This villain has been teased twice so far in the “Avengers Assemble” animated series on Disney XD, and now Earth’s Mightiest Heroes come face to face with Marvel Comics’ most dangerous super-villain – Doctor Doom. My review of “The Serpent of Doom” is right after the jump.
Villain Choice
I can’t help but wonder at the choice of Doctor Doom as the villain of this piece. It’s almost a slap in the face to the Avengers as in we’re only four episodes in and we’re already using Fantastic Four villains. Do the Avengers have so few viable foes?
Oh sure, we have been told this series is a continuation of “Earth’s Mightiest Heroes,” so maybe we’ve already seen enough Avengers enemies, but let’s face it, we know this is a different continuity. We have really yet to see Kang, Ultron, Zodiac, or the real Masters of Evil. With villains like Doom and Dracula up in deck, I wonder if we will.
Mythology
The episode centers around Norse mythology, or at least Marvel’s version of such. Legends dictate that Thor dies in battle with the Midgard Serpent in the battle of Ragnarok. In the opening, Ulik the troll (Thor for, not Avengers) battles Thor and Iron Man and loses a weapon that could bring about this legend.
The characters dance around ‘this legend’ for at least half of the episode without saying what it is. Perhaps the powers that be want to tread lightly. As I recall, in the previous series they refrained from the use of the word ‘god,’ calling Thor the ‘prince of thunder’ instead.
Honor Among Villains
When Ulik loses his axe, in plain sight, mind you, right where they were fighting, the heroes can’t find it. The minions of both the Red Skull and Doctor Doom do however, and after a brief skirmish, Doom takes possession.
From the conversation between the two super-villains two things are evident. One, there is no love list between these two baddies, and two, it does not appear that Doom either accepted or is even interested in the Skull’s invitation to join his Cabal. It makes me wonder now what Dracula and Attuma’s answers were.
Ignored Legalities
Where is Gyrich when you need him? He would know the answers to my questions. Who funds the Avengers? Are they under SHIELD jurisdiction? Government sanctioned? This could be very bad for our heroes as their solution to their problems is to attack the Latverian Embassy.
Part of Doom’s charm, and the major defense that Stan Lee himself built into the character is that, as king of Latveria, he has diplomatic immunity. He can basically commit any crime he wants and then just go back to the Embassy and he is safe from the authorities.
Furthermore, if anyone follows him or sets foot on Embassy property, legally, that’s not just trespassing, that’s an invasion of Latveria. It’s like declaring war. Forget Gyrich, the Avengers need Matt Murdock and Hillary Clinton advising them.
The Midgard Serpent
Doom, rather than call security, uses his new axe to summon the Midgard Serpent. Surely, as one of the smartest men on the planet, he must know what a bad idea this is, right? Maybe he wants to off the Avengers, but really, at the cost of the earth?
And shouldn’t he have found a way to direct it at his real archenemies, Reed Richards and the Fantastic Four, instead? Has Doom lost his motivation as well as his common sense? Even with his explanations, his plan seems flawed, and kinda dopey honestly.
Much like the Space Phantoms in the last episode, this Midgard Serpent, other than being big and somewhat green, doesn’t look much like the source material in the comics. I guess it was too hard to study a couple comics.
Continuity
At least Thor is more in line with his character this episode as opposed to the drunken dimwitted brawler we saw in the first three episodes. Although his singlemindedness with the legend of the Serpent is a bit much. It’s as if he’s given up before the fight has begun.
Doom seems to have caught Thor’s former idiocy. The Falcon’s wings continue to do whatever the writers need them to do. Where was the Black Widow? Has the Avengers become a boys club now? Also the final fight with the Serpent felt a lot like the last ten minutes of the Avengers movie, I’m not find of reruns. And where did Ulik get a weapon that could summon the Midgard Serpent?
Maybe answers are forthcoming, and maybe not. What did you folks think of today’s episode?
Doom, in this episode, is less calculating and more goofy/campy like all other villains back in the 60s.