If AOU was this awesome, then I can't wait for Civil War and Infinity War...

Rating: 8/10 (28 May 2015)

With this highly-anticipated follow-up to the first go-round, the first issue is out of the way...and that is also the main disadvantage...the Avengers have already assembled. There can be no repeat of the first panoramic shot of all six Avengers like the shot from 2012 in New York when Banner finally showed up...here, Whedon is forced to give a couple variations that still work but, alas, that cinematically historic moment from 3 years ago is its own creation. But that is where the positive comes in as Whedon jumps right into the pool and swims right for the deep end. And, as it did in 2012, everything clicks perfectly...the banter, the conflict, additional personnel...all leading to the start of something new...a new team...by the end, Cap and Widow are overseeing War Machine, Falcon, the Vision and Scarlet Witch. Stark and Barton are taking a little vaca, Thor heads home to investigate other realm issues and Hulk has gone the way of the dodo bird in a Quinjet. Between the end of AOU and the cast list and plot of CA:CW, it's safe to say that as amazing as AOU is, it is truly a mere stepping stone for the cinematic story being told, and while that's both a blessing and a curse, it's also a hell of a ride...one last thing I'll leave here...when we saw it, one particular scene with Paul Bettany's Vision got the place lit up, and for good reason...in the space of about 2 minutes on screen, he commits himself to the fighting side of life, thus allying with the Avengers and does something that truly had the audience cheering and had Stark and team with their jaws on the floor. Truly a scene worth the price of admission by itself...like I said, one hell of a ride.