20 Greatest Summer Blockbusters Ever Made

17. The Avengers (2012)

The Avengers
Marvel Studios

RottenTomatoes Score: 92% (8/10)

Box Office: $1.519 billion

Why It's Awesome: Even with Joss Whedon writing and directing, few could have expected The Avengers to be such an awesome sum of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's collective parts.

Bringing together the franchise's headlining superheroes could have been a recipe for messy disaster, yet Whedon's intimate knowledge of these characters combined with his penchant for stinging dialogue ensures this 2012 mega-blockbuster remains the best of the 11 MCU films to date.

The unquestionable highlights are Tom Hiddleston as hilariously smarmy villain Loki, and of course Mark Ruffalo as the recast Bruce Banner, whose Hulk is easily the greatest screen portrayal of the character to date.

Though the opening is a little shaky and it's probably one of the most generically-shot films on this list, the wit, the personality and the riveting action makes it one of the very best comic book films ever.

Contributor
Contributor

Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.