TV Retrospective: Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes season 1 episodes 16-20 review

The Man who stole tomorrow

According to Wikipedia, the episode Widow’s sting aired before this trilogy (doesn't make much sense as you might realise) but my DVD says otherwise, so let’s take a look at this one

Kang’s ship teleports into the present (remember him, he was in Meet Captain America, quite a while since that episode) it’s cloaked from current technology. What they seek is (naturally, really, I mean they could be seeking anything and it’d be here) in New York City.

Cap asks Tony Stark what a futurist is, Tony explains but Cap says he can tell from a newspaper that Tony’s never been in a fight and wants to train him. With Hulk and Hawkeye eagerly watching, the fight. Naturally Cap mops the floor with him, much to the amusement of the spectators. Iron Man says he has suits to handle him but Cap says he can’t always rely on it

In the Baxter Building, Giant Man, Thor and the Wasp are taking Iron Man villain Blizzard through a portal to their prison, the Negative Zone (we also get a Fantastic 4 reference, or as Fox wants us to call them the Fant4stic) the facility is called 42 and manned by Hank’s Ultron robots

Cap and Tony get suited up for some reason, as Cap still tells him to learn some basics. Kang then arrives, introducing himself, before drawing a gun on Cap. Iron Man helps shield Cap, whose shield is overwhelmed by the blast and activates the mansion defences, naturally these don’t really hold up to Kang (it’s amazing the shield did) Kang mops the floor with them.

Hank explains to Thor that they’re in the negative zone, another dimension. If there’s a mass breakout now, there still won’t be anywhere for the prisoners to go (and I mean nothing whatsoever could possibly go wrong with this plan) They receive the call and head back to the mansion.

Iron Man tries to scan Kang but it doesn’t work. Kang reveals he wants to save the world by taking out Cap but the Hulk, Black Panther and Hawkeye arrive to back them up. Kang’s shield is broken by the Hulk but he manages to escape.  He prepares to finish Kang but is knocked back by Thor.

Kang summons his chair, then decides to take all of them into the future and show them the reality Cap’s actions would supposedly create. A post-apocalyptic earth where the sun has ripped in two, we also hear hints of the Kree Skrull war which is to come in season 2, sort of.

The Hulk attacks, then Kang reveals his plan to conquer earth and advance earth’s technology so they can repel the invasion. Cap agrees to stand down, letting Tony decide what to do. Naturally he decides to let the avengers attack owing to Kang’s extreme arrogance (the fate of the world in their hands, I feel safer already)

Kang tries to leave but Ant-man attacks him with a swarm of cockroaches (naturally they survived) Cap (I thought he’d stood down) tells Iron Man to try and activate the chair whilst Kang is busy blocking everyone’s attacks. I don’t even want to list Kang’s abilities, it seems rather extensive.

Iron Man manages to find a way into the chair’s system, remembering a phrase Kang once said, some of the chair’s circuits are old stark industries tech. Thor destroys his armour but they teleport back to the ship. Kang starts the launch of the invasion.

It’s another good episode, you’ll hear that a lot in these reviews. Re-establishing Kang (after the bit in the opening, and foreshadowing the coming Kree Skrull War. But this is the only the first part of this trilogy, let’s take a look at the invasion

Rating 8.5/10

Come the Conqueror

Kang’s ships descend on the cities and begin deploying the troops, hundreds of them across the state (we see a few bits from the opening titles). Kang watches from his ship. Roll credits

SHIELD begins to engage but they’re going down, as are several other military installations across the planet. Fury wants to get in contact with the Avengers. As the Avengers are saving lives across the city (the Wasp’s attacks being largely ineffective) Iron Man and Thor come to the rescue of SHIELD where he discovers and (brace yourself, this’ll shock you) it’s all Kang’s doing.

After Kang gives another ego speech, the robots begin to repair themselves, so naturally the Avengers just do the exact same thing all over again and it works this time, they’re destroyed for realsies and everything. Hawkeye is out of arrows and he and Cap are backed into a corner. Thankfully the wasp arrives in a Quinnjet to come to their aid.

They regroup, and Fury tells them that Kang has launched similar assaults across the globe. We see a cameo of Captain Britain helping out in London and Wakandan defences engaging Kang’s ships. Iron Man, Captain America, Black Panther and Hank have regrouped in the tower (undoubtedly they’re not needed on the streets right now) where Fury warns them that they don’t have much time.

The Black Panther leaves in the other Quinjet to help his people in Wakanda (in the 4 or 5 hours it’ll take to get there, even at speed, he won’t be there in time to help) Iron Man stays in the mission room, the only one of them that can find Kang and put an end to this.

Hawkeye appears to have stocked up on arrows again and they’re still very effective against those self-repairing robots. Tony is connected to every satellite in the world but can’t find him. Cap says they need an army to fight and the Wasp takes him to the Ultrons.

Because teaching robots the concept of violence is undoubtedly the best idea Hank does so. The fight continues with the Ultrons providing much needed aid in the fight. Wasp and Ant-man find their way on board on the big ships. Ant-man says there must be an anchor that holds the ship in this time line, the Wasp zaps the control console and the connection is lost.

Now armed with that information the avengers target the big ships, freeing New York City. After having a tantrum, Iron Man remembers that maybe he’s not on Earth and manages to discover the ship, despite it being undetectable to current technology (you’d figure that’d mean invisible too)

Rating 8/10

The Kang Dynasty

Fury alerts the avengers to the fact that the base is preparing to fire. The Avengers are now all in space suits ready to take flight for the base. They enter the Quinjet (wait, didn’t they only have 2? One was taken by Black Panther, the other was destroyed)

Kang opens fire on Avengers mansion. The jet takes off with the Ultrons in tow. The blast from the ship could destroy the city, so Thor (why does he need a space suit again?) uses his hammer to redirect the blast back to the ship, disarming the weapons. Thor is knocked out but Hank sends the Ultrons to catch him.

Kang launches his forces to intercept, Hawkeye is given control of the quinjet’s weapons, and naturally he’s great shot with it. Iron Man and the Wasp clear a path as the Hulk opens a door into the ship, so the quinjet and ultrons can follow. Iron Man and the Wasp are cut off.

The others exit the jet and are confronted by Kang’s elite forces, who destroy one of the Ultrons, each with the ability to slow down or stop time. The avengers are outmatched at first but teamwork prevails.

Iron Man and the Wasp manage to find their way on board as Kang discovers to his annoyance that his forces on Wakanda have fallen as well. The Wasp finds Princess Rovana as the others discover the ship’s time drive. Naturally it’s more heavily defended than 1 guard. Kang however calls off his guard to face them himself.

His power set is like Mr T, Prometheus from Cry for Justice and Harvest from that stupid story, the Culling all rolled into one. Oh but Iron Man is suddenly more powerful than Kang, he gets Ultron to try and control the base and Kang doesn’t actually try and stop him until he has that control. Kang then uses swords and axes for some reason to attack and gets his ass handed to him.

Ultron commands the ships to return to the present but the Wasp stops him, else Princess Relana will die. Kang is locked up in 42 whilst Reed studies our princess. Ultron looks on menacingly, as his arc beckons. But we’ll get to that next time

Rating 8.5/10

Widow’s Sting

With all this excitement, you could be forgiven for forgetting about Black Widow and her betrayal to HYDRA and setting up Hawkeye. But it’s time to revisit that plot once again.

MODOC propose the cosmic cube, a machine that’ll grant wishes to whomsoever possess it, but they’ll need more money. Hawkeye interrupts the deal, asking about the Black Widow. Hawkeye begins taking out the assembled forces but they retreat into their respective crafts.

Hawkeye is given a warning from Fury to back away from the HYDRA plot. Iron Man voices his opinion, he agrees that if the Avengers attack, things will get worse and advises Hawkeye to let go of his desire for revenge.

Hawkeye storms off and is confronted by Cap and Black Panther, who both advise him to cool his head and not go in alone, they’re joined by Mockingbird, a SHIELD agent sent to send them on a wild goose chase. But Hawkeye already has a lead, a tracer he planted on the Grim Reaper. He and Mockingbird engage HYDRA forces but are sadly overwhelmed. They are to be taken to Baron Strucker, followed discreetly by Panther and Cap.

As they approach HYDRA Island, the tracker Cap was using. Black Widow and Madame Hydra both report to Strucker as the Grim Reaper arrives with his captives. Strucker tries to finish them off but Madame Hydra saves them, for reasons we won’t truly see until season 2.

Mockingbird and Hawkeye are locked up in cells. The Black Widow tries to talk to him, but he’s too distraught to listen. He quickly escapes and releases Mockingbird. MODOC is told that the cosmic cube, initially designed as a smokescreen might actually work. MODOC arranges another meeting with Strucker.

Hawkeye and Mockingbird fight the HYDRA masses and are joined just in time by Cap and the Black Panther. Strucker initiates the self-destruct sequence on the island as the Black Widow takes her to safety. Hawkeye has a shot at Widow but instead uses it to take down the weapon Madame Hydra had aimed at Bobbie. He takes on Widow but she beats him. Stucker attemtps to kill him. Meanwhile Black Panther and Cap beat the Grim Reaper bird as Mockingbird pursues Madame Hydra

Natasha knocks out Strucker, saving Hawkeye’s life as the other avengers catch up. Nick Fury has already picked up Mockingbird. They get a severe talking to by Fury as Hawkeye wonders why Natasha saved him.

AIM returns all of HYDRA’s money, claiming that the cosmic cube project was a failure, but Strucker knows when he’s being lied too. Nick Fury discovers that Madame HYDRA was actually a skrull.

It’s another decent episode, making is question Black Widow’s true allegiances once again, we’ll find the final answer later on. But next we’re back to the main plot.

Rating 8.5/10

The Casket of Ancient Winters

A bunch of arctic explorers make their way to a cavern inside they find what looks to be legions of asgardians (or Vikings) frozen in ice. He finds what he seeks, the casket of ancient winters.

Hawkeye, The Wasp and the Hulk are enjoying the sun whilst Iron Man, Thor and the Black Panther (whose suit is now immune to radiation, where was that feature during Gamma world) face the radioactive man. Iron Man tries to create a localised meltdown using the arc reactor but Thor stops him, less the radiation pollute the groundwater of earth.

He uses the water collants to stop him instead. The Enchantress and the Electrocutioner check up on the explorer, Malekith the accursed. He presents them the casket and opens it, freezing them both out of the battle.

He leaves the casket open and the ice begins to encompass the globe. Ice creatures come out of the ground, prompting Hawkeye and The Wasp to get into costumes as the Hulk remains frozen in the pool. Thor explains the casket of ancient winters.

When Iron Man and Thor could not locate the casket, the Black Panther manages to find them with ease. Cap engages the ice mosters, helped out by a fantastic 4 cameo (well the Human torch and the thing anyway) Ant-man, Hawkeye and the Wasp are taking on more by the mansion (Hawkeye has flare arrows now) also the Hulk gets free.

Iron Man, Black Panther and Thor confront Malekith, but they’re overmatched with Malekith in control of the casket. He reveals that the ice creatures contain dark elves and they’re being unleashed to take over the planet.

Malekith sets his hounds on Panther and Iron Man (Thor having been frozen) and Panther is hurt. The rest of the avengers are overmatched by the dark elves. Iron Man fights off the wolves, he frees Thor who reveals that Iron is the weakness of the dark elves, although vibranium appears to work as well.

Iron Man tries to grab him, but the suit contains very little iron and so he’s fought off. Black Panther gives wisdom about science and magic working together. Thor is instructed to hit Iron Man with ‘everything you’ve got’ a phrase that will have a different effect with every use.

They enact their plan and Malekith is vanquished, the casket closed and the remaining Dark elves dissipate. The Enchantress and Executioner are also freed however and they take the casket and leave. Thor tries to go after them but finds himself blocked. He cannot return to Asgard

Whilst this barely progresses the main plot and the mcguffin item here is not used to any meaningful degree in the finale, it’s none-the-less a well done episode. It’s nice to see everyone get their chance to shine. Next time we see the conclusions to the HYDRA and the Masters of evil arcs, and we see the birth of another of the Avengers’ greatest enemies.

Rating 8/10                             

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Images used in this review are from Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes and Marvel's Avengers Assemble and belong to their respective owners. All images in this review are subject to fair use