Avengers

I just saw Avengers: Age of Ultron. It felt like a clear shot across the bow of DC.
The last few times I’ve seen a DC movie, civilian casualties seem to be expected and ignored. In this movie the heroes were heroes; they spent valuable moments trying to save people. Sacrificing themselves to take out the big bad and lots of innocents wasn’t thought of as an option.
It was, of course, a Joss Whedon film, so someone had to die. They set it up well with one guy even talking about retiring soon. I thought he was marked for death, except that I also knew the actor was contractually required to be in several more films.
And it was a very good sequel. Many things, more than I expected, from the first film were brought back. It was a progression without repeating itself unnecessarily. Many sequels try and do the exact same thing as the first movie; this complemented the first movie and added to it.

Stop embarrassing me

In science fiction stories (especially space ones), there is often reference to “The Ancients”. Some former alien species that was way more advanced than current civilizations. They have left interesting artifacts around for people to find and cause plot to happen. It is a common trope.
It gives us a sense of peace that there was something before us, more powerful. I suppose these could be considered god figures.
But let’s look at reality. There are no ancient artifacts out there; at least not visibly in our solar system. What if we are the Ancients? We are the species that first gained sentience in the universe and all others that come after us will see us through the lens of myth and legend.
It puts a lot of pressure on us to clean up our act. The cosmic equivalent of our baby pictures could be happening now.