Avengers as a motley family that “shouldn’t be in the same room let alone on the same team,” it certainly felt like he was the right guy for the job. Joss Whedon, who has actually written comic books.
Joss. Freaking. Whedon.
I knew that I would have to see the movie then if only for Joss (and Iron Man, of course), but I didn’t think much of the other films that were still coming. I figured I’d watch them, at some point, just so I wouldn’t feel totally lost.
But when Thor turned out to be, well, about 1000x better than I was expecting it to be, my excitement for The Avengers multiplied as well. Rather than being just a stepping stone for the penultimate film, Captain America was going to be the last we would see of any Avenger for almost a year. So I got myself incredibly pumped up for this last taste of the characters on the big screen before we finally see them all together next May.
This is not a movie review post, but let me tell you…I was not disappointed.
Much like the crowd for Harry Potter, the midnight moviegoers for Captain America were by and large devoted fans. There were more than a few fellow females and most seemed to be excited in their own right, not just there on the arms of a geeky boyfriend. For all of the condescension that female fans face, the girls in the comic tees geeking out together really made my heart fuzzy. After the credits for Captain America there’s a teaser trailer for The Avengers, and at one point during it the guy in front of me pumped both fists in the air. I wanted to hug him.
That comic book fans are so enamored of these movies makes me, to be honest, all the more interested in the comics. I’m not a longtime fan, like so many are, but I like what I see. Comic books intimidate the hell out of me; more than Doctor Who ever did, and that’s saying a lot. It is a very vast, very deep ocean, and I’m only just dipping my toes in. But like I said…I like what I see. And May is such a very long way away.
There’s almost nothing I can say, except that it’s the funnest ensemble movie in the history of the planet, and that Joss Whedon is God. - Clark Gregg
what I wanted to say: Guuuuurl, you’re talking to someone who has Comic Con on their bucket list. Someone who put The Avenger‘s opening night on her calendar 
The Transformers trilogy is cheesy. Nicholas Sparks’ movies are capital-C-H-eeeeesy. Anything that comes packaged with the words “an ABC family special” is most certainly going to be cheesy. Captain America is a period piece that does justice to the comics and to the character.
