It has been a while since we have heard a rumor or casting news regarding the 2014′s Guardians of The Galaxy. This new speculation comes to us from Joblo. the news states that the main antagonist of The Guardians of The Galaxy movie is none other than Ronan the accuser. Ronan, who is from the Kree race, fought countless heroes in the Marvel Comics including the avengers, The Fantastic Four, and …wait for it… The Guardians of The Galaxy. In the marvel comics Ronan becomes the Kree leader.

While we hoped for Michael Korvac or Magus as the main baddie in the James gunn’s adaptation, Ronan the Accuser makes much more sense, for the characters and stories his inclusion can lead to, including Ms Marvel, Captain Marvel, The inhumans, the skrulls/Kree wars and more.

source: Joblo

While impatiently waiting for Sunday’s one hour preview of Marvel’s Avengers Assemble, Marvel and Apple surprised us by offering the first episode on Itunes, for free, this much early. The show will officially premiere on July 7th. Marvel’s Avengers Assemble was announced a year ago and was marketed by Jeph Loeb (Head of Marvel Animation division)  as a continuation of the excellent Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. The show’s initial announcement was met with anger and frustration from fans of the previous show, however Marvel has been promising a great show in Avengers Assemble. So how well did the first episode fared? Keep reading to find out:

Story:

The story of the the first episode (which is part 1 of a 2 parter premiere) finds Tony Stark as he watches his fellow friends (and EX Avengers) from afar as he explained to his computerized JARVIS, that the team had its reasons for disbanding. Through Stark’s computers we are introduced to Thor, Hulk, Hawkeye, and Captain America. The latter who was about to face the Red Skull, whom Stark believe was dead (is this is a reference to the Captain America first movie? Since he did not die in previous series). Iron-Man flies to the rescue but arrives seconds too late, As Red Skull vanishes, and seemingly, killed Captain America. Iron-Man also learns that MODOK is providing Red Skull the tech needed to stand against his nemesis.

Finding no other way possible to Avenge Cap’s death, Iron-Man activates “The Avengers Protocol” calling his friends (through a hologram device) to a meeting. The heroes selected by Stark are Thor, Hawkeye, Hulk, Black Widow, and a SHIELD trainee named Sam Wilson. Everyone showed up except the last two, and have learned Cap’s demise and agreed to avenge their comrade. As The Avengers fly to the Hydra/skull base, Sam Wilson visits the Avengers Tower to pick up his suit. Jarvis suggested the War-Machine Armor, but Sam proposed the Red-Wing suit (which is the Falcon’s trademark suit from the comics).

Soon enough, the team assembles at Red Skull’s base and learn that Cap is still alive and was only unreported by MODOK to undergo a body change with his mortal nemesis the Skull. What ensues is a massive battle that ends up rescuing Captain America but at the cost of Stark losing his armor to Red Skull who now calls himself “Iron-Skull”

Animation:

The animation in Marvel’s Avengers Assemble is top notch, and i can easily say it is the best we have seen in a Marvel Animated Series. The design are also pretty and consistent and quite detailed. The Environments are colorful and fit the tone of the show. The vehicles used in the show are CGI, and unlike previous shows where the CGI is hidden by some Cell-Shading technique, the  Ones spotted in the Avengers Assemble premiere are full cgi and feel and look quite out of place. A minor nitpick, really, since the Vehicles are  not a big part of the show anyways.

Another issue i found out with the video quality is some, unneeded, out of place cropping that happens every-time the show pans to an exterior location. I am not sure if this is issue with the video on Itunes, or if its an artistic choice, either-way it is a bit annoying.

Writing:

As much as i loved the animation, and find it a step up from the previous show, the same thing cannot be said about the writing. The episode is written by “Man of Action” the same team behind the controversial Ultimate Spider-Man show. And while the writing is not as juvenile as USM it just feels a bit off, and all over the place. Don’t get me wrong it is not terrible, but could be a lot better.

The story also unfolds WAY TOO FAST, and can feel like someone is skipping chapters of a dvd movie. The show does not take it ‘s time to do anything, one second the team is here, the next it’s somewhere else, with no time given to even mourn Captain america’s apparent death.

The writing staff is also trying to bring the dynamic fun between the characters from the movie, but unfortunately fail to know where to include such interactions. An example for that is Hawkeye and hulk smiling and quipping literally seconds after knowing Captain America is dead. The show also picks on the Hulk and thor feud from the movie, but just push it a bit too much, as hulk battle Thor for fun the minute the two see each other. It could be fun but the idea is dragged a bit. Which brings me to my next point, Hulk’s personality is that of a Jerk in this first episode. First he fights thor for fun, then almost throw Hawkeye from the Quinjet, and worse throws the archer and lands him between armed Hydra Agents for no apparent reason. Believe me, it is not as bad as it sounds, but kind of threw me off a little bit.

The show also does not take its time to make the viewer invest in what is going on. An example for that is we first learn that Captain America is dead, 7min later we already know he is alive. Cap and Skull switch bodies then couple minutes later Cap gets his body back. It just seems the writers have included too many plot points in a 20 min episode, and thus did not have the time to elaborate on the them which only makes the story come out as VERY RUSHED.

We have to remember though that this is a first episode, and many shows struggle in the first couple episodes of their run to find a balance that will ultimately work better for the said series.

Dialogue might disappoint some viewers, Iron-Man talks WAY too much and repeats himself quite a lot explaining things over and over again, and some of the conversations are a bit cheesy, especially compared to the previous avengers Series. The jokes are hit or miss, but thankfully nothing like Ultimate Spider-Man.

Voice Acting:

The voice acting is not terrible but also not the best. Iron-Man is voiced by Adrian Pasdar, who is trying to imitate Robert Downey Junior a bit too hard (did i mention that he also talks WAY TOO MUCH!) which, unfortunately, feels like a giant step backward from Eric Loomis interpretation from the avengers EMH series. Thor is voiced by Travis Willingham and has done an okay job portraying the prince of Thunder. Hulk is voiced by veteran Fred Tatascoore (same VA for EMH), and Hawkeye by Troy Baker, both are good fits for the characters. I am also happy to say that Laura Bailey nailed the Black Widow voice acting and is literally the best of the bunch. What is certain is that Fans of Avengers Earth’s Mightiest Heroes might need sometime to get used to the new voice cast.


Summary:

So all in all, Marvel’s Avengers Assemble is off to a decent start. The Series has a lot of potential and hopefully will find its tone and pace quickly, as right now it feels a bit all over the place in terms of writing. The animation is top notch and nothing like you have seen from Marvel animation.

While i am hoping the show will get better, i have no doubt in my mind that Avengers Assemble will be an instant hit among younger viewers

Looking forward to the second episode airing on Sunday on Disney XD.

Score: 7/10

Did you get to watch the first episode? Let us know what you think of it in the comments section below.

Avengers Fans Assemble! You can now watch the first episode of Avengers Assemble as well as new trailer for free on Itunes. The promotion, by Marvel, is to promote next Sunday’s one hour preview of the upcoming Series. What are you waiting for? Got download it while you can:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/tv-season/marvels-avengers-assemble/id645732139

We will be reviewing the premiere episode shortly!

While the threequel to Iron-Man is still breaking record on cinema, the highly praised (and also controversial among some fans) movie is set to release on home video on August 27th. No special features have been announced so far.

Will you be buying Iron-Man 3 on Blu-ray and DVD ?

Source: Screencrush

While he, previously, alluded to the inculsion of the mutant characters, Scarlet witch and Quicksilver, Avengers director Joss Whedon confirmed to IGN that the siblings are part of the upcoming Avengers 2. Below is the quote from the IGN article:

“Whedon had previously alluded to a brother/sister duo being in the film, which EW later said was indeed Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch. When I brought up Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch to Whedon, he confirmed they were the characters in question, explaining, “You know, they had a rough beginning. They’re interesting to me because they sort of represent the part of the world that wouldn’t necessarily agree with The Avengers. So they’re not there to make things easier. I’m not putting any characters in the movie that will make things easier.”

IGN then asked Whedon if Iron-Man 3′s ending makes it challening for the film maker to bring back Tony Stark to the team, and this is what Joss had to say: “Well, I feel like in Iron Man 3, even though he said, ‘I’ve changed’ — he blew up his remote suits, but I don’t think anybody thinks he doesn’t have one anymore. The question is, if The Avengers are called, does he show up? And the answer is, ‘Yes!’”

Source: IGN