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Hawksblueyes: Editorial/Review of The Avengers: Earths Mightiest Heroes

Did the premiere of The Avengers: Earths Mightiest Heroes live up to expectations?

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By Hawksblueyes - 10/21/2010


Let me start off by saying that this was going to be a review. However, I am never really sure how many spoilers to include while doing a review and I didn't really want to include any. So, before we get going, let me say that I hope you enjoy my thoughts on The Avengers latest television incarnation.

I have to say that I have been anticipating last night's premiere of The Avengers: Earths Mightiest Heroes for quite some time, around thirty years to be exact. As a child I wrote to Marvel regularly pestering "the powers that be" to give us an Avengers Saturday morning cartoon. It never happened. I don't count the 90's Avengers cartoon with their Power Rangers style armor as a true effort at bringing an animated Avengers team to television.

Well, IMO the wait is finally over. Last night I watched the double episode premiere on DXD trying to keep my expectations low. Thank the stars I made it past every fear I have ever had concerning this show and outlasted the theme song (it's bad), because the show quickly became everything I had ever wanted to see from a cartoon calling itself The Avengers. It was not playful. It was not aimed at children. It was The Avengers, the old Avengers (that includes the old Hank Pym, before his transformation into a wife beating moron) at their very best.

I don't want to give away many spoilers in case you missed it and are planning on seeing it. The show did substitute the way the team originally came together with it's own version of the prison break event that brought The New Avengers into being. It did so in a completely workable manner that involved Iron Man and The Hulk making their way across country in order to give Thor, a reluctant Wasp and Ant Man a hand in putting down a very powerful, escaped and enraged Graviton. We also get a brief appearance from Hawkeye (who does not become a member) when he gives Iron Man a brief hand before exiting stage left.

The action in these two episodes was intense. Hulk vs The Absorbing Man, Thor vs Graviton, Hulk vs Graviton, Iron Man vs everybody, Ant Man/ Giant Man vs everybody and The Wasp helping every place she could help, was all done in the manner we have wanted to see it. The fight scenes IMO, had the same feel as the classic Avenger comics back between issues 150 - 200 when the entire team did their part. Repulsor shots, Hammer throws, ant's attacking, wasp stings and Hulk smashes taking place everywhere and in violent fashion.

All action aside, the main endearing point to be made about this show to me, as a fan, is that Marvel nailed the characters. Hawkeye (what little we see of him) is the smart ass, bad ass who does the right thing even though it could cost him greatly. Iron Man is the man on top of most any situation. The Hulk is the misunderstood beast who would desperatly like to belong somewhere. The Wasp is the adventurous, flirty, little go get em woman she has been for years. Ant Man is the scientist with a distrust of SHIELD's methods and agenda. And last but not least, Thor is the God come to Earth because he believes he is needed here more than he is in Asgard.

One drawback I found is the amalgam Nick Fury. He looks like the artists couldn't decide on which version they wanted, so they mashed both versions together. The saving grace on this version of Fury is that he acts completely old school Nick.

While the animation is not the highest caliber I have seen, these shows were everything I have always wanted to see on screen from my favorite heroes. If you did not catch the premiere last night I suggest you give it a watch. If the rest of the episodes are anywhere near as good as the first two, we are in for a treat. I also hope people catch on to the show before it follows in JLA's footsteps and disappears before people realize just how good it is.
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Hawksblueyes - 10/21/2010, 11:25 AM
;P
Destroyer14 - 10/21/2010, 11:31 AM
I enjoyed the episodes myself. Can't wait to see the Ultron arc. However, there was an Avengers cartoon in 1999 known as United They Stand.
manymade1 - 10/21/2010, 11:50 AM
yeah destroyer i cant wait for the avengers to fight my favorite avengers villian(ultron) and my 2nd favorite(kang). i actually did like the theme song though.
Shaman - 10/21/2010, 11:52 AM
Awesome review, Hawks!!! But what about Cap?!?!?!
ThoroughbredSteele0 - 10/21/2010, 11:55 AM
yeah these were a lot better than the old avengers cartoon. @
hawks you were spot on, it pretty much everything you want to see from an avengers show.
cant wait to see the next episode.
rquile1 - 10/21/2010, 11:55 AM
There was no cap. The song was good!!!
dcpaper - 10/21/2010, 11:56 AM
Yeah the first two episodes where great can't wait til more charecters show up.
Hawksblueyes - 10/21/2010, 11:56 AM
Thanks guys. ;P

Shaman: Cap is still on ice. I'm not sure how many episodes in it will be before they drag him out of the water.
ThoroughbredSteele0 - 10/21/2010, 11:57 AM
@shaman he wasn't in it, probably haven't found him yet
dellamorte1872 - 10/21/2010, 12:02 PM
post a link to it, i would love to see and critique it
SymbioteJoker - 10/21/2010, 12:05 PM
I was very surprised on how this show turned out. The fight sequences were well thought out giving each avenger their own spotlight, and the massive number of villains given a mention was great in such a short time. If the series can keep up the current pace it may be on par with other great comic shows. Though I have to say Im not a fan of the intro or iron man sounding like Robert Downey Jr its still minor
Shaman - 10/21/2010, 12:13 PM
Oh... well then they truly are following the books closely :))
ThePencilNeck - 10/21/2010, 12:19 PM
I was pretty pleased with this.

Cap and Hawkeye weren't "original" Avengers and I've got no problem with them joining later with some other story lines. I liked seeing glimpses of so many different villains.

But, when Thor was talking to Jane Foster and being all coy and everything... was it me or did he sound like he was doing a Captain Hero impersonation? I know they meant for that to be cute but that turned out really creepy for me.

But overall, this was a good beginning.
MassExecutions - 10/21/2010, 12:25 PM
Hawks, ditto to your comments (especially Fury), but the song is growing on me, heaven help me.

SymbioteJoker - ditto to you on the fight scenes. Everybody got their shot and was important.

Its shaping up great.
the1egend1ives - 10/21/2010, 12:36 PM
This show was absolutely epic. But I don't understand the beef with the animation. I also don't understand why nobody likes the theme song except me! >.<
JoshWilding - 10/21/2010, 12:39 PM
Awesome work HAWKS! I wasnt going to bother, but thanks to you, I'll be checking this out online tonight! :)
Hawksblueyes - 10/21/2010, 12:40 PM
indoraptor: I don't dislike the animation at all, it definately fits the characters. BUT, it could be better. ;)

Josh: Thanks bud. Let me know what you think of it.
weaponxcustoms - 10/21/2010, 12:44 PM
awesome show, very well done, kudos to the voice actor of Iron Man, he nailed Downey Jr's mannerisms
mk - 10/21/2010, 12:52 PM
i cant find episode 1 at all :(
dahamma - 10/21/2010, 1:10 PM
the theme song is growin on me too lol this show is awesome! the action was great and well........thor caught an island ...nuff said :D
InFamouslyCool - 10/21/2010, 1:22 PM
ugh, the show was cool. but there's no reason ironman should sound like jack black. horrible, ridiculous.
jjmeylar - 10/21/2010, 1:24 PM
Chris Yost stated on his facebook that the entire first two seasons have already been written and that season two ends in a bang of sorts.
mk - 10/21/2010, 1:25 PM
woot thank you youtube :))
Nemesys - 10/21/2010, 1:56 PM
All I can say is... YES!!! Bring on more!!
thunderforce - 10/21/2010, 2:21 PM
I wont see it here in canada til friday , but i will check it out .
TheBatman938865 - 10/21/2010, 2:36 PM
such a good [frick]ing show i can't wait for more.......and p.s the theme song kicked ass!
MisterJoshua - 10/21/2010, 2:41 PM
Thank you for the review, HBE! Well done, sir...and now, my two cents:



Badass show...I especially liked the public reaction to Thor in coffee shop. (Haven't seen it yet? Watch the episodes, you'll know it when you see it). I don't want to hint at too many other spoilers, so I'll keep my input to the portrayal of the characters themselves, rather than to the events of the episodes.


Tony: Spot on. The arrogant, "my brains and my money can solve anything", ego-centric, Iron Man is back...and rockin'. Not too keen on the side-views of his helmet, though...


Janet: What can I say? I like my women petite with a fiery temper. The Wasp has it in spades, and it translated well....VERY WELL...to the small screen.

Hank: Nerdy to the end, Dr. Pym? You betcha, and well presented.

Fury: I, much like Hawkesblueeye, was a bit irritated by the appearance of the Director, but once he opened his mouth, I was easily able to ignore his appearance. That IS Nick Fury.

Clint: What can I say? I need more Hawkeye to make a sound judgement, but what I saw, I like.

Bruce: Here's my hangup with the show, thus far. Is this the Salad-Head, or Joe Fixit with green skin? The Hulk's ability to carry on a grammatically correct conversation was a bit off-putting. Make no mistake, I love the Hulk in any incarnation, but the only one that should be an amalgamation is The Professor...in my opinion, that is.

Thor: With all of the "the's" and "thou's" that I can ask for, and a red cape that stands about six inches taller than his own head, they made the Odinson like I remember from the early 80's comic books...which is exactly the way I want to see him on screen.

Doc Samson: Too little time onscreen, but much like Hawkeye, I liked what I saw...and want more.



In all, this incarnation was a very good presentation of the characters that captivated me as a child, and I definately feel like the creators of the show actually paid attention to their source material...and they handled my favorites with care. Well done, indeed...
doccaliban - 10/21/2010, 3:00 PM
Come on everybody!! How could u not love this series?? Don't understand at all why people don't like the character designs or the animation! And all the characterizatons are spot on!! I have collected comics for the better part of 37 years and this is what I have always wanted to see!! This is by far THE BEST ANIMATED SERIES MARVEL HAS EVER DONE! As for The Hulk,what the writers are doing there is giving us the Peter David Hulk who led The Pantheon WITHOUT HAVING TO GO THRU THE MERGING OF BRUCE'S MULTIPLE PERSONALITIES! Anybody remember that storyline? Better to simplify it to where Bruce has struck a compromise with Hulk to give us a crafty Hulk,much better than "Hulk Smash" don't ya think? I for one can't wait to see what classic and contemporary storylines they are going to tackle in future episodes!
Hawksblueyes - 10/21/2010, 3:08 PM
doccaliban: I'm with you completely.;P
doccaliban - 10/21/2010, 3:18 PM
Thanks Hawksblueyes!
wyvern9 - 10/21/2010, 3:20 PM
I'm sad to say that I missed the primire, could anyone please tell me where I can watch it online?
Bodwulf - 10/21/2010, 3:56 PM
It was great and all Character were handled perfect. Great review.
Paulley - 10/21/2010, 4:14 PM
i preferred the micro episodes because they focused on individual characters and allowed them to get enough screen time.. however this show is in no way bad and is by far the best attempt Marvel has put out to compete with Dc Justice League show.

Shame they couldn't do this show with the people who did Crisis on Two Earths and Young Justice shows for DC. Now that would be awesome!
JonF - 10/21/2010, 4:17 PM
@ Hawksblueyes - You and me both have been waiting over 30 years! Whew! About time! That piece of crap Avengers 'toon from the '90s was produced by Saban for the Saturday morning audience, hence its lack of quality and divergent tone! Clearly Marvel being heavily involved in the production process has made a world of difference! For the most part, the interpretations were ripped straight from the comics! The theme song was passable. I don't quite understand the timeslot, though! Seems like this show should air on Fridays or Saturdays!

One thing I especially liked was the use of each hero's individual foes as opposed to only featuring enemies of the Avengers collectively as a team(Hulk vs. the Abomination and Absorbing Man with the Leader lurking in the shadows; Whirlwind vs. Ant-Man and the Wasp); this made sense since the team hadn't yet formed at the time of the prison break! Smart thinking!

Now Hank switching back and forth from Ant-Man to Giant-Man as needed? THAT was awesome! I've often wondered why he didn't do that more in the comics!?! And I bet anyone who thought the Wasp was useless will shut up now! It's probably not a well-known fact that she retains her normal-sized strength in wasp form! At some point in the comics, Hank made it so that her strength actually INCREASES when she's small! This chick is a spitfire! Another reinforcement as to why she and Hank BELONG in the Avengers movie!

@MisterJoshua and doccaliban- That was the Hulk's original personality! He basically was the grey Hulk, except he was green! He eventually evolved into the Hulk-smash incarnatation, which stuck for about 15 years! @doc - I prefer the "Hulk-smash" green Hulk because he's the most powerful version and can do the most damage! He becomes uncontrollable and ornery very easily, which is why he probably won't stick around in this series for long, a'la the original comics!

The only real drawback here is Nick Fury. When is everyone going to realize that the Ultimates and the Avengers are two SEPARATE entities? I DO NOT want to see the two merged! S.H.I.E.L.D. had nothing to do with the formation of the Avengers -- that happened in the Ultimates!! And Nick Fury is WHITE; he's black in the ULTIMATES! Ugh! Marvel seems intent on creating DC - like "Crisis" problems for no apparent reason!

I have a minor beef with Thor's speech patterns being a bit more contemporary than his classic biblical/Shakespearean cadence, but that's a small concession I'm willing to live with!

@shaman and rquile - Don't worry, Cap should be along within the next few episodes! Graviton was working on creating a super-soldier when he had his accident, remember? More importantly, the ORIGINAL Avengers were all featured as the team, just like in the comics! Marvel movie studios, take note!

@ToughGrappler - You're not a Marvel fan? Have you seen a doctor about that problem? LOL!
hewilldefytheirgravity - 10/21/2010, 4:26 PM
I checked out the show. From the looks of things they are going to pull out the stops with the action.
AskaniSon - 10/21/2010, 4:29 PM
Missed the eps, but good review. Will be checking them out later though, as I got them on DVR :)
Hawksblueyes - 10/21/2010, 4:29 PM
JonF: One of the highlights for me was the fact that SHIELD didn't really bring them together and they told them to stick it at the end.
SymbioteJoker - 10/21/2010, 4:33 PM
@JonF yeah the whole Ant man to Giant man thing makes so much sense that I cant beleive its never been done before. Perfect reason to use him and Wasp in the Avengers film
the1egend1ives - 10/21/2010, 4:34 PM
@Jonf

I know what you mean about SHIELD being part of the formation of the Avengers, but in the end they did tell SHIELD to fvck off and made their own team as a separate entity, which is cool! I'm hoping they do that in the movie. No more Ultimate crap in my Marvel Cinematic Universe plz. (Though I do like SLJ as Nick Fury.)

I gotta say though, I do agree with everyone's complaint about Iron Man's voice. At times he sounds JUST like Robert Downey Junior! (everyone I've shown it to asks if that's RDJ.) And then other times he sounds like Jack Black and it doesn't fit the character at all. The voice actor really has to work on that. I'm hoping it'll be like Futurama where the Professor and Bender had different sounding voices in the beginning as opposed to later episodes (although it was the same actor throughout!)

rook187 - 10/21/2010, 4:36 PM
So awesome! Tried to watch it in real time, but my bro-in-law came over and insisted we watch the world series. :( Watched it this morning with my 10 year old and we both loved it. The kid wanted to know when Spider-Man would join, I then had to explain all that legal nonsense.

Anyhow, the show rocked my socks off. The second episode that was nearly all fight was so excellent!
the1egend1ives - 10/21/2010, 4:42 PM
@rook187

Does Sony also own the rights to an animated Spider-Man? That would be cool for Spidey to appear as a guest in one episode!
comic2004 - 10/21/2010, 4:49 PM
Loved it.
BigK1337 - 10/21/2010, 4:56 PM
If there was just one word to decribe the premire of this show, it will badasserific! My father recored it on his DVR, so now everybody in the house can be able to watch those episodes over and over again.

And that fight between the Avengers and Graviton was like watching all the fight sequence from Justice League, Dragonball Z and Spectacular Spiderman combined! I LOVE THIS SHOW!!!!!!!!!!!
IsaiahBradley - 10/21/2010, 6:08 PM
The debut was average to below average. It was way too over the top. For a second I thought I was watching Dragon Ball Z with all the energy blast and craters left from it. Someone should have been dead when that exchange happened. The really need to tone that down.

I also don't like the person who is voicing Tony Stark. His voice is way too childish and not mature sounding enough. Too Peter Parkerish. It also annoys me that his voice doesn't really change when he has his helmet on.

I'll watch and I expect it to get better but I give the first episode a e for effort....
WakeUp - 10/21/2010, 7:55 PM
I liked how it just dove right into it, The sheer number of B- List/old school villains really impressed me, The animation is ehhhhh not what i would call bad, but not great, Thor is strangely Pie shaped. I think I was skeptical because the theme song and character design give you a childish vibe to start, but the action and storyline are actually very good and the show more than holds its own.


I too thought it was strange how Hank's costume changed depending if he grew or shrank....seemed lazy to me

I'll keep watching.
ClarkKentSuperman - 10/21/2010, 7:59 PM
first off @ rook187....world series doesnt start till the YANKS spank Texas and the giants knock out the white trash philly fans and thier TEAM. LOL!!! Second the song does grow on you and my 5 year old son asked me to play the song 3 times today so I guess it worked as far as that goes.

To all of you that are complaining about Iron Man sounding like RDJ ummm they did that on purpose since RDJ IS IRONMAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! CONTINUITY that is what Marvel wants and this is right in line with that. I loved that they didnt call Abomination Abomination they kept calling him BLONSKY. Ties it to the movie again so people that are not HUGE fans like us can pick these things up. Yes I know that is his real name in the comics as well as the movie but in all my years of reading HULK comics I cant recall anyone calling him Blonsky ever lol.

TICK, TICK BOOM.............here comes my biggest issue with the show.......IRON MAN is the LEADER!!!!!!!!!!!!! HELLO how does NO ONE else care about this? samething as the super hero squad! How is it NOT CAP? I understand he is on ice right now but anything and everything I have read on this show says IRON MAN leads the Avengers.

Nick Fury is the Black Fury cause he is black in the movie!!!! Make him white now and people will be like huh? who is that guy? Forget about complaining about Ultimate and 616 mixing together cause for small screen and Big Screen they are both one world! Look at THOR he is wearing his ULTIMATE costume in the movie..Cap will have a gun from shots we have seen thus far!Its all the same world called MARVEL BABY AND I LOVE IT!!!!!!

I have to say that I havent looked forward to a cartoon the way I am looking forward to this one in a very very long time!!!!!!

@ JonF - As far as the time slot thing you were saying were you said you think this is more of a friday or saturday night cartoon I would agree with you except for the part that this is DISNEY we are talking about here and I sure they have a DAMN GOOD reason that this show is on WED and NOT FRI OR SAT LOL LOL LOL!!!!

Next episode the ENCHANTRESS will control the hulk and make him tune up the AVENGERS. I am willing to bet that the AVENGERS movie will be somthing kinda like this! All IM saying is CONTINUITY!!! Marvel loves it and so do I! Great review @ Hawksblueyes!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HULK IS PERFECT
CAP IS PERFECT
IRON MAN = PERFECT
WASP = PERFECT
THOR = PERFECT
ANT MAN = PERFECT
NICK FURY = BLACK(nuff said)
HAWKEYE = PERFECT
BLACK WIDOW = JUST A BIT TO TOUGH OTHERWISE PERFECT(she went toe to toe with HULK......COME ON lol)

THE AVENGERS = PERFECT
BIGBMH - 10/21/2010, 8:02 PM
I don't get Disney XD through my university cable. Does anyone know where I can find episodes of this online?
smlfri - 10/21/2010, 9:15 PM
I thought this show was awesome absolutely loved it had everything :D The best part was when Wasp helped the Hulk and he said "Your helping me?" and then the Wasp says "yer, now hit him" :D i dont think i smiled as much to myself since Harry came to help Pete in Spider-Man 3 :P

For everyone asking where to watch it i found some channel on youtube its in parts but its good enough http://www.youtube.com/user/Witchcraftial
enjoy

also *spoiler alert* for everyone that dosnt want to know when we see Captain America dont read on.... If you check IMDB the sixth episode is called "Meet Captain America" so im guessing this would be his debut episode also there is only 7 eps in the season? whats up with that?
RandomHero - 10/22/2010, 1:47 AM
*very first post ever!
BRONX, GASTON- if u go alllll the way back to when the avengers where first created Iron Man was the leader. So i found it amazing that that they kept true to the that fact!

Also, if u have seem any of the micro-episodes with Captain America, they show the Howling Commandos, and one of them is names JAMES HOWLETT....thats right they put wolverine into the continually of this show, not we may never see him again but i thought it was a nice easter egg! Here, ill just show u, follow the link to see for urself, its pretty cool!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8z80G9DrMB8
ViperXX79 - 10/22/2010, 1:56 AM
I really like the theme song. Not sure what the issue is with it.
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