This week we finally get to talk about a show that isn’t Teen Titans Go! with the premiere of Avengers Assemble! Major spoilers ahead!
Avengers Assemble was reportedly made with the intent of both replacing and continuing Eartht’s Mightiest Heroes. Watching the episode, however, that statement seems to be, at the very least, half a lie. The characters, voice acting, and animation set apart a very different tone from EMH (think more “Ultimates” and less “What If Brian Bendis Went Back in Time and Dropped Off Some of His Scripts with Stan Lee and Jack Kirby”) Essentially, it’s a different beast altogether than EMH which comes with some pros and cons. On one hand, it’s sad to know we won’t see more of the EMH; but on the other hand, it’s great that the creators of Avengers Assemble aren’t just rehashing a show that isn’t theirs and are working on something that’s their own. Another thing not rehashed is the origin of The Avengers which has been entirely bypassed for a new continuity altogether.
To this end, we start out with a new universe firmly in place: The Avengers used to be a team until they were disbanded by Iron Man. This is all explained in the beginning of the episode when Tony is watching his former comrades fight threats like some Frost Giants and The Wrecking Crew. “We’ve got the world under control; it doesn’t need The Avengers”, he narrates while watching his best friends get punched by ice monsters and maniacal construction workers. While reminiscing on how great an idea it is to not have an organized system for dealing with the celestial threats the Marvel Universe deals with on a daily basis, Stark notices Captain America fighting the Red Skull. Tony leans back, looks at the charred skin Super Nazi, takes a refreshed breath, and then gasps in horror at the one thing that could possibly shatter his visions of an Avengers-Free utopia.
MO Freaking DOK.
Yes, the old adage “Mo’ MODOK.’s, Mo’ Problems” proves true as MODOK helps Red Skull vaporize Captain America. Tony appropriately loses his goddamn mind at this news and reforms The Avengers to help avenge Cap. This plan is revealed when Tony unveils a memorial statue honoring the lost Captain to Hawkeye. A statue he either A) took the time to make before calling in the team to defeat that super-Nazi and floating head duo out destroying the world or B) had in storage for a suspiciously long time. Though no official answer is given in the episode, the truth can be found somewhere on FanFiction.net.
The Avengers, consisting of the six from the movie plus SHIELD trainee Sam Wilson, go to the North Pole and fight the Red Skull who has swapped bodies with Captain America. A few minutes of punching later, and Steve Rogers is back in his own body! Unfortunately, Red Skull gets back up and reveals that while Rogers’ body may have been his target, Stark’s will do wonderfully as a consolation prize – again, another segement of the episode taken directly from FanFiction.net. Red Skull steals the Iron Man armor, rips out Tony’s arc reactor core, and flies off with MODOK. Oh what a terrible cliffhanger! What will The Avengers do to save Stark now that he’s moments from dea-
Oh cool, he had some spare arc reactors and armor his house home a thousand miles away they traveled to in a second, he’s fine now. Anyway, Red Skull is now wearing Iron Man armor and has rechristened himself the Iron Skull because who cares about originality, there’s Avengers to destroy!
You know how too often superheroes will fight each other over a disagreement when writers can’t think up any villains for them to fight? Did you want the entire second half of this premiere? Then buckle up, all negative four of you! Regrouped at the mansion, all of the Avengers, sans Iron Man, are infected with a nano-swarm created by MODOK which causes its victims to get really angry and punch each other. The same weapon is used by modern writers to pad out twelve part cross-overs that should have been four-parts. As the Avengers go berzerk across Central Park, Red Skull gloats on how they’ll never be trusted ever again even though mind controlled rampages are like a thrice-weekly thing at this point in the superhero community. Iron Man is able to find a cure for the rage virus and everyone calms down and comes together as a team to… say that they’ll get Red Skull eventually? Yeah, alright.
Continued belowSo now the Avengers have all been reassembled, Red Skull is now in power with an Iron Man suit and a MODOK, and the series looks like it’ll be a, though not perfect, welcome addition to the Boomb Tube rotatio- oh it’s not coming back for months? Oh… well… here’s a recap of this week’s Teen Titans Go!
The Teen Titans end up in Mexico while babysitting Silkie. Hijinks ensue.
Final Verdict: 5.0.
So what do we make of Avengers Assemble? Well, the plot doesn’t make much sense at times, which isn’t necessarily bad as it is just middling storytelling. The characters seem a little more shallow than other incarnations of them, but not to any criminal degree. However, it is a very pretty show; the animation, though a bit generic, is delightful to look at and some of the fight scenes are just killer. So, while it may not be the pop-art Lee/Kirby tribute EMH was, Avengers Assemble stands as a pretty good show.
Final Verdict for Avengers Assemble: 7.4 – Kind of nonsensical writing at times, but the animation is fun.
