From Fury’s patch, to Loki’s possession of Hawkeye, to Dr. Banner’s reading glasses, Marvel’s The Avengers frequently emphasizes eyesight, seeing, and vision, stressing the importance of perspective in the film’s story. The quote, “[I'm] seeing it–working on believing it,” is taken from Tony Stark’s response to an alien invasion in the film, but in pointing out the literal act of seeing, it works doubly to articulate the audience’s main response to the movie. The Avengers doesn’t just succeed as a film because of the shock of what is on screen, however, it is the constant shifting and re-aligning of perspective that allows the audience to grow a deeper relationship with these costumed heroes and to become invested in their new struggle.
“Eyes are the window to the soul,” as the cliché goes, but in The Avengers, eyes are vital to seeing the film’s soul. What makes up the “soul” of The Avengers? First and foremost is the character illustrations. This is most overtly evident with the possessed-not possessed Hawkeye, whose eyes physically change based on his mental state. Another physical example is Bruce Banner’s glasses, objects that go toward weakening and humanizing his “huge, green rage monster.” The film approaches this more subtly, too, in what might be seen as the most important character in the film. Agent Phil Coulson is often referred to as “seeing everything,” an extenstion of the all-seeing, omniscient S.H.I.E.L.D. organiztion; Nick Fury even calls him, “my only good eye.” Toward the middle of the film, Coulson provides a pivotal scene that affects a number of characters and impacts the entire film, a scene in which his eyes are a heavy focus. For all intents and purposes, Phil Coulson, with his old-fashioned beliefs and his good-humored nature, is the soul of The Avengers.
Not only is presenting these characters important to the film, but more, it is about relating all of these distinct, different heroes to the audience, and it is here The Avengers takes advantage of perspective. Following each of the characters individually at the start, the audience gets a sense of the ensemble’s respective day jobs: Stark is finishing work on his tower, Banner is serving as a doctor, Black Widow is doing what she does best, Hawkeye is keeping an eye on things as a security guard, and even Captain Rogers is keeping active and letting off steam. As “super” as the cast eventually becomes, the film shows that these people have ordinary qualities to them, too. Their personal problems are certainly ordinary and relatable, as the shifting perspective highlights things like Banner trying to keep a lid on his anger, Thor dealing with family and girl issues, and Natasha and Clint seemingly dodging feelings for one another–things even non-super heroes face. The Avengers even sides with Loki at times, either to underscore his “schemes” or to showcase his issues with power and trying to compensate for his own insecurities. For the audience, “seeing” from all perspectives is, in fact, “believing,” believing in small character, human truths in what is an otherwise fantastical movie.
As much as characters and their (often humorous) interactions are key to the soul of The Avengers, the film’s focus on sight and seeing emphasizes one other aspect that is vital to the film’s core and success: vision. Vision, or foresight, that is, on behalf of Marvel. For almost five years, Marvel has been laying the foundation for what has become one of the fastest-grossing films of all time. The Avengers is a paragon for cinematic foresight, from a business perspective, and the film is quick to point this out. Easter eggs, like Odin’s crows watching Thor or Thanos’s knowing glare at the audience, connect past and future Marvel films in a way that shows the company has a grand vision, indeed, and that it not only knows where it will take audiences for years to come, but that it has known for some time. Vision has been an important factor to each of the entries in Marvel’s Cinematic Universe, but it all comes to a head, and successfully, in The Avengers.
What will probably become the biggest superhero film ever, at least for a little while, The Avengers succeeds because, yes, it has a soul. The film’s grasp of the importance of sight, vision, and perspective propels it beyond mere summer spectacle–though, to be sure, it certainly is that–and it allows audiences to truly believe.
