This article is written from the Real World perspective | ![]() |
The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes! | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Beginning date | September 22, 2010 (United States) |
End date | June 28, 2012 (Australia) |
Number of Episodes | 52 Micro-Episodes Season One Season Two |
Writers | Christopher Yost |
Producers | Joshua Fine Simon Philips Eric S. Rollman Ciro Nieli |
Original Channel | Disney XD |
Previous Series | The Super Hero Squad Show |
Next Series | Marvel Anime: Iron Man |
The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes was a series that ran from September 22nd, 2010 to June 28th, 2012. It is the second series to focus on the Avengers after The Avengers: United They Stand.
For the first time since Spider-Man and Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, the series featured a main character, Iron Man, who also appeared on another series currently airing, the other being Iron Man: Armored Adventures.
Story[]
When the worst criminals in the world are broken out of prison, Earth's greatest champions must ban together and become an unstoppable fighting force. The team includes Thor, Captain America, Hawkeye, Black Panther, Hulk, Wasp, Ant-Man, and their leader Iron Man. Together they'll face villains such as Loki, Kang the Conqueror, Ultron, Doctor Doom, Baron Zemo, Enchantress, Abomination, Crimson Dynamo, HYDRA, Serpent Society,[1] and others.[2]
Continuity[]
Story Editor Christopher Yost confirmed in an online interview that this series took place in the same universe as Wolverine and the X-Men. On audio commentary, Yost said that Hulk vs Wolverine was a prequel to Wolverine, and Thor: Tales of Asgard is a prequel to Hulk vs Thor. Thus, this series is a continuation of the fourth Marvel animated universe.
Chronologically, Avengers takes place after Thor: Tales of Asgard and Hulk vs Wolverine but before Hulk vs Thor and alongside Wolverine and the X-Men.
Cast[]
Fred Tatasciore, Alex Desert, Steven Blum, and Graham McTavish reprise their roles from Wolverine and the X-Men, Hulk vs Wolverine, and Hulk vs Thor. Tom Kane previously played Ultron on the unconnected Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow.
Matthew Wolf auditioned for the role of Thor, having played him on Hulk vs Thor and Thor: Tales of Asgard, but the producers of the series wanted to go in a different direction.
Ultimate Spider-Man actor Drake Bell played Spider-Man, replacing The Spectacular Spider-Man actor Josh Keaton who had recorded for the role. This caused controversy among Spectacular fans who wanted Keaton to reprise the roll.
Background[]
Much of the series is based on the various films. For example, Eric Loomis was chosen as Iron Man because he sounded like Robert Downey, Jr., who plays the character in various films, and J.A.R.V.I.S. is an artificial intelligence instead of a butler.[7]
Marvel confirmed that the team would consist of Iron Man, Captain America, Black Panther, Hulk, Thor, Wasp, and Ant-Man. They also confirmed that Hawkeye, Black Widow, Kang, Loki, and Hydra would appear. They also stated that the series would mostly consist of stories written in the last ten years.[8]
The first episode was screen at the 2010 Comic-Con in San Diego.[9]
The series is part of Marvel Entertainment's overall "Avengers Assemble" strategy that began with Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk. This is all to build up to the The Avengers film in 2012.
Some actors began recording lines for the assumed season two before the series began to first air.[10]
Matthew Wolf, voice of Thor on Hulk vs Thor and Thor: Tales of Asgard, auditioned for the role once again. But the show's producers had a different idea than those of the animated features and he was not cast.[11]
A series was intended to be produced called Hulk: Gamma Corps. However, when this series went into production Gamma Corps was incorporated into this one as it was more inclusive. Eventually, a similar sounding series was announced called Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H.. It is unknown if the fate that befell Gamma Corps also happened to Thor.
Animation[]
The animation is done by Film Roman, who also worked on X-Men: Evolution and The Super Hero Squad Show. They had already begun production on twenty-six episodes when the series was announced on October 7, 2008.[12][13]
Episodes[]
- The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes Micro-Episodes
- The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes Season One
- The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes Season Two
The series featured twenty-six episodes per season for a total of fifty-two, which is how many were ordered total.[14]
The series itself began airing October 20, 2010 on Disney XD in the United States and Teletoon in Canada. The series will also begin airing on Marvel.com, Marvelkids.com, and DisneyXD.com/Avengers. Beginning October 21 full episodes will air on iTunes, Xbox Live, Sony PlayStation, and Disney XD Mobile VOD. Beginning October 25 the series will be available on Disney XD on Demand on AT&T, Verizon, Charter and Cox.[15][16]
There are also twenty micro-episodes, roughly five minutes each, that introduce the characters and people of the universe. They air online on Marvel.com, MarvelKids.com, DisneyXD.com/Avengers and Disney XD Mobile. The micro-episodes began airing on September 22, 2010 and were released once a day. These episodes detail the adventures of each Avengers member before the formation of the team. On October 5 select micro-episodes will appear for free on iTunes. Starting October 11 and going till October 15, Disney XD will air four of the micro-episodes together.[17]
Comic Book[]
A comic book tie-in was released along with the series. The series was written by Christopher Yost, Scott Wegener, and Patrick Scherberger. It lasted four issues filling in space in between the episodes, mostly about catching other breakout criminals.[18]
Cancellation[]
On June 12, 2012 it was announced that the series would not be picked up for a third season. Instead, Marvel Animation would produce Avengers Assemble. The series would be produced completely in-house along with Ultimate Spider-Man and Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H., in the same continuity. The line-up is to be the same from The Avengers film with the addition of Sam Wilosn.[19]
Head of Television Jeph Loeb compared the change to how one comic book line will change creative hands. The new series is part of the Marvel Animation Universe along with Ultimate Spider-Man and Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H. and currently does not appear to be part of this series' universe.
The cancellation left several plot threads hanging without a proper resolution. The Superhuman Registration Act had been teased several times hinting at an adaptation of the Civil War series while Surtur was being built up as a major threat. Christopher Yost and Joshua Fine had been planning to feature "magic and mutants" in the third season.
When asked about a potential revival, whether in animated or comic book form, Yost said there had been no discussions.[20]
Trailer[]
[]
Trailer[]
Original Animation Test[]
Reception[]
Newsarama ranked the series the tenth best animated comic book series. The site stated the series was the "purest Avengers" found and felt the theme song was catchy.[21]
Rotten Tomatoes ranked the series among its top one-hundred superhero series with this series at sixty-nine above Big Hero 6: The Series at one-hundred Spider-Woman at eighty-nine, Iron Man: Armored Adventures at eighty-six, Ultimate Spider-Man at eighty-three, Spider-Man Unlimited at seventy-three and below The Super Hero Squad Show at sixty-eight, X-Men: Evolution at sixty-six, Fantastic Four at sixty-four, Avengers Assemble at fifty-eight, Guardians of the Galaxy at fifty-five, The Marvel Super Heroes at fifty-one, Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends at forty-eight, The Spectacular Spider-Man at forty-six, Spider-Man at forty, Spider-Man at nineteen, and X-Men at five.[22]
References[]
- ↑ C2E2 2011: Liveblog Central at Marvel.com
- ↑ C2E2: MARVEL ANIMATION at Comics Continuum
- ↑ Earth's Mightiest Heroes at Disney XD Media Net
- ↑ Christopher Yost at Twitter
- ↑ Resume at Kirsten Potter's Website
- ↑ Resume at Kirk Thornton's Website
- ↑ Comic-Con 2010: Marvel Animation Also Assembles Avengers at UGO
- ↑ C2E2 2010: Marvel Animation Panel Liveblog at Marvel.com
- ↑ San Diego Comic-Con 2010: Avengers Earth's Mightiest Heroes Animated Panel Liveblog at Marvel.com
- ↑ AVENGERS Animated Assembling w/ Phil Lamarr at Newsarama.com
- ↑ Toonzone Interviews Matthew Wolf on Voicing Thor in "Thor: Tales of Asgard" at Toonzone
- ↑ Announcing Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes at Marvel.com
- ↑ Marvel assembles cartoon 'Avengers' at The Hollywood Reporter
- ↑ New Avengers TV Series Debuting This Fall at IGN.com
- ↑ "The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes" October 2010 Disney XD Debuts at Marvel Animation Age
- ↑ "The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes" Scheduling, Videogame Updates at Marvel Animation Age
- ↑ Animated Avengers Assemble Oct. 20 at Marvel.com
- ↑ Marvel Announces "Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes" All-Ages Comic Title at Marvel Animation Age
- ↑ Exclusive: Marvel Assembles New Animated Series for the Hulk and Avengers at TV Guide
- ↑ Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes Would Have Featured 'Magic and Mutants' in Season 3, Says Co-Developer at Comic Book Resources
- ↑ 10 Best Comic Book Animated Series of All Time at Newsarama
- ↑ 100 Best Superhero TV Shows of All Time at Rotten Tomatoes
External links[]
- Marvel Kids Official Website
- Disney XD Official Website
- Videos at Marvel
- Marvel Animation Age
- Internet Movie Database
- TV.com
- Wikipedia
- Marvel Database
Christopher Yost Animated Universe | |
---|---|
Series | Wolverine and the X-Men • The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes |
Features | Hulk Vs: (Hulk vs Wolverine/Hulk vs Thor) • Thor: Tales of Asgard |