The resident hideouslywrinkled.com Joss Whedon expert weighs in on The Avengers

The year was 1997. The grade was ninth. The school was West High. The person was me, Mark.

On March 10 of that year, a little show called Buffy the Vampire Slayer premiered on a worthless, little-watched network. And I loved it. Enough that I recommended it to EVERYONE I know despite the constant eye rolls of my friends, family and coworkers.

Things changed. We graduated. People went to liberal arts colleges and learned about things that maybe didn't help them get jobs (stereotypically) and maybe a few things that did help them get jobs. But they became more open-minded about important things. And as their intelligence and open-mindedness grew, they came to love Buffy and the so-called "Scoopy Gang." The same was a little true of Buffy's existential spin-off, Angel.

Years later, another show premiered that nobody watched or listen to my recommendations about. It was called Firefly.

Then the same thing happened much later with a show called Dollhouse. Actually, I didn't recommend it as much because it wasn't quite as well put together and took about seven episodes to find its legs. But still.

Also, Dr. Horrible. I can totally sing along to that.

And, with a few exceptions, this was the true history of what actually happened as far as I remember it.

Point is, I'm a Joss Whedon fan. I'm one of the few people who have watched, from beginning to end, the runs of all of his TV shows as they aired. I've also watched every movie he's directed. Which now stands at two. And I'll see the Shakespeare thing as soon as it's released.

Now, on to the actual meat of this post: The Avengers or, as I have called it, Iron Man 3: Iron Man and Friends.

Well, the reason I haven't written this post before is because I really don't have anything to say about it. I think it was incredibly well-written and was the strongest Disney's Marvel Studios films movie so far. That being said, the Marvel movies aren't exactly philosophical heavyweights. I enjoy them like crazy, but I never walk away pondering what it all means. Or even wanting to watch them again.

And this movie was the perfect combination of light Whedon-ism—Thor saying "he's adopted," Captain America getting the reference and Iron Man saying almost anything—with a heavy dose of the standard Marvel superhero storyline—emergence, set back, regrouping and victory. (The sequel formula is status quo, set back, enhancement and victory.)

The most important thing about The Avengers is that Joss Whedon should have earned the opportunity to do whatever he wants.