In today’s Avengers Assemble post, it’s time for the characters to take center stage.

The storylines are great, the MCU is mind-blowing, and the high-tech concepts are uber-cool, but at the end of the day, the characters are the foundation of Marvel’s success.

Specifically, the Avengers.

An Unexpected Team

When The Avengers came out in 2012, it did something unheard of. It took a handful of heroes—several with their own movie series’—and threw them together into the equivalent of a boiling pot of conflict.

That daring move turned out to be brilliant.

What’s better than a superhero movie? A movie with a team of superheroes.

The ironic part is, they didn’t start off on the best of terms. It took Loki’s attacks, Coulson’s death, and a prod from Nick Fury to get them to become a team instead of a bunch of individuals who disagreed and argued like unruly kids.

They had to learn to get along and work toward a common goal. In other words, they had to learn teamwork.

Funny how movies often speak to real life.

The Avengers Divided

It took a long time for them to gel as a team. Half the movie, in fact. In the beginning, they were all relatively on board with the Avengers Initiative—not that they really had a choice—but they weren’t what you’d call a well-oiled machine. More like a bunch of random parts tied together by their joint desire to thwart Loki.

Let’s face it. They’re celebrities in their own right. Thor, Hulk, Iron Man, and Cap have their own movies. They’re used to being the go-to guy who saves the day. The only competition for attention comes from the villain, not a bunch of other heroes.

Put them together, however, and suddenly they weren’t the brightest bulb in the room. They might have been suffering from rivalry shock, but whatever the reason, at the beginning they didn’t adapt well to working with others.

It’s like sticking a bunch of brilliant scientists into a room and making them come to a unanimous decision on who’s the smartest.

Cue the fireworks.

The scene when Thor came to take Loki back is a perfect example. Iron Man tried to stop Thor and what ensued was an epic hero-against-hero skirmish that only ended when Captain America’s shield repelled Thor’s hammer and decimated the forest. Far from being a cohesive unit, they were lions fighting over the prize kill.

Loki, being the brilliant schemer he is, saw this weakness and manipulated the Avengers into fighting one another and forgetting who the real enemy was. Sounds kind of like the devil, huh?

The Avengers were too prideful and self-centered, and that nearly ruined them.

The Avengers United

After Loki’s escape, the Avengers were scattered and defeated. They weren’t a team, just a bunch of distinct pieces bound together only by Fury’s insistence. They realized that in order to defeat Loki, they had to put their differences aside and work together.

They needed to become a tightly braided rope instead of an assortment of separate threads.

Why? Because teams always accomplish more than individuals. There’s strength in numbers. That applies to real life in too many ways to count.

They could have given up. They could have let their wounded pride overcome them and send them skulking back to wherever they came from. But they didn’t. They chose to become the team Fury had believed in, the team that would save the world.

This brief exchange between Stark and Loki shows this transition.

Loki: The Chitauri are coming. Nothing will change that. What have I to fear?

Tony Stark: The Avengers. That’s what we call ourselves; we’re sort of like a team. “Earth’s Mightiest Heroes” type thing.

Loki: Yes, I’ve met them.

Tony Stark: Yeah, takes us a while to get any traction, I’ll give you that one. But let’s do a head count here: your brother the demi-god; a super soldier, a living legend who kind of lives up to the legend; a man with breath-taking anger management issues; a couple of master assassins, and YOU, big fella, you’ve managed to piss off every single one of them.

Team Triumph

Alone, the Avengers couldn’t have defeated Loki. He was too powerful, his plan too perfect. So they became what the world needed. They became a team.

They became the Avengers.

The battle sequence painted a stark (no pun intended) contrast to their previous troubles. In every scene they were watching each other’s backs, communicating effectively, playing to their individual strengths as part of the larger team.

It paid off. Through their efforts, they captured Loki, closed the portal, destroyed the Chitauri, and saved New York.

Given that, maybe the takeaway here isn’t how awesome superheroes are or how to defeat a psychopathic Asgardian god. Maybe it’s the importance of working together, of putting the needs of others before your own gains, of joining in something larger than yourself.

Did you enjoy the way the Avengers had to unite to defeat Loki? Do you think this applies to real life? I would love to hear your thoughts.