In case anyone has doubts about “The Avengers” being THE summer movie to see (and yes, I am including “The Dark Knight Rises” in that boast) then consider this excerpt from The Hollywood Reporter:

“The Avengers is humongous — the film Marvel and its legions of fans have been waiting for.”  It’s hard to imagine that anyone with an appetite for the trademark’s patented brand of fantasy, effects, mayhem and strangely dressed he-men will be disappointed; not only does this eye-popping 3D display of visual effects fireworks feature an enormously high proportion of action scenes, but director Joss Whedon has adroitly balanced the celebrity circus to give every single one of the superstar characters his or her due. Worldwide box-office returns will be, in a word, Marvelous.”

This one is going to be the real deal, and as I have posted elsewhere, I fully expect that it will pull in at least a billion dollars in worldwide box office receipts before its theatrical run is complete.

Marvel Studios’ “The Avengers” premieres Friday, May 24.