I had never understood the love that people have for movie franchises until I saw "The Avengers" movie.
Even then, I thought it was a good movie. It quickly went to the back of my mind like most movies that I see. It wasn't until I watched "Captain America: The First Avenger" that I felt this spark ignite.
Watching Marvel movies always makes me feel like a little kid, cheering on the good guys and watching as the bad guys lose.
The thing that makes the MCU so powerful is that the good guys and bad guys aren't always clear. Marvel does an amazing job at capturing the complexity of human beings and human nature. Even the "good" guy can have selfish reasons for being good, and the "bad" guy isn't as bad as you think once you learn their story.
*SPOILERS ahead*
The First Avenger Captain America on paper is an all-good American boy with a heart of gold, but he has his own desires like anyone else.
He has a desire to be praised, to be loved, to be loyal to his beliefs, even if it's against those closest to him. He ultimately chooses himself over being there for his friends or the world. He realizes that his happiness was tied to a time period and woman that was long gone, only accessible through time travel.
The first villain for the Avengers to face is Loki, who on paper is a bad guy who killed thousands in the battle of New York. Looking further, it was because he felt he wasn't loved enough by his father.
When you peel back the layers, it's easy to find ways to relate to Loki. He believes that he is unlovable and that his only purpose in life is to be the bad guy because he felt he had no other options. Loki felt his father was hard on him and later found out that he was adopted. He learned he biologically was a frost giant and was adopted after being abandoned on Jötunheim. Loki's biological family, the Frost Giants, were longtime enemies of Asgardariens. This type of realization causes confusion to anyone on their identity and what their purpose is. Obviously, most people won't take the route of becoming a killer, but you can find ways to understand why he did.
The Avengers aren't totally clean. They also have their own demons they have had to face and people they have killed.
Natasha (Black Widow) was raised to be an assassin and killed many people before her journey with the Avengers started. Clint (Hawkeye) went on to become a killer when he lost his family to the snap and the only way for him to get on with his day was killing gang leaders even though it wasn't up to him to give justice.
Regardless of how you look at it, the Marvel franchise isn't just CGI and Fight Scenes but movies filled with anger, love, friendship, grief, family, and self-acceptance. Here are 9 quotes that feature this spirit.
