After two introductory films for Tony Stark’s Iron Man, and one movie each for Bruce Banner’s the Incredible Hulk, Steve Rogers’ Captain America, and Thor himself, Marvel released The Avengers in 2012. The MCU’s sixth movie, The Avengers brings together all six members of the MCU’s original Avengers team together for the first time.
Besides uniting these teammates, The Avengers brings a lot of new lore into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The MCU was forever changed after the events of the movie; the ripples are still being deeply felt in the franchise nearly a decade later.
10 Uniting Steve, Tony, And Thor For The First Time
Up until The Avengers had come out, MCU’s most exciting moments were all individualized. Though Thor and Hawkeye briefly interacted, and the Black Widow appears throughout Iron Man 2, there hadn’t been a team-up quite of this magnitude before. In The Avengers, after Loki accesses the Tesseract and comes to Earth, Thor has no choice but to follow after him. Steve and Tony are similarly summoned to help and, for the first time, the three Avengers meet — and fight. They'll change a lot after this, but this first meeting is of vital importance.
9 Hawkeye’s Brainwashing
While there’s a lot of huge events in The Avengers, there are some more minor goings-on that will impact the MCU from 2012 onward. One of these smaller events is Loki’s brainwashing of Clint Barton, Hawkeye. While the brainwashing has movie-specific consequences for Clint, he’s plagued by this even further past this one film.
He also is introduced to be a love interest for Black Widow, it seems, which makes it strange when he actually has a wife later in the MCU. Hawkeye’s appearances in The Avengers, few though they are, impact the MCU throughout.
8 Introducing The Science Bros
In The Avengers saw the beginning of a beautiful friendship, as not only have Tony and Bruce become friends over the intervening years, but actors Robert Downey, Jr. and Mark Ruffalo have become close, too. While they already knew each other, having been in movies like Zodiac (2007) together previously, this only cemented their bond. They would continue to be friends throughout the franchise, and the relationship that Tony and Bruce share is one of the strongest in the MCU. They will also later become the creators/fathers of Ultron and Vision.
7 Revealing That S.H.I.E.L.D. Has Secrets
Before The Avengers was released, S.H.I.E.L.D. was mostly seen as a hazy ambiguous entity, something Tony Stark was lightly resisting and fuelling things like the Super Soldier Program & new attempts to contain creations like the Incredible Hulk. In The Avengers, it’s revealed that S.H.I.E.L.D. and Director Fury have been keeping secrets from the Avengers & some of their agents. This is only setting up the fact that half of S.H.I.E.L.D. is actually HYDRA, which will be revealed in Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
6 Natasha Tries To Help Bruce
There’s a sequence in The Avengers where Bruce Banner and Natasha Romanoff are injured and trapped together, causing Bruce to transform into the Incredible Hulk. Natasha, also known as the Black Widow, tries to stop him, trying to reach out and connect with him.
The two of them haven’t known each other very long at this point, but she still tries to stop him from becoming the Hulk. This will be important later on in the MCU, because it’s setting up what will later be an — admittedly short-lived — romance between Bruce and Natasha.
5 Agent Coulson Is Killed
One of the most tragic moments in The Avengers — and arguably one of the most tragic moments in all of the MCU — is when Agent Phil Coulson is killed. Viewers were shocked that he actually died, after having made his cameo appearances prior to this movie. Actor Clark Gregg had quickly become a fan favorite, too, and audiences were sad to see him go. In fact, the viewer response to his loss was so strong that Marvel was able to start their show Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., where Agent Coulson would eventually come back to life.
4 Loki Destroys New York City
The Battle of New York is going to have shockwaves for years and years throughout the MCU. Countless character motivations, both hero and villain, stem from the Battle of New York and its effects on the people of New York, as well as the people of the world. The city is mostly destroyed by this event. Not to mention, the world is now aware that aliens and gods not only exist, but their first introduction to them was fully malicious with murderous intent to control and destroy.
3 The Avengers Fight Together For The First Time
One of the most highly-anticipated moments in the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe was the first time that the Avengers would fight together as a team. This didn’t come until the climax of The Avengers, but it was well worth the wait. The first time the Avengers fought together, they were able to overcome Loki and the Chitauri to save not only New York, but the entire world.
The formation of the Avengers team for the first time is important because they will be meeting time and time again throughout the MCU to fight countless battles, against each other and together against the world.
2 Bruce Banner Can Control The Hulk
Bruce Banner is a wildcard character in that he could become the Incredible Hulk at any time. Both Bruce and the Hulk are important members of the Avengers team, but he admittedly has a lot less control over his heroics as the Hulk. At the end of The Avengers, however, when Bruce chooses to return to New York City to help the Avengers as their sixth team member, he makes a big reveal: he has control over the Hulk. By transforming into the Hulk at whim, Bruce displays that he has finally connected with the Hulk enough to make him a hero and a coherent character. This will continue to be important for years, especially in Thor: Ragnarok (2017) and Avengers: Endgame.
1 Thanos Begins His Quest For The Infinity Stones
In the post-credits scene for The Avengers, viewers were introduced to Thanos, a character who would wreak havoc throughout the Infinity Saga. Thanos indicating that he’s going to get an Infinity Gauntlet and start pursuing the Infinity Stones is important, because it’s this quest that will fuel a great deal of the MCU, including Thanos’ famous — or infamous — snap at the end of Avengers: Infinity War. Thanos is the real big bad for the first saga in the MCU, so his introduction is of the utmost importance.