The Avengers Go All In For Their Season 2 Premiere [Review]

The second season of The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes! begins! Click “More” for our full review.  SPOILERS AHEAD.

S2, Episode 1: The Private War of Doctor Doom

Avengers Mansion plays host to Johnny Storm and Ben Grimm while Janet and Tony visit Sue Storm and Reed Richards.  Despite the friendly poker game, Thing and Hulk are constantly at each other’s throats.  While Tony gives Reed relationship advice, Dr. Doom’s mechanical Doombots plot the despot’s attack against both teams.  Both teams take a beating from the Doombots, while they try to figure out exactly what Doom would have to gain from attacking the combined might of the FF and Avengers.  The Doombots at both the Baxter Building and Avengers Mansion connect themselves to each other to amplify the blast radius of their self destruction.  Meanwhile, Iron Man goes after a ship carrying Wasp and Sue to Latveria.  They discover Doom’s plan is to set a trap to have the FF invade Latveria.  After an awesome display of what Doom is capable of, he simply asks them to leave Latveria.  He frees Wasp and Sue and lets them leave.  Doom studies the data he collected from the two girls and discovers Sue has been replaced by a Skrull!

Writer Chris Yost continues to use his expansive knowledge of the Marvel Universe to continue building a great series for the Avengers.  While season one spent a great deal of time having the Avengers meet up with their most well known foes, the cliffhanger of Cap getting replaced by a Skrull was a bold faced indicator what season two is going to be all about.  With the idea that the series is going to tackle the Secret Invasion storyline, it’s time to bring in even more of the Marvel Universe.  So, enter the Fantastic Four and Doctor Doom in a big bombastic action based episode that was pretty exciting and fun.

I loved the rivalry between Hulk and Thing that was as classic as it was just fun.  Considering this show is really for younger viewers, there’s really no sense in having these two characters do much more than get into a few quick tussles.  Then, when dealing with the Doombots, to have the Hulk using the Thing as a glorified baseball bat was pretty darn funny.  It definitely gave the episode an overall lighter tone that was welcomed.

Ultimately, the inclusion of the other characters surrounding the Avengers makes this series feel big and well connected with what we’d see in the comics.  Ultimate Spider-Man definitely did the same thing as part of the “Marvel Universe” block as well.  But for the Avengers, they pull their team members from every corner of the Marvel Universe.  Think about that old 90s X-Men cartoon.  That series was so inclusive to the X-corner so much that it would make anyone not reading the X-Men books, or, in my case, limited knowledge of what goes on in that side of Marvel, feel a little left out.  This Avengers series isn’t spending time recruiting new characters as much as it is spending time connecting the Avengers to everyone else.  The new characters or teammates would require more episodes and time giving them a history or fitting them into the team’s dynamic.  Instead, you have a team already in place, let them be and let the time be used to connect the larger story of the Secret Invasion and the coming Kree/Skrull War.  It definitely helps this series flow and makes for an overall easier feel to the series that anyone could come into any episode and get something out of it without feeling left out.

We do know more characters and members are coming, but for now, the series is letting us get settled into a new series and, darn it, I’m so excited to see what this new season has to offer!

Tags: Comic Book TV Slider The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes!