Avengers cartoon - Part 4

[spider_man_2]

Just watched the episode.

Spoiler!!! Click to Read!:

Wonder Man is definitely alive. All the stone did was teleport him and Enchantress to one of the Nine Realms, like the other stones did when they were destroyed back in season one. I expect he'll return and join the team in time for the battle against Surtur.

[Anubis]

Bet he ends up as Karnilla's new boy toy.

[Scarecrow_King]

There's a lot of purple in this show. Wonder Man is purple. Hawkeye is purple. Vibranium glows purple. Hulk's pants are purple.

I've noticed a couple times how that color seems to show up everywhere. Weird.

[Panthro]

Originally Posted by Scarecrow_King

There's a lot of purple in this show. Wonder Man is purple. Hawkeye is purple. Vibranium glows purple. Hulk's pants are purple.

I've noticed a couple times how that color seems to show up everywhere. Weird.

Purple was once favored color of royalty.

[Venomfan]

it would be nice though to put some blue in hawkeyes costume instead of the two shades of purple

[lixdexia]

Originally Posted by Anubis

Bet he ends up as Karnilla's new boy toy.

isn't she kinda made out of stone right now?

[Spider-Fan]

Last episode was awesome! Best of season so far

[lixdexia]

idk, alone against aim was pretty awesome

[Anubis]

Originally Posted by lixdexia

isn't she kinda made out of stone right now?

As if that would keep a cougar such as she from nabbing herself a man.

[BigThor]

My favorite episode is still the Dr. Doom episode, but this episode is my 2nd favorite with "Alone Against A.I.M" being my least favorite.

I really would like to see Executioner get his Blood Axe back though, I've always liked him better with his axe.

[MarvelKnight]

This episode was bad-ass. Great to see Asgardians as always. Amora is a ruthless b**** and I love it.

Surtur looked great and that whole walk-through with the skulls and corpses was surprising but looked amazing..Hopefully next week (and the rest of this season) just builds upon the momentum of the previous weeks and keeps this Awesome train chugging along.

[IronGirl299]

So Surtur is confirmed to appear in later episodes?
All aboard the Awesome train, folks!

How do you get the season pass on iTunes and how much does it cost?

[Dread]

ACTS OF VENGEANCE was a crossover storyline which ran through Marvel Comics in 1990 in which Loki, in disguise as a pawn, organized Kingpin, Red Skull, Mandarin, Dr. Doom, Wizard, and Magneto against earth's heroes in general and the Avengers in particular. The gist was that they were pit villains against different heroes than they were used to fighting, which would mean that the heroes would battle unfamiliar enemies. The end result was a lot of in-fighting against the "prime movers" of the threat as well as enough destruction in the streets that Congress considered passing a "Super Powers Act" to ban such superheroics altogether. Ironically, some of the heroes who advocated against the act such as Mr. Fantastic, Wasp, and Wonder Man would side with the similar Superhuman Registration Act which cropped up 26 years later in CIVIL WAR. At any rate, this is the story "AVENGERS: EMH"'s 29th episode invokes, which has the exact same name. While it does involve a villain from Thor's rogues gallery as well as Avengers villains, the reference is a mere homage and the title is taken quite literally. Much as the previous episode was essentially a monster movie, this episode is more of a suspenseful murder mystery, only without actual murder. It also further along some subplots from this second season as well as ties up one loose one from the previous one - which was, "whatever happened to the Masters (of Evil)"?

I put that last bit in parenthesis because while Baron Zemo called his team "The Masters", it is the heroes who added the last two words. Which is a notable thing to contrast next to, say, Vandal Savage in "JUSTICE LEAGUE: DOOM" gleefully calling his squad "The Legion Of Doom".

Spoiler!!! Click to Read!:

In the previous season, Amora the Enchantress' union with Baron Zemo and his "masters" led to the Avengers being pit against members of his team across all of the realms of Asgard. While Amora naturally sought to double-cross Zemo - having no respect for mortals - Zemo anticipated this and one-upped her. This naturally led to the realms of Earth ("Midguard") and Asgard being cut. While this led to the Avengers ultimately liberating Asgard from Loki's control, this still left the fate of the catalyst antagonists unknown; previous episodes mentioned the Avengers were looking for them. In this episode, we learn that Amora (along with her silent brutish henchman, the Executioner) has been tracking down "the masters" one by one seeking Baron Zemo's location so that she can destroy him in revenge. Thus, Amora's attacks against "The Masters" are her literal "acts of vengeance". Chemisto is the first on her list, whose alchemy gun is turned against him (after she proves able to regenerate from one of his nastier blasts). Next is Arnim Zola, and very quickly it becomes almost like a murder mystery with the Avengers being brought in to stop any actual "killings". Part of me wonders if some of those villains would have actually died had this been on CN, which may have more lax censorship rules than Disney XD. In fairness to the episode, Amora's attempts are done off camera to showcase their horror, and the survival of her victims may not be something she intended. Doughboy probably was blown to bits, but Zola can always make a new one.

At any rate, while Hawkeye is initially pleased at someone doing their work of capturing the villains for them, Iron Man and T'Challa are less amused - and things get worse when Zemo brings the rest of his team (Wonder Man and Abomination) to Avengers Mansion seeking sanctuary. While he is dismayed to learn Thor is no longer with the team (more on him later), Iron Man claims to have built a Jack Kirby gadget which negates Asgardian magic. Having built an Uru armor with Eitri, Stark naturally has more knowledge of Asgardian energy than he did before, which T'Challa also expands upon. However, the result is a very tense scene where nobody knows who to trust. The Avengers anticipate Zemo will betray them, just as Zemo expects the Avengers to betray HIM and allow Amora to claim him. Zemo thus puts his "trust" in Capt. America, the one person who is supposedly true to his word - only this Cap is secretly a Skrull with his own dark agenda. Some people often claim this show is "lighter" than "YOUNG JUSTICE" and that is sometimes seen as a demerit, but this show is still capable of perfectly tense little scenes such as this one, which I enjoyed greatly. Thus, when Amora eventually showed up like any good slasher villain, the climax was made all the more sweet. The subplot regarding Wonder Man being an unwilling member gets a nod once more as he is reminded of how callous Zemo is - he literally set up Crimson Dynamo as an expendable distraction and is almost puzzled when Iron Man disagrees: "You sent Crimson Dynamo to die?" "Isn't that what a team is for?" Classic. At any rate, the climax to the episode is the sort of action packed chaos which was to be expected; "Cap" betrays Zemo, Zemo betrays the Avengers, and Wonder Man ultimately betrays everyone for a noble sacrifice. Much like the title, this is another classic homage to a Marvel story; in Simon Williams' opening tale, he is an embittered enemy of Stark who is manipulated into joining the MOE (which included Zemo, Amora, and Executioner) in revenge only to sacrifice his life to save them when he realizes their plans involve death. While it seems Wonder Man is dead - despite T'Challa claiming Stark had figured out a cure for his unstable energy form - he is also the Avenger best known for coming back from the dead. As usual, Wasp and Hulk got in some of the funniest lines, and I liked his final little pound on Abomination. This episode had a lot of villains and while the action won't win any dazzle awards compared to the peak of this show or others, it still was plenty thrilling to have all those characters involved. Even Executioner taking that Norn stone blast from Amora is a subtle sign of the secret love he does have for her - which Amora is aware of and exploits, and never seems to return.

This episode also gives us our first look at Thor, who has been busy rebuilding Asgard after Loki's assault last season. Things look fine between he and Heimdall until the longtime watcher of Asgard collapses. What follows is a slow build to what seems to be one of the major enemies of Thor arising - the demon Surtur, who has claimed his massive sword Twilight. Amora perhaps suffers some instant bad karma for her assaults on the masters by falling into the clutches of someone far more sinister than even she or Loki are. I probably liked this version of Surtur more than the peak we got in "THOR: TALES OF ASGARD"; he looked far more menacing. The battle against Surtur was one of Walt Simonson's creative triumphs on his majestic THOR run and if this show is seeking to do a similar story, then some bad-ass times are ahead for future episodes. I also liked how Amora was depicted and shown as an incredibly powerful and dangerous force on her own, instead of simply as an Asgardian seductress with energy beams as she sometimes is depicted.

The animation was about on par with other episodes; fine but nothing too outstanding. There were a few off model moments, but I naturally did like the use of shadow to showcase that this "Cap" is not the one we know. True, the recaps have kept that bit fresh, but it always is a nice visual.

Overall, a solid episode. While it isn't anywhere near the peak of this show, it is clearly an episode building towards larger things as well as tying up quite a few dangling subplots from the last season. "A:EMH" remains not only the best Marvel team cartoon in years, it is easily the best Marvel cartoon on TV right now. At least for another 13 episodes; that is when Loeb and his MAN OF ACTION spread their influence on the show not unlike Surtur, and it will remain to be seen the effect this will have.

[spider_man_2]

Originally Posted by lixdexia

isn't she kinda made out of stone right now?

I expected she would've reverted back after Grey Gargoyle's death. I'm a sucker for villains and can't get over the fact that he's gone without a good showing

[Hawkingbird]

Is it up on the internet yet?

[lixdexia]

Originally Posted by spider_man_2

I expected she would've reverted back after Grey Gargoyle's death. I'm a sucker for villains and can't get over the fact that he's gone without a good showing

well what would have been the point of that then? they killed grey gargoyle like RIGHT AFTER they had him turn karnila to stone. that's like buying a pizza just to throw it away.

[strugler]

Rumor: Avengers EMH has been cancelled, a new show in the same universe of Ultimate spider-man to debut by Fall 2013

http://tinyurl.com/d3xfmhk

[Hawkingbird]

I can't see the sense in it? USM really only goes to children, whereas EMH is better aimed at all ages. Oh gosh, I'm going to be devastated. ....link to episode :3?

[IronGirl299]

I heard. I agree with SecretNerdGirl and am absolutely pissed and upset...if they replace it with an Ultimate show, I wouldn't mind, but still...it's wouldn't be EMH! :0

I will now re-post my exact reaction on the USM thread.

****!!
Why must the good stuff never last?

[MessiahDecoy123]

It's a conspiracy to dumb down children and lower their standards.

I'm not joking.

[Casius--J]

If they do cancel this for an Ultimate version like the spider-man show then I won't be watching. Right now I'm hating this spidey toon and I'm not going to be watching it for much longer, its far too painful.

[MarvelKnight]

Originally Posted by Casius--J

If they do cancel this for an Ultimate version like the spider-man show then I won't be watching. Right now I'm hating this spidey toon and I'm not going to be watching it for much longer, its far too painful.

Me either, while I thought this recent USM episode was the best of the series so far (mainly in the action department) it's garbage compared to EMH.

[spider_man_2]

Originally Posted by lixdexia

well what would have been the point of that then? they killed grey gargoyle like RIGHT AFTER they had him turn karnila to stone. that's like buying a pizza just to throw it away.

True that. But Grey Gargoyle seems like such a waste... Then again, the whole show is apparently going to waste after season 2, so what's one more character?

[SaF]

Originally Posted by strugler

Rumor: Avengers EMH has been cancelled, a new show in the same universe of Ultimate spider-man to debut by Fall 2013

http://tinyurl.com/d3xfmhk

I know its been said many times but... first Spectacular Spidey and now this!?

What a waste, sad times. Why do people currently seem to be interested in making 'one shot episode' series rather than 'over arching story threads' series?

It makes no sense to me, all the cartoon series I really like have bigger stories woven throughout the series, it gives everything so much depth.

[Mistah K88]

...seriously what the [CENSORED]?! I always feel that they go out of their way to target me. It's happening all over again...remember a couple years ago?

*Spectacular Spider-Man is cancelled*
<vader>NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!</vader> WHAT THE [CENSORED]?! I knew Disney XD brought that show over simply to kill it off. What a horrible day...well...at least we still have Wolverine and the X-Men...It's not as good as TSSM, but it gets the job done...

*Wolverine and the X-Men is cancelled*
*starts foaming at mouth*

I guess history is repeating itself...At least THIS show got more than 26 episodes.