How we cite our quotes: All quotations are from The Avengers.
Quote #1
NICK FURY: We have no quarrel with your people.
LOKI: An ant has no quarrel with a boot.
NICK FURY: Are you planning to step on us?
LOKI: I come with glad tidings of a world made free.
NICK FURY: Free from what?
LOKI: Freedom. Freedom is life's great lie. Once you accept that, in your heart...
This is pretty much the basis of the film's conflict: Loki wants to rule the Earth, Nick Fury would rather he not. The conflict basically comes down to humanity's identity: are we going to be ants, or something more?
Quote #2
STEVE ROGERS: When I went under, the world was at war. I wake up, they say we won. They didn't say what we lost.
NICK FURY: We've made some mistakes along the way. Some, very recently.
STEVE ROGERS: Are you here with a mission, sir?
NICK FURY: I am.
STEVE ROGERS: Trying to get me back in the world?
NICK FURY: Trying to save it.
Cap's journey in this movie is finding his place in a world that he doesn't belong to. Can he be the hero he was in a time that doesn't seem to need them? As the guy who helped create these characters would say, "stay tuned, true believers!"
Quote #3
STEVE ROGERS: The uniform? Aren't the stars and stripes a little...old-fashioned?
PHIL COULSON: With everything that's happening, the things that are about to come to light, people might just need a little old-fashioned.
Cap's identity is rooted in the past, a past where guys walking around in bright blue tights weren't so out of place. But it also speaks to a purer code of honor, where people did the right thing just because it's the right thing to do. Coulson thinks that could come in handy in this latest situation.
Quote #4
TONY STARK: You should come by Stark Tower sometime. Top ten floors all R&D, you'd love it... it's Candyland.
BRUCE BANNER: Thanks, but the last time I was in New York I kind of broke... Harlem.
Dr. Banner has a much more…complicated sense of identity, given that he literally destroys cities when he gets too angry. That means keeping a lid on that side of himself, which is never a good thing.
Quote #5
STEVE ROGERS: We have orders, we should follow them.
TONY STARK: Following's not really my style.
STEVE ROGERS: And you're all about style, aren't you?
TONY STARK: Of the people in this room, which one is A) wearing a spangly outfit and B) not of use?
At the end of the day, these two really don't like each other, for reasons they're spelling out pretty darn clearly here. But they're also debating what it means to be a hero, and whether their differing methods make the world safer or not.
Quote #6
NICK: The cell was built...
BRUCE BANNER: In case you needed to kill me, but you can't! I know! I tried! I got low. I didn't see an end, so I put a bullet in my mouth... and the other guy spit it out! So I moved on. I focused on helping other people. I was good, until you dragged me back into this freak show and put everyone here at risk!
Bruce has been hiding from his Hulk side, which has probably resulted in a lot less property damage than there might be. But he's still hiding, and sooner or later he needs to accept the Hulk if he's going to find peace.
Quote #7
BLACK WIDOW: I've been compromised. I got red in my ledger. I'd like to wipe it out.
The Black Widow spends most of her time in The Avengers either verbally de-pantsing Loki or running from the Hulk. But this is a pretty telling line about who she is and why she's working for SHIELD. (Did you know her character started out as a villain?)
Quote #8
STEVE ROGERS: Is this the first time you've lost a soldier?
TONY STARK: We are not soldiers! I am not marching to Fury's fife!
STEVE ROGERS: Neither am I! He's got the same blood on his hands that Loki does. But right now we've got to put that behind us and get this done.
This conversation is basically Tony and Steve determining who they are in this big game. Steve seems to have it figured out a lot better than Tony has.
Quote #9
JARVIS: Sir, shall I try Ms. Potts?
IRON MAN: Might as well.
Tony's pretty resigned here, but it's saying something that Pepper is the last person he tries to contact before going off to his (presumed) death. His identity is linked to her…and he's not going to forget it.
Quote #10
COUNCILMAN: I don't think you understand what you've started: letting the Avengers loose on this world. They're dangerous.
NICK FURY: They surely are. And the whole world knows it. Every world knows it.
COUNCILMAN: Was that the point of all this? A statement?
NICK FURY: A promise.
At the end, all those fluid identities have formed into a concrete team: six people who know exactly who they are and are ready to put it on the line when the world needs them.