When nations get together and decide the Avengers need to be supervised rather than allowed to fight evil on their own terms, it causes a split in the group. The Iron Man leads the group that joins the government, but Captain America refuses to surrender his independence and leads a group that is going its own way in pursuit of an evil man who is using psychological control to deploy terrorists.

The dialogue is a bit hokey in places, but, that's the beauty of the Avenger movies, it's about a more innocent time when such hokey dialogue was the way people really talked. Lots of extra characters in this one, including an African king's son who is a cat figure with amazing powers, and Spider Man, an adolescent fighting with the grownups.

While this one is typical Marvel action, there are also some philosophical messages skillfully inserted in this, the best Avenger movie yet.