User blog:ARTaylor/A Look Back at 2015

Well my fellow true believers, the year is coming to a close and another is just around the corner. It's that time when we look back over what happened over the last twelve months as we move forward.

The biggest Marvel animated news this year was the huge success of Big Hero 6. The film may have come out in 2014, but it was 2015 that was most kind to it. Most notably, it became the first superhero film to win an Academy Award, for Best Animated Feature. It became the highest grossing film for Walt Disney Animation Studios after the previous year's Frozen and the highest grossing animated feature released in 2014.

Ultimate Spider-Man continued with its third season with a multi-universe crossover that tied in with the Marvel Comics series Spider-Verse. It was announced that there would be a fourth season and the series would be renamed Ultimate Spider-Man vs the Sinister Six.

Similarly, Avengers Assemble continued their second season while a third season was announced where it too would be renamed Avengers: Ultron Revolution.

Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H. ended its run with the second season. The crew stated the reason was that they felt fifty-two episodes gave them a complete story. Though the show has always suffered from poor reviews.

In it's place, fans got to see the debut of Guardians of the Galaxy, the latest series from Marvel Animation. Very much based on the hugely successful live-action film, the series has done well for itself so far. We already know that it is getting a second season.

Marvel finally gave us another direct-to-video feature with Marvel Super Hero Adventures: Frost Fight!. Forgoing the physical release, it is only available on Digital HD and On-Demand.

But it was not all good. This year we lost artist Herb Trimpe, known as the man who first drew Wolverine, as well as voice actor John Stephenson, who has played plenty of roles like Professor X on "Pryde of the X-Men".

Looking forward, fans of that beloved series X-Men will get to see the characters continue on with X-Men '92. Following their debut in the latest Secret Wars, the cast of the longest running Marvel animated series will get their own ongoing series with Chris Sims and Chad Bowers writing.

We animation fans also have a new theatrical film to look forward to: Spider-Man. The upcoming feature from Sony Pictures will be written and directed, possibly directed, by the filmmaking duo of Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. The two are known for their work on The Lego Movie, 21 Jump Street, and the upcoming Han Solo film. It is currently set for December 21st, 2018.