Kevin Smith On Why He Prefers THE AVENGERS Over TDKR

"'The Dark Knight Rises' I have a weird relationship with – it's like a chemical romance with a toxic ex-girlfriend where I love her to death but there are some things about her that are just [frick]ing wrong. 'The Avengers' I loved so more than I thought I would. I've written for Marvel but I was never an Avengers guy. I'm more DC. But I've become obsessed with Favreau's 'Iron Man' movie because I think it's very nearly a perfect film. So when I saw Favreau wasn't doing it I thought, Well what do I care? The first time I saw it was in Australia and it opened a week before it opened here and we were traveling for the 'Jay and Silent Bob Go Down Under' tour and we had just done a show and we went to a midnight show. And the first time I saw it I could not get past the Loki poke-y stick in the beginning. Because Loki sticks something in somebody's chest and it's like 'WAAMP, you're a bad guy.' What the [frick]? Is this the level of discourse we're going to have? But you can't deny that flick."

"By the middle of it I was like, 'The Hulk is amazing.' The next time I watched it I was totally into it. You can't watch that movie and be like 'I object to the Loki poke-y stick' when there's a mother[frick]er who turns into a green giant. In my mind Marvel science is okay because we were raised on it. As someone who looks for realism in comics, you can say, 'Well, you could get belted by gamma rays and turn into someone else.' But you can't say, 'A stick from outer space that makes you a bad guy is bullshit!' So I got past that and embraced the whole thing. I've now watched 'Avengers' about eight times, twice on a plane back-to-back. It just keeps giving. That's 10,000 across the board! Whedon in the driver's seat, 70-80 years of Marvel, and the charm [frick]ing factor of Robert Downey Jr. It runs like a golden machine. I never imagined that I would love 'Avengers' more than 'Dark Knight Rises.' Not only would I have never imagined that 'Dark Knight' would underperform (based on other mitigating factors of course). But I would have never thought 'Avengers' would make more than 'Dark Knight Rises.' But I never would have thought I would have liked 'Avengers' more than 'Dark Knight Rises' but I really did like 'Avengers' more. And I've watched them an equal amount of times. 'Avengers,' I'm not going to say it's the better movie, but it puts a smile on your face. It's magical cinema."

Marvel's The Avengers or simply The Avengers is a 2012 American superhero film produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures, based on the Marvel Comics superhero team of the same name. It is the sixth installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The film is scripted and directed by Joss Whedon and features an ensemble cast that includes Robert Downey, Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Tom Hiddleston, Clark Gregg, Cobie Smulders, Stellan Skarsgård and Samuel L. Jackson. In The Avengers, Nick Fury, director of the peacekeeping organization S.H.I.E.L.D., recruits Iron Man, Captain America, the Hulk, and Thor to form a team that must stop Thor's adoptive brother Loki from subjugating Earth.

The Avengers premiered on April 11, 2012, at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, California. The film received positive reviews from most film critics and set or tied numerous box office records, including the biggest opening weekend in North America and the fastest film to gross $1 billion. The Avengers grossed $1.51 billion worldwide, and became the third highest-grossing film of all time. The film was released on Blu-ray Disc and DVD on September 25, 2012. A sequel to be written and directed by Whedon is scheduled for release on May 1, 2015.