The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes television series is something Marvel/Disney should be proud of. The animation is good, the heroes are some of Marvel’s greatest icons and an impressive who’s who of classic villains. This is exactly what Marvel’s been needing in answer to all the great shows that DC/Warner Bros put’s out. It’s not to say they haven’t had other good shows. I enjoyed the Spider-Man’s early cartoon show on FOX years ago. Not great animation wise but it was a good show. Marvel’s X-Men Evolution and Wolverine and the X-Men were also great shows. Wolverine and the X-Men was actually amazing and I was sad to see it go. The Spectacular Spider-Man, also a good show, was cancelled. Marvel has done some decent stuff (stop cancelling the good shows Marvel). I dare say they can finally take on DC in the TV animation department.
Characters
So what is the Avengers? For those of you who don’t read comics, Avengers is one of Marvel’s classic team titles putting together what they consider Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. Personally I’ve always been more of an X-Men fan myself but there is no denying Marvel had some true iconic power houses in that group. Seen in the comics as well as the TV show are Captain America, not an original member when the team first came together in both comics and the animated series but a character that represents the Avengers like none other. Also in the group are The Mighty Thor, Iron Man (coincidentally all three characters have had a movie in the last few years), Wasp, Ant Man, Hulk, Hawkeye, last and definitely not least, Black Panther.
Captain America in World War II
To top it off they’ve had an amazing rogues gallery of villains that for some may not sound like a big deal but those who’ve read The Mighty Avengers comic books will recall how powerful the wrecking crew are. The deadliness of Baron Zemo and the Masters of Evil. The threat that is Kang the Conqueror or the crazy sentient robot Ultron. There are also appearances by AIM, HYDRA and many more villains than you can shake a stick at. The only series that showed off that many characters in recent memory would be DC’s Young Justice which boasts many cameos from both heroes and villains. The Avengers animated series does a great job of showing off these villains and they dangers they pose the earth.
Lots of cameos on the hero side as well. The Fantastic Four, The Howling Commandos, Buckey, Mocking Bird, Captain Mar-Vell, Warbird, Logan/Wolverine, Wonder Man, the Asgardians etc… You get the picture. I personally missed it but a friend told me that even the MRD from Wolverine and the X-Men are mentioned making both series tie in. I even caught a glimpse of a a newspaper article that mentions a secret school for mutants. To make the series more interesting a future Spider-Man TV show will be introduced which will have tie-ins to the Avengers series. Marvel is basically doing with their animation what they’ve done with their movies and that’s put them all in the same world so the can have crossovers with each other.
Storylines
The Avengers initially covers the teams origins in the first series of episodes and move on to deal with their big threats. One of the first threats they face is The Leader, the classic Hulk villains who is super intelligent in the way the Hulk is super strong. Then the Masters of Evil come in for battle against Earth’s mightiest. Following the Masters of Evil Kang the Conqueror comes in to take over the planet. All of these lead up to Ultron becoming sentient and attempting to wipe out all life on Earth. The last episodes tie in just about every storyline in the series when Thor must return to Asgard and do battle with his brother Loki.
Hulk In Asgard
Some of the more interesting things are the implementation of points in the story that come from many different comic books. For instance the prison named Number 42 was originally from the Civil War storyline that pitted all the heroes against each other. Many heroes were imprisoned along with villains in the negative zone prison. This time is showed the more humane part of it, and it didn’t involve the imprisonment of heroes and the hero registration act is not there to cause a big rift with everyone. Although Anita Hill who some may remember played a part in the Civil War by becoming Director of Shield also threatens to enact a sort of Hero Registration Act and have all heroes work for S.H.I.E.L.D.
Final Thoughts
There is a lot to like about the series. It started off a bit slow with all the introductions but once it kicks off and the group is assembled the show really shines. Voice actors are good, the animation and character design are well done. The stories are mostly based on classic Avengers tales and are made to fit television. Even the character dynamics are interesting. Tony Stark leads the Avengers but everyone from the characters in the show to us in the audience can tell he doesn’t have what it takes like Captain America does. My favorites have to be Hulk, Hawkeye and Black Panther. Hulk and Hawkeye are great for laughs. I got a real kick seeing them hang out in the episode where Iron Man takes fighting lessons from Captain America. Black Panther is just awesome. The one thing I can say I don’t like is the opening theme song.
Whether it’s an adult or a child everyone will find something to like in the Avengers. Season one of the show can be caught on the Disney Channel’s repeats or watched via Netflix’s Instant View. Better yet, buy the Blu-Ray or DVDs. I know this series is going on my shelf.