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#earth��s mightiest heroes
vertigoartgore · 9 days
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The Avengers n°291 house ad (1988) by John Buscema and Tom Palmer.
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lokigodofaces · 2 years
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thinking about how when i was younger and avengers 1 had just come out and my brother and i were at the prime age for lots of marvel cartoons, so we watched a crap ton, including one or two about the avengers (streaming wasn't what it was now so we only had what was on disney channel, in our library, and the 2 spider man cartoons on netflix) and were pretty obsessed with them. and we kept talking to our parents about the avengers all the time. and how my parents didn't know hawkeye's name after watching avengers (must have forgotten) so they were very confused when we wouldn't shut up about him because while my brother and i were talking about these guys
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my parents could only think of this guy
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theworkprint · 7 months
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Celebrate 60 Years of Earth's Mightiest Heroes With Marvel's Future Avengers
While I have literally grown up with comics, and as a result often prefer the more mature, groundbreaking stories, there’s something to be said for all ages fare. After all, if the animated X-Men and Spider-Man tv series hadn’t been all ages, I wouldn’t have been able to enjoy them growing up. Now, Marvel HQ is celebrating 60 years of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, AKA the Avengers, with a new anime…
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Silent heartbeat
Possible trigger warnings?: -I don't think so...?
Genre: Romance, Hurt/comfort?, Fluff
Context/Synopsis:   Watch 'Avengers Earth's mightiest heroes' the cartoon, specifically episode 4: 'Thor the mighty'.
  Blake, Aka Copycat, is under the impression that he and Loki are friends, despite having romantic feelings for them. Then Loki says something that makes Blake think Loki doesn't care about him, and Loki, attempting to find him after he wanders off to process it, overhears Blake's thoughts about his true feelings. ...Oops.
There's some symbolism in it in places, but it's mostly fluff.
Characters featured: EMH!Blake/Copycat: Your author-insert for this evening. EMH!Loki: Oh no, my love- EMH!Amora/The Enchantress: Should’ve been in the MCU. (Mentioned)EMH!Skurge (Mentioned)EMH!Thor (Mentioned)EMH!Odin
  The silence was louder than any scream Blake had ever heard. As seconds melted into hours, it felt more and more like he was going mad.
  As much as many would likely joke, it wasn't because he liked to talk. Perhaps it was his need for stimulation, but silence sent his mind and anxiety into overdrive.
  He didn't mind it as much now, though. He let out a content sigh, muted by the isle of silence's magic, as he felt a hand run down his spine. Their fingertips pressed gently into his back, rubbing the soreness away and leaving Copycat more relaxed than ever. He rested across Loki's lap as the god's other hand ran through his hair. Somehow, Loki always seemed to know how to relax him.
  Blake was happy to bask in these moments, despite believing they were most likely platonic on the mischief god's end. He hesitated but turned his head a bit to steal a glance at them.
  Loki's eyes fixated on Blake's back, and with a gentle press against his spine, Blake felt a satisfying pop. A tenseness he hadn't noticed was gone, leaving him with intense relief.
  His mind flickered to Loki a few times, wanting nothing more than to pepper their neck and jaw with kiss after kiss. It was frustrating how much Blake wanted to hold Loki close and give them every ounce of love and adoration he had. He deserved better, though; why would Loki want someone like him, anyway?
  Suddenly, Loki's expression shifted. Before Blake could think to get up, a bright light shone in the area, and Loki quickly shoved him off. Blake rolled a bit, then changed his form, flying into the branches all around them in the form of a crow.
  The Enchantress and Skurge appeared from the light, appearing just in time to see Copycat change his shape, but thankfully not having seen anything before.
  The Enchantress used her magic, conjuring a bubble that nullified the muting properties of the isle. Loki cleared their throat while Copycat shifted into a housecat, delighted at hearing the purr from his throat.
  "Did you miss the sound of your own voice?" The Enchantress teased, taking a step forward.
  "How droll." Loki's unamused answer. They paid Copycat little mind as he climbed down to sit beside them. "Tell me."
  "All transpires as you planned; Neither Thor nor Odin is aware of what is happening." Loki stood, a grin stretching across their face.
  "Of course, they're not; it is my plan, after all. No one is ready for what comes next." They let out a laugh of triumph. Skurge and Enchantress glanced at one another with a smirk.
  Loki briefed them on the next phase of their plan, though Copycat could see The two visitors glancing at him at times. Just as Loki finished and set to prepare for imminent departure, Amora finally spoke.
  "Do you plan to bring your little pet with you?" Loki stopped in their tracks with a raised eyebrow.
  "Pet?" They asked, glancing at her from over their shoulder.
  "The Midgardian." Amora clarified, gesturing half-heartedly at Copycat. Loki's expression twisted as his gaze turned to Blake briefly.
  Blake was tempted to correct her but knew Loki would likely do so anyway. He wasn't Loki's pet; he was Loki's best friend, right?
  "He is an important asset, not a pet." The hiss in his voice made it clear that it wasn't up for debate. Or at least, they weren't in the mood to debate it further.
  An asset...?
  Amora and Skurge seemed satisfied enough with that answer. The bubble was still in effect after they left, allowing sound and voice.
  Loki began conjuring something while muttering to themself. There was a long swath of silence around them, which they found odd. Loki assumed that Blake would immediately start asking him what would be next or what he could do to help.
  The mischief god took a moment to look around but couldn't see hide nor hair of him anywhere.
  Loki stopped the ritual for a moment, raising their arm and waving it before them. The purple and black aura flew off of it like steam as Loki's mind became flooded with thoughts unlike their own. Ignoring the annoyingly repetitive thoughts of the crows around them, Loki focused on one train of thought, Blake's.
  Loki grumbled under their breath, wishing he was easier to track. His thoughts were always so scatterbrained and confusing that it made reading his mind a chore.
  Loki appeared in the branches of the high-reaching tree, finding Blake sitting on one of the branches and looking out at the endless expanse beyond.
  "There you are." Blake spun around, the mask usually covering the upper half of his face absent.
  "Oh, hey, Kiki. Did you need something?" Blake murmured, absent-mindedly running a finger down the spine of a very grateful lizard. Loki rolled their eyes hearing that nickname but shrugged it off, seeing as they were alone.
  "Is there a reason you decided to hide away up here?" He glared at a pair of particularly noisy crows, who decided to follow them up the tree.
  "I just..." Blake trailed off briefly, "wanted to think about something."
  Loki sighed, "If this is about what Amora said-"
  "It's not." Blake said quickly, "I already know not to listen to what she has to say about me by now."
  "Then what exactly is the problem?" Loki furrowed their brow, "Don't tell me this 'isle of silence' has made you rethink your allegiance with me."
  "Of course not, it's just-" Blake trailed off again and wrung his hands as he tried to come up with the correct string of words to get across his thoughts.
  Loki wasn't going to wait, though. They made that mistake multiple times and wasted time and sanity trying to translate his jumbled mess of explanations and half-sentences. Loki supposed it was good that they were already reading Blake's thoughts then.
  Loki focused on Blake's inner voice as he began to try explaining himself verbally.
  "I guess it's not really important. I just noticed you and Amora talking back there about me." He quickly added: "It's not about what she said like I mentioned before! It's just-" He muttered something under his breath about wording it correctly before muttering: "I guess I must've misread our relationship? I kind of thought we were friends." By the end of his sentence, he turned to look at Loki.
  Loki was stiff, staring at him with widened eyes and an expression of shock. Blake's thoughts no longer registered, nor did Blake asking them if they were okay.
  "Loki, you're kind of freaking me out a bit." Finally, Loki moved. He watched Loki approach him, his furrowed brow cluing Blake in that something was wrong. When Loki stopped, their faces were only a few inches apart. The branch Blake was sitting on gave him the extra height he needed to be face-to-face with the god. Blake's breath hitched as he realized that, feeling a knot suddenly appear in his throat.
  For a few quiet moments, they just studied one another, waiting for some reaction from the other.
  Loki finally broke the silence, "Tell me that secret you've been keeping from me." Blake hesitated, mumbling under his breath to get his voice working again.
  "W-what?" He finally stuttered.
  "You've been keeping something from me, and I want to hear you say it."
  "Keeping from you?" Blake wracked his brain, narrowing his eyes and glancing away in thought. It was short-lived, as his gaze snapped back to Loki when they placed their hand on his cheek and turned their face to them again.
  "You know exactly the secret I'm talking about."
  Blake noticed the look in Loki's eyes; intense, given a strange new context with the soft touch on the side of Blake's face. It was like the look an officer would give someone during an interrogation.
  Blake murmured without hesitation: "I love you."
  It was like the god melted a little as soon as the words hit their ears. A sigh of relief was barely audible, but before Blake could dwell on any of that, he felt Loki's hands take each side of his face. Blake's face burned as he was suddenly but gracefully pulled into a kiss.
  Blake's mind spun, but he quickly melted just as easily as Loki had. Loki's hands ran down to Blake's shoulder blades while Blake's arms wrapped around the god's middle. Blake leaned forward so far that he almost tipped off the branch entirely, sitting on the backs of his ankles and desperately trying not to fall over and ruin the moment.
  Then, they finally separated, as Blake's heart fluttered in his chest. There was barely any time to take in what just happened before Blake's foot slipped, immediately sending him landing face-first on the group of branches below.
  The fall clearly didn't hurt him much as he stared up at Loki, chuckling with the gooiest love-struck expression they'd ever seen.
  Loki smiled as they used their magic to help Blake up. "Let's keep this between us, hmm?"
  "Okay, love." Loki wouldn't admit it, but a shiver ran up their spine when they heard Blake call them that.
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elennemigo · 4 months
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AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR (2018) || WHAT IF... PETER QUILL ATTACKED EARTH´S MIGHTIEST HEROES? (2023)
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strangeknight · 9 months
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comicaurora · 8 months
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Earth's Mightiest Heroes is just such a goldmine in the Marvel adaptations; especially if you like Hulk as much as I do it's such an ideal interpretation and strikes the ideal balance between the ambiguity between him being a hero or a monster (he can't be TOO straightforwardly heroic or he loses a lot of what makes him compelling, but Hulk shouldn't be malevolent or mindless and MUST be a hero in some way) that I don't think has been properly captured since Planet Hulk or Immortal Hulk. Maybe Thor Ragnarok if you look at the subtext around him.
One thing I consider is that EMH specifically seems to take the earliest characterizations of the Marvel heroes, without being too influenced by the MCU (which if I recall was only just starting out then, enough to influence things but not so much that it completely dominated the characterization) and reinvents this earlier characterizations, making something rather new and unique to this series, so you get things such as Wasp (who is one of the most liked takes on the character here) and as noted, Hulk. Much like the Devil Hulk alter from Immortal Hulk, in this series his characterization here reads as a reinterpretation of his initial characterization as a smarter and unpredictable entity driven by his resentfulness.
Hulk is done so well! I feel like part of why season 2's writing suffers overall is that they had to put him on a shelf for the entire Secret Invasion plot.
What I also like about it is how Banner is incorporated into the story. Bruce Banner is a lot more unconditionally heroic than The Hulk, and that's shown right from the jump when he essentially makes a heroic sacrifice by agreeing to let The Hulk stay transformed indefinitely in exchange for him helping the others fight Graviton. Hell, when Hulk gets briefly mind controlled by the Enchantress, the person we see doing the standard Heroic Willpower Fighting From The Inside stuff is Banner. Banner's appearances are a rare treat after the opener, because he's characterized perfectly - brilliant, businesslike since he's always on a clock, and completely up to speed on everything the others have been up to. And it's also kind of fun how the other Avengers are always quite protective of Banner on the rare occasions he gets forced out mid-fight.
And I like how it's clear that Hulk and Banner communicate more than we get to see. There's Banner knowing exactly how to stop the Gamma World plot even though he hasn't had Using The Body Privileges in weeks, and later there's a cute moment where Tony is trying to analyze some mysterious energy and Hulk just immediately IDs it while noshing on a turkey leg. Banner isn't useless or mired in angst, and Hulk isn't dumb. It really feels like they've long since stopped trying to fight each other and have accepted that they're on the same side, and that's a nice change for Hulk storylines!
Also Hulk's friendships with Wasp and Hawkeye are just. Absolute highlights. The dynamics are so good.
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kenny-power · 10 months
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Safe
Bucky Barnes x Reader
Warning(s): none
Fluff
A/N - I rlly liked this one! Let me know if you want a part 2! <3
✨✨✨
“You make me feel safe.”
Safe is not something Bucky Barnes felt often in his life. Even now, pardoned from all of his past actions, he still finds himself constantly looking over his shoulder, locating all exits in every room he enters, and making a contingency plan for every emergency. Sure, living in the Avengers Tower with earth’s mightiest heroes make him feel secure, but never safe.
Not to mention he’s never made anyone else feel safe. Not in a long, long time. He doesn’t blame anyone. Not in the slightest, given his past. Who could ever feel truly safe in the same room as a recently-reformed mass murderer? Nobody, except her. 
At first, he kept to himself, going to the communal areas like the kitchens at night, when he knew most people would be asleep. However, he didn’t account for the fact that someone else would have a midnight-snack routine like him. 
The first time she walked into the kitchen at 2:00 a.m., wearing fluffy pajamas, rubbing her eyes tiredly, and walking straight for the fridge. Without even missing a beat, she murmured a sleepy “Hi, Bucky,” before grabbing a tub of cookie dough and plopping herself at the bar next to him. Making quick work of the tub, she ate quietly, before turning to him. “What? You want some?” She asked with her mouth full. 
Mutely, he shook his head no. Not only was the situation a little bizarre, but he already had a snack of dry cereal. 
“Suit yourself,” she shrugged, “more for me.” 
They sat in silence as she ate for about ten minutes before she yawned. Packing the cookie dough back into the fridge, she whispered a “Goodnight Bucky,” as she walked out of the kitchen, presumably going back to her bedroom. 
It was most normal interaction Bucky’s had with someone in a long time, which is what confused him. Why did she treat him so normally? He was a murderer, she knew that. So, why?
~
That wasn’t the last time they “accidentally” met up for a midnight snack. Several times a week, Bucky would be sitting in the kitchen long after everyone went to bed for the night and she would shuffle in, say a greeting, and eat. Every time she would offer whatever snack she had to Bucky. And every time he would shake his head no. 
He didn’t talk much to her - he didn’t know what to say. 
She didn’t mind, though. Sometimes they would sit there in silence while she ate. Other times, she would talk. 
It would be about anything and everything. What she did that day. What dream she had the night before. Her favorite colors. Her favorite foods. Her childhood. Whatever came to her mind. 
And Bucky would listen. To him, this information was the most interesting thing in the world. But, he was still confused. He gave her no reason to trust him, no reason to share all of this information. Why? 
~
Eventually, after many weeks of this delicate dance they’d been sharing, Bucky spoke up. 
She had been in the middle of telling a story about a dog she’d seen in the park that day when he asked. 
“Why?” His voice was croaky and deep. He hadn’t found much use for it in the past couple of months, only speaking when necessary (which he didn’t think was often). 
She stopped short in her story, turning to face him fully. 
“Why what?” Her eyebrows drew together and she cocked her head to the side - confused. 
Cute.
The thought sprung to the forefront of his mind, almost making him forget why he spoke up. He mentally shook the thought away. 
“Why do you do this? Spend time to me, I mean. Nobody else does, so why do you?”
She smiled at him, as if laughing at a joke he didn’t know about. 
“Because I can,” was her simple reply.
Bucky almost groaned, frustrated. 
“But why? I’m a murderer, shouldn’t you be afraid of me? I’m dangerous” Her eyes were still shining with humor, making him more annoyed with the situation. Why didn’t she get it? He doesn’t deserve this kind of attention. 
“You make me feel safe.” She smiled once more, before getting up from her stool. “Goodnight Bucky,” she said like every night, but this time instead of walking away, she leaned up and placed a quick kiss on his cheek. Then, she turned and walked out of the kitchen. 
Bucky stared at her leaving, hand drifting up to where her lips made contact. The area felt hot, like her lips were still there. 
Safe?
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hail-brod · 6 months
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A Chance and Beyond (1)
Next chapter: (Chapter 2)
Masterlist
Series Masterlist
Loki x FReader
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Set after the events of Thor: Ragnarok and begins with Infinity War when the spaceship containing Thor and the other Asgardians were spared from the supposed attack of Thanos. Meaning, Loki is alive. But the threat still looms.
(Also, let's just pretend Hela didn't destroy Mjollnir :DD)
Spoilers for Loki season 2!
Warning/s: Just some cursing
WC: 3.3k
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When you realized that your existence is in great trouble, you do your best to find a way to get back to where you were previously encapsulated as a time criminal. After all, they're the reason why you're fucked. But, seems like you'll be needing the Avengers' help first. And Loki's.
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"What the fuck."
Was all Tony Stark could managed to say after being abruptly interrupted by a terrifyingly distorted figure appearing right in front of him, evidently disrupting the banter he was having with the so-called God of Mischief, Loki. The other avengers surrounding the two men were no different, frozen on their spot as they gather round in the sophisticated compound, loss for words at the woman who happens to appear uninvited.
You stood there breathless.
Without any second thoughts, they made their move directing a fighting stance at you, as if expecting a sudden attack. Just what you'd expect from the Earth's mightiest heroes.
Minus Loki.
Though, not without a hint of confusion delighting their faces.
After you had successful regain your balance, although still dreading the feeling of being ripped apart through time, you slowly flayed your hands up in defeat. Panting, you surveyed around.
You were in the Avengers' compound.
"What...in the hell was that?" the one who seemed to have said that was actually the only one hesitant to attack you, knuckles upfront him with an obvious unsureness as his eyes warily scanned you. Gaping, he continued. "Did I...Did I hallucinate that or...? Oh, god, am I going mad?"
"I don't believe that is the case here, Banner." boomed Thor, holding out Mjollnir threateningly. Eyes stern at your panting form.
Alright, how fortunate to see a very familiar face.
"I hope so. Or else, I might as well decide that being on a whole different planet for a whole year and being part of a godly family crisis has already altered my mind in many different ways."
"Bruce, calm down." a bearded blonde man with a shield said. Steve Rogers. You recall. "Just be thankful that isn't the case here because it certainly isn't."
You wish you could snort at the exchange but you have other matters to focus on at the moment. Though, you held Banner's terrified gaze with a wary of your own as you think for a moment who Banner is but you brush it aside.
You can't afford to dilly-dally with such questions and just preferably, avoid starting a needless fight.
With Stark now a few steps back from you, hands enclosed in his iron red gauntlet with the center of his palm alight, he eyed you suspiciously. He pointed at you, threatening to blast you on your spot. Not even sliding the chance to put out a snarky comment. "I don't know about that Cap. I think we've all gone mad."
"Shut it, Tony." the blondied woman in a black armored and leather suit remarked, eyeing the freaked out Banner. "Now's not the time."
He only gave her a stern look before returning it back to you, although not without muttering something under his breath. You can almost make out the mocking smile he had before seriously staring you down.
That's also when you perfectly noticed the raven haired God at your other side. Just like Stark, he was a few steps away. Your hands were still in the air as you didn't waste a second to slowly shift your eyes to the God who you we're just with a few hours ago.
Technically, it isn't him and also, you're not even certain if that was a few hours ago. TVA has victoriously displaced your sense of time and you have no choice but to set that aside for now.
First and foremost, let's not die in the hands of these worldly — and otherworldly — renowned superhuman Midgardian people.
"That was no sorcery." was all Loki could utter, blaring a suspicious glare at you. At this point, you can say that everyone here is glaring daggers at you with so much suspicion after just witnessing you appear uncannily right in front of their eyes. Loki's trusty daggers points at you with such intensity that you can't help but freeze on your spot entirely. You garner that moving further might just cause him to pounce on you and successfully cut your throat out.
Such a Loki trait. You consciously note. At the same time, it pricks a sense of oddness to you.
"For once, I can agree with you." this time, it was the man in a red cape. His hands projecting a some sort of fiery circular engravings — Or markings, it seems — that you were not familiar with. Although, it did felt familiar. "Who are you and why have you come here?"
Finally asking the right questions, everyone else anticipated your response.
"I'd really thought you'd ask how I did get here but, fine." your attempt at settling everything down with a little humor earned nothing. You only strained a smile. "You can put your guard down now. I doubt I can even inflict damage to any of you when I am outnumbered, don't you think?" You say with a nervous shrug.
"Wait.." Thor started. "You are an Asgardian."
Ah.
"Wait, what now?" a conflicted Banner turned to him with a frown. "Where did that come from?"
"Her clothing." it was Loki. Tilting his head, he slightly squinted at you. You can already feel their movements break from their stance but nonetheless, was still on guard. "But I wouldn't want to jump to conclusions if I were you, brother. A lie or two is easy to miss." he says that in a lowered and slick tone, eyes prying deep in your existence.
"Good preach, God of Lies, but why don't you myth brothers figure something out if she'll massacre us or join the party. Is that good or is that impossible?" Stark commands.
"That's-" Thor tries to say.
"I can do that." Oh no.
Without hesitation, Loki readies to attack you with a knowing smirk. You want to say that you expected that but in terms of fighting physically between you and him, he always precedes. Except when it comes to sorcery.
Yet, his daggers haven't spelt your doom when suddenly, you fell.
You fell and landed in a bright room enclosed with the very bright color of white. Norns, help me. At this point, I'm not even surprised if Midgardian structures could be capable of blinding me. Humans and their taste in design.
Before you could jump to assumptions whether you time-slipped again, you heard the sound of sizzling above you as you turn to look only to see a yellow ring close.
Oh. You thought. Of course. How can I forget that doctor wizard and his parlor tricks? I can do better than that.
But before you could prove it to no one in particular by trying to dematerialize a wall for your way out, which you expected to be unbreakable because, well, this is the Avengers' territory — you felt the familiar twist of your body as you closed your eyes, getting ready for what's to come. You're time-slipping. Again.
When you opened your eyes, you don't know if you should be relieved or not because you were still in the same spot.
I am seriously starting to despise this more than anything. You say in your mind, cranking your head in pain.
As if the universe has heard your impulsive thoughts for wanting to pride yourself as the better sorcerer, one episode of time-slipping has managed to avert your thoughts to a different one. There's really no point in trying to escape when you'll be thrown off eventually to a different timeline thus, relieving you off of this situation. At least you hope you'll have that kind of luck, considering that you're here imprisoned and untrusted by heroes. For the meantime, you painfully have a lot of questions.
The fact that you are time-slipping outside of TVA is making you feel wary and disoriented.
Not just that, because you're not being tossed around through time in one place like before in TVA, but because you're being tossed around in different branches of time. You can't help but overthink, a blooming panic erupts in you. If what you heard from Ouroboros was true, about the possibility of being lost to time, then maybe you can consider that that's what's occurring to you. Adding to that, how can Loki and the others track you when there's a number of branches exceeding spontaneously and you're amongst one of them — inconsistently appearing through one branch after another.
To hell with this time-slipping phenomenon.
Such thoughts have managed to waver your poised will. You don't want this. After everything that's happened, you're now overwhelmed by incomparable fear, enough to cover the pang of grief that you successfully tried to keep a hold off during the dangers you have encountered. And that causes you to resume the fear of losing something again. If before you've lost the right to exist in your own timeline, then now seems like you're losing more than you could think of.
A chance. The chance to only exist without the burden of being a criminal to time.
The Loki you met ensured you that. And you're scared to lose the hope you unconsciously held so close that he had given you.
You're scared that you're bound to be stuck in time, alone and nowhere to belong to.
You're just a displaced speck of entity in the vast timelines of universes, an error meant to be rid of.
Is this truly the ending that you deserve?
Just lost to time. For eternity.
After everything that you've been through, you think of the fact that your Nexus event was a fickle thing in the grand scheme of things. A mere sentiment, and now it's a fault that you apparently cannot undo.
Would you have regret it?
Ah. You think. That's the problem,
I don't.
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For the love of Buri, what is happening?
You have already time-slipped thrice in a row now, and you're still where you stood afoot a few minutes ago.
You hitched your breathing as you relished the acquainted feeling of distortion, you exhaled in distraught. Your mind trying to run a million miles per second thinking of an explanation on the same bloody concept of time as well as your timely old friend, time-slipping. Marvelous.
But before you could sit down and relax on the cushions edging on two sides of the opposite walls which levels above your knee, you caught in the corner of your eye the wall you tried to dematerialize earlier; now fading from white to being transparent like glass.
And behind the glass wall stood your captors.
You tried to ground yourself with the wall beside you, but you pushed your body to the side so that you can at least have the decency to look like you aren't struggling so much. Because you definitely aren't.
"Good catch." remarked Stark. "We have so much going on today with Earth being threatened by a goofy alien that's apparently so much more dangerous than we could know — and now, you add more questions and trouble to that just for appearing out of nowhere like a grated spaghetti."
You almost missed the way the blonde woman rolled her eyes at Stark's words but nonetheless, you focus on what he said.
Earth being threatened by an alien.
"Do you mean to say... Thanos?" you ask. Doubtlessly aware of his feats and reputation in your timeline. Their heads perked up at the mention of the said Titan.
"You know of him?" quite surprised at the familiar voice, you turn to look at Thor.
Parting your lips with slight hesitation, you reply. "No. No, I do not. At least, not personally. He is called the Mad Titan, a galactic conqueror. Tis but a.... common knowledge where I come from."
"Which is Asgard, is it not?" Loki tauntingly says.
Oh, well.
He eyes you in victory for having caught your lie and the foolish words you had unintentionally slip. But he continued. "Or perhaps, my brother and I are mistaken to assume that you are a kin of our people. As well as considering that of your knowledge of this Mad Titan, you seem to know more than just that." you slightly stiffened, noting the lofty tone he had, slowly strutting his way forward with his hands tucked behind him. "Keep hiding your secrets but your eventual lies will get you nowhere when I'm here, imposter."
"Brother..."
"No, no, let him. It's great that we have a lie-detector in the team." Stark muses, earning an unamused head shake from Rogers.
Your gaze lingers a tad bit longer than you intended to at the raven-head, deciding whether you should even admit your unruly situation to them and potentially double their troubles a hundredfold by stating that their lives are also in danger from a timeless phenomenon and being at risk for the possible collapse of their existence altogether.
Probably not a good idea.
Moreover, you don't want to let yourself fall in the luxury of pitting yourself with fellow Asgardians and perhaps attain the old life you had when you woefully know that you have no place in any kind of reality no more. Your heart clenches at that.
But how can you possibly deny your origin and the non-sorcery distortion materialization, also called—
Your body aches and twists as you grit your teeth, shutting your eyes and reliving the ripping portion of this damned time-slip. As it ended, your breath wavers as you pant, shoulders crooked at the fleeting sensation it brought. Expecting that maybe you have been transported to another timeline, you peek one eye out.
You see the same faces and surroundings except this time, their reaction contorts to a series of pained and horrified expressions. Even Loki looked uneasy.
You exhale. "Pardon me, that must've been very unsightly." you eventually say.
"That just happened again." Banner gawks.
"Are you alright?" a stern voice asks. You turn to meet the concerned eyes of Rogers. "I assume that doesn't happen normally. Not even for Asgardians." you caught the quick glance he gave at Thor before focusing back on you.
You reply, nodding. "No, no, you're right. This is no common occurrence amongst the people of Asgard. It is simply just.... " you puff your body back up in a poised posture. "No, not simply." you let out a strained chuckle, confliction can be traced on your face. "To be painfully honest and blunt, I am lost through time and I haven't got a clue on what exactly I shall plan to do in these circumstances. Although indeed, I am an Asgardian but, from a different...let's say, reality. So rest assured because I don't plan on harming heroes I've accompanied in battle."
You were ready to receive their doubtful phrases and looks, but the sorcerer who brought you in this cage steps forward. Almost like he disapproved everything you had just mentioned.
"Time-travelling is not something to be tampered with. Unless, you're adept at the arts of time sorcery, and to be able to manipulate it without damaging our reality is rather a big feat for a sorcerer." he explains. This time, he frowns at you. "But no. Whatever's happening to you, it doesn't feel like magic."
You take in his words, holding his unrelenting stare. "You're right..."
You know Doctor Strange and his capabilities as the Sorcerer Supreme, and as you thought of the fact that he also possesses the Time Stone, maybe you can do something with his help.
Even though you know the chances of successfully using magic against a complication from TVA is way below the odds, you'd wager.
He raises a brow but before he could add more, you spoke. "Time-slipping." you pause, scanning his expression, hoping that maybe someone who knows so much about the expertise of time in terms of magic could help you discover your way back to TVA. Though, his face doesn't show any hint of knowing so you pushed further. "I've been repeatedly tossed around multiple branches of time against my will, but not because I time-traveled. For now all I can say is, I am stuck here in your reality and, well... with a distorting body."
"Great. Sure. Magic and sorcerers exist, even Gods, so why the hell would I not believe anything about time-traveling now? Tell me, Doc, is she making any sense to you?" Stark walks towards the said wizard. You slightly frowned at the tone he used. If this is how Tony Stark reacts to someone he doesn't trust just like how a particular individual mentioned to you, then you're glad that the Stark that you know favored you well.
Not that it matters anymore.
"I've never heard anything about that kind of problem. Especially now you do confirm it doesn't root from magic." the Doctor answers.
Stark hefts up his hands, looking around at everyone else, as if showing that his point has just been proven.
But from the corner of your eye, you noticed the way Loki haughtily rolls his eyes with a sigh and you perfectly know what irked him at that moment.
"As if a second-rate sorcerer could know anything more beyond the complexion of sorcery and time."
The only woman other than you sighs in slight frustration. "Oh, no. Someone please stop him."
If you weren't in a tight spot, you could've laughed at her compliant. Although, that earned her a glare from the trickster with crossed arms. For once in a while, it's nice to see Loki act so indifferently.
Strange only gave the God a pointed look before resting his eyes back on you. "Okay. If what you say is true, time-slipping as you would call it and to consider there's no magic tapping into this, what exactly do you plan on doing now?"
There it is. "I need your help."
"Are you shitting me right now?" Stark loops in.
"Even if with just your help, Doctor Strange. Please." you plead, firmly stepping closer to the glass barrier.
"How can you assure you're not just after something from us, specifically from him." Loki tips his head in Strange's direction. You know well that he caught unto your intentions as he spares a quick glance at the necklace of the said wizard.
Cocky snake.
At that, everyone stares at you sharply that if looks could kill, you'd be a dead corpse that has been stabbed with various types of weaponry magnificently forged by dwarves.
"You're not entirely wrong if you think that I'm after the Time Stone but for argument's sake, there is a reason why it is called the Time Stone." you explain, trying not to waver for being the receiving end to their eventual wrath. For a second, you thought you'd gain another yet of Loki's condescending retortions, but you're surprised that he only eyed you down impassively. Observing you.
Banner joins in. "If you admit it and put it like that then, I don't even know if you're lying or not anymore." he sits down on one of the metallic chairs by the semi-circular machinery in the middle of the room. "Even though that last part sounded dumb for an excuse; which is exactly why I'm having second thoughts."
"That's... I appreciate that — I think." you say, slightly frowning. It is dumb. You don't blame him though.
He gives you a tight-lipped smile which disappears immediately. "Yeah, no, it's fine."
Stark looks at him incredulously, as if he truly felt betrayed. "Bruce, what the hell?"
The others quirk confusingly at the exchange before you spoke again. "But to be clear again, that wasn't an excuse. Not for deception, at least."
It actually didn't sit quite well with you that the one who usually loves to deceive is standing idly in silence when you mentioned his expertise.
But you know that calculating gaze of his.
"Fine." you bat an eye at the person who spoke. "But you are to be restrained until we deem you trustworthy. One wrong step and you might just end up somewhere other than a cell."
A weight lifts up from your chest, somehow. You eye Strange in relief, almost a hint of exhaustion engulfs your expression but you blink it away. "I am grate-"
Your body contorts and twists once again.
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Next chapter: (Chapter 2)
Masterlist
Series Masterlist
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Ko-fi?
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bi-disaster-yn · 2 years
Text
she calls me daddy
Pairings: Kate Bishop x fem!queer!Reader; suggestions of other male avengers x Reader
Summary: Reader may be flirting with the guys all night but she always goes home to Kate in the end. Based on she calls me daddy by KiNG MALA.
Contains: Choking, spanking, oral sex (R receiving), pet names (R calling Kate “daddy”), suggestions of sex with men with the warnings already mentioned. 18+, Minors DNI
A/N: Reader can be read as being any sexuality that involves being attracted to more than one gender <3
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She's a little bit psycho
But she follows
When I call in the middle of the night
Kate grimaced as she watched the boys circle round you, listening intently like obedient little puppies with wagging tails as you told a story about taking out five agents at once. They were completely captivated by you and it wasn’t just because of your knack for story telling.
These were some of Earth’s mightiest heroes; the strongest men on the planet but they all just about swooned whenever you would be generous enough to give them your time.
Bucky had his hand on the small of your back, his head dipped to be closer to your face and take in every word you said. Thor had leaned his elbow off the bar on the other side of you, making sure that he was flexing and you could see those bulging muscles. Sam was more calm and collected, standing in front of you casually with his hand in his pocket and the other holding a beer. However, he wasn’t discreet in how he’d looked you up and down every now and then, being enchanted by your figure. Shang Chi also stood next to Sam across from you and bellowed heartily at all of your jokes. His cheeks hurt from smiling so wide at everything you were saying.
It was hilarious really, all of this effort was being expended on you but at the end of the night, you’d be going home to Kate’s house to be used in any way she saw fit.
She’s got you wrapped around her finger
You try to linger
But she's already on her way to mine
“Doesn’t it bother you that she gets all of that attention?” Yelena asked, grabbing Kate’s focus away from you. She was one of the very select few people who knew of yours and Kate’s “arrangement”. The blonde sipped her drink thoughtfully and watched Kate adamantly protest.
“Absolutely not, no. No way. She’s her own person, she can do what she likes.” Kate insisted. She took a large gulp of the questionable spirit that Yelena had handed her and tried to hide the obvious burn in her throat to look cool in front of the assassin.
“If you say so, Kate Bishop,” Yelena shrugged. “Although I have heard the way you make her moan so I wouldn’t be too worried if I were you.”
Kate blinked several times in disbelief at her slightly unusual and unlikely friend. “What do you mean you’ve heard her moan?”
“I slept on your couch last Friday night.”
“But I didn’t invite you to my house on Friday night!”
Yelena groaned as if Kate was the one that was being unreasonable. “Kate, you should know by now that I can come and go without you even noticing. Besides, you’re focusing on the wrong part. I know that you are probably a better fuck than all of those men put together.”
Kate nodded, thinking about it a little with her eyebrow raised. Yelena was right, many times had you exclaimed at Kate that she was the best you’d ever had as she’d brought you to your climax several times in one session. The archer turned back to look at you again. Annoyingly, the guys had moved in even closer to you in a passive aggressive stand off to win your affection. Nevertheless, it was Kate that received the whimsical and suggestive eyes from across the room and she knew that it was her that would be making you moan again that night.
She plays with the boys
But she comes home to me
Cause she might be your girl
But she’s calling me daddy
The longer the night went on, the more primal showboating was exhibited by the men. They’d all shoved each other in a needy and pathetic attempt to show you how to play pool. It was Sam that prevailed and he’d pressed himself up against your back, whispering in your ear what to do and basically bending you over the table to “show you the best technique”.
Thor nonchalantly told you about his great battle stories from across the realms, being sure to drop in that many a time the odds were against him but he had emerged victorious. He contended that whilst a vibranium arm, ten “magic” rings and the shield were cool, they weren’t quite Mjolnir or Stormbreaker.
Bucky and Shang Chi had cornered you to settle a debate on what would make the best first date. Bucky was insistent that it was dinner and dancing; men these days just didn’t know how to treat a woman. Shang Chi had advocated for drinks and karaoke; it’s casual and fun, no one has to take themselves too seriously. When they had prodded you for an answer you just smiled sweetly and told them that both sounded like perfect ideas for a first date. This just spurred them on even more in hopes of achieving a date with you.
Kate started to feel more and more insecure watching all of these events unfold. It was like watching you being stalked as prey by a bunch of wolves. Suddenly, the idea occurred to her that maybe none of them were relenting because you hadn’t given them a reason to.
It was a tough pill to swallow; the idea that you had already given yourself over to them the way you did for Kate. Perhaps, you had actually slept with any number of them before and not told her. It’s not like the two of you discussed your other sexual partners while she was making you see stars. Still, watching you giggle and flirt with the guys whilst never displaying any signs of discouragement was all the evidence she needed.
Kate was starting to feel apprehensive that she was disposable to you. Whilst you might have been sleeping with other avengers and other people outside of the team for that matter; Kate had only ever wanted you.
She's mine
She wears a collar with my name
Secretive but not ashamed
Kate had had enough of watching the guys stumble over each other in desperate attempts to get close to you. Her breathing got heavy and her actions became aggressive. The final straw was watching Bucky put his arms around you from behind and swaying with you to the cheesy song playing.
Kate stormed over, puffing her chest out, with her hands in her pockets, exuding as much masculine energy as possible to join this competition.
“Come with me to the bathroom.” She ordered assertively giving you a look which told you that you should comply.
“Okay.” You replied, giving Bucky’s had a light tap. “Can you let me go, Buck? I’ll be right back, promise.” He quickly let you go with a pout on his face, devastated that you were going but eager for the return you’d promised.
“Why do girls always need to go to the bathroom together?” Sam interjected with a laugh. It amused you as you knew this wasn’t going to be a cute little catch up whilst topping up lipglosses together.
“I would tell you why, Sam, but then I’d have to kill you.” You flirted as Kate took your hand to pull you away. She groaned internally and rolled her eyes as you gave the boys a cute little wave and followed her into the bathroom.
Kate wasted no time in shoving you up against the wall, pinning your hands above your head and kissing you roughly. You moaned a little into her mouth, having been taken by surprise and you felt a familiar heat grow between your legs.
“You. Are. Driving. Me. Crazy.” She growled against your mouth before kissing you again, almost as though she was trying to consume you.
You smirked into the kiss, shuffling a little against her as you got more and more turned on. Kate was firm and still, holding your wrists in place against the wall. She moved to kiss along your jaw and finally down to your neck. The smell of cologne was lingering on you. It could have been from any of them, given that they’d all taken turns in trying to press themselves against you. It burned in Kate’s nostrils and motivated her even further to claim you.
Infatuated with an incredible need to mark her territory, Kate had become no better than the guys.
She harshly bit down on your neck and sucked in your most sensitive spot which inspired an excited yelp from you.
“Fucking hell, Kate.” You breathed out, moaning as she kept going. She dropped your wrists and her hands roamed the rest of your body, kneading your tits, dragging her nails down your abdomen over your dress and landing with a smack on your ass, cupping your cheeks.
You had wrapped your arms around her shoulders, enjoying every second of having her hands all over you. In truth, you enjoyed flirting with the guys. Partly because they were all undeniably handsome but mostly because you know it would get Kate all worked up like this.
Once she’d left a suitably obvious hickey on your neck she left a kiss on it and admired her work. She reached her hand up and grabbed on to your throat tightly and you relished in the squeeze.
“Who do you belong to?” Kate asked, giving you a stern and authoritarian look.
“You.” You moaned, enjoying this a little too much already.
“You, what?”
“You, daddy.”
Kate smirked and bit her lip at you becoming a mess already for her. “That’s right, babygirl. That’s fucking right.”
She turned you round so your chest was pressed against the wall. Your ass received a couple of harsh spanks before Kate pulled the hem of your dress up to rest on your hips. Her next move was to get on her knees behind you, biting at the sore flesh of your ass and you could have screamed. Fingertips digging into the wall and legs trembling, you turned your head to look at the door being so painfully aware that anyone could just walk in.
Kate pulled your underwear down and let it fall to your ankles. Putting her hand between your thighs, she parted your legs to get at her favourite part of your body. Slowly, she opened her mouth and dragged her tongue along your aching clit. A gasp was emitted from your lips and you arched your back to stick your bum out, exposing more of your pussy to Kate’s tongue.
Kate chuckled at your eagerness and submission. Her hands gripped your hips to keep you in place as she started to suck on your clit. She would take long gulps and hollowed out her cheeks to the drag the pleasure out for as long as possible. You were a writhing, moaning mess. Your forehead was pressed against the wall in a pathetic attempt to ground yourself. Your hands awkwardly flailed from resting against the wall to putting them over Kate’s on your hips. Usually, you would tug at her hair but with her being on her knees behind you, it was too difficult.
She hummed contentedly against you and it sent a sharp jolt of pleasure through your body. The mewls and cries you let out were so high pitched, you were both a little in shock that your voice could even go that high. Kate would alternate her method between sucking your clit to get it all nice and sensitive and then would lap it up with her tongue. The noises you were making told her all she needed to know about what a good job she was doing.
She noted your legs beginning to shake and knew you were close. Feeling yourself get very sensitive you tried to move away from her. Kate responded with gripping your hips tighter and digging her nails in. This sent you flying over the edge.
“Oh my god, thank you, daddy! I’m cumming, fuck!” You screamed as you let go, Kate sucking for longer in order to drag your orgasm out for as long as possible.
You leaned against the wall for support, your hands pressed on it to steady yourself. You focused on your haphazard breathing and attempted to regulate it. Kate gently pulled your underwear back up and stood up to pull your dress back down. She kissed your shoulder repeatedly and rubbed your back as you came to.
“You wanna go home?” She asked softly.
“Yeah.” You replied, knowing it wouldn’t be long before both of you were up for round two.
You should see their face when they finally realize
That she plays with the boys
But she comes home to me
It was pretty obvious when you and Kate emerged from the bathroom what you had been up to. Her hand was on the small of your back and she occasionally gave you some shoulder kisses. Likewise, you adorned a large love bite on your neck whilst your face and chest were red and flushed.
Kate wished she could have taken a picture of the guys’ faces. Each one of them had their jaw dropped in complete shock, having realised just how naive and clueless they had been all night. It made you giggle but it made Kate smug.
You took your bag back from Shang Chi who was holding it for you, giving the four men a sweet smile. “Tonight was fun, I’ll see you guys later. Bye.”
They wordlessly all raised their hands to wave you off. All of them were bitter and disappointed they had not caught on that it was Kate they had needed to compete with.
You turned to Kate who had tasked herself with sorting the Uber. Her hand returned to your back as she guided you out of the bar. She may not have had good odds in a fight against any of the four men, but she had won this and honestly, this was more satisfying.
Head's a mess
She's responsible
Change her mind
It's impossible
You rested your head on Kate’s shoulder in the car, relaxing into her. Kate moved and put her arm around you to which you gave a contented sigh.
Kate looked down at the sweet sight of you in her arms and began to wonder if this was enough for her. She couldn’t handle watching men flirting with you in a bar right in front of her face so she shuddered to think about what you did behind her back.
Her brain flooded with intense intrusive thoughts. Bucky’s vibranium arm round your neck, squeezing it just the way you liked. Sam bending you over that pool table, riding your dress up and pulling your underwear down just as Kate had done in the bathroom. Shang Chi spanking you as you let out excited moans, begging him for more. Thor eating you out as though you were his last meal and making your voice hoarse with your screams.
Kate groaned, the thoughts making her feel nauseous. She was aware that you had maybe done any of those things before. The real kick in the teeth though, is that you weren’t Kate’s girlfriend and were perfectly free to still do those things.
You had never suggested wanting anything serious, seemingly content with the arrangement you and Kate had whilst freely flirting with the guys on nights out. It occurred to the archer that she might control you in the bedroom but in real life it was you that held the reigns. You had everyone right where you wanted them.
Watch the girl get what she likes
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fr @tainbocuailnge
I know the Sanders Sides fandom is supposed to be wholesome and means well but sometimes ... Roman gets this treatment
ah yes, I understand he can be filed under the jock bubble when standing next to Logan
okay - let me tell you, Roman may act before thinking, but that's not "dumbass." He may have his "not smart" moments but like, everybody does. It depends on your field. Logan may be the smartest one in the room because he's Logic but don't forget, he gets out of touch with slang and makes an effort to learn what he doesn't know. Roman has a strong skillset in the creatives as well as typical fairytale prince stuff like slaying the dragon witch. He definitely knows how to test swords for weight and method (does it stab? does it slash? what direction of slashing?) & if the enemy is the type you should aim for the head or aim for the heart & how to rhyme the word orange or purple & how to adjust his spec for the different producer(s) he's selling himself to.
Roman gets carried away and yeah that's the point of him as the aspirations, creativity, and dreams of the Sides. Yet it does make sense. ex, big castle = prince big dream = regular person's big dream is having your own living space
His set back is not "dumbass," it's his traditional prince values, his biases, and/or his pride
I guess Patton gets this too but I see Roman more > and Patton somehow gets away with parental wisdom in fan media.
Hulk in Marvel cartoons get this treatment too. He's always the "brawns and no brain" because comedy and I think the only cartoon ver of him where he is as smart as human Bruce off the top of my head is Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes (to be fair, that cartoon strongly follows the comics). Thor is in the same boat.
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vertigoartgore · 7 days
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"Avengers #375 pullout poster. Marvel Comics, 1994. Pencils by Steve Epting. Inks and painting by Tom Palmer."
Today marks the 30th anniversary of Avengers #375 by the way.
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thomase1 · 1 year
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Two broken make a whole
Avenger!Loki×Fem!Avenger!Reader
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What would happen if you were an assasin with the Avengers? What would happen if Loki became one of earths mightiest heros too? Can you two become friends? Or even more? Will you be able to move on from your past? Will he be able to move on from his?
Marvel AU; all Avangers are alive, Ragnarok happened.
Slow burn, talks of past abuse and trauma, angst, loss, randomness, a lot of humour, missions so fight scnes, later smut; a LOT of smut.
Every chapter will have individual warnings. 18+ chapters will be marked as such.
-The character Medusa from the Marvel Comics is not this one, I forgot about that character.-
Also, this is going to have a lot of things not matching up with the actual movies, just an example: I still use Jarvis as the AI even though Vision exists in my story. (Friday just isnt as iconic, sorryyyy :D)
I can tag you if you want, just tell me in the comments and I will tag you! ♡
First chapter below.
Chapter two.
Chapter three.
Chapter four.
Chapter five.
Chapter six.
Warnings; a bit of cursing, yelling, comedy, bit of Loki thirst, wacky attempt to capture the Avangers characters.
Wordcount: ~3000
Enjoy.
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It was a normal day when they arrived. Well, normal for you at least.
You were standing in the common room, half living room, half kitchen. It was early in the day, not long after 1pm, so like any normal adult, you went to make yourself some cereal. This is breakfast for you.
You dont have a mission today, so you obviously slept in.Saying that, you were hopeing for a nice, relaxed day, however your wish was not granted. Your peace is beeing disturbed. Not only with their arrival, but also with a lot of Avangers here to welcome the now additions. Most were at least quiet, but Tony and Steve bickering and bitching like little kids is something else. You also know that with Sam beeing here, you will have to hide your snacks. That guy is always hungry. And Scott can be just as bad, him beeing able to shrink to ant size really makes it difficult to hide stuff from him.
As you reach the cupbord, after climbing onto the counter to reach it, they arrive.
Not quietly of course, no, it was with a loud boom of thunder, almost makeing you fall.
You guessed it, the beloved god of thunger and his infamous brother, the god of mischief, here to join earths mightiest heros. You knew Thor ever since you got here yourself, you are good friends. He could be a bit dull sometimes and very oblivious to, well, about pretty much eveything, but he really is just a giant teddy bear.
You never had the pleasure to meet his brother Loki however. Now, you say pleasure, you havent exactly heard good things. Given that the Avangers are your family and he mind controlled Clint, threw Tony out the highest point of the tower and attacked with an army of freak aliens,... To say you arent that fond of him would be the nicest way of putting it.
There was a whole briefing going on to be prepared for their arrival. Lokis arrival. A few members, such as you, have not been part of the team when he attacked earth, that was the reason for the briefing. So everybody got a list of his abilities and such, something that looks like a wanted poster.
-Lokis powers-
Teleportation, Shapeshifting, forming Energy blasts, casting illusions.
Able to read minds and project his thoughts to others, no physical touch needed.
Skilled in magic (seiðr), skilled in hand-to-hand combat. Genius level intellect.
Heritage: Jotunn.
You have memorized the list of his powers, it worried you. Not only that, no, his whole person worries you, god of mischief and lies, a frost giant. You would be toothless against him. Your weapons would have no effect on him, normal daggers wont pierce his skin. Bullets only leaving bruises. So even your trusted Kunai would fail you. Yes, it worries you.
What also worries you is that his is so damn good looking.
While Thor did assure that "Loki is a changed spirit. He no longer wishes to bring suffering to midgard.", nobody was fully convinced. But you promised Thor to give him a chance; for him. You know he loves his brother, even though they dont really express it too much in the crazy relationship they have.
So now you stand here, in your PJ's, pink fluffy socks and hair up in a very messy bun. So much for first impressions.
The others swarmed around Thor, who was booming with delight to see his friends again, hugging his old pals way too tightly. They look like those anti stress balls with eyes that pop out in his giant arms.
Loki on the other hand stood two steps behind his brother, seeming pretty annoyed by the whole ordeal. It appears he isnt one for big gatherings either.
You get away from the cabinet and lean onto the kitchen island, listening to the things Thor has to say. He ends up talking about new Asgard, which is where they came from right now.
After they successfully stopped Thanos, they went to new Asgard, help build the new kingdom further. Everybody thought Thor would, naturally, become king of new Asgard, with both Odin and Frigga dead. But he renounced his claim to the throne, leaving Valkyrie and Heimdall to be voted as the rulers of new Asgard since Loki was voted out by the people.
"Why dont you take that throne already? Oh blondie...", Tony claps him on the shoulder, shakeing his head. "I do not wish to rule, I only wish to build a peaceful future. Possibly with a family of my own." "Let me guess...", Tonys lips thin in a upside down smile. Several people, in unison, answer for him, "With Jane.". Thor nods solemnly and proceeds to tell the others about going to meet Jane later, seeing if they could be able to reconcile.
Poor guy still loves her.
It is the same old story; any time you two really have a chat, you end up at the talk of how much he misses her. You do feel bad, but youve heard it so many times by now. At some point you lost interest and went back to retreiving your cereal, only to realize somebody put the empty box back into the cupbord.
This really took the cake; your day officially ruined. You snatched the empty box and stormed to your roommates and teammates, doubting it was your roommates Nat and Bruce.
"Ok, which assh-" "LANGUAGE!", Steve heckles. You shoot him a fuming, warning, look and continue, "WHO ate all the cereal and put the empty box back?!", you look through the small crowd of people.
Nobody speaks.
Peter looks terrified, but you know he wouldnt, hes just a little timid. Then you spot it, the slight panic in Tonys eyes. You point at him, "You! I see the panic in your eyes, you did it!", you stride towards him. As you do, your bun loosens and plaps down the side, Tony smirks and reaches for your hair. You snap your head towards him, "Do you want to lose a hand today?" He hurriedly pulls back, "Ok ok I did it. I was hungry ok? I'll buy you some later.". You pout, "So am I! This is my day off and all I wanted was a relaxing day and now I cant even have my breakfast!".
"Its after 1 Y/n.", Nat says matter of factly. "What didnt you understand when I said 'day off' and 'relaxing day'?"
Clint looks at you dead serious, "No thats actually the perfect day off. I'm with you on that one." "You also love hanging out in your jammies and pink fluffy socks with your hair in a bun, stuffing your face with snacks all day?", you ask him in play seriousness. He nods, "Yes of course, normally I do paint my nails and put on a nice face mask too.", he plays along. "I always make myself a nice salad and go shopping.", Scott joins in with a nasal tone.
You three break character at that point and fall into laughter. Nat just shakes her head with a grin. Its a real talent of them, they always lighten the mood.
Your stomach growls, "I'm so hungryyy.", you whine. "Cant you just eat something other than cereal?", Sam asks. You think, "I mean, I do have some leftover food in the fridge and some cooki- Why are you looking at me like that?". Sam's jaw flexed when you mentioned the cookies and Bruce looked away when you said leftovers. "Oh come on! When did you even eat my cookies? I saw you come in, thinking 'oh, Sam is here I need to hide my snacks'.", you pout again, but now you are actually a little sad, feeling betrayed. "When you put your hair up. I'm sorry ok? I didnt know it was your day off and you wanted to relax.", he says a little guilty.
"And I didnt know it was your left over food. I'm really sorry.", Bruce says. Oh man, you cant be mad at Bruce, he probably worked late again and forgot to eat until he almost passed out. It has happened before, Tony found him. Ever since that day Jarvis is able to tell the heart rate and general well beeing of people inside the tower.
You sigh, "Its ok guys, just... ask in the future ok? I just remembered, I should have some waffles- oh god please no...", you see Scotts smile drop and know exactly what that means. "I thought they were Tonys, I'm sorry.", he exclaims. "Hey! I'd be very careful Tumbelina. If I held a grudge, I could, litrally, smash you like a bug.", Tony looks at him through hooded eyes.
You sigh and awkwardly sway on the balls of your feet, "I'M HUNGRYYYYY!". That got everybodys attention, all eyes are now on you and you blush a little.
You arent just hungry, no, you are hangry. A dangerous state for an assasin to be in.
"Ok. Lets just settle this. Pizza on Tony?", Steve looks at Tony. He rolls his eyes but nods. Just as you happily turn away you realize how rude you actually are.
"Oh and-", you walked to Thor, giving him a big hug which he happily returns, "Welcome back thunder.". "Y/n, havent lost your wit I see.", he says with a chuckle as you pull apart. "No, I havent. You got to with these scatterbains.", you chuckle too. You hear several offended noises in the room which only seals your words.
You turn around to Loki who still looks pretty detached, but also so unfairly handsome. "Havent had the fortune of meeting you up to now. Y/n, alias Medusa.", you put out a hand to shake, looking into his eyes.
His eyes remind you of dense treetops; a dense green through which the bright blue sky shimmers. He looks at you for a second before stepping closer, giving your hand a firm squeeze, "Loki, god of mischief. I am certain you have heard only the very best of me.", he smirks.
He smells of leather, mint and winter. Like fresh snow. Devine. You bite your tongue to distract yourself.
"Yes, precisely. Like throwing Tony off the rooftop.", you smirk back. "Alright, thats it! Go order that Pizza before I change my mind!", Tony interrupts with an offended hand at his hip. "Lets order together then.", you suggest, squeezing onto the couch next to Peter. You like the kid, you are only 4 years older than him, so you get along quite well.
After 20 minutes you finally ordered all 11 Pizzas. Took Thor a bit to convice Loki to give it a try, saying 'it tastes like Valhalla in a box'. And you agree with that analogy wholeheartedly.
You took Peter with you to collect them from the lobby and going straight back to the common room. You didnt even have time to announce the feast before Sam and Thor snatched the boxes out of Peters and your arms. Its a mistery how they didnt scatch up your exposed skin. "You guys act like you havent been fed in weeks!" "I have not eaten in five hours! I am practially starving. It takes substance to maintain this physique!", Thor tries to reason. Loki rolls his eyes, one of the first emotions you saw on his face up to now. "So you have a reason for nearly takeing my arm, but that one just stole and ate my cookies!", you point to Sam who is already opening every box to find his Pizza. Hearing you he just shrugs and continues looking.
You sit down again, next to Peter who sat back in the same spot he just left. After a few moments everybody is seated and has their Pizza.
To Thors joy, Loki enjoys the food he was praising to him. Not openly of course, but he couldnt keep the corner of his mouth from twitching up. Everybody knows, no complaint is praise enough.
"So, where will you guys live?", Steve asks to break the silence. Loki just looks at Thor, who swallows audibly at the question, "Well, we would need to look for a place to stay except- You know, if we could take residency in your noble castle Stark.". You stop eating, giving this your undevided attention. "I mean sure, theres enough space. Just dont call the Hammer through the walls; better yet, dont break stuff at all. And behave!", he looks directly to Loki at the last part. He raises his hands in mock surrender, "I wouldnt dare.". "Dont worry Stark, I wont let the goat mistreat your benevolence. Thank you for your kindness to not leave us without shelter.", the blonde god bows with a teethy smile.
Your eyes wander to Loki who is seated on a hassock, jaw clenched at the nickname Thor just called him. Mighty lord above, that jaw- You swear something inside you just ignited. And those thighs, wait. Why the hell are you staring at his thighs? Why must that armour of his be so tight in those places? I bet he purposefully got them made like that. God get a grip woman! You pinch yourself and peel your eyes away from that sinful eye candy which now even lives here. Ugh, thats gonna be a challenge.
"I know, I'm such a self less guy, right?", Tony says, shoving a piece of pizza in his mouth. You scoff at him, and even Bruce raises an eyebrow at him.
Which reminds you of bounderies that have yet to be set. "No takeing my stuff and no going in my room without permission!", you raise a pointer finger, pointing between both of them. "Of course lady Y/n.", Thor assures you, to which you narrow your gaze. As long as there is enough pop tarts your food should be safe from Thor, but Loki?
You will have to see what happens.
That dude can teleport, shapeshift, he could go into your room without you even knowing. The thought makes you tingly, NO! Get your mind out of your panties Y/n! Hell, he could probably even shift to look like Nat! You nearly spirall down the lane of paranoia but you shrug it off. You panicking would only encurage him.
"If there are two more residents now, we really have to start writing down groceries. This cant keep on happeing, or somebody's gonna get shanked." Tony looks at you annoyed, "Just tell Jar what to get. It will show up in the app. As I've told all of you at least ten times.". "Hey! Dont get pissy with me! At least I try to make a homemade meal every now and then, everybody else just orders food! No wonder Fury orders annual fitness exams!", you lay an offende hand on your chest. "Just tell him in the future!", Tony rolls his eyes.
"Fitness exams? Well, that is new.", Thor laughs. "Oh yea, these [you point at Tony, Sam, Scott and Clint] have got cought one night, throwing something which can only be described as a grease feast.", you tell the god who hadnt been here for a few months. The culprets avert their gaze, clint starts whistling and Scott clears his throat. "That sounds revolting and yet I want to be part of a feast like that.", Thor mutters, makeing you face palm yourself and Sam clap his shoulder with a nod. "Well, you will have to do it secretly, Fury is onto all of us. Which reminds me, we have to burn the evidence of this right here or he'll make us do burpees again.", the memory makes you shudder.
"Oh come on, a bit of exercise would be really good for all of us.", Steve says sternly, earning several annoyed grunts. "A bit of exercise?! Have you forgotten what Fury did last time?", Tony says in a higher than usual voice. "It wasnt that bad-", Steve tries to continue but several people cut him off. "NOT THAT BAD?!"
"Thats easy coming from the super soldier!", Nat speaks up. Yes, even she struggled during the Burpee incident. "I had to wear my suit to even go to the bathroom! Do you know how much Pepper mocked me?!", Tony bores his fingers into Caps chest, furious from the reminder of those days.
"Three days I couldnt move! And the following week was hell on earth, every movement hurt! Even the hulk was out of it!", Bruce whines. You swear you heard Loki snicker and whisper "Server you right.". Brucy was in so much pain, the hulk broke out, but even he couldnt move. It was a pathetic sight, the unbeatable hulk starfishing in the hallway, whiped out by some burpees. If Loki knew, he probably wouldnt stop laughing, given his and the hulks history.
"I couldnt lift my arm to press the elevator buttons! I CRAWLED to my room, THATS how bad it was!", you damn near cry at the memory.
"You are all just out of shape!", Steve shakes his head. "Shut up!", Nat throws a magazine at him but he, of course, catches it.
"I'm so glad to not be an official member yet. I think I would have died that day, I'm not even kidding.", Peter says small. "Lucky.", you mumble.
There is a few moments of solemn silence, until Thor says, "So when are we doing the next grease feast?", earning himself a room full of offended glares.
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thevibraniumveterans · 4 months
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S2 of WHAT IF…
Ep1- “…Nebula joined the Nova Corps?”
Love the bleak opening sequence
Fascinating how Nebula narrates the context. Her “five years of isolation” hits hard.
Nova Prime siding with Ronan was a surprise
Ep2- “…Peter Quill Attacked Earth’s Mightiest Heroes?”
Cool intro; Peter leaning into his inherent powers is interesting…
The Winter Soldier being Gorbachev’s tool to contain Peter is surprising, but not unexpected…
“Does anyone have a plan?”/“I have a plan; retreat.” 😂
Thor announcing that Peter killed off all the Nine Realms except Earth; Peter needed containment to prevent him being too powerful.
Hope breaking Peter out is unexpected.
But Peter defeating his dad is a great ending.
Ep3- “…Happy Hogan Saved Christmas?”
Cool X’mas riff in the beginning music
Avengers Tower… looking festive.
Happy getting accidentally injected with Banner blood is unexpected.
Beethoven’s 9th riff playing when Darcy discovers a whole collection!
“Time for the Hammer to get nailed” 🤣
Overall, great X’mas episode.
Ep4- “…Iron Man Crashed into the Grandmaster?”
Cool that the Guardians of the Multiverse (from S1) are back!
Gamora’s origin story is a Tony Stark episode that looks to focus a bit on Valkyrie? Interesting…
Wonder what Gamora is doing there.
The little Chinchilla is adorable.
Tony with the nicknames (“Technicolor Dream Coat” is a Andrew Lloyd Webber musical reference) is hilarious
Also, Tony building a suit that reforms into a race car on command, and back, is AWESOME
Turns out, Tony inspired Gamora to be a hero.
Gamora melting Thanos, did not see that coming.
Ep5- “…Captain Carter Fought the Hydra Stomper?”
Cool Avengers team; with Carter and Janet instead of Steve and Banner.
It’s kind of what if 2012’s Battle of New York went differently. Then we pick up kind of CATWS but it’s Peggy and Nat.
Peggy’s spin-twist was really cool.
The whole reverse-CATWS but instead of Bucky gone bad and Steve finding out, it’s Steve gone bad and Peggy finding out.
Bucky as a Secretary of State? Did NOT see that coming. But makes sense that Bucky would be the one to try to bring Steve back. Truly a reverse CATWS.
The Stomper Suit keeping Steve alive, I wonder how.
Carter’s hilarious Star Wars reference to carbonite.
Also, the camera panning around Steve and Peggy, is a mirror of the Tony/Pepper one in Endgame.
Melina being part robot is also kind of creepy.
Captain Carter having a musical is hilarious too
Also, the emotional vibes kind of veering into CACW and “Black Widow” territory is quite fascinating.
Peggy disappears thru a portal, only to be greeted by Wanda.
Ep6- “…Kahhori Reshaped the World?”
Ragnarok comes early…
Also, this episode isn’t the first time we see the horrors of Spanish conquistadors invading on native land; we last saw that in Wakanda Forever a few years ago.
But when the Watcher narrates the context, it mirrors the Black Panther movie’s narrative about how the Vibranium came to Earth and ended with the peacemaking between various tribes.
Also great to note that this is the first MCU entry where nobody, except the Watcher (and Stephen Strange at the end) speaks English.
It’s really awesome that the Space Stone energy gives the people from the Sky World (who are formerly Mohawk natives from Earth) and Kahhori very, VERY interesting powers.
KAHHORI MOVED THE PORTAL TO THE LAND!! That is an insane amount of power and strength! That’s wonderful!
Kahhori and her people sinking the Spanish Armada is a sight to behold.
Ep7- “…Hela Found the Ten Rings?”
Hela suddenly being able to speak Putonghua was a surprise.
Odin says that the bearer of Hela’s crown be merciful, which explains why Hela is at first unable to lift it. Just like the first Thor movie.
I kind of wonder why Wenwu would invite Hela to wear a traditional dress; but more importantly, why does he have one ready?
MORRIS RETURNS!! Best fuzzy thing.
Hela visits Talo.
Folding paper. That’s basically Origami. IRL history has it that China has its own paper folding traditions long ago, just like Japan, but separately.
Hela being upset that Fenrir as a puppy was taken from her, is something interesting too.
Asgard, a realm of Norse legend, and Ta Lo, a fictitious Chinese fantasy realm, coming together to free the cosmos, is something I did not see coming.
Ep8- “…the Avengers Assembled in 1602?”
Tom Hiddleston as Loki narrating Hamlet? Not surprising.
Wanda summoned Carter from three episodes ago, and turns out Thor knew about this here.
But what are those portals? Wanda warns to stop them.
Wanda speaks of a lost traveler…
Tony says “Forerunner” but the caption says “person”.
Loki speaking of William Shakespeare writing about Iago in the play Othello.
Rogers Hood. Hilarious combo of Steve Rogers and Robin Hood.
Rogers and Carter double-teaming with the shield is really cool.
Where did the Destroyer come from?
Hogan throwing out all manner of old fashioned insults is hilarious 😆
Also, why is Hogan a hulk in this episode? He was one in the Christmas episode but this one?
Turns out the Forerunner is mainMCU!Steve?
The main effect is that Carter is alone again.
Strange Supreme makes an appearance. Which we leave on a “TBC” for next episode. The fact that he went to fetch Kahhori in Ep6 must mean something big is in the finale…
Ep9- “…Strange Supreme Intervened?”
Interesting; we get the full MCU theme for the title card. We never got the full theme in previous episodes.
Peggy speaks with Strange, who keeps dangerous beings inside their own little crystals.
If the Watcher is a metaphor for us, and Strange implying that the Watcher may not always be right, that means that we might not also always be right about certain things.
Peggy enters South Dakota… where Red Skull (HYDRA) exploded the Tesseract. But why would Kahhori be a danger to the Multiverse, considering Strange net with her last episode? Why is she considered a danger in this one?
Also, Kahhori now speaks English. Not odd, per se, but it helps. She says Strange is “a universe killer.” Which, in some way, he is.
Also, a dragon from Ta Lo, which kinda sells the point.
Hela being insulted that Kahhori sent the swords back is hilarious 😆
Peggy gets an Infinity Armor is pretty to cool. Also, Peggy and Kahhori vs Strange? That’s also really cool.
Peggy gets sent back to her home, but it’s an illusion, and she sees right through it.
Though, playing with the lives of so many people to face Strange, that’s a weird effect, perhaps meant to be “comedic” in a way, but comes off as cruel, which might have been the more intended effect.
Also, the characters falling to the portal just basically overpowering Peggy with their weapons? It’s very interesting because it’s not overpowering her for no reason, she NEEDS to be overpowered to stop an already over-powered Strange. She needs to be MORE than him to win.She gets Hela’s crown, a large sword, and multiple other weapons, while Kahhori uses her powers to lift Thor’s hammers and also uses the Ten Rings. Both Peggy and Kahhori MUST be overpowered to overpower Strange and stop him.
Strange becomes a huge devil monster and falls into the Forge.
Peggy goes to the Watcher.
S2E9 ending exactly as Loki S2E6 did, that’s interesting.
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popculturebuffet · 5 months
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Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes Retrospective Part 1: Breakout (Episodes 1-7) (Comissioned by WeirdKev27)
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Assemble all you happy people and welcome to the first of many looks at one of the greatest cartoons in marvel history, an adaptation that honors the source material while streamlining and improving it to create something impressive. One of the best adaptations and one of the last before the MCU was in full force. It's a show unlike any other, it's Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes.
And the timing isn't concidential. While i'm a few months off, this year marks the 60th anniversary of the avengers, the first time the team assembled and hulk was a clown for a bit because the 60s. And since I both hadn't really talked about the Avengers on this blog despite being a massive marvel nerd and because i'd rewatched this very arc a few months back, I was happy to jump on it when Kev suggested this. He won't be sticking around for the rest of the retrospective, but I plan to cover this series on and off for the foreseable future as i've only seen about half of it and hadn't rewatched it in years and it was about damn time I did. And i'm glad I am as this is one of the sharpest shows in marvel history.
For those less familiar Earth's Mightiest heroes was a cartoon that ran for two seasons from 2010 to 2012, and was a fan faviorite for most comic nerds like myself, as what I caught of it I love. It's not hard to see why either: EMH is a giant love letter to the Avengers history and Marvel in general: Ciro Nireli, Christopher Yost and Joshua fine, who developed the show, all were clearly fans and thus try to cram as many iconic foes for each of the avengers as they could into this show, from cameos to arc villians to our big threats, just about every major avengers threat you could want makes it's way into season 1.
It's also a smart remix: The show takes after the earliest days of the team, starting with the original roster of Iron Man (Tony Stark), Ant-Man/Giant Man (Hank Pym), Wasp (Janet-Van Dyne), Hulk, and Thor (Odinson), while soon adding cap as happened in the comics, as well as adding longtime mainstays hawkeye and black panther soon into the season, with many of season 1's episodes adapting early avengers tales and the art style is a very stylistic jack kirby style art, while still being it's own thing with a bit more expression and some anime styling in the eyes and how the action unfolds.
That said it's clear the crew was also aware those early tales could use a coat of paint and thus the series takes from all across the heroes histories, combining Kang's first apperance with the later epic kang dynasty for instance, or setting up Carol Danvers becoming Ms Marvel as soon as Captain Marvel debuts. It's a streamlined approach that feels like what the ultimates should've been: honoring the past but looping in the present, with the classic avengers being assembled using the breakout arc from the new avengers. More ont hat later. The result is a fresh take on the cast that feels awesome.
It also feels unique as this was before a LOT of change swept through the marvel universe and productions: the x-men and the ff still show up beofre their LONG unecessary hiatus due to marvel being dicks about not owning either's film rights, the mcu was just budding so only iron man is modeled after that version as Cap and Thor's films would air the same year as EMH, and Black Widow is a recurring character rather than part of the team, though it was hinted they might have her join up eventually.
It also happened before a lot of comics biggest events of the 2010s, which like the MCU stuff isn't bad at all, it's just neat to see just how diffrent things were: Carol Danvers wasn't captain marvel yet, next gen heroes like Ms Marvel or Miles Morales weren't around, and ideas like Jane as Thor or Sam Wilson as Cap hadn't happened. It's an intresting time capusle of a comics brand before it changed forever.
So opening this capusle is a treat. As for this batch of episodes, EMH started in a unique way: With shorts. See at the time cartoons were just starting to captalize on the concepts of minisodes, tiny shorts in continuity usually distributed via youtube. Most shows just have some skits, like Lapis trying to destroy her phone thinking Steven's trapped or Tilly Green getting buried in cats
EMH decided to get ambitious with theres: TWENTY shorts, all from what I can tell intended to be repackaged as full episodes, all setting up important stuff for the series and serving as introductions to our main cast before they all assemble properly, including later additions Captain America, Hawkeye and Black Panther.
It's an approach I respect: much like the MCU was doing around the same time, it allows the writers to set up each character, get to know who they are as a person, what their deal is and put them into place for the series proper, essentially giving them their own solo series like they had in the comics. It's a great idea and makes these feel like characters who had their own lives and plenty of adventures BEFORE we step into them, and makes the idea of them coming together all the more awesome. It also fits the avengers well: the x-men and fantastic four are largely their own spheres of the marvel universe and most members of those teams were created for them. With the avengers it's marvels' best and brightest all assembled into one massive dream team, so showing said team's adventures. We even get setup for later additions to the team: Black Panther gets a short detailing his origin story and Hawkeye is a key part of hulks before getting his own.
I have only two gripes with this setup: the first is that it's long. It's well done and important but it's still a LOT of setup, and both times i've found myself happy to get to the end: Glad I took the journey but thankful we can get to the main event.
The other is the structure: as a result of them being shorts every non-thor episode here has one segment that serves as an epilogue to the others.. but really dosen't lead as effortlessly in. It feels like the episode ended and we're now just in an extended post credit's sequence. Not a bad one, all of these are necessary and important, it just shows why this type of structure wasn't repeated: it has it's limits, and they show at the end of almost every episode. You could for instance cut out the kang bit that starts the cap one and the kang segment that ends the cap ones and have a cohesive story. Their still GOOD shorts, it's just clear they don't quite work as a cohesive episode, which woudln't be an issue if these shorts also weren't clearly part of the season order.
Still I admit these are minor complaints. They drag the presentation down slightly.. but not enough for me to not have enjoyed this episode pile. So assemble under the cut as I break down the first 7 episodes of Avengers: EMH
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Iron Man is Born! (Micro Episodes: Iron Man is Born!, HYDRA Lives, Behold, The Mandroids!, and Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.)
So our first episode. .is third on disney+. Getting this out of the way if you watch these on disney +, start with this one, as disney mildly messed up the airing order. It isn't as bad as say Ducktales was at first, which was so bad the creators had to ask directly, but it's still very noticable disney coudln't be arsed to.. move two episodes on the list they gave people down a few slots. Then again this is the same company who won't give us the weekenders dammit, so i'm not surprised, just mildly in convinced.
Anyways this short follows Iron Man and as we go through our mightiest heroes, I thought it'd be fun to give my own personal history with each character. As I said, I really haven't gotten to dive into the avengers on this blog. I've covered Avengers #200 and Avengers Annual #10 this year but the former is more a Brotherhood of Evil Mutants story guest starring Ms Marvel and the Avengers, and the former.. is a nightmare from which there is no waking where only The Scarlet Witch and the Vision are remotely in character. Neither were really a time to talk about the team, the members of said team, or anything besides deep hurting and an antidote for said deep hurting that involves Carol Danvers verbally bitchslapping the avengers. Which is awesome, but not really a time to go "Gee this is why iron man is so great".
So starting with the cool exec with a heart of steel, I'm a pretty big iron man fan. I love Tony as a character a guy whose arrogant and overly macho at times.. but deep down is a man who just wants to make a better world after helping burn it to the ground for a profit. Someone who can be an arrogant know it all ass.. but also someone who once you've got his loyalty, he'd die for you. A man struggling with addiction, but whose also a poster boy for getting better.
I became a fan of Tony's around the movie, as before that I only really knew him as "that guy who was on spider-man once", "that weird cartoon I watched once or twice" or "That fucking asshole who ruled the superhero community with an iron fist and kicked every dog he could find post civil war".
Thankfully the movie changed that, and along with finding out his fascinating history and the utterly awesome run by Matt Fraction that launched alongside the movie, something I badly want to cover in some form at some point, I was a fan of shell head for life. My favorite runs for him aren't anything suprising: Fraction's run with invincible iron man, Dennis O'Neil's awesome epic run that sees Obdiah Stane break tony with every intention of having his enemy relapse and see's tony rebuild himself while Rhodey puts on the suit, and of course the classic Layton and Michillne run that introduced Tony's Alcholism in the first place.
The movie is important to this series as it not only launched the MCU, but said MCU incoming is likely why it happened, and while it was still young enough at the time to not impact this series heavily for most characters, that wasn't going to happen with tony. Tony, his CFO Pepper and his best friend and military liaison Rhodey, are all heavily modeled after the movie versions. That said given said versions are entirley accurate to the comics and all the MCU did to Tony was give him even more swagger.. this isn't remotely a bad thing and making sure kids had the iron man they were familiar with dosen't hurt the series. The suit's still more designed after the then current bleeding edge suit from the comic, one of my favorites. I have no issue with using stuff from the MCU, the mcu is mostly great. My issue is when latter stuff kinda.. ignores the comics except to bring in more people to punch.
Iron Man is Born gets tony down pat, in large part thanks to his VA, Eric Loomis. To my shock Loomis hasn't done a ton outside of play tony in this show and various video games but damn if few do it better. He gets the swagger, the desire to do better, and the stubborn ass refusal to let people help him down PERFECT, as does the writing. This is tony stark. Leading with him was also smart given, again the movie would be fresh on everyone's mind.
What's also neat about this one is it dosen't put tony up against any familiar foes. We'll still see some in Breakout and like the other heroes here he's already well experienced by the time the series opens up. The only thing close to it is Ultimo, a giant robot he fights in cell phone footage at the start of the episode, and even then that's just to establish Iron Man Slaps.
No instead it sells Tony's obession with his tech not hurting people by putting him up against some HYDRA robots using his tech. For those less familiar with marvel stuff, HYDRA are a bunch of snake themed nazi offshoots who are everywhere and generally the go too mook to punch in the face in the marvel universe. Who dosen't want to punch a snake nazi? Except bob. He's just there for dental. Oh bob.
The fight with said HYDRA bots is awesome: not only are they well designed, but it's classic iron man stuff: his suit running out of power, and tony having to use his brains, and hold out against his suit rapidly draining. Been used before? Sure. Helps establish how Tony fights and how his suit is both super strong and has a logical weakness in battery life? Yup.
And the best part is.. while HYDRA are his main threat... the real conflict simmering underneath this one.. is Stark vs S.H.I.E.L.D. the world's top super cops and shady assholes. Wether their being actually helpful or being obtuse and trying to obstruct the hero largely depends on the day, with the MCU making them more helpful and less greasy.
See SHIELD is mad Tony stopped making weapons. Tony is mad they won't quit bugging him about that, as he simply.. dosen't want to be an arms dealer no more. Which is fair. He made their weapons, and as he makes clear to Rhodey who also wants him to work closer with SHIELD, he's still HELPING them. He just won't build weapons. As we find out in breakout he built the Vault, one of four supervillian prisons , this one specializing in tech criminals. So he hasn't STOPPED helping them, he just wont' give them tech to go kill people with, which is fair. While they don't give his origin, at least not yet, it's very clear whatever version of it taught him the same lesson: just because someone else fires the gun dosen't mean you won't have blood on your hands.
So naturally SHIELD"S reaction to Iron Man taking down HYDRA.. is to try to arrest him
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Yeah Tony has.. done ABSOLUTELY nothing wrong here.. and Nick Fury, for all his flaws we'll see in VERY short order, is not so stupid as to fire and orders them to stand the fuck down. The fuck is implied.
Tony trying to help them.. instead gets them to fire on him as the SHIELD Agents are using mandroids powered armors using tony's tech.. and unlike the comics where he BUILT the mandroids for them as a compromise, no lethal weapons but still a way to be on even foot with superheroes, here they just flat out used his blueprints to make their own weapons and expect him not to be mad. He has no right to get mad at them for doing this, he sold them the goods and clearly gave them enough legal room to do whatever, but they have no right to be mad at him for SAVING THEIR LIVES.
And they are as while Tony takes down the last hydra bot that suddenly wakes up, when he shows up at the hellicarrier, RIGHTFULLY pissed at being fired on and having them make their own iron man.. maria hill, Nick's right hand and like the comics a total asshole, PUTS A GUN TO HIS HEAD
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I mean yes she has him surrounded by shield agents and if fighting them tony would half to hold back.. but he's still a man in a mostly powered armored suit that can suplex a train, while your only strategy is "hope he's really scared of a hand gun".
Fury wisely asks her to stand the fuck down, again fuck's implied, and we get a really compelling argument with him and tony: Tony has every right to not want to sell weapons, while Fury makes the point that with supervillians ont he rise they NEED this tech to compete. Tony still wins in my eyes mostly because while yes he's witholding tech and what not.. SHIELD... isn't hurting. They made the mandroid armors, they have the tech to compete with the hydra bot likely bodying them because it has the element of suprise. THey have a giant hellicarier, tons of staff, and plenty of super powered allies help keeping the various super prisons safe. Granted all four prisons are about to become paper mache, but that's not down to SHEILD being stupid. While Tony dosen't SAY it to his face, which given this is tony is a fucking achivement... the issue isn't that Fury can't handle these or the various super powered heroes out there don't have this covered for now. It's that Fury dosen't have CONTROL over it. IT's a problem inherent in most versions of Nick: it's not enoguh to be the world's top cop he has to CONTROL the situation, the info everything. He's often resonable sure but he puts control over what makes sense and antagonizes valuable allies simply by not respecting they want autonomy.
Our backup story is really just "why nick fury is badass" and "Why hydra is super dangerous". Turns out Fury has their leader, Baron Strucker. Strucker is an egotistical nazi who frequently runs hydra and is Nick's arch enemy and opposite number. So this whole mech thing.. was a smokescreen to get one of their agents, The Grim Reaper in.
The Grim Reaper in the comics is the brother of Simon Williams, aka Wonder Man. We'll get into him more next time as he has a full episode coming up, but long story short, he died, Grim blamed the avengers, and then he tried to kill his brother when Simon came back because he'd put simon on a pedestal. Here the two are pretty much detached and Grim is instead hydra's top enforcer, single handidly breaking in and wrecking up the place, only stopped, and captured alongside strucker, because Nick Fury is that badass. He also life drains fury a bit, giving him his signature white streak from the comics.
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Thor The Mighty (Microepisodes: Thor the Mighty, The Siege of Asgard, My Brother My Enemy and the Isle of Silence)
As I said Thor the Mighty is the only one of these episodes that feels like a mostly cohesive 22 minute episode. I mean you can still see the seams where the shorts were, but it's one 22 minute story instead of one long story and one short one connected to the first. It's also not suprisingly my faviorite, but not just for this reason but for having some gorgeous action, great character work and a hell of an ending.
Before all that we have to talk about the god of thunder. Thor's a character I love, I mean I have a mjonr I got a yard sale somehwere around here. But he's also one i'm pickier on story wise: you either have to REALLY sell the scope and granduer of asgard, as done by Walt Simonson, god among men, and currently Al Ewing or do something fresh with it like the start of Jason Aaron' srun, Donny Cate's recent run or my all time faviorite thor story, J MIcheal Strazenzki's run. Thor's not a bad character but there is a tendency to focus on ye olde english and not on him as a person.
EMH thankfully sidesteps that. It shows thor as fucking awesome and has him do cool stuff.. but it also emphasises who the odionson is and WHY he prefers our world over his own. We start with his daily routine: finding some supervillians to punch. He fights the wrecking crew. The Wrecking Crew are villians I like, marvel's designated Jobbers. If you need someone to get their face punched in these are the guys. They CAN be dangerous, see the avengers storyline under sige where the four of them together bodied a slightly frazzled hercules, but their primary there to show up and get knocked down: their strong enough to fight thor, having asgardian enchanted construction tools.
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But still not SO strong that say spidey , the runaways or whoever needs a pick me up this week can't body these jackasses. So their the perfect starter foe for thor: powerful enough to give him a good scrap, but not nearly as strong as what he faces on his home turf.
It also serves as a handy intro to Thor's love interest, Jane Foster. The film takes her from a doctor to a paramedic, ironically years before the comics would do the same, and it's a great update: Since Thor isn't spending time as mortal doctor Donald Blake here, there's no real reason for her to be at his practice as a nurse then doctor. Instead she's in the field trying to save lives just like him, and is shown to be fearless DESPITE being a squishy human, getting out to help someone the wrecking crew hurts without any hesitation while her partner cowers in the car instead of helpign. I mean .. I get it , supervillians, but yoru a fucking emt man. Your job is to save lives even at your ownr isk.
Thankfully thor provides backup. And cleans house. The Wrecker TRIES to hold jane hostage, with Thor chastising his lack of honor.. before smacking him in the back of the head with mjonir because hammer's don't respect chilvarly. Thor and Jane hit it off, and I like how even if Jane's entirely in this series to be thor's love intrest.. they give her personality and a reason he falls for her: she's just as dedicated to her job of helping people, and Thor is awed by the fact that DEPSITE not having the powers of a god and being at high risk she does it anyway. Which for us is a normal thing but for thor.. sums up why he likes Midgard so much. On asgard heroisim happens all the time, death is an endless cycle. Here humans are fragile.. but the best of us try to help each other anyway.
Thor is played by Rick D Wasserman and as you can wager i'm mostly focusing on the main cast's voice actors for this review. I"ll point out some others, for instance Jane is voiced by VA legend Kari Whagreen whose also played Charmcaster in the ben 10 franchise and Saturn Girl in the awesome Legion of Superheroes cartoon i'm bound to cover at some point, it's just EMH has a MASSIVE cast and introduces a lot of characters in the span of these 7 episodes, so adressing every single one is a lot to ask. I will try to adress the most important ones and some in future reviews as the voice cast here is positively stacked.
Which makes it weird that once again one of the main cast is a pretty low key voice actor: like with Iron Man, Thor's va did his voice for Marvel Vs Capcom 3 and Marvel Ultimate ALliance 3, but otherwise hasn't really done much else in the main roll. And given just how well Rick slides into the roll of thor as if he was born for this it befuddles me.
But we, and the god of thunder, have bigger issues..s pecifically frost giants thor writing shorthand for "We wanted something big for him to hit" I can only think of one run in recent memory that hasn't invovled thor hitting a frost giant in the face.
Turns out their invasion is being led by Loki. Loki here is another intresting time capsule as a combination of Tom Hidelston's standout performance in Thor and Avengers and character defining runs I need to read and finish respectively from Kireon Gilleon and Al Ewing placed Loki squarely in the anti hero position. As such instead of the genderfluid trickster we know and love, this is the old school loki they were for much of their run and what loki at present is deeply afraid of becomiing again: manipulative, evil and hellbent on burning down everything his dad and brother built.. if with a dope horn helmet. He at least has that.
As such this loki gets into a badass fight with thor, with Thor BEGGING his brother to reconsider.. but it falling on deaf sweet horn helmets. Loki wants to burn it all. Thankfully Thor is able to beat him and being thor does it in the most badass way possible.. gatherting a GIANT STORM above him before focusing all it's energy into a massive lightning bolt. And those horns are really good conductors.
Odin, who sat this one out as his powers are weak at the moment, more on that in a sec, punishes Loki by banishing him to thei isle of silence. It's one of his faviorite pastimes. The other is questioning his son's life choices, wanting Thor to stay to guard Asgard while Odin takes a nap. It's why he was weak: Once a year Odin enters the odinsleep for a few months, to a week to a day. Whatever's narratively convent. It's how he recharges.
Thor.. dosen't want to as he's needed on earth and the two get into a snit and what I like is it's well ballanced: Odin isn't wrong to want his son to protect the kingdom that will one day be his.. but Thor isn't wrong that the warriors three and sif, his best friends and badass warriors, can do the job and Thor is only one call away if needed. Odin bringing up Jane dosne't help as Odin comes off as being a spying dickhead which.. he is. He entirley is. So Thor leaves in a huff.
And so we get our final segment.. which unlike the others ties in directley. We see Loki in the isle of silence, which is neatly depecited as a black and white void with no sound. Loki is visited by the Enchantress. The Enchantress is a powerful sorceress whose vane as she is obessed with thor, but dosen't understand he's just not that into her for being you know.. manipulative, cruel and trying to kill his friends. Turns out, in classic loki fashion, this was ALL his plan. ALLL of it.
He set up thor to run into the wrecking crew by spying on them taking a job for the Leader, more on him later, having the Enchantress disguise herself as a regular woman , i.e. just a green dress, and point thor their way. Fun fact: She and jane have the same VA. Funner fact: Loki is voiced by Scottish actor Grahm McTavish of the Hobbit and Outlander fame. Both do a terrific job.
Loki then pretended to be Baulder, Thor and Loki's third brother and painted what Thor was doing as egocentric hot doggin and grand standing and the Jane thing as more serious than "They just met". All of this was part of a larger scheme... all going to plan.. and neither the god of thunder nor his neglectful dad have any idea they were played. Granted Loki's scheme would fall apart of Odin brought up that conversation with baulder to the brave himself, but while a risk.. Loki still wasn't TOO reckless with this: in any other thor story this would be highly stupid. Here it's risky, but with Odin going into the Odinsleep soon and Loki's plan HINGING on his dad being in the odinsleep anyway, it gives his plan a VERY small window for fuckups.
And what is his plan?
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I genuinely forgot what his grand plan was other than "conquer asgard" but we'll find out as the season unfolds. For now we move on to another hero..... some call him a man, some call him a monster.. but is he both?
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Hulk Vs the World ( Microepisodes: The Coming of the Hulk! , Hulk Vs the World, This Monster, This Hero!, and Beware the Widow's Bite!)
Now we talk about the strongest one there is, the man whose wrecking the town with a power of the bull, ain't no monster clown, he's that loveable and ever lovin Hulk. And sometimes immortal, grey and what have you but point is Hulk slaps.
Yeah like Tony I love me some hulk: I haven't read nearly enough of his earlier stuff but I adore the late 80's early 90's run of peter david, one i'm just one digital omnibus away from having the complete run of at the time of this writing, and Al Ewing's recent and incomprable Immortal Hulk, which I REALLY need to cover and just. .haven't. Hulk's just a good character: A man with DID who turns into the literal represntations of the emotions he represses: his rage, his childlike innocence that his abusive dad made sure he never had, his need for a father, his hornier and more traditionally masculine traits... Hulk is an endlessly fascinating character.
And the show does him good, partly by exploring a key part of Hulk's marvel history: the fact that for the vast majority of it.. he's an outsider. Oh sure Hulk will show up for crossovers if needed and what not, but most of the time people treat him as a giant monster to be put down instead of simply an angry, powerful being tired of people trying to kill him. Hulk is oft pegged as a monster, and can often turn on his own allies thorugh bad luck or simply a poopy mood. Most people in Hulk's suppporting cast care about BANNER not hulk, while Bruce is often hunted simply because.. he has a mental illness. Granted most mental illnesses can't suplex a train, but many people genuinely don't seem to CARE that Bruce isn't responsible for what hulk does. Hulk is part of bruce banner.. but he's NOT bruce. And the poor guy is constantly hunted for something he tries to cure or control but often simply can't.
EMH emphasies this as when we meet Bruce he's deshevled, in a hat, looking like the unibomber and getting harassed by the police like one. And this is a Bruce who as we learn later ACCEPTS that hulk is part of him: he dosen't LIKE turning into a rage monster, no one does, but he acknowledges the big guy can do things he can't and that curing him simply hasn't worked. He's someone trying to manage his condition: until now staying away from population centers and only going into them.. because he's worried.
This is also our intro to our second of the four supervillian prisons, the Cube. The Cube is a heavily locked down place for radiation based supervillians, mostly gamma mutates like Bruce himself. And in a fitting shift instead of being a place to stash away or rehabilitate their foes.. the cube is basically one giant lab and Bruce fears it's purpose.. is to create a hulk SHIELD can control. It gives a reason to why he runs: Sure the Cube has facilities to help.. but one hulk is already incredibly dangerous and barely managable. Now imagine if say it goes wrong and hulk ends up with no brain or concense like the current hulk, just PURE. RAGE.
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Or they succed in making a super solider with gamma power.. but he simply dosen't want to do what they ask and has all the power of a hulk but none of the restraint, and all the ingellgence to misuse it.
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Or you get someone with repressed issues and DID like bruce.. but you get something darker than a cranky teenager who just wants to be left alone
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Granted that last one didn't turn out so bad but Bruce's point is easy to see just looking at the comics or basic logic: Making more monsters is way too big a gamble and as we saw with SHIELD in the Iron Man episode, they aren't exactly moral paragons to begin with. Fury will go to any lengths to make a safer world... so whose to say even IF best case scenario we get a she hulk style transformation... that fury can be TRUSTED with that power.
So Banner goes to get some answers. Bruce is played by Gabriel Mann, who played Alan M in the JOsie and the Pussycats film I need to cover, and also played Bruce in Wolverine and the X-Men, which shares a universe with this show. More on that later. He does a great job selling Bruce's fear but also compassion.. he wants to CURE the target he's after, Absorbing Man.
Absorbing Man, aka Crusher Creel, is another frequent Jobber of the marvel unvierse, though unlike the Wrecking Crew he's slightly less of a joke, though like them he started with Thor. Unlike them he became more of a hulk villian and a general marvel villian. If they need someone dumb and powerful, Crusher is their go too. In the comics he also has a wife Titania, also a super villian. They have an adorably healthy and happy marriage.
So naturally Crusher.. wants nothing to do with this and wants to instead punch the hulk. He gets his wish.. but then gets plenty of punches back. The Hulk here is based more on then recent Planet Hulk Storyline: Hulk is still not super smart, but isn't thuggish like say Joe Fixit or sadistic like Devil Hulk. He's just savage hulk if given the chance to learn and evolve: all the power, all the rage.. but with SOME smarts and dry quips. He eventually flattens Abosorbing Man easily after a brief fight.
Hulk himself is played by Fred Tatiscore. Much like Thor and Iron Man's VA"S, Tatiscore is marvel's go to for the hulk for adaptations, and has played him a LOTTT: Ultimate Avengers 1 and 2, Avengers Next, Avengers Assemble, Hulk Vs(Also part of this continuity), Wolverine and the X-Men, Hulk and the Agents of SMASH, Ultimate Spider-Man, Marvel's Spider-Man (Cartoon), The Incredible Hulk Tie IN game, Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction, All three Marvel Ultimate Alliances. If you want someone mean and green you go with Fred and that's JUST his rolls as hulk. Fred is a prolific voice actor with a WIDE list of credits. This isn't even his only roll in this SERIES, but we'll get to that. If you want a good gravely voice, Fred Tatsicore is your man.
So Hulk is no sooner done punching his daily asshole when General Ross shows up.
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So for those who haven't had the distinct pleasure of meeting this twatballoon before, General Ross is one of Hulk's two main arch enemys, the other one we'll meet later. He's the old man who ruins everything, a hard nosed general who already didn't like banner and hunts him and hulk like a monster, and is LARGELY responsible for both the hulk being treated like a monster (though his earlier, far shadier versions didn't help), and for Banner being hutned like one. If someone's going to fuck a situation that could've helped the hulk up, it's this fucking guy. It's shown here brilliantly as one of his men questions WHY banne'rs here.. and ross dosen't care. He can interogate banner later, not getting that bruce wont' want to help him.
Ross charges in with a bunch of smashable robots, but is ordered to stand down by the Black Widow and Hawkeye, in their classic outfits. For Nat it's .. really the same as the movies, for Hawkeye.. he has an actual costume instead of purple spandex and maybe sunglasses... please bring this outfit back.
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Thankfully Clint isn't a piece of cardboard like the MCU , though he is an agent of SHIELD since Thor was in production and the Ultimate Unvierse existed. The two plan to subdue the hulk.. yes the martial arts master who is great in hand to hand and the expert marksman... think they can take down the hulk. or at least hold him off. Hulk is less than impressed but has bigger worries as Ross FIRES A MISSLE AT TWO SHIELD AGENTS DESPITE BEING ORDERED TO STAND DOWN
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Seroiusly ross you fired on two fedral agents. I'm shocked he wasn't disohnorably discharged but he's gotten away with worse in the comics.
Thankfully hulk beats missle.. and we get a heartbreaking moment as Ross's stupidity and the hulk reflecting the missle nearly downs a hellicarrier... Hulk saves it.. and is taken in anyway. Always hunted, always alone with Banner's cries of having actually made the hulk work and not wanting to be cured falling on the deaf ears of Doc Sampson, usually Hulk's therapist here just a scientest.. and an asshole. Hawkeye though buys it.. unfortuantely he thenf inds out Black Widow is seemingly a tratior and she betrays HIM, framing him for working with hydra. So yeah this one ends with our heros impreioned for doing nothing wrong, the bad guys ahead and things about to get so much worse.
And if you thought we were done with downer endings well.
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Meet Captain America (Meet Captain America, The Red Skull Strikes!, If This Be Doomsday!, Come the Conquerer)
Almost forgot this till I was done with this section: So I fucking love Steve Rogers. Loyal to nothing but the dream, kind, thoughtful and a badass through and through. That said when it comes to solo stuff it's hit and miss. I've come around to Ed Brubaker's run as while the winter soldier itself has lost a little impact with the fog of ages, Bucky's turn as cap is great, what i read of Ta'Nesi Coates run is fantastic, and I love Mark Gruenwald's lengthy run. I like cap, he can just be very hit and miss for me on his own, but usually if he's in a team he slaps and there's a reason he's key to the avengers.. and getting his own episode despite not being there for the origin story.
Meet Cap is a fun WII adventure, reminding me of the First Avenger despite coming first. It's got a lot of silver age charm and pep to it as Cap breaks into a hydra castle with the Howling Commandos. The Howling Commandos are Nick Fury's WWII running buddies in the comic and his dad's friends here. The roster's mostly the same, characters I don't really know and who won't be relevant to this show so i'm not going into... except one. He's still not relevant to the show.. but it's a cameo I can't not mention. One of the commandos here is...
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YUP. As one of the many subtle hints this is the same continuity as Wolverine Vs X-Men and it's prequel Hulk Vs Wolverine, Logan fucking HOwlett is on the team. He dosen't go snikit either because he dosen't have bone claws in this continuity or simply to keep that under his helmet but it's still neat to see him. THey even got Steven Blum for this tiny apperance. There's small hints like that here and there, with another in the next episode we'll get to but sadly a combination of diffrent networks and Nick screwing over WATXM meant we never got an actual crossover, and Disney screwing over this series meant we never got a fully absorbed finale either. And as should come as no shock as a giant x-men nerd, I plan to cover WATXM after this show.
Anyways, cameos aside it ventually comes down to Cap and Bucky. Bucky is cap's sidekick, and unlike the mcu he' skept to being around 17. This is also one of his first apperances in animation after the landmark winter soldier story recontexutalized Bucky from "Child sidekick who really REALLY shoudln't be fighting WWII" to "that being a propoganda and Bucky being Cap's stealth man who does the stuff too dirty for america's symbol".
As a result this version, at least as Bucky, is voiced by Robin voice actor Scott Melinville, an excellent bit of meta casting given Bucky comes off as a fairly blatant robin clone. The two's banter is genuinely heartwarming as you really get a sense of their friendship.
Cap himself is played by Brian Bloom, who like most of theset voice actors continued the roll for Marvel Vs Capcom 3, it's sequel Infinite, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 and unlike the rest recently in Midnight Suns. He's awesome and plays Steve Pitch Perfectly.
So the two's target is Red Skull, Naziism incarnate. He's pure evil, one of the most horrifying villians in the Marvel Universe and one of the few most other villians will nope out of working with being a literal nazi. And not just a snake Nazi, though as he does here he will work with Hydra. He was taught by Hitler himself. Fun fact that's pretty brutal: he has in fact met Magneto, Marvel's #1 holocaust survivior, who held his contempt of the guy long as he could when forced to work with him for acts of vengeance..a nd then first chanc ehe got Erik buired the guy in a bunker with this chilling as it is awesome sequence
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This is just one long fun pulp adventure as Cap punches out hydra agents and i'ts revealed the Red Skull was experimenting with the 9 realms of norse mythology and marvel comics. Well 8, he's already on Midgard. His various captured norse creatures escape from fairies to a frost giant he almost kidnapped. it's fun chaotic brawl as many a nazi is eaten and we get some really cool lighting. We also get a mention of a Baron Zemo. This will be importnat later.
The Baron himself is absent though, and rather than being the one escaping on a rocket it's the red skull. And anyone familiar with the comics just tensed up a bit and really even if you aren't.. the fact that this is Cap's origin story, he's getting a full episode, and it's WWII kinda tells you this won't end well.. and it dosen't. Steve prepares to sacrifice himself.. only for Bucky to tell him "The world needs cap more than it needs bucky" and push him off. The Skull and the boy wonder apparently die .. and seemingly so does cap.
Well.. KINDA, as our last short happens: see the cap shorts kicked off with someone watching and we find out it's Kang, the Conquerer
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For those who haven't heard of him or seen him thanks to the MCU, and the less said about his actor there the better, Kang is from the 30th century, a time of peace, love and no traffic accidents. And it was BORRRRRIIINNNGGGG to him, so longing for the past he only read about he stole a time machine, and ended up in a savage post apocalypse he eventually conquered and made the bedrock of his empire, using his time travel tech, vast army and genuine stategic knowhow to conquer civlizations throughout time and space.
Here though he seems to have just conquered this future, which is still a lot... but is about to be a little as it's in danger of being erased.. thanks to Cap. Kang is puzzled since if Steve DIED.. then how is he fucking up Kang's day? We get a really cool seuqence of Kang traveling through the previous parts of the episode, trying to figure out what he missed.. and finding steve frozen. Steve lived.. and thus his future will die. He plans to go back and stop this, but his future starts deteroating already, leaving him with just one warship. He TRIES to get his girlfriend Ravona on the ship in time.. but interfernce means she comes in and thus is stuck between fading out of existance. Kang's able to put her in stasis... but to save his empire steve rogers must die.. in about half a season.
Yeah Kang... dosen't come back up for a while and while it baffled me.. the more I thought about the actual two part premire.. the more i relaized why this was there.
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The Man in the Anthill (The Man in the Anthill, Enter the Whirlwind, The Big House, Welcome to Wakanda) We end our slew of origin stories with the introduction of Ant Man and the Wasp, my faviorite avengers out of this intial lineup. I love all these characters but Hank and Janet are some of my faviorites in all of marvel. I became a huge fan of Hanks after reading Dan Slott's run on Mighty Avenger where Hank, follow his ex wife Jan's death, takes up the wasp mantle. He also gets into the greatest pissing contest in all of marvel history with reed richards... though in his defense, Red started it
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It was a burn so fucking awesome that the rest of Reed's team were all asking him to please, for the love of god call back and apologize. He did not and suffered the consequences. Again story for another day.
With Jan it took some more time but this series and various awesome apperances, chiefly her time in Zeb Wells uncanny avengers and what i've read of Roger Sterns avengers, sold me on the winsome wasp. For good stories for each, for Hank there's the aformentiond Mighty Avengers, Avengers Academy where he serves as headmaster, and West Coast Avengers for his redemption after his mental breakdown and abuse of Jan. For Jan I recommend Stern's avengers, The Unstoppable Wasp which follows Hank's Daughter and Jan's adopted daughter Nadia but heavily features the OG wasp, and most recently the Wasp mini series from king of awesome Al Ewing and it's currently running Followup, Avengers Inc, both things I intend to cover some day.
So for those less familiar with them or more familiar with the MCU versions, Hank Pym and Janet Van Dyne were founding avengers and the first Ant Man and Wasp, going in and out of the team to retire. They were in love.. but sadly hank's obession with work, undiagnosed bipolar disorder, and Janet marrying him while he thought he was someone else because Hank having a mental breakdown was the PERFECT time to marry him, the marriage fell apart, hank had a large scale mental breakdown and well.. you likely know the rest. Both would rebound with Janet finding a new indpendence and sense of self and Hank , after hitting rock bottom.. .finding the will to live on and atone for the various mistakes he made, first as just Hank Pym then as a superhero but not wearing a costume. I love these characters, their rich history, their powers just all of it. I also love these versions of them: With the baggage of his mental breakdown and the infamous and horrifying slap gone, Hank is back to his roots as a science hero, finding his work the neatest thing in the world, while Janet is back to being hank's younger girlfriend , a social butterfly, and the one helping him get to do all his science stuff by doing the promotion, the last one a clever addition. It takes her later swagger and better writing by writers who knew how women worked as opposed to silver age stan lee who while many impressive things.. could not write a woman who wasn't some form of a sexisim. Likewise Hank ignores jan but it's more "he's a workaholic" and less him ranting about her being a stupid woman and friviolus and I wish I was making this up. It takes the best of them in the silver age, mondernizes and makes it awesome
They also each get a short spotlighting them: The first has Hank researching some Vibranium near wakanda when he has to deal with Klaw. Klaw is a recurring avengers bad guy, black panther bad guy and general punching bag. He's not yet to full costumed villian here, instead just having a giant sound canon instead of having said canon as a new hand. He and some mercs break in to steal the vibranium.. and get utterly wrecked in the best way possible as Hank shrinks, easily dispatches them in a scene straight out of a hroror film as each mook goes unconcious, tehn in an awesome moment, when Klaw uses his really big gun fulla sound to try and blast hank, hank GETS BACK UP and presses a button.. shrinkign EVERYONE present. Also while again i'm not pointing out EVERY villian's va i'd be remiss if I didn't point out that Klaw's is mark fucking hamill.
As for Hanks, Hank is played by Wally Wingert, who for once for this show DIDN'T play this character again in Marvel Vs Capcom 3 because Capcom wasn't awesome enough to include an ant man. THey DID include MODOK who Wingert also plays and got to reprise so he still got a well deserved paycheck. He's also been in Bleach and is the voice of Cubot in Sonic. Who knew. I also love the ending: Jan comes in, we get her adorably just throwing her arms around hank.. and then hank casually asking his girlfriend to go save the mercinaries before his ants eat them
The next one focuses on Jan and also shows the contrast between the two. Hank has super powers.. but prefers his research and rehabilitating criminals, not wanting to fight them. In contrast Jan recognizes sometimes you gotta throw hands, action is her reward, and gladly speeds into battle. We also see that while this hank hasn't spiraled yet.. he still has control issues, showing up wot Jan's battle with Whirlwind and telling her to back down, despite her both making the vallid point they can help people and that she can handle herself. And given she stings teh fucker in the eye and beats a guy with tornado powers with just her stingers and some inginuity yeah, hank ease off there bud.
Jan is voiced by Colleen Ann O'Shaughnessey, a va I grew up with as the Voice of Sora on digimon, a role she STILL has to this day. And if that and Jan wasn't enough she's also Jazz Fenton, a characte ri'll be looking into next year. For now though she just rips as Jan, whose the best of the founding 5. I mean their all pretty great and Hank comes close, but Jan's sarcasm, energy but also her heart and talent make her hard NOT to love.
The third short and the final one focused on our duo is the big house which reveals the third of the prisons: The Big House. Focused more on rehabilitation, the Big House was made by hank, housing a LOT of characters i know. Whirlwind tries to escape. If your curious who this schmuck is, Whirlwind is the closest thing Jan has to an arch enemy: he started out fighting her and hank then started stalking Jan who didn't take it well. He's incapaciated as the big house shrink's it's prisoners. Whirlwind is put back inside.. but is insured by the Mad Thinker that they'll be out soon. It's just a matter of time. The Mad Thinker is a long time fantastic four villian, a mad genius and.. that's basically it. He does have an awesome android though
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He's a very good dude.
As for Hank and Jan theyt alk to Nick Fury who wants to recruit them. Jan's all for it but Hank says no.. that being said, it's not just Hank not wanting to be a costumed superhero: he dosen't TRUST nick, dosen't think he genuinely wants to rehabilitate criminals, and dosen't trust shield. And given what we've seen.. he's right. Jan follows Hank's lead, if reluctantly while fury.. berates hank for actually carrying about reform and building villians "Comfier jailcells".
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With that we get one last standalone to set up episodes later this season: we see the origin of The Black Panther as his dad dies in comnbat fighting Man Ape, whose not NEARLY as cool or nearly as fun in the comics or this cartoon. Man Ape kilsl his dad with help from Klaw while T'Challa's people.. all agree to this trial by combat bullshit.
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T'Challa not taking this shit heads off, takes the Panther Mantel and plans to find Allies. To be continued next time, same as cap. I love the animation on The Black Panther as he skulks around. So damn cool. He's voiced by James C Mathis III a voice actor primarily known for playing the character in this and Marvel Vs Capcom.. infinite this time. He's fantastic. And with that it's time for the MAIN EVENT BABY
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Breakout Parts 1 and 2
So here we are, the big one. The reason we're all here> the Main Event. Breakout is the proper premiere for the show, airing before the repackaged episodes above though taking place after. And like the MCU with those episodes in mind it feels like a well built up climax to almost everything in the shorts, while setting up the rest of the season, with what wasn't setup for this being setup for later in the season like Cap, Kang and Black Panther.
Part 1 has the characters still in their own corners of the marvel universe before fate assembles them: Tony breaks up an arms deal between AIM, a bunch of super scientests in neat beekeeper suits who function as world conquerers or arms dealers depending on the day, and Lucia Von Bardis, one of Doctor Doom's minons in Latveria. Iron Man easily stops the sale, especially since it's his tech their selling and warns Doom via his proxy: do not come for his stuff again. He then drops them off at the Vault, talking to Jimmy Woo who sadly isn't as in to close up magic here but has noticed it's security is off and asks Tony for help since he designed it and it's not a weapon. Tony agreees.. but also wants him to make an appointment because Tony is a lot of things.. but he's also a massive asshole no matter where in time and space you find him.
Banner is still in the cube, trying to warn Dr. Sampson of two things: the cube is not a jail but an incubator to make another hulk, and that filling a jail full of super strong gamma mutates and gamma research is a ticking time bomb... and given bruce blew himself up with one he should know.
Thor.. is having a far chiller day of stalking Jane as she does her job since as an EMT she finds trouble and he dosen't exactly have a thor signal. And because she fascinates him, not getting how creepy that sounds. Jane finds it charming, partly because he's built like a norse god and partly because she gets this is less "I need to call shield a god is stocking me" and more "He's REALLY that clueless he dosen't get this is a felony".
Finally we have Hank and Jan on the hellicarrier, with Hank doing mods to the big house and arguing with Nick and Jane sorry she can't take maria hill's offer... only to realize hank had a point when maria won't answer a simple whose that.
It's then chaos breaks out.. as does every super villian at the 4 prisons with the Hellicararrier, which houses the big house, also going offline. Oh and Nick's house just blew up, but that happens every tuesday. You can just ignore that one, don't know why I brought it up.
As you'd guess most of our heroes are soon caught in the middle of it: Iron man flies back to the Vault, getting a heads up from Pepper that SHIELD"S in chaos, but finds all his foes have already kitted up and gang up on him including Crimson Dynamo, his russian equilveant and Blizzard, a villian i've always had a soft spot for who gets a truly awesome look here
Is his look baiscally just captain cold and mr freeze smushed together now? Sure? Does it look fucking dope? yes.
Thanks to SHIELD being stupid though, Iron Man isn't the only hero there and despite nearly blasting him earlier, Hawkeye helps for a sec before fleeing to clear his name. I like this setup for hawkeye as in the comic's hawkeye also started as a costumed criminal thanks to a misunderstanding, a nice way of meshing his mcu/ultimate self with the og. Hawkeye is also one of my faviorite superheroes, and something I can gush about later when Clint properly returns to the story. For now he's just awesome as always.
So Tony decides to escape by BLOWING THE FUCKER UP with his enemies inside
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Yeah the civilians have apparently evacuated and the villians scene DO come back but you'd think after a few months after this Tony's go to wouldn't be "Cave a building on them and let god sort it out". Then again this IS Tony Stark we're talking about....
Bruce is IN one of the prisons and thus has a harder time, though there is one silver lining: Dr. Sampson.. is now fully on his side, having realized from the buildling falling apart that Bruce was right about this being a powder keg and promising to help. Granted it's a bit too late but still. The radiation abound has also given the good Doc super strength
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Zzzax shows up. Zzzax is an energy being the hulk fights on and off, a big zappy man made of electricty who has a name that's as fun to say as it is to type. Naturally this brings out the other guy and Hulk fights him, winning becasue of course.
In the core of the cube and it's control rooms is the Leader. The Leader is Hulk's arch enemy and polar opposite: Hulk is pure rage and strength, the Leader is a calculated super genius with the durability of any other guy. And unlike the other villians in the other prisons.. Leader has no intention of leaving, to the bafflement of Absorbing Man and Abomination. Abomination is Hulk's other arch enemy, a KGB agent who got caught in a gamma ray blast when Hulk tried to kill the hulk with.. .the same thing that makes the hulk, being almost as strong but retaining his mind.
Leader sends the two to fight hulk as a distraction but once Hulk has them down he flees with Sampson.. and the Leader has his minons back off, explaning WHY he wants to stay in prison: he's going to change the world. And impliclity, what better lair for a super genius gamma mutate than a giant gamma based lab and former prison? It's almost like putting the lab next to the dangerous criminals was a bad idea waiting to blow up in their faces.
Before we move on Leader is played by horror legend Jeffery Combs, most famous for playing Herbet West in Re-Animator and it's sequels. Combs is a large ham supreme, a true craftsman of playing hammy bastards with no morals, and is perfect casting for the Leader, and SHOULD have played him in the mcu. Then again given how little the MCU has acctually DONE with the leader thanks to universal, it's a blessing in disguise. They can use him another way. Lots of mad scientests with no morals in marvel. Leader's story will be continued later, but I coudln't just.. pass by Jeffery Combs. I'm not made of stone.
As for Hank he gets the shit beat out of him by the people he was genuinely trying to help. Which is just.. sad... the problem wasn't hank's idea, a deluxe prison with creepy robots where he genuinely tries to reform people.. it's just most of the criminals were either people he brought in, resenting him automatically, or simply didn't WANT to change. Had he tried it on like the beetle or screaming mimi or someone who genuinely had the potetial to reform who knows what he could've done. Thankfully he's backed up by Jan and the fact he can become a really big man, a GIANT man if you will.
While this goes on Thor.. has a date. Jane gladly listens to his daddy issues, Baldur the Brave had visited earlier.. and Odin hasn't let up on the "come home thing". Jane breaks down "ancient asgardian things beyond your understnading" into what it is "You had a fight with your dad" and tries to convince him to go home and patch things up.. but then thor hears the explosions in the distance and goes to help.
So the bad news is a bunch of our heroes villians are free, with the only ones who aren't.. now running the prison. The WORSE news is that there's one more prison that didn't have a superhero on duty as Thor was out to lunch: the raft, a secret fourth blacksite prison hinted at earlier, containing the highest security cases... and one of them just woke up from a ten year nap, radaiting with power and rocking the helicarrier.
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This yelling bearded man is Graviton, also played by Fred Tastiscore, whose hamming it up from here to eternity. He wants Fury dead and tha'ts where part 1 ends.. with him holdling fury hostage and sinking the hellicarrier.
Part 2 opens up with the origin of Graviton: Franklin Hall was a physcist for SHIELD before Fury tried to shut him down... for good reason as while Fury was trying to do this Franklin not only refused but his experiments blew up in his face. Then rather than help Hall.. fury locked him unconcious in the raft. Even the breakout didn't let him out it turned out ot be Baron Zemo. Baron Zemo is one of my faviorite super villians, a genius tactician and son of a nazi what cap fought. Naturally he tells franklin he's been down here for a while, then skedaddles. Unsuprisingly we'll be seeing the martial artist whose so skilled and cunning he's in the same jail as the guy who can make gravity his bitch.
Graviton is distracted by Iron man, who shows up to fight.. but tony gets a refresher in Gravity and gets bounced all the way to the endless cornfields of Kansas. Trust me having been in the car as someone's driven through them, that joke is not an exageration. Ther'es plenty of towns, intresting places.. but also large stretches of corn and nothing. So much corn and nothing.
While Tony calls for a backup suit, Thor tags in, while Hank chews Fury out, especially relevant since Fury refuses to tell them anything at first calling it classified... despite the giant exploding gravity man fighting a god above them.
As for Hulk... Hulk needs a snack. Prison hasn't done wonders fo rhis appittite so he stops at a diner, asking them to get help for Sampson... when Hulk has another guest: his brain buddy bruce who urges Hulk to help as he's the only one that can. Hulk makes the valid if misnthropic poitn that if no one's helped him, why should he.. but Bruce poitns out all the good he can do.. he can be more than the monster they see him as and he knows it. SO Hulk agrees to serve as backup.. provided Bruce make one concession: Hulk becomes the dominant personality and bruce comes out , as we find out later, only once a month.
As we wait to see the results of that deal, Thor gets plumeted to the bottom of the sea and Jan decides she isn't going to stand by anymore.. while Hank is like "NO YOU'LL GET HURT. LISTEN TO ME. " because he hasn't gotten Jan dosen't CARE she can get hurt, knows the risk, and is doing the right thing comma jackass. Jan.. actually puts on a decent showing as her stingers, small lasers , aren't affected by gravity. She is.. but Hank catches her having gotten his giant head out of his ass, while Thor regains Mjonr and tony joins back up. The avengers have.. mostly assemebled.
They still can't make much of a dent though: not only are they still very new at this tea-m thing, but Graviton is still strong enough to body a god: a scientest, a fashioin icon, and billionare mass attempted murderer aren't really going to turn the tide. Unluckily for Franky he decides to get braggy.. and gives too good an intrance cue NOT for someone to stomp in and ruin his day
Graviton: I'm stronger than all of you! I'm the strongest one there is! (BOOM) Hulk: You sure about that?
Hulk is here and easily beats the stuffing out of Graviton. We get a truly EPIC moment too as Graviton tries increasing the gravity on him which only works for seconds at a time as Hulk KEEPS, GETTING, BACK UP. With the others helping, and sometims just.. rushing him, Hulk is able to land the final blow on Graviton. My faviorite moment during this is Wasp lasering a container in half, confused someone's helping him... before Janet helpfully pipes in he's the bad guy. THe two will be incredibly close after this and given they both like hitting things and impulsive desicions, easy to see why.
Well almost final, He still has time to weakly rant before Wasp shuts him up.
Naturally SHIELD"S response to Hulk saving the day, the future avengers lives, and stopping an evil they created.. is to point all their guns at him. This time though Hulk has something he didn't have back in Vegas: Friends. Iron Man refuses to let SHIELD take him and everyone else gladly joins in, Jan naturally being the second most vocal behind tony.
Fury reluctantly gives in, and admits he could use the five's help: the various prison breaks have unleashed 74 other super villians and someone needs to round them up.
Hank.. turns him down, getting one last callout and a very damming one: they CREATED this mess: while Franklin made himself into a living god instead of trying to cure him or turn him into a force for good they locked him away an dhoped he'd never wake up, and new york nearly got leveled. I forgot to mention it somehow but motherfucker LEVITATED manhattan.
Tony does concede Fury has a point:.. not about joining SHIELD, they suck dirty ass in thunderstorms. But about working as a team:
Iron Man: One on one, we can each take down a villain or two, but 74... none of us can do it alone. Together we have a chance. What we did here, it can change things. The world needs us, but not as S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. As a team of our own. Together, we can avenge the wrongs caused by all these villains. Wasp: We can be Avengers. Hulk: Huh. Good name.
And thus.. a team is born. Hulk agrees to stay for now and everyone else, even pacifist hank seems excited. And even Fury, while not exastic, dosen't really poop on their parade. He is worried about one thing though: Who was behind this?
So yeah.. the first 7 episodes of EMH, the breakout two parter in paticular, are amazing. It sets up the world, fleshes out the cast, and gives us some great hooks going in: how will this team mesh? can hulk be accepted by the rest of the world? Who caused the Breakouts? What's loki's plan? How is leader going to "Change the world"? What did steve do to destroy Kang's timeline? All valid questions we'll answer another time but for now we've got 7 pretty excellent episode an da great start to one of the greatest avengers tales ever
Sometime Next Year: The avengers loose a member, gain an icon and a king and deal with their growing pains, ionic men, dougboys, ape men, living sounds, and a bunch of hulks. See you then and thanks for reading.
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doomrichards · 4 months
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DoomReed Roundup 2023
April 2023 Marvel Monthly Fan Q&A: Ryan North - Fantastic Four
Ryan North says Doom and Reed are "almost two halves of the same soul that have made wildly different choices." He gets into more detail in the interview!
May 2023 Fantastic Four (2022) #7
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Doom confronts Reed about trapping his goddaughter Valeria in time, and Reed's failure as a father.
July 2023 Fantastic Four (2022) #9
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Mister Fantastic and Doctor Doom appear in an in-universe comic.
August 2023 Ultimate Invasion (2023) #3
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Reed Richards is revealed trapped in the mask of Doom.
Marvel Multiverse Role-Playing Game: Core Rulebook
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Doctor Doom's bio names Reed as an intellectual rival and compatriot.
September 2023 The Super Hero's Journey
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Reed confirms his romantic feelings for Doom in The Super-Hero's Journey.
Venom (2021) #25
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An older Doctor Doom riles his younger self by invoking the name of Reed Richards.
Ultimate Invasion (2023) #4
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Earth 6160's Doctor Doom is Reed Richards.
October 2023 G.O.D.S. (2023) #1
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Doom and Reed appear as cameos in Jonathan Hickman's G.O.D.S.
Marvel Arms and Armor: The Mightiest Weapons and Technology in the Universe
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Reed Richards and Doctor Doom share an article in Marvel Arms and Armor.
Fantastic Four (2022) #12
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Reed Richards meets Dinosaur Doctor Doom.
November 2023 Fantastic Four (2022) #13
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Doctor Doom meets Dinosaur Mister Fantastic.
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