Although everyone and their adoptive mother’s third cousin has already reviewed Marvel’s latest superhero soiree, I would still be so, so remiss if I didn’t comment on the super-mega-ultra blockbuster. I’m somewhat remiss by posting this nearly a week after the powerhouse raped and pillaged the box office and made it its bitch, but dammit, here I go.

Given my occasional Joss Whedon fanboy tendencies, I’m sure it’s of no surprise when I tell you that I absolutely loved The Avengers, and support it with every fiber of my being. Now that the world has all of a sudden jumped aboard the Whedon train, I’m fighting the urge to do a grotesque, insanely awkward “I told you so” dance, even though Whedon more-or-less told me to. Putting my various biases aside, the movie really did work on so many different levels.

Having also written the script, Whedon did a great job of properly serving and balancing each superhero’s side story. Since most of the characters already had their origin stories told in previous films, I’m sure the ability to soar right over that aspect really helped us firmly plant ourselves in the world of The Avengers rather than backtracking or rehashing. The screen time balance for such a large cast is a tricky tightrope to navigate, but Joss’s resume proves he has experience in doing just that (Firefly/Serenity, for one).

The action scenes were also extremely well done: they were intense and well shot, really accompanying the 3D aspects of the film nicely. But even when our heroes were simply hanging around and talking shop, well, Alex Pappademas from GQ said it best: “It’s the rare superhero movie that doesn’t flatline when its characters are just standing around talking, because in Whedon’s work that stuff is the meat, not the bread.”

There can’t be a good movie, nay, a blockbuster without a solid script. Isn’t that the difference between John Carter and The Hunger Games? Between Pearl Harbor and Jurassic Park? A shitty script makes a shitty movie and no amount of action or wowing CGI or 3D mumbo jumbo can ever fix that. Luckily for us, Whedon had all of these elements on lockdown;  he was aware of the necessary measures in order to successfully pull off not just any ol’ blockbuster, but one that combines multiple beloved series in a well-written and intelligent way. It’s a difficult feat, and simply stated, he nailed it.

So back to that huge “I told you so”…tempting, but I’ll hold off. In fact, it doesn’t even need to be said. Even though only one week has passed, there’s no question:  The Avengers is a huge success. Sure, with fame and success comes more hype and possibly more pressure for Whedon’s next outing, but as some of us have known for more than a decade, he’s more than capable. And his army will only continue to grow.