Avengers Assemble (2012-2019)
"The further adventures of the Marvel Universe's mightiest general membership superhero team."
- IMDB
Season 1
Right off the bat I gotta gush about the voice actors, as they are why I had to give this show a chance - Laura Bailey, Travis Willingham, Troy Baker, Fred Tatasciore, Liam O'Brien, Grey Griffin, Jennifer Hale, Matt Mercer, Corey Burton, Clancy Brown, Phil LaMarr, and so many others. Pretty much everyone you've ever heard in animation was in this at least for one episode.
Now my Marvel experience is exclusively form the MCU so this was a fresh change of pace with stories and characters pulled form the comics that the MCU just hasn't visited yet. And honestly, for good reason. There are just things that work in the comics and this show that I don't think would work well with the films. Like Modok... Red Skull was a main villain and we saw appearances of the Dracula? There was Dinosaur Island with Dinosaurs with weapons... There was that one time Doom had a time heist and threw everyone in a time heist. Thor's hammer shrunk in battle in that one Ant Man episode. I loved the Adaptoids Hammer made. Hulk's amnesia episode was pretty great. Hyperion is basically Superman. Guardians of the Galaxy, with Seth Green as Rocket, teamed up with the Avengers to fight a cosmic being. And um... the circus of crime episode....... The Hawkeye show could've gone so differently...................
Season 2
This was a fun season involving Thanos and his quest to collect all infinity stones. The show was only a few years ahead of the movies. However the MCU didn't see Iron Man accidentally absorbing the time stone in his arc reactor, turning into a child, and summoning dinosaurs and evil futuristic robots................................. And let's not forget the episode when the mind stone swapped everyone’s minds and bodies............ or the alternate reality episode when the Avengers were the villains. Again, this show just does a lot that just wouldn't work in the MCU and it was refreshing. Weird... but refreshing.
Defeating Thanos leads to the arrival of Ultron. And dealing with Ultron divides the Avengers on how to handle him. Some might call it the "Civil War" of the series. I loved the episodes with the Absorber and LMDs - I first saw them in Agents of SHIELD, which is a show with a special place in my heart. Somehow Palpatine returned, I mean Thanos came back and we thought he physically destroyed the planet but Antman just shrunk it to keep it safe... An interesting idea if you ask me. Lol Antman really said "Sorry, Earth is closed today" then Thanos shows up like Godzilla and has a fight like that one time in Legend of Korra..... just that whole season 2 finale was.... something......
Season 3
Season 3 was the Ultron Revolution. This meant it was the T2 era of the adaptiods. I don't even remember how they were defeated but I'm sure sheer dumb luck was involved. There were some good moments in this season. Like the Thunderbirds arc. Oh, and the "un-hulked" episode that gave us science bro content. Inhumans were introduced. There was this awesome Kang the Conqueror fight that leads to a time heist where Cap leave Kang stuck in the Jurassic period. I liked the episode where Yelena was introduced & turned Hulk into a Winter Soldier. Vision, Captain Marvel, & Black Panther are introduced and eventually become recurring characters. Red Hulk leads into that weird fushion thing that was pretty crazy. The whole Mighty Avengers thing was the real "Civil War" when Inhuman rgistration became a topic of conversation.
The Ultron finale was pretty solid. It was the ultimate Avengers battle as Ultron. It's scary when an enemy can just take down the Doramajari like that. And the cliffhanger was a great way to end the season.
Also, in the MCU, anyone know what happend to Ultron? Vision zapped him away but, like, where?
Season 4
It was pretty obvious the MCU had influence over this season. They changed Iron Man's voice actor & elements of his dialogue to make him sound more like Robert Downey Jr. I wanted this in season 1, but the other voice grew on me after 3 seasons so I was on the fence about the change. They also changed Falcon's design to match the films and grew him up a little - he basically became Anthony Mackie. Secret Wars just meant New Avengers. It was a really depressing start as the OGs were zapped out of existence, and now the focus was shifted to the New avengers lead by Black Panther. I missed the OGs, but there were still some cute stories, especially with vision. It was refreshing to explore these different dynamics with this unique cluster of heroes.
The holiday episodes tried to keep the OGs relevant through flashback filler episodes. The Halloween one was not it. HOWEVER the New Years special was emotionally damaging. Peggy Carter & Howard Stark find themselves thrown into the future where they have to work with Captain America & Iron Man to make it back to their time. Haley Atwell never misses an opportunity to portray this character. So watching this episode, hearing Hayley say "Steve? I mourned you." I'm crying. Stahp. 😭They talked about their date and their dance, Steve considered going back with them, Peggy saying "don't forget me" like how could he ever forget his best girl? I was very invested in this ship. You did not want to see me at the end of ENDGAME.
Going back to the main plot..... Mighty Thor - well, just Jane Foster - to the rescue as she initiates a Time Heist - well, more like an interdimensional heist - for the New Avengers to get the Real Avengers back. This was a crazy experience. There was a Moon Knight episode. We were introduced to the Beyond and Battle World - a phenomenally cool concept explained to us by a newly fond Iron Man. We meet Iron Fist, Smart Hulk, and........ Venom Dracula??????? Hulk & Banner were split entities at a time. Loki was an ally for several episodes. Omg the Pirate episode 👀Ant man & Miss Marvel vs Typhoon Mary vs "Dread skull" (Red skull and Crossbones?). Oh, and the Western land where Dr. Strange, Groot, & Rocket are in the Wild West but it's dinosaurs & robots are illegal....... And there was that encounter when multiple Ghost Riders show up and it's like that chase form Mad Max... Remember when I said they do things on this show that just wouldn't work in the MCU?
This all leads up to an epic finale. Mighty Thor finale makes an appearance during the Beyonder boss fight. But plot twist absolutely no one saw coming - it's Loki who is the final enemy in the end. I really wish this was the series finale. Season 4 was all sorts of insane and it had a pretty conclusive ending that was worthy of a series finale.
Season 5
There is honestly nothing to say about Season 5. I love Black Panther, but making this season his "quest" was poor in execution. It no longer was "Avengers Assemble" as the Avengers became supporting characters, being completely absent for numerous episodes, and even was written as villains at some point. It was just T'challa & Shuri. There was that one cool flashback episode when Thor was a frog........ What's worse is that the finale was entitled "House of M" and it had nothing to do with Mephisto. And Scarlet Witch was nowhere to be seen in all 5 season. A very sad way to end the series.
Final word - Great show to watch if you like Marvel, especially with kids. But some adults can get something from this too. I occasionally see memes come from this show so meme potentially is there. Though you're not missing much if you skip season 5.
My Rating: ★★★★★★★☆☆☆
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