SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN was the closest a Marvel show has come to matching a Bruce Timm TV production in a damn long time, and it was a nugget of gold found in the middle of a corporate storm. Disney buying Marvel. Kid's WB dying as a network, then being replaced with CW 4kids, then moving to Disney XD, which waited ages to release new episodes while moving the schedule around. Corporately, Disney likely saw it as "Sony's show" and thus a nuisance to be eliminated. It didn't matter that it had a small but loyal fan base, and that it was excellent. Nor did it matter that WOLVERINE AND THE X-MEN, over at NickToons, got historic ratings for that network. Both had to die in their prime because Disney didn't pay $4 billion so they'd have to compromise with other companies for a TV show here and there. If anything, Disney XD's move of buying TSSM for Season 2 was a master stroke. It put them in the best position to cull it so they could to "their" Spider-Man show on their network on their terms.
Alex Soto is directing that, and to be fair Soto was a fine director on "TEEN TITANS"; he worked on about 17 episodes of that, more than a whole season's worth. But Greg Wiesman or Victor Cook he isn't.
You're right that Disney could micro-manage everything Marvel TV does to death. In a way I am glad that at least they're not micro-managing the films or comic arms. I do understand the desire to expand on Marvel's TV presence. But the thing is, they've actually maintained a TV presence. What Marvel TV hasn't displayed is patience. Nearly every show of the last 7 years is dead after 26 episodes. And while that's nice for a DVD box set, you can't really syndicate that well, and it limits earning potential. It also makes fans who liked those shows bitter, and makes them believe that if Marvel has no patience for their own show, they shouldn't have any, either. I mean, BEN 10 in some form or another has lasted, what, 5-7 seasons now? The latest incarnation of TMNT lasted 7 seasons total (2003-2009), with a TV film. Where is the Marvel show with that staying power? Those 90's cartoons that ran for 5 years created so many fans who read comics today, who watch films, who play games. Where are the TV shows that created the fans of the next decade?
Nick has turned AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER from a quirky "Americanime" to a big budget motion picture. Even KIM POSSIBLE has enjoyed a long life on syndication. X-MEN EVOLUTION could have ran in syndication a while, but WB was connected to that, and they're Marvel's rival. Marvel also never liked the compromises made to the show to please Kid's WB; the fact that it was both good and popular didn't matter. The irony is it may still end up more popular and longer lasting in fans' memories than WOLVERINE AND THE X-MEN. And why? 4 seasons, 52 episodes. If a company doesn't care about a product for more than a year at a time, why should anyone else? Marvel believes signals don't matter, but they do. They totally, completely do. If I can tell that Marvel sometimes makes decisions with all the rationality of toddlers on a sugar high, too buzzed to think a step or two in the future, so can others.
"AVENGERS: EARTH'S MIGHTIEST HEROES" is apparently taking no chances; production on 52 episodes all at once has begun and been ongoing - two 26 episode seasons, basically, produced back to back. And that's a great first step, seriously. But it's just that - a first step. Especially since not even test footage of it has been made public in a year. "YOUNG JUSTICE" got a full press release, while the most of AVENGERS: EMH has gotten are some blurry unofficial images from the last Comic Con, and a shockingly candid interview Phil LaMarr had with Newsarama. Are they SERIOUS? This "Internet" thing has been around for ten years already and they don't know how to milk it?
"IRON MAN: ARMORED ADVENTURES" is there to capitalize on the Iron Man craze, even if it has little to do with him (teen Tony!). MARVEL SUPER HERO SQUAD is there for kids, but doesn't quite have the all ages charm of BATMAN: BRAVE AND THE BOLD (which is in the middle of a second season, and for all we know is likely to get a third). As for "ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN", the fact that all the buzz around it circulates around how irritated fans are that TSSM died is a bad sign. It will really have to come out swinging to not seem like a shameless attempt at "SPIDER-MAN: BRAVE AND THE BOLD".
But back to Jeph Loeb. With his role in this capacity becoming clear, it could work. He has worked on TV for quite a while on a few shows. He does have connections in Hollywood that many in Marvel lack. And he won't be doing all the writing himself. If Marvel was going to promote from within for this venture, they have few better options than Loeb to run TV. Allen Heinberg always treats comic writing as a hobby, and not his day job (his day job is writing for chick drama medical shows). Joss Whedon's place is directing live action films. Greg Wiesman's working for WB now. Dan Slott wrote an episode of the last Fan Four cartoon (which was among the best of that show), but Loeb has more TV experience. Brian Bendis was involved in the production of the Mainframe CGI Spidey cartoon, until MTV micromanaged it to death. And Joe Quesada obviously did not want to do it all himself as well as running the rest of the comic division. From an internal promotion perspective, I can see the logic of tapping Loeb. And if he is better at judging the talent of someone else than he is of executing some of his own story ideas himself (while still having some vision of where he wants to go and how to get there), he'll do a good job.
People complain about how little story there was in SUPERMAN/BATMAN: PUBLIC ENEMIES as an animated DTV. It also was the best selling one, forcing WB to mine more of his run for DTV's. Loeb at the very least knows how to be a crowd pleasing writer and what works for TV audiences. The biggest question is whether Marvel TV, whether live action or animation, will catch up to trends quick enough that, one day, they can actually start them again. Because even at best, Marvel's animation arm is trying to catch up to stuff Bruce Timm did 4-12 years ago. As a Marvel fan, I'm more invested in their characters than DC, although DC has been better at getting them on small screen and keeping them there, even while relying on the same two franchises a lot (Superman and Batman). Marvel has a chance to really branch out here.
Another concern are that ratings for TV cartoons that aren't prime time comedy blocks on Fox or Adult Swim, Saturday Mornings in particular, have been death for years. Are Marvel/Disney jumping into the pool when it's already been drained? And if so, do they know how to fill it up again? Will chasing trends be enough? These are all big questions, and if Loeb and the rest don't have sufficient answers, this will lead to more frustration. If they do, and if AVENGERS: EARTH'S MIGHTIEST HEROES proves to be as awesome as some insiders claim it will be, than maybe even TSSM's sacrifice will be worth something.
