5. Avengers Assemble (2012)
The Score: 5 StarsThe Avenger's Role: Summoned from his newly-built Stark Tower and the arms of his crush Pepper by Agent Coulson, Tony interjects in a battle between Captain America and Loki, before escorting the trickster Asgardian back to the SHIELD helicarrier after a further tussle with his brother Thor. Here, Tony hooks up with Bruce Banner (aka the Hulk), aiding in finding the location of the Tesseract along with placing a virus to discover SHIELD's true intentions for the fabled Cosmic Cube. Just as soon as the revelation of 'Phase Two' comes about, though, Stark is forced to put aside his uncertainty and work with Steve Rogers to stabilise the rapidly-falling Helicarrier. From here on out, and with the tragic alleged demise of Agent Coulson weighing on his mind, Stark elects to work with his fellow Avengers no matter what the cost of stopping Loki. The team face the Chiutari in the Battle Of New York, and Stark almost has to sacrifice himself by launching a nuclear missile through a closing portal of space at the alien mother-ship Thankfully, though, Tony plunges back down to Earth in time and is rescued by the returning Hulk, just before landing with a crash on the surface. With the battle done and dusted and Thor having taken his brother back to Asgard for trial, Tony rides off with Banner into the distance to return to Stark Tower and reunite with Pepper...
The Review: Few superhero ensemble films, or indeed franchise films in general, could even aspire to the success that Avengers Assemble managed last year. Somehow, Joss Whedon managed to take all of the integral parts of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and weld them into an iconic, shocking piece of cinema. While Robert Downey Jr's Iron Man gets a rightly big role given his success and credentials, it's testament to Whedon's creative vision that he manages to develop the character and his understanding of the world ready for the next solo instalment, rather than just having him as a go-to reference point for those fans who only saw the Iron Man movies in the run up to the ensemble.