Avengers Moments That Took Things Too Far

One of the ongoing subplots in "The Avengers" is the thin green line Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) walks, where one misstep transforms the quiet scientist into an enormous green rage monster. As Harry Dean Stanton helpfully points out after Banner awakens in a pile of wreckage, "Son, you've got a condition." Indeed, the film derives a lot of tension from this predicament, and Loki (Tom Hiddleston) memorably leverages the Hulk against the heroes. Ever the perceptive one — but with no regard to possible collateral damage — Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) prods Bruce quite literally. "What's your secret? Mellow jazz? Bongo drums? Huge bag of weed?"

It's mostly played as a joke, but it turns out that Bruce really does have a secret, and it's a big one. As one of the Chitauri Leviathans comes bearing down on the team, he gives them the skinny: He's always mad! Despite outward appearances, Bruce Banner lives in a state of perpetual rage. Here's a Fun anecdote from Rolling Stone: "The Avengers" writer-director Joss Whedon retroactively realized this statement was semi-autobiographical.

So Banner can Hulk out at will, just like flipping a switch. He calmly walks toward the Leviathan, shreds another shirt as he becomes mean and green, and socks the flying armored whale in the jaw, bringing it to a dead stop. Bruce's staggering wardrobe costs aside, this reveal — and its implications — remains one of the MCU's wildest moments.

The entire premise of "Captain America: Civil War" is built toward provoking the super-friends toward inner conflict and dissolution — sort of like the breakup of The Beatles but with more explosions and one-liners. Helmut Zemo (Daniel Brühl) masterfully manipulates the heroes, but it all boils down to this: Who is Steve Rogers' (Chris Evans) bestie? As in "Highlander," there can be only one.

In one corner, Tony Stark, the good-times guy with all the toys. His opponent: Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), an emo former assassin looking to turn over a new leaf. In the end, it's no contest. Steve is with Bucky till the end of the line, even if the tracks plummet off a cliff. The ensuing fight is one of the MCU's most poignant because this time there are no winners. Everyone loses. The fight is cool and the film earns it, providing proper motivation to everyone involved, but it earns a spot here because it still strains credibility. Are these people so broken they can only settle differences with their fists? 

After crash landing on Titan in "Avengers: Infinity War," the Avengers join forces with the plucky Guardians of the Galaxy to take on Thanos (Josh Brolin). Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) decides to use the Time Stone to scout into the future and maybe avoid dying. After viewing a staggering 14 million outcomes, the news is grim. The Avengers only win once. It's a grim prognosis, especially since the Avengers remain undefeated to that point, their only L self-inflicted. 

The stakes are high when Thanos finally arrives, but the Avengers-Guardians team-up only manages to extract a single drop of blood from the Mad Titan. Yikes! Considering everything goes as Doctor Strange had foreseen, there is something else that is a bit hard to stomach. No, not Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) deciding to beat on a dazed Thanos when the gauntlet was in their grasp. Consider this: The fate of the galaxy and untold billions of lives hinged on a rat inadvertently rescuing Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) from the Quantum Realm. Even when dealing with the fantastic, that is one thin margin.

A big part of the MCU's charm is the sheer spectacle. These are impossibly powerful characters doing incredible things (give or take Hawkeye); Captain America arm wrestling a helicopter back to the helipad, Spider-Man straining to hold a ferry together, and the Guardians of the Galaxy withstanding the Power Stone. Yet, among all the displays of power we have witnessed across the MCU, one remains undefeated. 

After escaping from the trap laid for him on Titan in "Avengers: Infinity War," Thanos wastes no time subduing the heroes. He tosses Doctor Strange like a sack of potatoes and lays out the Guardians with a blast from the Power Stone. He saves the most brutal counterattack for last. Reaching into the sky with his gauntlet, Thanos shatters a moon and uses the fiery pieces to rain destruction on Iron Man. It's a devastating reversal from what seemed like an Avengers victory and lays bare just how outmatched the heroes truly are.

Paul Rudd is a national treasure. He's just so darn likable. His addition to the MCU has provided some much-needed levity amid all the world-ending threats. Likewise, Rudd's appearance in "Captain America: Civil War" provided a dose of laughter in an otherwise somber story. And he singlehandedly stole the stage in the movie's best scene.

Unable to compromise on the Sokovia Accords, Captain America and Iron Man are eventually goaded into confrontation by Zemo. They initially come to blows at a German airport in a sprawling fight as Avenger turns on Avenger. It's a jaw-dropping bit of nerd nirvana as 12 superheroes partake in a Royal Rumble-esque battle royale, with all their flashy powers on display. Ant-Man takes things to a surprising new level by suddenly growing 60 feet tall. Dwarfing the battlefield, Ant-Man toys with team Iron Man. He throws them around while laughing maniacally and joyfully destroying vehicles. In all honesty, it's a miracle he didn't kill anybody. Most of the characters were pulling punches, but Ant-Man was out there trying to crush people underneath his size 100 boots.

A quick synopsis of how we got here: A genocidal purple space alien collects gems for his shiny new glove and, once he has them all, wants nothing more than to use his newly bejeweled gauntlet to kill exactly half of all life everywhere, all at once. It sounds silly, and easily could've drifted into farce, but Marvel has always done a good job of playing things loosely but for keeps. A large part of the credit for Thanos must go to Josh Brolin, who gave the Mad Titan conviction and gravitas, enough to make you wonder, even if fleetingly, is he right?

The Snap makes this list in part because it is out-there plot-wise. More than that, the sheer audacity to not only let the heroes lose but to do so in such a brutally dramatic fashion is legendary. Never mind that the damage would (mostly) be undone later. That inkling was little consolation to the shell-shocked audiences stumbling out of the theater.

After getting royally stomped by Thanos in the opening of "Avengers: Infinity War," Thor undertakes a heroic journey to find a weapon that can level the playing field. His quest eventually takes him to the same dwarves that constructed Mjolnir. Unfortunately, Thanos got there first, killing everyone and maiming the lone surviving dwarf, Eitri (Peter Dinklage). On top of that, the forge is out of order.

To restart the forge, Thor takes on the full force of a star, and he somehow isn't killed outright (nor does he die). Anyone else would be atomized, but Thor comes through it with nothing worse than a bad sunburn. He succumbs eventually, falling into a coma, although it could just be a bad case of sunstroke. It seems like maybe Thor will die after all. There's no aloe and the nearest drugstore is a million miles away. Groot, a sentient adolescent tree-man, cuts off his arm and uses it for the handle of the magic axe crafted by the enormous space dwarf. The axe brings Thor back from the brink. This whole plot line is just insanity.

The climax of "Avengers: Endgame" finds Captain America holding a broken shield and standing alone against Thanos and his army. There's no quit in Cap, but despite his "I can do this all day" mantra, it's clear the end is nigh. He'll go down fighting, but he's going to go down. And then, Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) appears to speak from the grave. "On your left."

In movie history, few moments can stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the portals scene of "Endgame" for sheer awestruck spectacle. Certainly, no other movie can match "Endgame's" 21-film build-up, nor the catharsis of seeing almost every hero we have ever met (RIP Nat) return to stand behind a bloodied Captain America, especially since many of those heroes had recently been dusted in "Avengers: Infinity War." 

The Avengers have been called to battle for decades in the comic books through the iconic catchphrase, "Avengers assemble!" but Marvel Studios had thus far withheld it from the films. "Avengers: Age of Ultron" notably goes to black just as Cap is about to say it. They were saving it for the perfect moment, and this is it. "Avengers assemble!" sends the heroes charging toward Thanos' hordes. It's a "dumping the toy box out" moment, and it's utterly breathtaking.