Superheroes Two: Part 6, The Avengers

So, this was "coming next summer", last year; now, it's come and gone, so, let's look it over.

The Avengers again.

But first, let's go all the way back, and do the lead-up to the lead-up.


The cheesey years. (70's-90's)

Okay, so, as said many a time on this blog, poor Marvel had a helluva time getting the big-budget stuff off the ground.

So, even though the Hulk series had a relatively ass budget, they were damned lucky to have Kenneth Johnson running the thing, Bill Bixby as the star, and Lou Ferrigno as their ultimate special effect.
Take away any one of those, and it's a disaster.
The stars aligned for that one.

Not so much those others.

So, on to those, yes, Dr. Strange is an Avenger, just not until later in the comics, but he's a pretty important one.
I mean, they use his mansion as their base.
We'll see if he emerges into the new continuity.
His solo movie with today's effects would be a cross between the Himalayan bits of "Batman Begins", the trippy bits of "Inception", and the hellscape bits of "Constantine", and with a dash of "Hellboy: The Golden Army".
I think people would dig it.
It would really need the right director though.
Perhaps Del Toro himself....hmm...

The Caps were crap.
They totally didn't get him right until the new one.

And then, of course, "The Incredible Hulk Returns", had Thor.
They planned on a longer run, and more superheroes.
One wonders if they would have pulled together an Avengers in the 90's.
Would have been interesting.

Oh, yeah, and I guess you can throw in....

...Hasselhoff Nick Fury.

I'm amazed no one has thought to box-set these all as a bargain-bin Avengers.
They've done similar for Batman.
Hell, if Amazon had it cheap enough, I'd buy it.
What the hell?


The animateds (00's)

Remember in the Hulk one where I said the Hulk animateds were "the best of an abysmal lot"?

Well, here's the abysmal lot.

Just wretched.
Way worse than the old live-actions.
They had no money, but at least they had heart.
I'd take Disco-Dr. Strange over the whole pile of these.
Cold, empty, hollow....just like the hipster douchebag 00's-era comics they're based on.

But, y'know, it's odd, Marvel (almost) always did a good job with the animated shows.
So...why couldn't they just get the good people who did those on these flicks?
DC has their shit together way more with theirs.
Well, they've got Bruce Timm.

Marvel needs a Bruce Timm.
They ain't got one.
Yet.

As mentioned in the Hulk one, in 2013, they're going to try again.
We'll see how that goes.


The Avengers- Phase One

Bam!

See here, and here.

And then...warm your face, warm your face, warm your face...


The Avengers- Phase Two

See here, here, and here.


Hey, speaking of Marvel getting the animated shows right....


The Avengers: 
Earth's Mightiest Heroes (2010)

Yeah, this is pretty freaking sweet.
Almost as good as Justice League.




And, next year, it's going to become "Avengers: Assemble!".

It's supposed to ape the style of the movie, but no word on if it's going to follow the canon of EMH, or the film, or be some kind of hybrid.

But...that's everything up to date as of now.

The future looks bright.


Up next, X-Men.