The Original Avengers vs. The New Avengers
By:Jonathan Cyfer
The Avengers is a unique superhero team because, from the very beginning, they were never meant to have a permanent roster. If you recall the comic book origin from way back in 1963, The evil Loki, half-brother to the heroic Thunder God, was planning a trap for Thor by tricking the powerful but hapless Hulk into destroying a railroad trestle. At the last second, the Hulk was able to save the train, including passengers and crew, from falling into a canyon, but it was too late to keep him from being branded a "killer". Loki was hoping to trick Thor into going after the Hulk, then springing whatever trap he had in mind, but he goofed.
When he diverted a radio message about the Hulk's attack that was intended for the Fantastic Four, so that it could be heard on an ordinary radio in the office of Dr. Don Blake (Thor's alter ego), he didn't count on it also being picked up by Tony Stark (Iron Man), and Dr Henry Pym (Ant-Man) and Janet Van Dyne (The Wasp). Together, they go after the Hulk, discover Loki's plot and defeat him, and at the same time, convince the Hulk to join their new team: The Avengers. Each hero operates separately (OK, Ant-Man and the Wasp were a team) but when the need arises, they would come together to confront whatever menace or crisis that threatened the world as the Avengers.
Ant-Man, The Hulk, Iron Man, Thor, The Wasp. Wait a minute! Who are Ant-Man and The Wasp?
SandwichJohnFilms recently (along with everybody else) announced the line up of actors who'll play in the upcoming Avengers (2012) film. Scarlett Johansson (The Black Widow), Chris Evans (Captain America), Jeremy Renner (Hawkeye), Mark Ruffalo/Lou Ferrigno (Bruce Banner/Hulk [voice]), Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man), and Chris Hemsworth (Thor). Close, but not quite the original 1963 line up.
Of course, films don't have to be slavishly devoted to their comic book origins and in fact, given that the film will be released almost 50 years after Avengers #1 was published, it's probably a good idea to change a few things around. There's also probably a good reason why Ant-Man and the Wasp weren't included.
While the adventures of Henry Pym and Janet Van Dyne were chronicled in the late, great Tales to Astonish, they never had a huge following all by themselves. Pym started out as Ant-Man, but being tiny and having the ability to talk to ants just didn't "do it" in a superhero ensemble, so he reinvented himself, first as Giant Man, then as Goliath, and eventually into the Yellowjacket, and on and on...but never as a hero with his own comic book. In Tales to Astonish issue 70, his slot (shared with the Incredible Hulk feature) was given to Prince Namor, the Sub-Mariner, who was a far more interesting character. No wonder Pym and Van Dyne didn't make the cut in the film.
Captain America wasn't an original Avenger, but he didn't miss it by much. He was thawed out by Avengers issue 4 just in time to replace the Hulk, who never really fit in with a team, always suspecting that the rest of the Avengers would turn against him. Cap was a natural leader, so you could imagine him taking over the helm quite easily, but one of the interesting things about the comic book Avengers (I don't know if they'll continue this tradition in the movies) was that leadership rotated on a monthly basis, so each member had their turn at being chairman ("chairperson" in today's politically correct language). That means, along with the male members, The Wasp, who was all of about 20 years old at the time the team was formed, would have had an equal amount of time leading one of the world's most powerful super teams, as any of the male members. Quite progressive for the early 1960s.
Hawkeye. What can we say about Hawkeye? He originally appeared in Tales of Suspense issue 57 (1964) as a dupe of the evil Soviet spy, the Black Widow. The Widow was the one to develop Clint Barton's (Hawkeye's real name) "trick" arrows and send him after Iron Man. Believe it or not, armed with arrows containing a chemical "warhead" able to dissolve Stark's armor, he almost defeated the Golden Avenger, but of course, in the 1960s, heroes never failed, so Iron Man rallied. Hawkeye escaped, fell in love with the Black Widow and, as her character slowly changed, resulting in her eventual defection to the west and joining S.H.I.E.L.D as a double-agent (and as she developed a costume with a few "spider" powers), she returned his love.
Hawkeye joined the Avengers as one of the replacement members after the core, Iron Man, Thor, Giant-Man, and the Wasp left to pursue individual priorities. Along with mutant siblings Quicksilver and the Scarlett Witch (late of the Magneto's Brotherhood of Evil Mutants), Hawkeye became a member of a less powerful and some might say, less emotionally stable team of Avengers. Cap was the anchor of the team but Hawkeye was always jealous of his fame and abilities and Barton was always getting into fights with the equally hot-tempered Pietro (Quicksilver). While Hawkeye was another hero who really wasn't made to carry his own magazine single handedly, he was always an Avenger. Making him a founding (film) Avengers member makes sense with this in mind.
Speaking of the Scarlett Witch, I just have to mention that I'm a little disappointed the Avengers film doesn't include more than one female member of the team. In the 1960s, most hero teams had mainly male members with one lone female for the girl readers to relate to. It's even a stretch to include the Black Widow in the film, in terms of comic book history. The Black Widow often shared many of her adventures with the Avengers but wasn't made a formal member until the late 1960s, though she was more an honorary member and didn't contribute much to their ongoing saga.
Beyond the 1960s, the histories of many of these characters and the Avengers as a team is too complicated to record, at least in a short blog post, yet the film creators wisely have chosen to stick closely with the 1960s foundation of the team roster and apparently origin, if rumors that Tom Hiddleston will be cast in the film as Loki are true. This makes things less convoluted and upholds at least some of the original canon.
The Original Avengers vs. The New Avengers: which team is "better"? "Better" is certainly a relative term, but I have to agree that the Ant-Man and Wasp would have made poor founding members for the initial Avengers film. Action/Adventure films are all about the visuals and the "splash". While I must admit that the Ant-Man is one of my favorite characters and I'm looking forward to the Ant-Man (2012) film, from a strictly graphic point of view, he needs to have his own environment. It's too confusing in an action film to keep switching from an ant-sized perspective to a mega Iron Man/Thor/Hulk sized viewpoint. Pym and Van Dyne would just get lost amid the explosions and mass destruction that will certainly be a part of the Avengers movie. While Cap, Hawkeye, and the Black Widow aren't quite on the same "power level" as their other team mates, they bring many other skills to the table while still being "large" enough to remain part of the overall spectacle.
The Original Avengers vs. The New Avengers. Which team is better? For a 21st century motion picture, I'd have to say, the "new" team wins. I'm looking forward to hearing the cry, "Avengers Assemble!"
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Read Jonathan Cyfer's blog: The Missing Man.
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