I recently had the chance to check out a screening of the new animated series Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. Produced by Marvel Animation. the series tells the story of the Avengers, ahem, assembling for the first time after a number of villains have escaped from various prisons maintained by SHIELD. The first two episodes, Breakout Part 1 & 2, deal with the villains being freed from the Vault, the Cube, the Big House and the Raft simultaneously by an unknown force. Our heroes main concern comes in the form of Graviton who has been imprisoned for the last 10 years on the Raft. Following his defeat the heroes decide to come together as a team to stop the remaining 74 villans still at large.
In initial two episodes the team consists of Iron Man, the Hulk, Thor, Ant Man and Wasp. Captain America is in the credits so I’m sure it’s just a matter of time before he joins the team and Hawkeye makes a cameo in one episode as well. With 74 villains to fill the role of bad-guy-of-the-week as the series plays out, it opens the door for lots of faces from the Marvel Universe; from the more common such as Dr Doom and Abomination, to the more obscure and downright silly. Someone much more familiar with the comics than I will probably recognize all kinds of cameos that occur in the first episode.
Overall it’s a pretty cool show. There is a fair amount of humor in the show but it’s more subtle and not done in a slap-sticky way. It will definitely appeal to kids but at the same the stories are sophisticated enough that adults will find plenty to dig into. It will certainly feel familiar if you’ve been a fan of the numerous direct to DVD movies that have come out in the last few years. If you want to get a feel for the series, there are 20 micro-episodes that tell stories leading up to the series premiere. Or check out the trailer below.
Avengers: Earths Mightiest Heroes premieres Friday October 22 on Teletoon in Canada and also airs on Disney XD in the US.
