Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes

In November of 2008, Marvel announced to the world that they will be producing a new animated series starring the Avengers. After the last animated Avengers outing, “The Avengers: United They Stand,” it’s difficult to wonder why they would try again. But, with popularity of the Avengers in the comics, as well as the Avengers movie coming in a few short years, it seems Marvel feels that the franchise is strong enough to try again.

I think they are right. It seems that they are putting a lot of effort into Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, as it’s officially being called. For starters, Marvel is taking a lot better care of their animated properties. Just look at Wolverine and the X-Men, for example. The animation is much more fluid and cleaner than in past incarnations. And the storylines are more comprehensive, being more exciting and attention-grabbing, as well as staying open-ended enough to add possible details in the future. Past cartoon shows were just entertaining for a half-hour, and left it at that. But now, Marvel wants to give viewers a reason to tune in next week, which is a model that I enjoy.

Secondly, Marvel decided to stick with the core team of Avengers. Avengers: United They Stand was full of B- and C-list team members; basically, characters that the audience couldn’t really care about. Wonder Man? Vision? Yeah, these are the faces the fans like, but your not gonna get a lot of newer viewership with characters no one knows about. But Earth’s Mightiest Heroes takes a different turn. The team consists of Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Giant Man, Wasp, and the Hulk. All of Marvel’s heavy hitters. And though I’ve said in the past that I’m getting tired of the Hulk, I think he will be a good fit here.

Take a look at the trailer for the show.



The animation looks good. Nothing spectacular, but definitely on par with Wolverine and the X-Men, which is a style that I’m pleased with. There’s been talk that the core team will consist of 8 Avengers, but the trailer only shows us six. I’m excited to see who else will round everything out. I would like to see Hawkeye and Black Widow.

I’m not sure how Marvel will approach their storytelling style on this show. I would like to see as a serial drama, with a deep, over-reaching story arch weaving its way through each episode. But if they decide to go with full-encapsulated, half-hour long stories, I hope they treat the show like DC treated Justice League: Unlimited. If they story is being told in thirty minutes, there’s no need to be concerned with continuity. Introduce new characters. Have a villain blow up a building. Ignore everything and make it fun. Granted, I don’t prefer this style, but if I’m stuck with it, I want it to be fun.

Anyway, I’m very excited for Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. From the looks of the trailer, it’s a show I can get behind. I’m glad to see that Marvel is upping their game in the animation department. They are really giving DC a run for their money.