"Wait, how about the Avengers vs. Loki! Loki is a demigod!"

Yes ... and the good guys merely have a much stronger demigod, and an infinitely strong, invincible monster, and an invincible, genetically engineered supersoldier, and a billionaire wearing a weapon of mass destruction, and the backing of an organization with unlimited wealth, weapons, and resources at its disposal. They even give themselves a massive handicap just to make the odds a little less laughable by letting Hawkeye tag along. It's not like the movie tries to cover for this -- the best comedy scene in the film is when the Hulk grabs the main villain and whips him around like a rag doll.

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Don't get me wrong -- I laughed my ass off at that scene. But then I realized that I had paid money to watch the New York Yankees blow out the Toledo Mud Hens 26-0. The outcome is never in doubt; the whole movie is just seeing how much the good guys would win by. Hell, the only lethal threat is a missile launched by their own team.

So? What's Wrong With That?

First, just from a storytelling point of view, look at how the writers have to bend over backward to create some kind of drama for the superhuman heroes. The only challenge to the Avengers is their internal bickering. The only thing stopping Batman, Spider-Man, or the Hulk is angst over how hard it is to be awesome on a godly level. The challenge always has to come from inside, because, you know, their abilities let them laugh in the face of anything their enemies can come up with.

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But then there is the uneasy sense of what this says about us as a culture.