Went to the midnight showing of The Avengers. I got maybe four hours of sleep as a result and I feel kind of hung over, but I enjoyed the movie a lot. It was a lot of fun and I think they did a really good job of giving all the principal characters a chance to shine in things that they respectively do best.

I'm a bit disappointed in how much Black Widow's characterization revolved around Hawkeye, but I appreciate that they never made the relationship overtly romantic, and I did like some of the things she got to do during the film. I also thought Mark Ruffalo did surprisingly well as Bruce Banner - who knew?

Very, very quotable movie. Lots of snark from everyone, as can only be expected when Joss Whedon's involved.

I'm inclined to think that Coulson is not, in fact, dead. We don't actually see the medics call it, and we know Fury was lying about the trading cards; I'm willing to believe he'd also lie about Coulson's death in order to give the heroes a kick in the pants.

This is my story and I am sticking to it.