Hero Worship
The character-defining moments of MCU’s ‘surviving’ heroes…
James ‘RHODEY’ Rhodes Refusing to arrest Cap and co
When Rhodey told his tank stories in Age
Of Ultron, the Avengers looked unimpressed. In Infinity War, his righteous insubordination banked a warmer reception. As Cap and co return from Civil War’s fall-out, Thaddeus Ross orders Rhodes to arrest them. Yet Rhodes swiftly disconnects his hologram call to Ross, recognising that people need Team Cap more than the Sokovia Accords. Dutiful though he may be, Rhodey doesn’t flinch from rising above past enmities to do the right thing. Even if Vision cost him the use of his legs, what’s a court martial between friends with the world at stake?
iron man “I am Iron Man”
The unlikely casting of Robert Downey Jr. was the masterstroke that set the whole MCU in motion. After Stark’s supersuited smackdown with Iron Monger in Iron Man, he’s ready to face the press with a S.H.I.E.L.D.-approved alibi, but decides to go off-piste. Art imitated life, as RDJ himself was actually going off-script – he ad-libbed the line, and changed the course of the MCU in the process. “That success inspired us to go further in trusting ourselves to find the balance of staying true to the comics but not being afraid to adapt and evolve and to change things,” said Kevin Feige of the improv moment. Not only is that flippant reveal true to the snarky, sarky hero, it also became something of a mission statement for a franchise that wasn’t going to allow its heroes to glower in the shadows. And, while anyone could don a robotic supersuit, no one else could inhabit the character the way Downey Jr. does.
Natasha romanoff Pull up a chair
Beyond her ability to take down several goons at once, Iron Man 2 underused Romanoff. Joss Whedon wasted no time addressing that oversight in Avengers Assemble. Tied to a chair and interrogated by Russian heavies, Natasha feigns terror but slowly clarifies who’s asking the questions here: “You really think I’m pretty?” With Scarlett Johansson’s performance well-pitched between faux-fright and world-weary experience (“This moron…”), she soon pulverises her enemies with every tool available. Swiftly, wittily, a picture emerges of a quick, tricksy, resourceful and lethal operative, whose skill at turning the tables (and chairs) on unsuspecting opponents should never be underestimated.