To quote myself:"It's actually pretty funny, I sat down to rewatch the climax of Avengers in comparison to Man of Steel to see just what about it was more heroic and satisfying to more discerning fans.
In no particular order; the following happens:
-The first Leviathan they destroy ends up exploding into a million chunks, it's corpse raining down upon a crowd of bystanders who run away in terror as it destroys a few cars.
-Hulk rampages through a crowded office building, jumps out the window onto another Leviathan, and then redirects BACK into the same office building. I can only imagine how many people were injured by shattered glass as Hulk jumps from building to building.
-Tony leads dozens of mooks and a Leviathan throughout the streets, as they explode Star Wars style into buildings and into the streets. This is despite Tony saying several times that they need to keep off the streets.
-Thor and Hulk double team another one of those stupid Leviathans, killing it and hurling its corpse down into what I can only assume is Grand Central. Once again a crowd of bystanders scream in terror as they desperately try and get away. Also worth noting that these stations were where Cap told one of the officers to start redirecting civilians to, in order to get them out of the way. Guess Thor and Hulk didn't get the memo.
It's true that the Avengers do show concern for civilians like...two times? They get some people off a bus and Cap tells some police officers to do their jobs, because apparently emergency workers have never been trained in the art of evacuating people. I guess ultimately my biggest problem with it, is that it feels so dishonest. Sanitized and squeaky clean, despite the fact that it clearly involved a death toll as large as Man of Steel's, but unlike Whedon, Goyer never shies away from the fact that it was a tragedy. Superman cries not only at the death of the Zod, but his failure to save everyone the way Jor-El knew he could. Tony thinks everyone should go out for schwarma. That displays a hell of a lot more disregard and apathy to the destruction than Kal ever did.
Meanwhile, I sneakily re-watched the final fight in Man of Steel and guess what? Superman doesn't punch Zod through any buildings. Not one. He does smash his face into some glass windows and knock him through a few construction girders, though. What an evil bastard."
Anyone arguing that the Avengers were pure heroes who caused no destruction or death is a goddamn liar. And yet people only ever complain about MoS when the Avengers cause just as much damage as Supes does and are equally as reckless as him.