find us:
Nuclear Weapons: Hero or Villain in The Avengers
By 
With Thor, Iron Man, Black Widow, Captain America, Hulk, Hawkeye and Nick Fury facing off against Loki and a horde of Chitauri from another world one would not expect that the ultimate villain in the film, typically, is a nuclear weapon threatening to vaporize New York City under the auspices of saving the planet from invaders.
(For those of you who have not seen the film, the real spoilers start here.) Some may argue that the nuclear missile was critical in saving the day for The Avengers but the truth is all it did was distract Iron Man from the fight at hand and delay Back Widow from closing the portal through which the Chitauri launched their attack on Earth. Yes, the nuclear missile blew up a big Chitauri ship but only because Tony Stark drove the bomb through the portal, al la Major T. J. "King" Kong, in order to save the city, nearly killing himself in the process. The ship it destroyed was not even a factor in primary action. It was just something extra on screen so that Hollywood didn’t have to waste an opportunity to blow something up real big. Even Nick Fury, who is of dubious moral character at times, was more willing to fire on his own F-35, to prevent its launch, than allow a nuclear attack on a civilian population. And, given the fact that the artifact generating the portal was shielded with “unlimited energy” the likelihood of a nuclear weapon, that has a very quantifiable yield, saving the day was slim to none.
One truth that comics and the real world share, no good ever comes from nuclear weapons.
Comments
why so quickly to the nuclear option?
I just saw the film this weekend and was looking for someone to address this issue. Thank you.
I also thought it was interesting that the first (non-superhero) military response was a nuclear weapon. The invaders didn't seem especially overwhelming, such that conventional forces couldn't repel them after the initial surprise. And what invading force would choose NYC as a beachhead, unless maybe if they were worried about a nuclear response and thought the civilian losses would be an effective deterrent?
On a separate but related note, given that Hollywood almost always portrays nuclear explosions inaccurately, what would actually happen in this scenario (taking the missile through the portal to explode on the other side in a vacuum)? Obviously, there'd be no fireball in vacuum in the way portrayed. The prompt radiation would be decreased by the area of the portal over the spherical surface area at that radius from the blast, but would still be significant and cause a fireball in the air at the portal pretty much instantly (for that reason, why is there not a constant blast of air back through the portal as soon as it is opened?). Anyway, my point is that there would still be significant negative effects due to the nuclear weapon in at least part of NYC. Certainly enough that I wouldn't want to hang around long having shawarma...
Tony should have had a different reaction when he woke up
He or better yet Captain America should have been really mad immediately after the nuclear attempt. That's what I though of when I saw the movie. (So I googled if others notice the same thing and here you are).
Indeed the real enemy were the council's decision makers. A few jet fighters would have made less collateral damage than say, dropping a nuclear bomb on a city that's besides cities!
I was half expecting , the 3 silhouettes fired (or sent behind bars) and Nick Fury assuming their seats but it didn't happened.
Nuclear Weapons and Pop Culture
Thanks for the comment Jomar. You bring up a very important point. Nuclear weapons are still seen as an acceptable option in pop culture. Had the council elected to nerve gas the city in order to kill the attackers but save the infrastructure, the writers would be hard pressed to have an audience accept anything less than seeing them dragged out in chains.
Some may question why we take the time to weigh in on films like The Avengers and X-Men: First Class. It is because, for better or worse, people tend to take their cues from Hollywood. For instance, The Avengers is credited with a spike in shawarma sales across the United States. It is high time Hollywood starts portraying nuclear weapons as the problem with grave consequences rather than the end all solution.
Post new comment