The Next Avengers

Introduction

Superhero universes are in constant flux as history is written and then rewritten. Not a problem for me as I don't actually read a lot of comics. The Next Avengers from the Marvel publishing house via Liongate is one of those reboots that asks What If?

The What If in this case is that the universe has been conquered by super robot cum villain Ultron, having dispatched (i.e killed) all the superheroes who lined up to protect the Earth and the universe. Amongst the fallen are Captain America, Giant Man, Wasp, Black Panther, Black Widow, Thor and Hawkeye.



Squirelled away from danger and under the tutelage of Tony Stark, are four young children descended from the Avengers. James is the son of super-soldier Captain America and Russian spy Black Widow. Torunn is the daughter of the Asgardian God of Thunder and Avenger called Thor. Azari is the son of the Black Panther, ruler of the African nation of Wakanda. And lastly, Henry Pym is the son of the Avengers Giant Man and the Wasp.

The children live a secluded life until curiousity gets the better of them one day and their actions lead Ultron to them. With the help of Stark they manage to escape and meet up with Francis Barton, the son of the Avenger Hawkeye, who thought he was the only descendant of the Avengers and therefore not too pleased to find out he'd been left on his own.

This disparate group of juvenile superheroes must learn to put their differences to one side and join forces to defeat Ultron, save the universe and avenge their parents.

Visual

The review disc I got has a rather annoying counter running right through the top of the picture all the way through. This is joined intermittently by a copyright caption of three lines every few minutes or so. Very annoying, stop doing it!

Audio

Soundtrack is suitably overblown for what it is, there are no subtites - which is just as well with the counter and captions already shown on screen.

Extras

None, the review disc also auto started so not sure what will appear on the retail version.

Overall

It has to be said that I'm not a comic or superhero aficionado, the nearest I get is watching the latest Hollywood adaptation if it seems suitably impressive. I even managed to buy The Watchmen book a few months ago and got bored about half way through. So I may not be the best person to put this into perspective.

On the other hand, I may be somewhat ideal for anyone in the same position.

This release references several Marvel superheroes at the start and at various points during proceedings, but this is essentially a reboot that is aimed squarely at children. It's actually the kind of thing you might find on Nickolodeon or the Cartoon Network alongside Dexter's Lab or the animated Batman series (or something). There's a distinct lack of grown up reference points or dialogue here, except maybe wise old and grizzled Tony Stark (or Ironman if you prefer).



It's also very formulaic. The aforementioned Stark is the mentor figure. You then have a band of five children with their own characters and powers. The first has no powers other than the Captain America shield but is the inspirational leader. You've got the feisty girl and brash boy who form your subtly hinted at romance subplot. Then there's the quiet one and lastly the rather immature one who always gets the rest into a spot of bother.

Some of the animation is quite impressive, the rest is just standard kids show stuff. I'm sure this will find an audience but I wasn't overly impressed and would recommend a hire rather than purchase.