The Wordsmith's Forge

>> Some of the problem may be that the people playing Loki and Thor LOOK much older, both are in their early thirties. <<

Yes, that's true.

>> Some of the problem may be the way American film and television gets in the doghouse when a popular entertainment include anything which even HINTS at the idea of underaged characters and s-e-x. <<

I agree, it's a disaster.

>> It's insane, the dichotomies between 'okay to show this level of violence against a teen' but 'can't show two teens plus consensual kissing'. The overwhelming behavior now shows people in their twenties trying to look ten years younger just so they can flirt with words and gestures without bringing down the wrath of a certain segment of the viewing audiences. <<

Plus that makes it look like violence is more acceptable than affection, which is a whole new level of social destruction.

>> Some of the problem is that the whole CAST is significantly older than the characters they portray. <<

Character age in canon varies greatly, though, some characters more than others. I know Bruce has been all over the map. I think Tony has been fielded everything from 17 into his 40s. Actually I kind of like the age spread in The Avengers because it's uncommon to see older heroes.

>> Tony looks much older, the actor is nearly 50, Clark Gregg is over forty, as is Mark Ruffalo. <<

It works for me. I think of Bruce as younger than Tony, but looking older than he really is because of all the stress.

>> Interestingly, Phil is probably near the same age as the actor, while Bruce could be the same age or more than ten years younger than that. <<

Phil is a great match, it makes sense for the Senior Handler to be mature. Hard living can tack on ten years easy to the apparent age.

>> Chris Evans is closer to his apparent age in the comics- early 30s playing a young man likely to be ONLY ten years younger than that.(Steve may have been 18-19 at enlistment, likely 20-21 by the time he worked through USO to actual shows 'over there', but that's conjecture on my part. <<

I think the most recent iteration put his birth year at 1918 -- a few years younger than my grandparents, actually. I just can't help but see him through the lens of their generation. It makes me want to pat him on the head and feed him cookies.

>> Scarlett Johanson is early thirties, but I'm not certain how old Natasha is supposed to be, chronologically, so I pegged her emotional age as ROUGHLY- late twenties, nearing thirty. <<

This one is hugely varied. Some versions of canon map her from similar timeframe, or not much later, as Bucky and Steve; others have rebooted much younger. I'm leaving it vague because she doesn't know how old she is after what-all the Red Room did to her. But she is a lot older than she looks, and she was trained by the Winter Soldier.

>> Jeremy Renner is also in his forties, and Clint, the character, could be anything from thirty up. <<

I tend to think of Clint as among the younger Avengers, yes.

>> See why the viewers couldn't tell that the "teenaged" comments were meant seriously? <<

Eh, good point.