Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow

[areaseven]

Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow

Marvel/Lionsgate Home Video, 2008

Directed by Jay Oliva and Gary Hartle

Written by Christopher Yost (New X-Men, The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes)

Based upon characters from The Avengers created by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby (1917-1994), Joe Simon (1913-2011) and Marvel Comics.

Running Time: 78 minutes

Rated PG for sci-fi violence.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30ZUFitHXD8

"And there came the day, unlike any other. When Earth's mightiest heroes were united against a common threat. The Soldier, the God, the Knight, the Spy, the Giant, the King, the Pixie, the Ghost, and the Archer. On that day, the Avengers were born. To fight foes that no single hero could withstand: time-traveling conquerors, alien invaders and masters of evil. The Avengers vanquished them all. And finally, when the world was at peace, the heroes built lives of their own. The Soldier and Spy fell in love, as did the Giant and Pixie. The King found his Queen. And the Thunder God returned to his kingdom far away from the world of man. And one by one, the children of the Avengers came to be. Children who would one day become a new generation of heroes.

"But in time, evil returned. An evil called Ultron. Ultron wanted nothing less than total dominion over the world. But the Avengers stood in its way. Sadly, their defeat was inevitable.

"But before they fell, the Avengers hid their children in a faraway place, where they would grow up safe from Ultron's grasp. Because the Avengers knew that as long as their children were alive, there was hope. Hope for the future." - Tony Stark

Cast

Noah Crawford (young Earl in My Name Is Earl) as James Rogers (son of Captain America and Black Widow)

Brenna O'Brien (Rin in InuYasha) as Torunn (daughter of Thor and Sif)

Dempsey M. Pappion as Azari (son of Black Panther and Storm)

Aidan Drummond as Henry Pym, Jr. (son of Giant Man and Wasp)

Adrian Petriw (Iron Boy: Armored Adventures, Naoki in Nana) as Francis Barton (son of Hawkeye and Mockingbird)

Tom Kane (Professor Utonium in The Powerpuff Girls, Magneto in Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds) as Tony Stark/Iron Man and Ultron

Shawn MacDonald as The Vision

Michael Adamthwaite (Yzak in Mobile Suit Gundam SEED, Justin Hammer in Iron Boy: Armored Adventures) as Thor

Ken Kramer as Bruce Banner

Fred Tatasciore (Beast in Marvel Anime: X-Men, Juzo in Afro Samurai) as The Hulk

Nicole Oliver (Key: The Metal Idol, Hsien-ko in Darkstalkers) as Betty Ross and Jocasta

Synopsis

Twelve years have passed since Ultron destroyed the Avengers and conquered the Earth. Deep in the Arctic Circle, Tony Stark - formerly Iron Man - has kept the children of the Avengers under his guidance. But now, Ultron has sensed their presence and they must fight to survive and learn the truth about their parents.

Story: C-

What a way to rape someone's childhood. Surely, you wouldn't leave the fate of Earth at the hands of these brats, would you? Yes, this movie is not for hardcore Avengers fans, as it dumps a huge one on the comic franchise's legacy. And even though the main characters are kids, this movie is too dark for children to understand. As a result, Next Avengers has no audience to appreciate.

Animation: C+

For something produced by famed Japanese studio Madhouse, the animation is disappointingly cheap. It looks no different from an average episode of Ben 10.

Soundtrack: B

The musical score by Guy Michelmore - who has done the soundtracks of other Marvel animated features - is not bad, but not within the same level as his works in Ultimate Avengers 1-2.

The Bottom Line

The next generation of the Avengers are just a bunch of Teen Titans knockoffs.

Links

Lionsgate's official Next Avengers Homepage

ToonZone's Next Avengers Homepage

References

The Internet Movie Database

[Keith]

Marvel animation took a sharp nose dive since the 90's X-Men series (mind you I haven't watched any follow up X-Men series, but I also haven't been interested in them enough to bother). Marvel Live Action is where it's at.

DC on the other hand has a pretty firm grip on both, though their LA either tends to be awesome (Dark Knight) or crap (Green Lantern).

[reddsun1]

Marvel animation took a sharp nose dive since the 90's X-Men series (mind you I haven't watched any follow up X-Men series, but I also haven't been interested in them enough to bother). Marvel Live Action is where it's at.

I remember the 90's X-Men cartoon. It was pretty awful, in hindsight; you mean they've gotten even worse?

[areaseven]

I remember the 90's X-Men cartoon. It was pretty awful, in hindsight; you mean they've gotten even worse?

Actually, in all fairness, X-Men: Evolution is okay and the Marvel anime is pretty good (at least for X-Men; I haven't seen the one for Wolverine yet).

[David Hingtgen]

"Wolverine and the X-Men" was even better than Evolution IMHO. Too bad nobody got to see it, it seems like.

[mikeszekely]

"Wolverine and the X-Men" was even better than Evolution IMHO. Too bad nobody got to see it, it seems like.

I saw it and loved it. For that matter, the Spectacular Spider-Man was, IMHO, the best animated Spidey to date, and Iron Man: Armored Adventures is actually pretty good once you get over Tony Stark being a high school student.

Ultimate Spider-Man and The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes are both just ok, though.

And for what it's worth, I liked all of the Marvel Animated movies so far, inlcuding Next Avengers (although Next Avengers is probably the second-weakest, with the only worse one being Thor: Tales of Asgard).

DC on the other hand has a pretty firm grip on both

I think I'm going to disagree with this more than the other half of what you're saying, Keith. DCAU has been really great, and I'm especially fond of Justice League: Doom and Batman: Under the Red Hood. But there hasn't been a good live-action DC movie without Batman since Richard Donner's Superman. Even if we just count movies made in the last 10 years only to overlook the shame of some of the Superman and Batman sequels, we've still got Superman Returns, the Green Lantern, and Catwoman up against two-going-on-three Dark Knight movies. Hardly what I'd call a "firm grip."

[emajnthis]

I loved Wolverine and the X-Men, I was mad that they didn't go with the second season especially since the ending set them up for it perfectly. IMO the best Spiderman series so far was the one that debuted on MTV, had the right mix of adult content, animation, and story, unfortunately, it ended on a really sour note. It's available on netflix Instant if you haven't seen it (along with most of the other marvel animated series).

I agree on the live-action stuff for DC, Batman aside all of the other live action franchises have been flops. Animated side has always been very strong for DC, i'm having a hard time thinking of a DC Animated series or feature that i didn't like.

Edited May 8, 2012 by emajnthis

[Old_Nash]

I always knew that in terms of animation, the DC gives a show in the competition.

Of course, until recently, it has lost the hand. But still is superior.

So much so that Marvel called the Madhouse anime to make some of their franchises. Without estimated success.

Now that Marvel is with Disney, I do not know what to expect, since all animations will be made by her owner.

I had seen the Next Avengers, and I found an appeal because at the time, DC had the Teen Titans.

Marvel wanted the group of adolescents without running the risk of being forbidden to "roll" between Wiccan and Hulkling.

Then created generics od their heroes, and release in DVD.

[Keith]

Truthfully, I'd already picked up both recen Marvel anime releases (X-Men & Iron Man), but hadn't watched them yet. Just watched through X-Men, and it took a while to get going, but it was fun. I'm about half way through Iron Man, and so far I'm enjoying that one more, just wish they weren't freakin' dubtitled.

After some reccomendations here, I watched a couple episodes of X-Men Evolution & Wolverine & the X-Men. Evolution hasn't quite grown on me yet, but Wolverine is indeed awesome, decided to stop netfilxing that one and just order the bluray. I'll get around to watching the Ultimate Avengers movies when I get some spare time. Netflix is surprisingly handy.

Ah, also watched an episode of IM Armored Adventures....doesn't quite work as well as the anime version of Iron Man. Maybe because it looks like an episode of SD Gundam Force, or maybe because this story seems a bit too Batman Beyond-Light, but It's definately not as good as the anime version. Saving Grace, it's not the 90's Iron Man cartoon...

[David Hingtgen]

Saving Grace, it's not the 90's Iron Man cartoon...

Heathen! One of the best intros ever:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ahwjGWTl7g

(and in a rare feat, reading the top two comments is actually a good thing, and spot-on)

[Keith]

I see your 90's Iron Man, and raise you 60's Iron Man!

He's so strong, he doesn't even need to be animated!

[areaseven]

When it comes to Marvel cartoon intros, absolutely nothing beats this:

This one a close second:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tYiXzwUaUI