Ever since the scene with Nick Fury talking to Tony Stark about the “Avengers Initiative” was shown at the end of 2008’s “Iron Man,” it set in motion a series of movies that culminated in the blockbuster hit that we are talking about today.

“The Avengers,” in a nutshell, is everything that a comic book movie should be and more. The movie satisfies both longtime fans of the comic and people who are just looking for escapist cinema.

Marvel Studios has seemed to make these movies a labor of love for the fans. Ever since “Iron Man,” they have created a universe where other heroes have heard or interacted with each other, and it’s the first time I have seen this successfully been done on the big screen.

Casting the actors to play these parts was done over a series of films and they do a superb job in capturing their essence and making them relatable to a modern audience.

The team contains the usual suspects. Captain America (Chris Evans) is the boy scout that takes any order. While Cap is portrayed as the archetypal leader, his character is probably the least interesting in the film. I find myself wanting more explanation on his adjustment to 21st century earth and hopefully it will be addressed in Captain America’s second solo film. Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is the wise all-powerful being, yet he shares some of the same problematic attributes as Cap. Not much explanation is given on his return to earth after being rendered so that he would never be able to return in the Thor movie.

Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) have a better turnout as deadly, yet flawed, assassins. Tom Hiddleston continues to be superb as the main villain Loki, making him even more despicable than he was in “Thor.”  But the scene stealers in the flick are Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man, and Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/the Hulk. Downey Jr.’s wisecracking Stark provides much of the comedic banter with the other heroes and also bridges a lot of the film’s story elements together. Ruffalo’s Hulk is much more relatable to the comic book version and is the best Hulk portrayal since the Bixby/Ferrigno days. Others never realized that Banner and the Hulk are the same person, and here you can tell that the Hulk has a little bit of Banner still in him, despite his savage tendencies.

Another surprising turn is Clark Gregg as S.H.I.E.L.D Agent Phil Coulson. The character himself is a byproduct of the Marvel cinematic universe, but I feel that he has his best performance in this film. Coulson is essentially the characterization of the fan that has stuck by these heroes from day one, and in turn, he is more relatable than any other person in this movie.

The story is an easy to follow and action packed romp that does justice to the comic. The overarching plot of Loki trying to help an evil alien race called the Chitauri take over earth is creative, but does not take center stage until the final act. The Chitauri are not given a lot of backstory, but I think that helps the flow of the movie. If the plot relied solely on the Chitauri threat then it would have had more of a chance to confuse the audience and distract from the characters.

Overall, the film’s strongest asset is its character development. While some characters are more interesting than others, when they all interact with each other, you get the feeling that they are a team and can work together to save the earth. There’s a reason why the build-up to the movie was nearly five years in the making. And “The Avengers” was well worth the wait.