When The Avengers hit theaters in 2012, most people were both surprised and impressed by how functional the movie was. Marvel had introduced a pile of characters in individual films, then successfully brought them all together without losing what was interesting about each of them. Regardless of how you feel about the rest of the movie, Joss Whedon and the Marvel machine deserve credit for what they accomplished with The Avengers. Then Avengers: Infinity War was released, and felt like that accomplishment on steroids.
