Saturday, September 25, 2010

Get a taste of the new 'Avengers' cartoon *UPDATED*

Photo courtesy of Marvel.com

Lately, the folks at Marvel have been posting micro-episodes online that features characters from their upcoming cartoon, “The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes,” which will debut Oct. 20 on Disney XD.

After the break, read my thoughts on the micro-episodes and watch the ones that are currently out.

So far there have only been four of these micro-episodes and Marvel will be posting new ones everyday until Oct. 11. The first and fourth features Iron Man, the second has Bruce Banner (The Hulk) and the third has Ant-Man and the Wasp.

For the most part, I’ve been enjoying these micro-episodes. In the five minute runtime that each are given, they’re able to introduce the audience to the main characteristics of the featured characters.

Iron Man is essentially the same cocky character he is from the movies. Bruce Banner is still very much the same man on the run from the government and himself like in the Bill Bixby version of “The Incredible Hulk” and the more recent Ed Norton version. Ant-Man is the arrogant scientist like he was early in his comic history, minus the domestic violence (you have Jim Shooter to thank for that). As for the Wasp, we really don’t get to see much of her but the micro-episode was more of Ant-Man’s show.

While I’m still getting use to the character designs, the animation is sharp and fluid. The use of CGI in each of them were, for the most part, kept to a minimum and didn’t stand out as much like the CGI used on DC’s “Batman: the Brave and the Bold” and “Justice League Unlimited.”

And if these micro-episodes are an indication of the what the show will be like, Oct. 20 can't come any sooner.

However, my main gripe with the micro-episodes was the voice work for Iron Man. It seems to me that Eric Loomis's interpretation of Tony Star tries to sound too much like Robert Downey Jr. While some people might like this emulation, it just makes me miss the voice over work Robert Hays did on the Iron Man cartoon from the 90s. However, it’s still too early to pass judgment and I’ll wait until the show is well into its season.

Iron Man Part 1:


Iron Man Part 2:


The Hulk:


Ant-Man and the Wasp:

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UPDATED: 9/26

Marvel just released a new micro-episode featuring Thor fighting the Wrecking Crew. Like the others, it's a pretty solid installment but I wish the guns didn't sound like lasers. It didn't work for the Spider-Man cartoon in the 90s and it's not working now.

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