Avengers

For me, the most interesting scenes were when each Avenger was given a small scene to expand on their character and emotions. In a full-on action film, it was pretty impressive to also include these character moments.

(Obviously, the following explanations are full of spoilers & apologies if I keep alternating between their real and superhero names)

Iron Man - Just after Agent Coulson has been killed Stark is standing with Captain America and you can see that Stark is devastated by the loss of Coulson. Captain America even comments on this: "Is this the first soldier you've lost?" And it's true. Since becoming Iron Man, Coulson is the first friend that Stark has lost and you can really see it on his face.

Thor - There's a small scene set on the bridge of the Helicarrier where Thor is speaking to Coulson about how guilty he feels that the entirety of planet Earth is under threat from his own flesh and blood. A good strong scene that expands on the fact that Thor is here to defend Earth for selfless reasons.

Captain America - This one's a very short scene, but effective. Right at the beginning, Nick Fury comes to see Rogers at the gym. While talking Rogers says ''They say we won the war, but they don't say what we lost.'' Considering its only one line, this is one of the best ways I've seen character development done quickly. It reminds us that he was frozen long before the dropping of two nuclear bombs on Japan, before Vietnam, before Watergate, before the Cold War. Think about it, he's just been woken up to see the country he loved and served to go to war on false pretenses in Iraq. America he has woken up to (at least to him) is much worse than the America he left. He's a true man out of time.

Hulk - I felt the scene with Stark and Banner talking to each other in the lab was quite a moving scene. While it's very ''science-y'', you can tell from the way Banner talks that one of the worst things he has to put up with is that he's always alone. He can't enjoy life to the fullest because of his fear of hurting someone and Stark does a great job of emphasizing with him.

Black Widow - Hands down the scene shows the aftermath of the Hulk attacking her. Bear in mind her last two confrontation scenes she always came out on top (The Russian interrogation and the talk with Loki). But after running away from the Hulk and almost getting killed, she's just lying on the floor, not moving, almost catatonic. I love this scene because it shows, as strong as she is, even Black Widow has limits to her mental and physical state.

Hawkeye - His character moment comes after he's woken up from being knocked unconscious by Black Widow. Here he talks about how many people he's killed in the course of helping Loki. I'm glad they didn't overlook this. It's a perfect character beat since Hawkeye is responsible for the deaths of over 100 men and women. These people were not only colleagues but close friends and people who had families. At the beginning of the movie, Captain America bets Captain Fury that he can't surprise him with the world's development, after running around in the street and seeing more than enough craziness. Most of my favorite moments have been mentioned, but:Fury: I want to know how he was able to turn two of the brightest men I know into his own personal flying monkeys.

Thor: Flying monkeys?

Capt. America: I got it. *beat* I understood that reference.

It was too perfect a payoff, with the Hawking reference building up to it.