In New York City, there is a mass breakout of supervillains from various S.H.I.E.L.D prisons by a mysterious mastermind. Against this threat that no single hero could have withstood, Iron Man, Giant Man, the Wasp, Thor and the Hulk work together to defeat the menace. Inspired by this victory, Iron Man convinces the others to form a permanent team, The Avengers, for the cause of justice. Together, these superheroes face new challenges, members, friends and foes as they assemble for them as one. After 74 villains break out of prison, Marvel's most powerful superheroes team up to capture all of them, and also to defend the Earth from widespread threats. What is being done here is taking all the best plot and character development from the entire history of Marvel Comics and writing it all over again placing the characters into the context they developed into right away without any actual development. Obviously, the writers know their Marvel. It's too bad there is no credit given to the original writers and creators who actually wrote these stories and developed these characters. (In season two a tiny credit now appears in the end titles acknowledging Jack Kirby and Joe Simon as the creators of Captain America.)<br/><br/>The original creators and writers probably wouldn't want to take credit for the cardboard cut-out versions of these iconic characters. They've got all the details, but none of the depth that made them icons to begin with.<br/><br/>Every plot, character, and conflict is from previous material. It is well done and loyal to "history." There are many many obscure references such as using the super-villain's true names when they are addressed - all quite accurate and correct. But the rendition of the old material is heavily padded with chase and battle scenes and only the bare bones of the great original stories remain as a loose framework holding it all together.<br/><br/>Unlike the originals which never insulted your intelligence, this version is written for a very young audience with no appetite for story or proper plotting or character development. The original Marvel Super Heroes cartoons from 1966 used voice actors who had been performing in radio dramas for decades and they acted out Stan Lee's dialogue straight. The old 1966 Marvel Super Heroes voices are unforgettable and utterly professional. The voice performances here are mostly amateurish and forgettable.<br/><br/>Marvel has always had the best characters. I don't think that today they have the best writers in their animation projects. They must write something that goes beyond rearranging classic material. What we're seeing here is more like a tracing over of old material. The plots are tight and the stories complete because the path was paved by the work and success of others.<br/><br/>The theme song is catchy, but the title sequence is poor and mostly confusing they way they edit it in. They changed it partway through the first season, but it's still looks confusingly like an end credit abruptly interrupting the opening teaser. The theme song and narrative explanation of the back story is out of place. They need a real title sequence and a better musical performance of the catchy theme song they came up with and to cut out the unnecessary narrator.<br/><br/>I'm left wondering how many times can the old Marvel stories be updated, retold and presented as if they were new? The only reference to the original artist and writer of much of this material, Jack Kirby, is a dog food commercial the Hulk is watching on TV, "Kirby Kibble." It seemed like it might have been almost an intentional slap in the face rather than an homage.<br/><br/>Disney used to represent the highest quality and they've allowed a mediocre program to be produced. Look at the little details and you know the writers know the material very well. Knowing the details isn't enough. Disney needs to scrap the entire creative team and start over for season 2. It looks good, but it's so superficial when the basis for the popularity of the heroes is their "realism" and their human flaws and conflicts. What we have here isn't even close to capturing the Marvel magic. It's a standard and almost mindless children's cartoon that will be aired and forgotten. And who's fault is that? And don't tell me the standard, "this is what the audience wants." Disney does not know its audience. This should not be kiddie video. Once again, someone has dropped the ball on something that could have been really, really great. Finally Marvel comics has some quality work to compete with all the awesome DC animated movies/shows that have been coming out lately. The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes takes everything that was great about the old comics and filters it through the modern Universe that Marvel is building through their big budget movies.<br/><br/>The artwork, animation and character design is spot on. The attention to detail paid in these shows to the story and characters is proof that the folks making this series truly love and respect the old comics and these beloved heroes and villains. And let's not forget the most important part…the action - which is fast paced and epic as almost any Marvel comic.<br/><br/>Story arcs and sub-plots abound just like the comics and the cast of characters is huge. I would like to see the Vision though, and Ultron would be nice as well…hopefully the show gets many more seasons to explore those options.<br/><br/>If Marvel could apply this sort of treatment to perhaps an animated Silver Surfer, Fantastic Four or even Spider-Man I'm sure millions of fans would rejoice! Avengers Earths Mightiest heroes is this fan's delight.
Berngyazm replied
321 weeks ago