Haha, I wanted to collect my thoughts and also sleep since I stayed up all night watching the Avenger solo movies. And I would think you'd know better than to call Natasha a mere mortal! In the comics, the Red Room project did a bit of genetic tampering to give her accelerated healing and strength though not quite on the level of Cap (also she can't get pregnant naturally, her body reacts to it as a disease). They alluded to the Red Room a lot with Widow in the movie, though never came out and said whether she has the say abilities as the comics. They didn't really do anything to make me think she couldn't have those enhancement. I've actually been wondering if her next appearance would be in Captain America 2 given we're bound to get Winter Soldier and she and Bucky have a great relationship in the comics.
Anyway, I thought the Avengers awesome, though apparently not quite as much as Iron, haha. There's a number of things I disagree with you on that'll mention later. The action scenes in this were fantastic. I was hoping that the battle for New York would be on par with the one in EMH against Kang's forces and I definitely thought it delievered. Lots of sweet moments with everyone getting there turn to show off and work together. I really like Black Widow's team-up with Cap and her moment of awesome, which I'm sure Iron knows what I'm talking about. Thor had a really nice one as well and Iron Man got quite a few of them. As did Hulk, but I wasn't laughing and cheering for his stuff like most of the theater, though I'm not really a Hulk fan. I thought the big action sequence that happened right before the big Battle for New York was just as awesome, though hard to get into without spoiling some great stuff.
I think you're being a bit generous in talking up the character development though. For some characters? Yeah, Iron Man got a lot of development with the way he works with certain characters, Pepper, and how he reacts to "The Sacrifice", along with his own sacrifice. Black Widow also got a ton of development which was friggin awesome. They got a lot into her backstory and her friendship with Clint. Though she's fourth on my list of favorite Avengers (behind Clint, Mockingbird, and Cap) she was my favorite character to watch in the movie which is a complete turn around from the disaster I thought she was in IM2. She was tough, dangerous, and understands Loki on a level that I don't think the others do because of her work as a spy. I really enjoy her scene with Loki, though the twist completely made it for me. Another character that got lots of development was Bruce Banner. Ruffalo's take on him was different than what I expected, very quirky. A bit too much at times, I think, with the jokes, but Ruffalo made him very likeable. The SHIELD crew of Fury, Coulson, and Maria Hill all got some good development but given we didn't really know too much about them that wasn't too hard.
Who didn't get development was Thor. He got lots of awesome fight scenes, though I can't say his character developed at all. Same goes for Cap. There wasn't time to see him really adjust to the modern world, so much as he just put those feelings aside to save the day. There was the tension between him and Tony, but that was resolved more through Tony's actions and Cap changing his opinion, then Cap himself changing. That's not to say that either of the characters were bad, cause they definitely weren't. I just don't think they developed like beyond what we saw in their solo movies.
Given it's taken me this long to talk about my favorite character its probably obvious that Hawkeye didn't live up to my expectations. I thought Whedon really dropped the ball on him and consideirng Whedon is so well known for his humor, that Hawkeye, also known for his humor, got zero one liners. At times it felt awkward and just not Clint (like saying he wants to shoot an arrow through someone's eye socket) like Whedon didn't really know how to write a voice for him so he ended up sounding like a generic soldier assassin type with no real personality to be found. Renner talked up in interviews about Clint being a loner and outcast and I don't think it came together well on-screen. It was just this very brief shallow comment and shot of him sitting by himself, it didn't feel like how Han Solo is a loner in the first Star Wars because of his reluctance to get invovled in the rebellion or show emotion toward anyone. Most of Clint's very limited characterization is only through Natasha relationship to him and it's done in a way that ultimately makes him feel more like an accesory to her than a character unto himself. I do think there's glimpses into the type of character Clint is, but I can't honestly say whether they were intentional or if I'm just grasping at straws to try to connect the character I know and love to what was presented in the movie. Yeah, he gets some cool trick arrow moments and some sweet action scenes (though I hate how he disappears toward the tail end of the New York battle) but I can't honestly say I felt like they brought Clint Barton as a character to life on the big screen. I kept waiting for that one moment when I could say "Yes, tha's Clint!" and it never really came. In glimpses, maybe, but nothing to hang your hat on.
But Hawkeye disappoints aside, it's a fantastic movie well worth the money and time to see. Whedon did an amazing job bringing together all the movies and characters. The action scenes were amazing and like a comic book come to life. As weird as it sounds, I think if they had cut Hawkeye from the movie entirely I would've loved it more cause I wouldn't have that shadow hanging over me. But it was definitely a great movie and the last hour or however long it was will blow your mind! When Loki really puts his plan into action it makes everything from previous CBM's look like nothing compared to the challenges the Avengers face.
