Dread, I hope you have a clean change of clothes ready.
I actually stumbled upon ICv2's link at work before coming here:
http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/13466.html
But your article provides more information, such as stating that Christopher Yost (FANTASTIC FOUR:WGH) is story editor and the producer is Ciro Nieli, who worked on TEEN TITANS.
My first thought was, "Well, guess I am going to eat some crow now." Because a lot of my venom against NEXT AVENGERS was because I doubted the actual Avengers would ever come back to TV. Now, at the very least, they have as Marvel pushes the film version. Much like with X-MEN EVOLUTION, which was produced and developed alongside the 2000 film (it debuted a few months afterwards on Kids WB; Yost wrote some episodes for that show), it seems this will be developed alongside a CAPTAIN AMERICA movie with an Avengers film by 2011-2012.
I stick by my statements that putting an Avengers cartoon on TV before or around when Marvel wants a movie on the big screen is just common sense, much as DC was prepping people for Justice League with the last season of THE BATMAN (and had JL/U cartoons for years on CN). While every film that builds to AVENGERS may not earn the same amount of cash (IRON MAN was a worldwide blockbuster totaling nearly a billion dollars; THE INCREDIBLE HULK will likely need strong DVD sales just to break even), moving forward is good and utilizing the small screen only adds to that.
As to the character models; firstly, we don't know if these are the "finalized" designs or not. This show isn't hitting TV for another 3 years or so; the designs could change by then. TEEN TITANS and LEGION OF SUPERHEROES went through some shifts like that, from early design work to finished character models. STARZ MEDIA and FILM ROMAN were also behind the HELLBOY ANIMATED DTV's, which were excellent.
But, assuming these are the finished models, they are about what one could expect for a current TV show. People call it "anime style" but it is really just stylized, as anime models can vary depending on the art; NARUTO characters look little similar to characters from FIST OF THE NORTH STAR or the original GUYVER OAV series. If anything, they take even MORE liberties with anatomy and proportion than most genuine anime. Really, the only quibble I have is Iron Man's helmet; it's shaped oddly and most cartoon models, dating back to the 90's, make his mouth-piece appear to have Iron Man look dumbfounded. Hulk and Thor look massive, Cap looks like your square-jawed hero, and Ant-Man looks fine. Iron Man's helmet I mentioned, and maybe Wasp looks a little "young", but that's fine. She's a 40+ year old character; you have to add some spunk for 2008. Frankly, I am surprised they didn't go "Giant Man" for Pym, considering there is more he can do in that form than by shrinking and riding ants. But, it could come in later. This leaves the core roster as, basically, the founding members; Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, Ant-Man, Wasp, and Captain America (in the comics, made retroactively a "founder" after Hulk quit). Considering his appeal, I doubt Hulk would be written out as quickly as he was in the comics, but there still is potential for more members down the line. Not every comic book story has to be adapted panel by panel, but doing a Timm-esque approach, seeing what works, what can be homaged, and what has to be tweaked for the 21st century can work wonders. If anything, the cast could use another female character to up things to seven.
Of course, animation is only half the equation. The best animation in the world won't make a show evolve past eye-catching mediocrity without good writing; just see MTV SPIDER-MAN.
Yost's written for other TV shows besides the ones mentioned, which include some work on THE BATMAN and the 2k3 TMNT series. He's co-written NEW X-MEN and X-23 mini's with Craig Kyle, and penned the RUNAWAYS/YOUNG AVENGERS mini during Secret Invasion. He's capable of comedy stuff but can go darker, to the point of wrist-slitting bleakness, as shown in NXM, which kills off characters like it was a new trend. To me, Yost can be a wild card; he can write some great stuff. He also has written a lot of mediocre and underwhelming stuff. And his shows have usually struggled with exceptional fight scene pacing and storyboarding, and that is something AVENGERS: EARTH'S MIGHTIEST HEROES must EXCEL at. Otherwise, Marvel will never be able to say they learned from DC's JLU show. I said in NEXT AVENGERS reviews that it appeared that the people behind it, which included Yost, wanted to make an Avengers cartoon but instead copped out and made a movie about a team of generic kid heroes. At least now Yost has his chance.
As for Nieli, he directed 9 episodes from TEEN TITAN's first and second seasons (including the pilot episode, and the first season finale). Now, of course, TEEN TITANS was not for everyone. Some hated that it was more like anime than a lot of actual anime, especially with "deformed animated antics". There were plenty of episodes that were generic or useless fluff. But it was often quite creative, even in an acid-trip kind of way, even when it was going for fluff; compared to NEXT AVENGERS, it almost looks inspired. That said, he wasn't David Slack, who literally directed or wrote every single excellent episode of TEEN TITANS. Nearly every episode someone would site in a Top 10 list of TT would be a Slack episode. TT was not at it's peak in the first two seasons. That said, Nieli's episodes would range from fluffy to funny to generic to a few that were even good (although not the pinnacle of TEEN TITANS). But at least they sometimes had good action and some amusing character interaction. At the very least, it is superhero team show experience beyond mutants. TEEN TITANS if anything usually had decent action, and that includes some of Nieli's episodes. If I had to pick his best, it might be "APPRENTICE - PART TWO" (the Season 1 finale). Despite the target audience, TEEN TITANS could be quite dark and action-packed, with Slade being an incredibly chilling villain.
Quite frankly, this duo doesn't have the same sort of positive buzz behind them as Wiesman & Co. behind SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN (which is one of Marvel's best cartoons in a decade and if it can last beyond 2 seasons, could become the best Spider-Man show, period), or even Kyle & Johnson behind WOLVERINE & THE X-MEN. That said, Yost & Nieli have both worked on team shows that often ranged from comedy to action to some dark moments and even some heart. They're leagues above the folks behind AVENGERS: UNITED THEY STAND from 1999 (who later would do LUNATICS UNLEASHED, I heard somewhere). It's within their talent to create an Avengers show that is able to blend characterization, action, and plot. The 26 episodes allotment is becoming standard with Marvel's newest shows and at least from the last two, things are fairly serialized, which is the way to go. After all, anime is that way, and all the kiddies are able to follow it. I expect AVENGERS: WGH to follow suit.
The major positive is that AVENGERS:UTS in 1999 SO lowered the bar that there is almost no physical way AVENGERS: WGH could be worse. Simply by default, it will be superior. The challenge is to have this show emerge behind the incredible shadow left by past team shows by Bruce Timm. They at least have years of hindsight in their favor; not EVERYTHING worked with JL/U. Naturally, when more comes out about this show, one can comment further. But right now it's good news, and I look forward to hearing more.
