Avengers cartoon - Part 5

[SlackBrian]

Originally Posted by TheVileOne

Get over it Thunderstrike. The 200x MOTU series never gave us the Horde Invasion and She-Ra and was cut off mid-season.

Thundercats is probably going to be cancelled after one season by WB/CN.

How about we finally got a fantastic Avengers series and it was 52 episodes. I'm pretty happy about that. It was better than Justice League.

Ok, I have to ask. I've seen you post the same "get over it" message over and over on the Avengers threads. That message certainly has validity to it. People should accept the inevitable and move on. A fair point. But you post it SO MANY times here. Don't you think it's a bit excessive? It's clear that people's complaints annoy you. You're obviously entitled to your opinion, and have the right to share it. However, you've made your point, so...

...shouldn't you move on and get over it?

[BigThor]

Originally Posted by SlackBrian

Ok, I have to ask. I've seen you post the same "get over it" message over and over on the Avengers threads. That message certainly has validity to it. People should accept the inevitable and move on. A fair point. But you post it SO MANY times here. Don't you think it's a bit excessive? It's clear that people's complaints annoy you. You're obviously entitled to your opinion, and have the right to share it. However, you've made your point, so...

...shouldn't you move on and get over it?

If this was Twitter, I would retweet the **** out of this!

[RealIrOnMaN]

Wow... it's been a very fun and epic ride, guys. A couple of years, 52 episodes in total and I still cannot properly express how I feel about this show, because it is so damn universal and deep, what I mean is that basically everyone can relate to this show, from the toddlers to the grown ups, from good viewers and to hardcore fans. This is one of the finest shows of our generation, and not because it's called the Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, but because the gifted creators of the show Chris Yost and Josh Fine along with the big talented and brave team of animators, composers and more brought into life the very same comic books (from various eras), that make us all believe in heroes, that the world needs them and that sometimes there are things in this universe, that are bigger than life itself and observing them is the best thing that could happen to any of us.

It's been an honor to stand side by side with you, people, to live through the whole experience (from the very first announcement of the show until its very end). I don't know, what future holds for the Avengers next, but I'm pretty sure that Earth's Mightiest Heroes and their deeds, what they've achieved throughout the course of two seasons will always have a special place in my heart, and, hopefully, many other hearts around the world.

In other words, ladies and gentlemen...



AVENGERS ASSEMBLE!

[bigdaddy313]

Originally Posted by RealIrOnMaN

Wow... it's been a very fun and epic ride, guys. A couple of years, 52 episodes in total and I still cannot properly express how I feel about this show, because it is so damn universal and deep, what I mean is that basically everyone can relate to this show, from the toddlers to the grown ups, from good viewers and to hardcore fans. This is one of the finest shows of our generations, and not because it's called the Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, but because the gifted creators of the show Chris Yost and Josh Fine along with the big talented and brave team of animators, composers and more brought into life the very same comic books (from various eras), that make us all believe in heroes, that the world needs them and that sometimes there are things in this universe, that are bigger than life itself and observing them is the best thing that could happen to any of us.

It's been an honor to stand side by side with you, people, to live through the whole experience (from the very first announcement of the show until its very end). I don't know, what future holds for the Avengers next, but I'm pretty sure that Earth's Mightiest Heroes and their deeds, what they've achieved throughout the course of two seasons will always have a special place in my heart, and, hopefully, many other hearts around the world.

In other words, ladies and gentlemen...



AVENGERS ASSEMBLE!

You said it Brother

[THUNDERSTRIKE]

Originally Posted by SlackBrian

Ok, I have to ask. I've seen you post the same "get over it" message over and over on the Avengers threads. That message certainly has validity to it. People should accept the inevitable and move on. A fair point. But you post it SO MANY times here. Don't you think it's a bit excessive? It's clear that people's complaints annoy you. You're obviously entitled to your opinion, and have the right to share it. However, you've made your point, so...

...shouldn't you move on and get over it?

ah, leave him be... after all, he IS "the VILE one"...

[THUNDERSTRIKE]

Originally Posted by RealIrOnMaN

Wow... it's been a very fun and epic ride, guys. A couple of years, 52 episodes in total and I still cannot properly express how I feel about this show, because it is so damn universal and deep, what I mean is that basically everyone can relate to this show, from the toddlers to the grown ups, from good viewers and to hardcore fans. This is one of the finest shows of our generation, and not because it's called the Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, but because the gifted creators of the show Chris Yost and Josh Fine along with the big talented and brave team of animators, composers and more brought into life the very same comic books (from various eras), that make us all believe in heroes, that the world needs them and that sometimes there are things in this universe, that are bigger than life itself and observing them is the best thing that could happen to any of us.

It's been an honor to stand side by side with you, people, to live through the whole experience (from the very first announcement of the show until its very end). I don't know, what future holds for the Avengers next, but I'm pretty sure that Earth's Mightiest Heroes and their deeds, what they've achieved throughout the course of two seasons will always have a special place in my heart, and, hopefully, many other hearts around the world.

In other words, ladies and gentlemen...



AVENGERS ASSEMBLE!

[bigdaddy313]

Did you guys see how the animation changed at the end? That shows there was a different ending planned for the third season.

[Chewy]

Originally Posted by THUNDERSTRIKE

by the way, who was the water herald of Galactus?... I recognized Terrax, Firelord and Air Walker but who was this newbie?... and where was Frankie Raye?... guess only one fire elemental in the herald mix...

Looked like they used the Heralds from Heroes Reborn...



and I'm assuming no Frankie Raye because they wanted to stick with the Earth, Wind, Fire and Water elementals motif

[Chewy]

Either that or it's Stardust, the current Herald. Which, looking at the design, seems more likely

[Franklin Richards]

Glad everyone is done with the show. Why the hell am I just now resuming the season? Who was the genius who scheduled this ****?

[bigdaddy313]

Originally Posted by Franklin Richards

Glad everyone is done with the show. Why the hell am I just now resuming the season? Who was the genius who scheduled this ****?

I am so tempted to say "your mother", but i have no idea lol

[THUNDERSTRIKE]

Originally Posted by Chewy

Either that or it's Stardust, the current Herald. Which, looking at the design, seems more likely

damns, I HAVE been outta the loop for awhile... I have NO idea who this is... gonna have to do a wiki on her and see what HER story is...

[spider_man_2]

I had doubts myself but the water herald is most likely meant to be Stardust.

[GamerSlyRatchet]

Originally Posted by bigdaddy313

Did you guys see how the animation changed at the end? That shows there was a different ending planned for the third season.

How did it change? Any noticeable changes?

[spider_man_2]

Originally Posted by GamerSlyRatchet

How did it change? Any noticeable changes?

I thought the Thing looked a bit different but couldn't really tell otherwise. Not to say they're not there, it does seem like a finale put together at the last moment because of the cancellation.

[bigdaddy313]

Exactly that its what it was, everyone looked a hell lot skinnier. And watch when the characters land you will see very clearly, but it's all good.

[Colossal Spoons]

Loved the O'Grady easter egg today

[bigdaddy313]

Originally Posted by Colossal Spoons

Loved the O'Grady easter egg today

What, where?

[Quasimod0]

Could someone please shoot me a pm? Cant find the new eps

[cloverfan98]

Can some one also pm me the show links?

[Hawkingbird]

Has it actually been confirmed that this show's being cancled? Aparently it was just Marvel TV that claimed it...and..well...

[Dread]

The land down under has finished airing the rest of "AVENGERS: EARTH'S MIGHTIEST HEROES" months before Disney XD will, although considering that the show has already been canceled and replaced at Disney, ratings are moot. My only concern is when the DVD's of Season 2 will be announced. When the first season was debuting, by the time Disney XD finished airing the micro-series and a few regular episodes, the first of the four "soccer mom" DVD sets was advertised. Now, Disney XD has aired half of Season 2 and nada about DVD's. Perhaps Disney is waiting to release them around when "THE AVENGERS" is released? Will they merely shave costs by spitting out Season 2 as a no frills box set sometime in 2013? Who knows. At any rate, yes, I will be reviewing all of the rest of the episodes although I may be behind everyone for a bit, so bare with me. These reviews may also be condensed for time. Spoilers ahoy!

"WINTER SOLDIER"

Spoiler!!! Click to Read!:

picks up right where "CODE RED" left off, as a series of large mysterious HYDRA robots start to emerge on rampages across the nation in general and against SHIELD's helicarrier in particular. Meanwhile, as SHIELD and the Avengers seek to disassemble Red Skull's far reaching plans as Dell Rusk from "CODE RED", Captain America can't get over how familiar the Winter Soldier was. He was the only one of Red Skull's minions who escaped and the only one who broke through to his brainwashing to help Cap at the end. Thus, Captain America meets up with Nick Fury and cashes in the one favor Nick "owed" him in Season 1 for a lead on the Soldier, because Cap is wise enough to recognize his old WWII partner, even after so many years and with a cybernetic arm. While Cap chases what is left of his old partner Bucky, the HYDRA "Sleeper" robots manage to free Red Skull from prison and seem set to stage a final assault on Washington, D.C.

As usual with this series, I am astonished by this show's ability to adapt multiple comic book stories at once and merge them successfully as a gestalt adaptation. This episode was written by MAN OF ACTION & James Felder, and continues MOA's upswing on this show after the dud that was "POWERLESS". This episode adapts the innovations to Bucky's back story and tragic transformation into the Winter Soldier as written in CAPTAIN AMERICA by Ed Brubaker for years, while also adapting the "Sleepers Saga" from three TALES TO ASTONISH comics, circa 1965. While "HAIL HYDRA!" last season implied that Bucky survived the rocket explosion due to Cap's unconscious meddling with the Cosmic Cube, it naturally wasn't all hunky dory for him. The segment where they go over how Bucky is made by the Skull into the Winter Soldier is genuinely spooky and credit goes to a good performance by Scott Mellville as the young Bucky and Jon Curry as the adult Winter Soldier. The shows does a great job of establishing that the Winter Soldier has appeared as a mysterious combatant across the decades without breaking censors and it's revealed that it was against him that Nick Fury lost his eye. This naturally adds to the tension as Cap and Fury have to form an uneasy alliance to find Winter Soldier, who the latter wants to arrest and the former wants to redeem. We also get more of Steven J. Blum's Red Skull as we get another over the top action sequence with him and his HYDRA tech (even if for my money, Blum's best villain performance was as Green Goblin in "TSSM"). How he survived into the modern day is unknown, but the show wisely notes that Skull's infiltration of the U.S. government would have taken a long time. And in case one is wondering, the segment where all the Sleepers "merge" into one giant robot may seem like an homage to "mecha anime", but those robots did merge into one large one (including a giant Red Skull robot head) in the original 1965 story by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Heck, you could argue it also has parallels to the end of CAPTAIN AMERICA REBORN. Still, I couldn't help but dub the merged Sleeper robot "Mega Nazi-tron".

While Cap, Thor, Iron Man, Ms. Marvel and Hawkeye tend to get the lines in this episode, the other Avengers like Vision still show up at the end which is at least good for the over-the-top battles. Captain America has another "and this is for _____" moments similar to his showdown with Skrull-Cap, only this time against the Red Skull. While I did like "CODE RED" I did feel it was a little "too easy" to have unraveled Skull's plot as Rusk in two episodes, so I was glad to see this episode extend that saga to three episodes (and even more if one considers the following episode, "THE DEADLIEST MAN ALIVE"). The Red Skull is easily one of the most well known and longest lasting Marvel Universe villains EVER, dating back almost as long as Cap himself, so I was thrilled that he got as many episodes devoted to him as someone like The Leader got. It isn't explained quite how Red Skull survived into the modern day without aging - it is stated that Winter Soldier was frozen between missions - but in the end it doesn't matter I suppose. The Red Skull has always been a nasty, over-the-top villain once his manipulative schemes are undone so it does seem in character that if his plan to destroy America from within failed, his back-up plan would be a spectacular aim to destroy it from without via giant robots. Considering how often the action is set in NYC and it is that city which is frequently in peril, it is refreshing to see such disasters and rescues have to take place in D.C. more than once.

"A:EMH" is a great show because while Disney very much wants to endlessly ape the film, this show exists to pay homage and adapt the comic book stories which proved the ore for that film. From recent stuff to 60's stuff, the directors and producers all manage to know how to cherry pick what works and make it all cohesive. Winter Soldier's first major foray into animation is a success, as he remains the mysterious anti-hero all would expect him to be.

Picking up almost where this left off was "THE DEADLIEST MAN ALIVE",

Spoiler!!! Click to Read!:

which picks up on the Red Hulk subplot as well as shows fans what happened with Bruce Banner/The Hulk after he/they were convinced to surrender to the Hulkbusters by "Skrull-Cap" in "NIGHTMARE IN RED", a Hulk-less drought of 12 episodes. This episode is also written by MAN OF ACTION without James Felder (who co-wrote "WINTER SOLDIER" and "YELLOWJACKET") and while it is still leagues better than "POWERLESS", it does occasionally have a few lame one-liners which give a hint that something is slightly off. The gist is that with the Skrull impostor of Cap taken care of, the genuine article as well as the rest of the Avengers want to get the Hulk out of prison so he can join their team again. Naturally, Thunderbolt Ross (Keith Ferguson) is whole heartedly against this with a personal vendetta against a hero which would almost make J. Jonah Jameson blush. Seriously, have Ross and J.J. ever met in the comics? At any rate, while Banner is bitter towards his former allies at the start, his transformations into the Hulk appear to be beyond his control, and the Hulk is even more out of control than he ever was. By sheer coincidence, the Red Hulk shows up after being "de-programmed" from Dell Rusk's employ and makes his pitch to join the team.

The "mystery" is paper thin; any child will figure out that the Red Hulk is manipulating the entire situation and by this stage that he's even Ross himself. Even the detail of a doohicky on Banner's skull which triggers his rage via remote would have been standard fare in the 1960's. Where this episode shines is in some of the character portrayals. Much like in Season 1, the genuine Cap sees the Hulk as a hero and will put himself on the line - even to the point of committing a crime - to back him up and attempt to prove his innocence. The Wasp, who was really the first to even try to befriend the Hulk in "THE BREAK OUT", is concerned in a similar manner and proves key to unraveling things. And while Iron Man seems like he's bought what Red Hulk was selling a bit too quickly, at the end of the episode we learn that he'd hedged his bets with a gadget of his own. Considering how much of a maniac the Red Hulk is, I genuinely wonder whether Dell Rusk had to even "brainwash" him like he did to Falcon and Samson; one would have imagined Rulk would have been gung-ho for Rusk's anti-superhero agenda. Which actually makes him even scarier, as that implies how close Ross/Rulk is to a genuine Nazi. Naturally, Red Hulk almost has half the team and the public fooled until he goes berserk fighting the Hulk and endangers civilians at the same docks which always seem to be magnets for trouble.

Thunderbolt Ross as Rulk here still reminds me a little of General Eiling in "JLU"; a gruff anti-superhero zealot who so hated the "metahumans" that he shamelessly transformed himself into a massive monster to try to destroy them. Given that Winter Soldier under orders from Rusk/Red Skull was the one who did the legwork of empowering Ross, this still counts as one lingering subplot from "CODE RED" being sewn up. The only difference is while JLU's "PATRIOT ACT" had a bit of a lame ending, it is completely satisfying watching Jeph Loeb's big red power fantasy get the beat-down he deserves here. Perhaps that's the REAL reason why this show was canned.

If there was one major caveat, it was that Hulk seems to accept Captain America as his true friend despite not knowing from a cell that he'd been replaced by an alien and it was the alien that sold him out to Ross in the first place. Nobody explained that to Banner or Hulk on screen; was Hulk merely the only one on Earth who figured out that it wasn't "the real Cap" because the Skrull changed the costume? At the very least, this show has managed to portray the Red Hulk in a far less decompressed manner than Loeb's original comic and while I feel empowering too many people into "Hulks" diminishes the original, there is some charm to the thought of Ross becoming so deranged that he literally becomes his enemy and doesn't see the hypocrisy. T-Bolt Ross is literally a guy who was so crazed he once interrupted his own daughter's wedding to Banner with a firearm in the comics, after all. If I had one quibble, it was that Cap's stale one-liner of, "This team already HAS a super-soldier!" sort of reminded me that MAN OF ACTION really was scripting this.

Bottom line? Any show which makes Rulk almost work proves it's quality to me. It is ironic since Loeb & MAN OF ACTION took over a segment of the season because among other reasons they wanted to make sure focus was on the "core movie Avengers", this is essentially the last time Hulk talks in the series. After sitting out twelve episodes, the Hulk doesn't appear until the series finale 4 episodes later, and even then only grunts. Fred Tatasciore has voiced the Hulk for Marvel Animation ever since "ULTIMATE AVENGERS" first hit DVD shelves and this series to me will always stand out as really giving Fred a chance to flesh out his performance as Hulk to do and say more than screaming. The fact that he got to play "Red Hulk" as an evil version was also fun I imagine. Much as Steve Blum IS Wolverine or Brian Bloom IS Captain America, Tatasciore IS the Hulk by this stage. Among the many strengths that "A:EMH" has shown to me is the fact that it managed to craft a version of the Hulk who not only didn't annoy me, but whom I genuinely learned to like and appreciate BECAUSE he didn't fall into his old ruts of talking in single syllables, hogging his peers, and being invincible. This won't be the end of Tatasciore's performances as the Hulk in animation, but I suspect it may be the last really terrific one.

"NEW AVENGERS"

Spoiler!!! Click to Read!:

sees Chris Yost return to writing chores after a break of 3 episodes and he writes or co-writes the rest of the series from here. This episode also sees the return of Kang The Conqueror as well as what it says on the tin, the arrival of the New Avengers. The plot is simple enough; Kang escapes from prison and zaps the "real" Avengers with his time-rays, which forces a new team to assemble in their stead. While it is a bit of a gimmick to capitalize on the long running comic series, it does benefit from the serialized structure as we have met all of these heroes before. "ALONG CAME A SPIDER" introduced Spider-Man to the universe; "ALONE AGAINST AIM" established James Rhodes as War Machine; Thing and the Fantastic Four had cameos throughout Season 1 but "THE PRIVATE WAR OF DOCTOR DOOM" which kicked off Season 2 was a more official team-up; and "TO STEAL AN ANT-MAN" introduced Iron Fist and Luke Cage. The closest one who comes "out of nowhere" is Wolverine; while he appeared as one of the Howling Commandos (as James Howlett) in the micro-episodes, the masked X-Man has never shown up before beyond pictures on Nick Fury's blackboard somewhere. While the aim is to assemble the roster of New Avengers, it basically trades Spider-Woman for War Machine, who was NEVER a member of the New Avengers. In fact, considering that Rhodes showed little interest in being an armored superhero in "ALONE AGAINST AIM", it is a little odd to see him flying around in the suit right off the bat, but for convenience's sake I'll let it go; it certainly was a crisis, after all. You can imagine various different Avengers recommended certain heroes for the replacement roster. Cap may have recommended Spider-Man, while Stark would have recommended Rhodes. If Yellowjacket had a moment of sanity he would have recommended the "heroes for hire", and anyone would have gone with Thing. Which still leaves Wolverine as the odd man in.

Jonathan Adams reprises his role as Kang, and this time he's frankly more of an outright super-villain and less of a warlord with a potential understandable goal. In the previous season, Kang was at least partially motivated by the destruction of his time-line and saving his lover, Ravonna. Here, Kang seems like more of a typical villain out for revenge with a time-gimmick. In the comics, Kang's vengeance against the Avengers eventually overwhelmed any desire he he had for Ravonna, but in this show it did seem a little abrupt. He's shown in prison where he is met by his counterparts in the "Council Of Kangs"; two of whom seem inspired by Immortus and Iron Lad. They chastise him for being the only Kang who hasn't destroyed his Avengers yet and free him out of pity. This leads to Kang putting the smack down on the heroes and seeking to merge his base from the 40th century within Stark Tower. But, wait a second, wasn't everything from his future lost to the time-shift? And if Kang wanted to prevent time from crumbling apart, why is he willing to rip time apart just to stick a building in Manhattan? He doesn't mention a word about those things or even Cap's destined role in causing it; he's just out to cause the crisis of the week. While it was still a solid episode, I did think Kang wasn't nearly as imposing as he was in the first season; heck, even the Avengers manage to land more blows against him than originally.

The alliance of the New Avengers is decent enough, although I still would have loved to have gotten Josh Keaton as Spidey instead of Drake Bell. Bell at least gets some of the better lines of his tenure as Spidey in this show. Steve Blum naturally reprises his role as Wolverine while we have Bumper Robinson as War Machine, Loren Laster as Iron Fist, Chris B. Duncan as Luke Cage and Fred Tatasciore voicing another brute as the Thing. They all get to fight things from across time, and I liked the use of shadow to show Wolverine KILLING some raptors without offending censors; that's how it's done. Spider-Man winds up playing a more crucial role in the episode as JARVIS has uplinked to his "spider-sense" signal that he uses for his tracers, and Spidey has to wind up using his brains to outwit Kang. We also continue to see the full Avengers roster here even if most of them don't always speak, such as Vision and Yellowjacket. Given how disappointing Cage and Fist sometimes are in "ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN" (even as the highlights to that show), it is always good to see superior, grown up versions here. I naturally liked the little moments where Iron Fist is speaking Japanese to a ninja, and the normally "financially motivated" Cage loses his cool when Kang zaps his best friend Danny against a wall. While I imagine there are people tired of Spider-Man and/or Wolverine and weren't exactly looking forward to this, I don't mind seeing a more cohesive Marvel Universe for the first time since the 90's era on Fox Kids and UPN Kids.

I did feel Kang was defeated too easily, but considering they only had one episode and also had over things to accomplish here, it's about as good as Kang was going to get this season. I feel this episode was diminished more by his use as a more typical weekly super villain than by any appearance by a guest star. Even despite that, it was an entertaining episode and a bit of a sequel to "ALONG CAME A SPIDER" in regards to the web-slinger's development as a hero and Cap's acceptance of him. The episodes which came after this to close out the series, though, quickly made me forget a lot of this episode - even if this episode does set the foundation for the series finale.

More to come...

[IronGirl299]

Originally Posted by RealIrOnMaN

Wow... it's been a very fun and epic ride, guys. A couple of years, 52 episodes in total and I still cannot properly express how I feel about this show, because it is so damn universal and deep, what I mean is that basically everyone can relate to this show, from the toddlers to the grown ups, from good viewers and to hardcore fans. This is one of the finest shows of our generation, and not because it's called the Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, but because the gifted creators of the show Chris Yost and Josh Fine along with the big talented and brave team of animators, composers and more brought into life the very same comic books (from various eras), that make us all believe in heroes, that the world needs them and that sometimes there are things in this universe, that are bigger than life itself and observing them is the best thing that could happen to any of us.

It's been an honor to stand side by side with you, people, to live through the whole experience (from the very first announcement of the show until its very end). I don't know, what future holds for the Avengers next, but I'm pretty sure that Earth's Mightiest Heroes and their deeds, what they've achieved throughout the course of two seasons will always have a special place in my heart, and, hopefully, many other hearts around the world.

In other words, ladies and gentlemen...



AVENGERS ASSEMBLE!

That photo is epic, your message is meaningful and therefore, I am weeping. These heroes the way we've known them on this show will be sorely, sorely missed. We salute thee.

[Franklin Richards]

Well how about that. Finally getting a new episode. Despite the rest of the world being finished with it.

When did America become Europe? We're supposed to get these damn things first.


Anywho... liked the episode. Anyone else in America not pirate scum?

[SaF]

and its all over... nooooooo =(

sad times.

The last episode felt pretty rushed, I think I would have rather they made the kree arc longer and have that as the finale, it was pretty epic after all! But never mind, at least it meant hulk got to come back forone last fight.

its amusing that just as the last eps are shown in australia (and therefore are available on the net) that the legit episode downloads come back.

Oh well, I've got a season pass so it'll be nice to have the episodes to watch again, without knowing they'll get taken down at any minute