The last time I saw a movie more than once in the theater was in 2005. The movie was Serenity and it was directed by Joss Whedon. The next movie that I’m likely to see at least twice in the theater is another Joss Whedon helmed pic — Marvel’s The Avengers.

Note: This review of The Avengers will be relatively spoiler free. But… You shouldn’t waste anytime getting down to your local cineplex to see this flick.

To date, I’ve really enjoyed all of the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies. If I were to rank them — before the release of The Avengers — they would fall into place as follows… 1) Captain America: The First Avenger, 2) Iron Man 2, 3) Iron Man, 4) Thor, 5) The Incredible Hulk. Without a doubt, The Avengers is now perched on top of that list.

When I first heard that they were going to assemble a motion picture which would include the characters of Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Hulk, Black Widow, Hawkeye, and Nick Fury, I had my doubts that it could actually be pulled off successfully. But, my mind was able to wrap around the concept with a bit more ease with the release of each “solo superhero” movie after the initial release of Iron Man. When I found out that the movie was going to be directed by Joss Whedon I was both excited and a bit apprehensive. I dig the man’s work.  I wouldn’t consider myself a hardcore Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan, the original movie was fun, but I never really got into the television series, including Angel. But, I got much more into Angel while I was an editor at IDW Publishing and worked on the Angel comic book series.

I am however, a huge fan of Firefly and Serenity. (Enough of a fan to have a Firefly/Serenity related tattoo.) As I stated in the beginning of this post, I saw Serenity in the theater twice (and, countless times on DVD and television). Now, as much faith as I have in Joss Whedon (who was also written his fair share of comic books) as a writer and director, tackling the directing chores of a movie with the scope of The Avengers would seem a daunting task for the most seasoned filmmaker.

What in the hell was I ever worried about?

The Avengers was a super heroic spectacular that any and all future super hero movies will be up against. And, you know what…? I think it’ll be a long while before any come close. Spider-Man 2 was great. The Dark Knight was great. But, they were both eclipsed by The Avengers.

Admittedly, The Avengers had two solid elements already going for it going in — a string of successful preceding movies and a built-in fan base based on long established characters. But, these two same “advantages” could very well have proven to be a hindrance as well.

I have to admit that the Firefly fanboy in me is hoping that the success of The Avengers will automatically greenlight a trilogy of Serenity sequels, but I know that’s unlikely to happen. But, I believe that I can cross my fingers with the hope that Joss Whedon will be back to direct The Avengers 2.