Now, don't misunderstand me, I think Avengers Assemble is a REALLY bad show. It's not the worst, but it's clear that the brains behind it don't give their audience NEARLY enough credit as far as intelligence goes. Kids may be stupid, but they're not THAT stupid; they can figure out who's who in shows and what's going on without having to be spoon-fed everything via the lengthy exposition that plagues all of Disney's animated Marvel shows currently airing.
That said, I really enjoyed this episode. That's Anthony Ruivivar of Beware the Batman fame playing Nighthawk and he completely blows the main cast out of the water with his Andrea Romano-honed voice acting. He's able to play the blue-collar S.H.I.E.L.D. worker while switching to the menacing Batman-esque villain Nighthawk with ease. Honestly, I was almost fooled by the difference in pitch and inflections if I hadn't recognized Anthony's voice. And even though he gets beaten in the end (I don't think I'm spoiling anything; this IS a superhero show, after all), he still goes out with all the dignity and menace I'd expect from Evil Batman.
However, there's one thing that stops this episode from being perfect: the story. This episode has the exact same plot as DC's comic/animated movie, Justice League: Doom. Now, I won't say what that plot is for those who don't know, nor will I say what changes they made to the story. Just know that if you know Justice League: Doom, you know this episode from start to finish, sans character motivations.
But, despite this, they tell that story pretty well. In fact, the only reason I found it predictable was because I'd already seen this story done before. If I hadn't, I probably wouldn't have seen where it was going.
I encourage those who haven't seen the show to check this episode out early on if none of the other ones you've seen are doing it for you. Just from this episode alone, Avengers Assemble looks like a pretty good show. My only hope is that they KEEP this level of quality in the writing for future episodes.
That said, I really enjoyed this episode. That's Anthony Ruivivar of Beware the Batman fame playing Nighthawk and he completely blows the main cast out of the water with his Andrea Romano-honed voice acting. He's able to play the blue-collar S.H.I.E.L.D. worker while switching to the menacing Batman-esque villain Nighthawk with ease. Honestly, I was almost fooled by the difference in pitch and inflections if I hadn't recognized Anthony's voice. And even though he gets beaten in the end (I don't think I'm spoiling anything; this IS a superhero show, after all), he still goes out with all the dignity and menace I'd expect from Evil Batman.
However, there's one thing that stops this episode from being perfect: the story. This episode has the exact same plot as DC's comic/animated movie, Justice League: Doom. Now, I won't say what that plot is for those who don't know, nor will I say what changes they made to the story. Just know that if you know Justice League: Doom, you know this episode from start to finish, sans character motivations.
But, despite this, they tell that story pretty well. In fact, the only reason I found it predictable was because I'd already seen this story done before. If I hadn't, I probably wouldn't have seen where it was going.
I encourage those who haven't seen the show to check this episode out early on if none of the other ones you've seen are doing it for you. Just from this episode alone, Avengers Assemble looks like a pretty good show. My only hope is that they KEEP this level of quality in the writing for future episodes.
