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.