For
an entire week, my husband and I immersed ourselves into the Marvel Universe.
The bold and brash Tony Stark swaggered through our living room. Thor, with “just
the right amount of stupid” delighted us. Steve Rogers tugged at our hearts. We
speculated about Natalia Romanova’s past and discussed the tie between her and
Clint Barton. And through it all, we discussed the melancholy isolation of
Bruce Banner. I have a particular fondness for these comic book heroes who
exploded onto the screen during a rough period in our lives and continue to
entertain us with their enormous adventures.
Yesterday, our anticipation to view Avengers: Age of Ultron found us sitting
in the theater extra early—the only way to get a good seat. Reality suspended,
our world of unrest tucked into the background as we wallowed in mayhem and
destruction Hollywood-style.
Afterward, we headed for Papouli’s,
our favorite Greek restaurant, and discussed our love of these fictional heroes
with our gyros. Our lively conversation wound from the story line of the movie
to the future exploits of these characters. We discussed the increasing tension
between key characters and toyed with possible script twists and turns as the
series moves forward.
By the time I dipped my French fries
into ketchup, we drifted into suppositions about what approach the DC World will
have as a result of the success of the Marvel franchise. Will we see yet
another rehashing of Batman? Or will the DC Comic leadership imitate their
rivals and pull fans into an intricately woven narrative that doesn’t focus on
one or two characters, but instead draws into the lives of the Justice League?
Will their tactic of introducing audiences to the entire League all at once and
following up with a Part Two escapade compare to Marvel’s build-up into the
Avengers and all of their individual storylines?
In the end, I suppose I’ll eventually
find myself again smack in the center row of the theater enjoying the quests of
each of these heroes.
