Way back in 1997, under the pen of writer Kurt Busiek and artist Mark Bagley, the Marvel Universe was recovering from the mess that was the "Onslaught" crossover event, which resulted in the short-lived "Heroes Reborn" days of Earth's Mightiest Heroes. While trapped in that pocket dimension, the other heroes of the MU struggled to fill in the void left, a void that would be then filled by a new team of heroes--the Thunderbolts consisting of the new Citizen V, supposed grandson of the original WWII hero; energy-blasting Meteorite; size-changing Atlas; high-flying Mach-1; gadget-wizard Techno; and sonic siren Songbird.
The public took to the new heroes like wildfire, and they became popular among the masses. What the public didn't know, unfortunately, was that it was all part of a plan--their new heroes were in fact a group of super-villains in disguise, and not just any villains:
The story of the Thunderbolts is considered one of the greatest plot twists ever conceived in comic books, and fans went wild (in a good way). It's a story fit for a TV adaptation--and there is definitely one show I think could've executed it perfectly, had it continued to air: "The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes".
How to do so is another story. I conceive it as the following:
-It would be an hour-and-a-half special on Disney XD.
-It would combine the plots of select issues of the original comic.
-Kurt Busiek would collaborate with showrunners Chris Yost and Craig Kyle on the script.
-The opening sequence would be the same as the regular show's, but when it gets to just before the title rolls in, instead of the assembled Avengers, you see the Thunderbolts (sort of like what they did with the episode "New Avengers").
With those details sorted, here's the plot I imagine (retooled without the Onslaught elements):
The Avengers (and the Fantastic Four) find themselves coming to the aid of the denizens of the Microverse, which takes them out of the picture for five months our time. A new team of heroes called the Thunderbolts come on the scene to fill the void, and in no time at all they've garnered so much public favor that they've been given a liaison to the New York Mayor's office in the form of Dallas Riordan. The team then adds a new member in the form of Jolt, an electricity-manipulating teenager; she proves herself during a scuffle with her former kidnappers (a scavenging mercenary group called the Rat Pack), to the point where Citizen V shares each member's story with her (via a series of flashbacks). The team proves their mettle further in the public eye when they gain victory over the Crimson Cowl's new Masters of Evil.
When the team returns to their HQ, we learn of their true identities as one of Baron Zemo's prior versions of the Masters of Evil: Goliath (Atlas), Moonstone (Meteorite), Fixer (Techno), Beetle (Mach-1), and Screaming Mimi (Songbird).
Only Jolt is unaware of her new friends' real faces and motives. The plan was for the Masters, in their guise as the Thunderbolts, to gain gain access to all the secrets of the Avengers and the paramilitary organization S.H.I.E.L.D. once they were in ultimate power. Zemo then planned to sell the secrets they found to the criminal underworld. (Zemo and the Crimson Cowl (secretly Justine Hammer, daughter of Tony Stark's business rival Justin Hammer) had secretly put things in motion so that both the Cowl's Masters and the Thunderbolts would wind up in battle, with either team's members unaware of the setup.)
What Zemo is unaware of is that certain members of the team--Atlas, Songbird, Fixer, and Mach-1--have begun taking to the idea of being real heroes. This all comes to a head when, in preparing for the penultimate step in their plan, the Avengers and FF return. Faced with this development, Zemo reveals the true identities of the Thunderbolts to the public, shocking everyone, including the returned heroes, Jolt, and Dallas, who had grown close to Atlas. Angered by Zemo's betrayal, the Thunderbolts turn on him and Moonstone, but Zemo initiates a contingency plan--he summons the Crimson Cowl and her Masters of Evil, activates two Sleeper robots the Red Skull had kept in reserve, and then brings in his real secret weapon: Graviton, not seen since the events of the very first episode of "Earth's Mightiest Heroes". The Avengers, FF, and Thunderbolts team up to take down Zemo and his army, and then shut Graviton down.
With the super-villains apprehended, Jolt convinces the remaining Thunderbolts to stay together as a team, to really show their intent to reform. Dallas backs her up, as does Captain America. Dallas then decides to take up the Citizen V mantle (after learning from a source that her grandfather was an agent of Citizen V's secret V-Battalion), while Hawkeye volunteers to act as the liaison between them and the Avengers; SHIELD agent Maria Hill is appointed their liaison with the organization. When they arrive at their new HQ of Thunderbolts Mountain in Colorado, they find themselves with an in-house "handyman": Ogre, a former member of the villain team Factor-Three (fought at one point by the X-Men), who had previously occupied the base built within the mountain.
Now that our plot is established, let's meet our voice cast for this special:
+Returning Cast
-Brian Bloom as the voice of Captain America/Steve Rogers
-Eric Loomis as the voice of Iron Man/Tony Stark (with Phil LaMarr as the voice of JARVIS)
-Rick D. Wasserman as the voice of Thor
-Wally Wingert as the voice of Yellowjacket/Hank Pym
-Colleen O'Shaughnessey as the voice of the Wasp/Janet Van Dyne
-Fred Tatasciore as the voice of the Hulk (with Gabriel Mann voicing Bruce Banner)
-Chris Cox as the voice of Hawkeye/Clint Barton
-James C. Mathis III as the voice of the Black Panther/T'Challa
-Jennifer Hale as the voice of Ms. Marvel/Carol Danvers
-Peter Jessop as the voice of the Vision
+The Thunderbolts/Masters of Evil
-Robin Atkin Downes returns as the voice of Baron Zemo/"Citizen V"
-April Stewart returns as the voice of Moonstone/Karla Sofen/"Meteorite"
-Michael Rosenbaum as the voice of "Techno"/Paul Ebersol/the Fixer
In casting Rosenbaum (who I previously used in my EMH Season 3 fancasts as Crossbones and Squadron Supreme's Whizzer), it worked like this: when I read Fixer/Techno's lines in the comics, I kept picturing Rosenbaum's Deadshot from Justice League/Unlimited (which is his Kevin Spacey impression), and I really think it would work for Techno here, sly wit and all.
-Mandy Moore as the voice of "Songbird"/Melissa Gold/Screaming Mimi
Moore I felt would have a great voice for Songbird, and add in the fact that--at the time of EMH's airing--she voiced a character on a Disney XD show (she was Mara on "Tron: Uprising").
-Christian Kane as the voice of "Atlas"/Erik Josten/Goliath
I recently finished viewing the entirety of "Leverage" for the past few months, and when I thought of who to cast as Atlas, I felt Kane would work fine, since his character on that show was also a former felon working to make good of himself.
-Ben Browder as the voice of "MACH-1"/Abner Jenkins/The Beetle
You might remember my using Browder for me and ager's "Rogues" fancast from a while back, and my reasons for casting him as Deadshot also apply to the former Beetle.
+The Crimson Cowl's Masters of Evil
-Katie Cassidy as the voice of the Crimson Cowl/Justine Hammer
I might catch some flak from some of you for this, but hear me out. Having Cassidy play a criminal mastermind would really give her a chance to cut loose, and it doesn't get any more crooked than anyone from Justin Hammer's family tree. (Plus, she'd also have an opportunity to 'play on both sides of the fence' between the comics industry's Distinguished and Marvelous competitors.) As for Justine's portrayal, here she's a bit younger than her comics counterpart, right around Tony Stark's age, and she's been taking up her father's 'war' with Stark Enterprises for quite some time. For her part in Zemo's plan, she'd be given access to as much of the Stark tech in Avengers Mansion as could be found.
-John DiMaggio as the voice of Boomerang/Fred Meyers
This was mainly inspired by his playing Fred's DC counterpart, longtime Flash adversary Captain Boomerang (also an Aussie) on "Batman: The Brave and the Bold". This would make DiMaggio the first actor to return to the role of a boomerang after already playing one. (See what I did there?)
-Tara Strong as the voice of Joystick/Janice Yanizeski
Strong has plenty of characters from either comic company under her belt, so one more shouldn't make it too heavy. I kind of pictured one of her more zany voices for this edgy mercenary.
-Mark Hamill returns as the voice of Klaw/Ulysses Klaw, now in his more recognizable form
-Diane Delano as the voice of Man-Killer/Katrina Van Horn
Delano's voiced a lot of heavy-hitting women from the DC Universe, including Stompa of the Female Furies (Superman: The Animated Series), Big Barda (Batman: The Brave and the Bold), Pantha (Teen Titans), and Wonder Woman foe Devastation (Young Justice)--so why not have her play one from the Marvel Universe for once?
-Gwendoline Yeo returns as the voice of Quicksand
-Patrick Seitz as the voice of Tiger Shark/Todd Arliss
I felt that Seitz, best known for his video game portrayals of Scorpion, Deathstroke (in Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe), and Dracula in the Castlevania games, could really do great with giving us a savage portrayal of Tiger Shark.
+Other Characters
-Laura Bailey as the voice of Megan McLaren, the reporter covering the Thunderbolts' exploits
-Maggie Lawson as the voice of Dallas Riordan
Thanks to Netflix, I've been taking a liking to "Psych", and Lawson's portrayal of Det. Juliet O'Hara is what inspired me to cast her as Dallas.
-Tania Gunadi as the voice of Jolt/Helen "Hallie" Takahama
Gunadi's portrayal of Miko on "Transformers: Prime" made me consider her for this character, and this is a combination I can see working out just perfectly.
-Maurice LaMarche as the voice of Ogre
LaMarche also has a lot of comic characters in his resume, so I'm positive he could come up with a memorable take on Ogre--maybe something inspired by Jeff Bridges in "The Big Lebowski"...
-Jeff Bennett as the voice of Angar the Screamer (using his Dennis Hopper impression) and the Rat Pack leader (imitating Dennis Franz)
When I was thinking of who to play Angar the Screamer, Bennett's dead-on imitation of Hopper's character from "Apocalypse, Now" immediately came to mind. The Rat Pack leader was a bit of an afterthought.
-Fred Tatasciore voices Graviton again
And there you have it, the coming of the Thunderbolts in the world of "The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes". To see my prior EMH fancasts, check these two links out:
http://www.comicbookmovie.com/avengers/news/?a=86341
http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fan_fic/news/?a=87444
Forever fight as one, justice--like lightning: