Captain America Sets Decent Template for Avengers Expectations

Reviews for Captain America: The First Avenger are mixed to good at the moment, with a 71 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The scores could have been better and many positive scores are lukewarm, but the movie seems to be good enough for a mild recommendation. As such, Marvel Studios isn't heading into The Avengers on the highest note, but at the least it is the final step toward an epic that's been years in the making.

Although the movie is subtitled The First Avenger, Captain America is the last of the Avengers to be shown before Marvel's prime team of heroes is united on screen. Cap now joins future team members Iron Man, Thor, the Hulk, Nick Fury and Black Widow as having movie debuts before their grand union.

So far, the legacy has been a mixed but good one, much like the reviews for Cap's debut. Iron Man started things off with a bang, though the reboot of The Incredible Hulk had its critics -- and now Mark Ruffalo is filling in for Edward Norton anyway. Iron Man 2 showed even more cracks, and was criticized for being more of an Avengers teaser than an actual sequel.

Thor started this summer with solid write-ups and box office, yet it might be easier to forget after the other epics and superhero films of the last few months. Captain America has a lower score from critics, and isn't close to the heights of the first Iron Man. But none of the Marvel movies have been outright bombs, with each getting respectable marks from critics, if not raves.

That kind of standard won't do for Avengers, especially after all these years of waiting and all the other comic book movies coming in summer 2012, like The Dark Knight Rises and The Amazing Spider-Man. To really pay off Marvel's gamble, Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, Steve Rogers, Thor and their superheroic alter egos need to do a bit more than they have onscreen so far.

Iron Man is still the gold standard for the studio, although he has more questions to answer after his last sequel. The Hulk has tried and failed to launch two separate franchises, while Thor and Captain America are still proving themselves after their first films. Yet fortunately, none of them will have to carry the load alone next time.

For those who go to watch The First Avenger, they probably won't all agree on whether Cap's debut bodes well for The Avengers; the reviews aren't all on the same page either. Critics warn not to set expectations too high, yet that will be harder to do for Marvel's next big-screen installment. Until then, fanatics will just have to have their fingers crossed and hope the studio isn't satisfied with just being good enough anymore.