Last week, before the cliffhanger to end all cliffhangers, we watched the Avengers Assemble team save the people of the planet New Corbin from the powerful grip of Thanos and his Black Order. We watched as the Avengers’ determination and bravery inspired the people to fight back against the inconceivable evil of the Mad Titan. Now with Earth threatened by Thanos, the Avengers have returned home to… no Earth… Meet me after the jump the exciting conclusion, the season two finale – “Avengers World!”
100% Brilliant
If I’m being honest, it’s going to be hard to beat the last episode. There was so much goodness crammed in there, from the fluid teamwork of the boys club Avengers to the animated appearance of the deadly Cull Obsidian to that chilling cliffhanger. There were also great little details that tickled this fanboy’s heart like Beta Ray Bill’s people, Thanos bargaining with the Avengers, and so many homages to the comics like Thanos’ ship and the fists in the air from Infinity.
Before I even watched “Avengers World,” I knew what I wanted to see. I wanted to see what happened on Earth when Thanos got there. Imagine the potential, you have the Black Widow and Ant-Man, the most underused Avenger and my favorite Avenger (or at least a fair facsimile), going toe to toe with Thanos and the Cull Obsidian with Earth the prize? Yes, please. I didn’t get that however. What I got instead was pure brilliance. The Earth isn’t gone. Ant-Man surrounded the planet with Pym particles and shrank it out of view. Yeah, baby.
Moon
Thanos arrives shortly after the Avengers discover the Earth is actually safe, but weirdly Ant-Man can’t hold the Earth shrunk for long. This has come up before. In the Marvel Animated Universe are the Pym particles mentally manipulated? Interesting concept. However, it’s not long before Earth is normal size again. That said, I loved Thanos’ use of the Watcher’s tech to find Earth. Smart. While Thanos goes directly for the main event devastating Earth, the Avengers are left to face the Black Order/Cull Obsidian on the moon.
The combat between the two teams is a joy and doesn’t go on too long. It’s nice to see the Avengers as a fighting unit. The Hulk hammer gravity punch was cool, right up there with the X-men’s fastball special in tactics. Of course a real fastball special with Captain America’s shield shows up later, making me smile. The title trickery of needing a unified Earth to attack Thanos was clever. Like Ant-Man’s tactic, Black Widow has to use her wits to make the bickering and panicked governments of the world cooperate. Eventually however, the Avengers and the Black Order bring the battle home.
Atlantic Rim
While I have not been thrilled these past two episodes with Thanos’ giant size a la Galactus, I have to admit it was a thrill to watch Iron Man in his giant robot armor go all Pacific Rim on his ass. Folks who know me know I’m a huge kaiju eiga fan, so yeah, I was absolutely loving this. More please. Although, why does Stark have a giant robo armor? Yeah, I know, why not? And why couldn’t we have more of Giant-Man joining the giant battle?
This made me pine for the good old days of Marvel’s 1970s Godzilla and Shogun Warriors comics, specifically of when Godzilla and Red Ronin were holding the line to protect Salt Lake City from the Mega Monsters. And it also made me think how awesome an animated version of that would be. Now I know I’m probably the only one who would be into that in particular, but really, how about a Pacific Rim animated series, especially now that we might not be getting a theatrical sequel. How about it, Disney and Man of Action?
We’re All Avengers
No matter how hokey (and very very Superman II) the scene with the New Yorkers rising up against Thanos and proclaiming they were Avengers was, it worked and even brought hope to this poor fanboy pessimist. And to follow it with the off-screen diplomatic victory of the Black Widow really made it roll. But why did it have to be off-screen? Give the Widow her due, guys, come on!
The episode ends on a note of hope. The chat between Iron Man and Captain America suggests a more worldwide operation for the Avengers, and a membership expansion. Shown on the holographic globe are Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, and possibly Captain Marvel (hard to tell). Could the third season, retitled “Avengers: Ultron Revolution,” possibly be something like “Justice League Unlimited,” with a roster of many heroes? I’d like that, but time will tell. The third season should start in 2016.
