Editorial: Joss? Are You Paying Attention?

Editorial: Joss? Are You Paying Attention?

The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes sets the groundwork for Mr Whedon's opus.

Editorial Opinion
By MikesPants - Nov 24, 2010 03:11 AM EST
Filed Under: Avengers

I'm excited about The Avengers.

And by excited I mean I weep tears of joy thrice daily at the very idea that a multi million dollar adaptation is in the works.

Joss Whedon, the man in charge of orchestrating this daunting task, seems to have had a polarizing effect on geekdom. Some point to his magnificent work on The Astonishing X-Men as proof that he can successfully create an effective team dynamic and make it work within an action packed story. Others question whether he will be able to make the jump from small screen to the big screen (as enjoyable as Serenity was, it did feel more like a polished feature length episode than a fully realized film.)

I am a die hard Whedonite so I am fully on board. The man knows and loves this universe, he knows character, drama and can balance both with humor and spectacle and if Marvel is willing to give him the tools to fully realize his vision 2012 could be a very special year for us.

But, if I may be so bold, Joss could stand to take some tips as he begins to set up The Avengers, and he could do a lot worse than by looking back over the first season of The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes.



Pictured Left to Right: Arrowman, Smallgirl, Robotman, Americaman, Angryman, Smallman, Sgt Hammer, Catman.

It's not uncommon for an animated series to accompany a major motion picture. It's mutually beneficial; the growing buzz of the movie boosts the show and the show in turn helps promote the movie. But while most come across as crude throwaway marketing ploys, Earth's Mightiest Heroes can stand proud as a genuinely entertaining show.

There is a clever simplicity to the set up. There has been a prison break out, a rather large one. Four separate maximum security prisons simultaneously lose power and the world's most dangerous criminals escape, the big question being, who is responsible? This rather straight forward set up is an incredibly effective way to start a series with mammoth 52 episodes in the works. It affords the show makers the chance to do standard monster-of-the-week episodes, with the team taking on a new villain each episode, but also keeps an over arching plot running carries week to week.

The show also saves a lot of time by wisely dispensing with origins. If you're questioning where the rich guy got his robot suit from you are watching the wrong show. When the series begins Tony Stark IS Iron Man, Bruce Banner has had his gamma mishap and Thor is patrolling the skies. Having to juggle the introduction of those stories as well as establishing the shows primary plot could have sunk the show before it started. Having the characters already established allows the series to hit the ground running.

Visually the animation is highly stylized which, while initially jarring, actually suits the tone of the show. The first thing that comes to mind is Genndy Tartakovsky's work on Samurai Jack and the original Clone Wars series. The exaggerated, almost manga-like, look to the show allows some truly incredible set pieces; an attack on Asgard by some pretty angry Frost Giants being a stand out.

But crash, bang and wallop wouldn't be very interesting without the group dynamic that makes the Avengers so appealing and Earth's Mightiest absolutely nails it.

The characters are well realized, (they quite evidently parallel Marvel studios' direction) Eric Loomis does an admirable job aping Robert Downey Jr's take on the Billionaire playboy Stark, he's helped by some great dialogue from writer Christopher Yost "Sorry I'm late guys I was at a meeting... well actually I missed that too. Here I am!" Thor is heroic and noble with a hint of rebelliousness that I'm sure we'll see more of in Kenneth Branagh's Thor. Hank and Janet have a fun chemistry and there is plenty of "wink wink" foreshadowing with Hank. He talks about the responsible use of science as he's tinkering with Ultron. The most interesting difference is the way the Hulk is portrayed. Early on Hulk agrees to aid the team on the condition that Hulk retain control with Banner looked away inside. This means Banner is only shown as part of Hulk's inner monologue as the two converse. Giving Hulk and Banner a direct relationship like that creates a very unique representation of the character (something a certain mischievous Asgardian exploits).

It's the way these characters come together that makes Earth's Mightiest Avengers so special. When asked about the Avengers, Whedon's choice word was "family", which is exactly what it should be. Earth's Mightiest has taken that idea of a group of misfits (which let's be honest the Avengers are) that are thrown together to battle (avenge?) injustice. If Whedon can take that concept and make these characters real and make their relationship with one another real, then the rest will follow.

God Speed, Mr Whedon. We're all rooting for you.
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xBlaze96x
xBlaze96x - 11/24/2010, 4:39 AM
first........and good article
MikesPants
MikesPants - 11/24/2010, 4:50 AM
Second.... and thanks very much :D Thanks for reading it.
Ibz
Ibz - 11/24/2010, 4:57 AM
great article dude, personally i think the masters of evil should be the villains, or some other supervillain team, and thats the difference between JLA and avengers, the avengers feel more like a family and has anyone else noticed what great banter wasp and thor have in the cartoon
CorndogBurglar
CorndogBurglar - 11/24/2010, 5:30 AM
@ mikespants

I actually think the setting of the animated series are to get people ready for the way things will be in the movies. Hydra instead of Nazis, Zemo instead of Hitler. It all looks strikingly familiar to what we know of the Cap movie so far...

good article man!
Ibz
Ibz - 11/24/2010, 5:37 AM
nazi's are in the cap movie, hydra are just going to be a extended branch of the nazis
MikesPants
MikesPants - 11/24/2010, 6:10 AM
Thanks for the feedback guys.

Ibz, having the Masters of Evil as the main villains would be perfect. Especially if Loki is well established in Thor. Also, perhaps the Mandarin could be involved?

Corndog, I think you're right there. I think Johnston confirmed there would be Nazis, but I would say Zemo, the Skull and Hydra would be the main antagonists for Cap.
selinakyle
selinakyle - 11/24/2010, 6:26 AM
I really enjoyed this.
Sturmpionier
Sturmpionier - 11/24/2010, 6:58 AM
Excellent article. I love the show and I actually think the move is now going to have a hard time living up to the animated show's standard. I watch this show when it comes out, and then once a day until the new one comes out.

Part of the appeal for me comes from the fact that as an Avengers fan, I've never had a true 616 representation of the Avengers. We had the West Coast Avengers show in the 90's, and the Ultimate Avengers cartoon after that, but there has only been that small snippet in a couple of the Captain America cartoons from 1967 (if you can call them really "cartoons".)
Hawksblueyes
Hawksblueyes - 11/24/2010, 7:16 AM
Great stuff Mike! Excellent write up that I can't find anything to disagree with. =D
MikesPants
MikesPants - 11/24/2010, 7:23 AM
Bloody 'ell guys, thank you very much.

Sturmpionier, I feel the same way. I'm not as vehemently oppossed to the Ultimate universe as some, but I'm far more interested in Classic Marvel. I fear we will never see a "human" Jarvis though.

Guason, congratulations you have blown the brains out of my skull.
MikesPants
MikesPants - 11/24/2010, 7:46 AM
Thanks very much Stubbyswof. I wasn't expected that at all. Thanks again for reading :)
Ibz
Ibz - 11/24/2010, 7:52 AM
you should do some more editorials if you have time
selinakyle
selinakyle - 11/24/2010, 8:00 AM
Yeah...i second Ibz's comment. You really should do more editorials if you have the time.
ROBBEATZZZ
ROBBEATZZZ - 11/24/2010, 8:10 AM
HEY MIKE! THATS A REALLY GOOD READ DUDE!..NICE WRITING!..GOOD POINTS!..I AGREE THE TOON IS A GOOD REFERENCE SOURCE!
superotherside
superotherside - 11/24/2010, 8:27 AM
@MikesPants good article! hope he does pay attention! cause this show is epic!

@Guason wow epic poster dude!
comicb00kguy
comicb00kguy - 11/24/2010, 8:42 AM
MIke: Good editorial.

I would also like to see the Avengers movie follow the example of Earth's Mightiest Heroes. The show is not perfect, but it has a nice classic feel to it, with just a few nods to newer stuff involving these characters. I'm really enjoying it. The cast of heroes is just what a good group of Avengers should be. They're building up a big showdown with the Masters of Evil, which would be a great group of villains for the movie. A movie based on this sounds a LOT better than one that draws primarily from the filth-infested ultimates.
write33
write33 - 11/24/2010, 9:09 AM
@Guason
fantastic poster!!!!!!! that's just, wow, I would argue that's setting the bar incredibly high for whatever Marketing materials are to come for the Avengers. do you have a high rez version by chance?

and MikesPants? very nice work!!! fine editorial analysis and opinion. i really enjoyed reading this.
Geeksiah
Geeksiah - 11/24/2010, 9:36 AM
Well done man!
write33
write33 - 11/24/2010, 9:41 AM
@Guason
fantastic poster!!!!!!! that's just, wow, I would argue that's setting the bar incredibly high for whatever Marketing materials are to come for the Avengers. do you have a high rez version by chance?

and MikesPants? very nice work!!! fine editorial analysis and opinion. i really enjoyed reading this.
MikesPants
MikesPants - 11/24/2010, 9:42 AM
Thank you everyone for your awesomness. My opinions usually get torn to shreds.

thunderforce
thunderforce - 11/24/2010, 9:54 AM
I think that show is fantastic and i dont know how they could make it much better and i do hope the movie follows it .
CorndogBurglar
CorndogBurglar - 11/24/2010, 10:05 AM
@ godzillafart

i agree that Avengers isn't as good as JLU was, I still love it. Like Comicbookguy said, it has a great classic Avengers feel to it that you don't see anymore.
ecksmanfan
ecksmanfan - 11/24/2010, 10:08 AM
MikesPants- Nice editorial man! All to often we get half-assed legnthy "comments" instead of actual editorials. You bring up some excellent points and it's hard to refute what you've said.

As others have mentioned, you should do more editorials! This was a great read, infromative, well written and as odd as it sounds, not insulting to the reader!

Nice work!
satanors
satanors - 11/24/2010, 10:17 AM
screw avengers (sorry guys)
Where's my serenity 2?
DoubleW
DoubleW - 11/24/2010, 11:08 AM
Guason- Man just seeing that poster made me feel like a little kid again. Absolutely GREAT WORK!!
LEEE777
LEEE777 - 11/24/2010, 11:13 AM
HANK & JAN A MUST OR IT ISN'T THE AVENGERS!!!


:)
LEEE777
LEEE777 - 11/24/2010, 11:15 AM
Mike @ It ain't pants lol, awesome work dude! ; )
Mrmo416
Mrmo416 - 11/24/2010, 11:43 AM
@ godzillafart

I kinda agree. I do feel alienated at times watching it and I think it has to do with the artwork (they look like happy meal toys) and dialogue (Janet in particular - she's just too bubbly for me). The action also doesn't feel very intense, like they're toning it down. But overall its a good show. I'd say don't stop watching because most shows get better in the 2nd season when the producers decide to take more chances and open up more.

great editorial though! There are quite a number of elements Whedon can use to tell his story.
HULK2099
HULK2099 - 11/24/2010, 1:17 PM
very true
DarthSpireite
DarthSpireite - 11/24/2010, 1:17 PM
@MikesPants
Spot on that man for the editorial. You speak wisely and will go far.
TheDarqueOne
TheDarqueOne - 11/24/2010, 1:57 PM
Nice to know that an Editorial can make the front page. Congrats on that.
JonF
JonF - 11/24/2010, 2:44 PM
I'm so proud of the way this cartoon has turned out!! Whedon ABSOLUTELY needs to check this one out and pay CLOSE attention! Hank Pym and the Wasp have been vindicated!
BetaRayB
BetaRayB - 11/24/2010, 9:17 PM
Great article. But I disagree about Serenity. It definitely feels like a movie to me.
steelrocks
steelrocks - 11/24/2010, 9:36 PM
@guason,

man, hands down best fan-made poster I have ever seen. Congratulations and hats down to you
VanCityKid
VanCityKid - 11/24/2010, 10:30 PM
Great article and great show but my only concern is if the movie will follow the shows route and make Stark leading the team instead of Cap...
MikesPants
MikesPants - 11/25/2010, 7:35 AM
Thank you again guys. What a warm welcome.

But I think that poster eclipses anything I came up with.

This one too is epic

http://www.shockya.com/news/wp-content/uploads/the_avengers_fan_poster2a.jpg

If anyone can post it that would be great (I'm still trying figure out the HTML coding)

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