Avengers Assemble 'The Avengers Protocol' Review

Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes was one of Marvel's greatest toons. Some might even call it the best. (The only real competition is X-Men and Spider-Man.) So when it was announced that it would be cancelled so Marvel could have a 'clean slate' for animated programs, it caused a great uproar. The Surtur sub plot, the major arc of Season 2, would never be finished. Many were biased against Assemble from the start cause it was replacing EMH. To calm everyone, it was said that it would be in the same continuity as EMH. I highly doubt that was in the original plan, but we'll never know. The trailer came and wowed people, the animation looked really good and more 'traditional.' Sadly it appeared to be similar in tone with Ultimate Spider-Man, which too looked good in the beginning. (And you saw how that turned out.) Based on marketing an promotion, Assemble used the film's atmosphere and characters. It's basically something for people who saw last year's movie to hop aboard. It gives the illusion that it's in the same universe. So do we have a quality show or a shameless cash-in to the movie? Despite marketing pointing to the latter, it's actually very fun.

The story takes place a few years after for some odd unexplained reason the Avengers disbanded. The Red Skull is back, and has MODOK on his side. Iron Man decides to launch the 'Avengers Protocol,' re-gathering Earth's Mightiest Heroes. A lot of things happen during the forty minutes, which includes Cap supposedly dying and Red Skull stealing Tony's armor and becoming the Iron Skull. First off, I like how bold the premiere starts. Cap gets picked off early on, sending a shock to the viewer. We obviously know he's not dead, but it's still an interesting way to start off. It's obvious this series is taking a less serious approach in hopes of trying to mimic the film's and Ultimate Spider-Man's atmosphere. It surprisingly works, it isn't too comical like USM, yet has enough comedy fans and newcomers can have fun with. Hulk's banter with Thor every Avenger nevers gets old. I'm really glad they stayed with his EMH personality as opposed to the film's. Character portrayals are pretty solid for the most part. Tony Stark's voice sounded off in the beginning, but it grows on you over the course of 40 minutes. (People didn't like his EMH voice either at first.) The only questionable character is the Black Widow. Her personality doesn't match the film's, EMH's or even the comics. She's actually sometimes annoying.

Red Skull is the primary antagonist of the premiere, and looks to be a recurring force. It's a pretty decent portrayal, about on par with EMH's. The big thing is him taking the Iron Man armor from Tony. It's a pretty dramatic scene that had an amazing amount of tension. Now dubbed 'Iron Skull,' he made some modifications to the look, which was great. It's good to see the show taking some unique routes. The action is pretty solid. I will admit the teasing of a true Hulk/Thor fight is kinda sad, but oh well. The animation is more traditional than EMH. Most people really didn't like the animation of the previous show at first, but overtime it grew on them. Much like from the Spectacular Spider-Man to Ultimate, Assemble looks more like a 'normal' toon, much like Justice League or X-Men. It looks good, not quite as much as the aforementioned shows, but solid.

Avengers Assemble Is off to a very good start. It successfully captures the fun atmosphere of the movie without sinking to Ultimate Spider-Man level of comedy. Characters, aside from Black Widow, are great as always. The story nicely sets things up for the coming episodes. Avengers 2 comes out in two years, so let us enjoy this fun show in the meantime.

4/5