Going Through Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes Part One

So, funny thing happened.  And it isn’t really that funny.  Jimmy and Tom were doing a Young Justice watch-through.  It was new for Jimmy, but Tom had seen it before.  Jimmy was watching off Netflix Canada which had the first two seasons and Tom had the whole series on HBO Max.  Then, well, Netflix Canada dropped the series before the guys could get through to the end of season one.  Jimmy did eventually get some digital copies of the last three episodes, but the guys decided afterwards to give another show a shot in the meantime.

That show would be Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, a show that predated the majority of the MCU and has all of its episodes on Disney+…though it looks like they might be out of order on the service.  Huh.  Regardless, the guys chatted up the episodes “Iron Man is Born” and “Thor the Mighty”.

“Iron Man is Born”

Tony Stark clashes with both Hydra and Nick Fury.

jimmy: Maybe it’s because it wasn’t an origin story, and the numerous Hulk mentions, but I felt like I was missing something.

tomk:  Was it Robert Downey Jr?

jimmy:  Heh. Maybe, though not hard to tell this is after the MCU started as Tony was very RDJ.

tomk:  But not too far.  When this came out, there were only two MCU movies.

Plus, this episode began life as a series of short mini-episodes, hence the fact the last ten minutes or so is a Nick Fury episode.

jimmy:  Yeah, I wasn’t sure if this was supposed to be part of the MCU, or just using it as a springboard, or completely unrelated, just using the same characters…

tomk:  It’s mostly unrelated except that there’s a strong RDJ influence on Iron Man.

jimmy:  And probably will be the rest of our lives.

tomk:  But you won’t see an Edward Norton influence on the Hulk.

jimmy:  You probably wouldn’t notice anyway.

tomk:  You wouldn’t notice if the Hulk referred to himself as Banner’s raging bile duct?

jimmy:  I assume that is something from the Norton Hulk movie?

tomk:  More like Fight Club.

jimmy:  That makes more sense.

tomk:  That the Hulk is really Tyler Durden?

jimmy:  That’s actually not that far off.

tomk:  Regardless, this was an Iron Man episode, complete with a weird profile shot of a noseless Pepper Potts.

jimmy:  Her nose is overrated anyway.

tomk:  As I am not sure how to respond to that…hey, look, it’s Hydra!

jimmy:  And the Grim Reaper!

tomk:  Voiced by Professional Scary Guy Lance Henriksen!

jimmy:  Oh really?  Huh.

tomk:  There aren’t a lot of really recognizable actors in this show’s voice cast, but they usually get some good ones when they do.

jimmy:  So why was this called “Iron Man is Born”?  There’s no origin. He’s already Iron Man when the show starts.

tomk:  Because he, uh, finally appeared in public?

jimmy:  Maybe he’s not really Iron Man until they do a loose adaptation of Stark Wars.

tomk:  SHIELD kept the receipts.

jimmy:  And got Nick Fury a gym membership.

tomk:  He’s not as old as he looks.

jimmy:  He’s pretty young here for sure.

tomk:  There may be an explanation for that.

jimmy:  No one wanted to draw 70 year old SLJ?

tomk:  You wish you looked that good at 70.

jimmy:  I don’t look that good now.

tomk:  That’s because you lack Tony Stark’s self-confidence.

jimmy:  Oh, there’s no doubt about that.

tomk:  Fine. You can’t use the Gabbing Geek Power Armor.

jimmy:  That’s ok. It’s smelled funky since Watson wore it for Halloween.

tomk:  That wasn’t Watson. He went as one of the Trailer Park Boys.

jimmy:  People in the US know the Trailer Park Boys?

tomk:  It’s on our Netflix.

jimmy:  That doesn’t mean people watch it, but I guess that helps.

tomk:  I have had multiple students recommend it.

We get Letterkenny too on Hulu.

jimmy:  I’ve never watched either of them.

tomk:  Well, you have seen a full episode of Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.

Or so the legends suggest.

jimmy:  I have!

tomk:  That puts you ahead of anyone who hasn’t.

jimmy:  So what year did this come out?  2012?

tomk:  I think 2008.

jimmy:  Looks like 2010. Given the amount of time it takes to make an animated show, they probably were being made in 2009, so any MCU influence would only really be from the first Iron Man and the Incredible Hulk.

tomk:  Yeah. There isn’t much influence from the movies on the other Avengers.

jimmy:  I guess with only 1.5 MCU films under their belt, they didn’t really know what they had yet.

tomk:  Or they had always planned to play it closer to the comics.

jimmy:  Plus RDJ.

tomk:  What were their other options?  Pre-Downey Iron Man whose most memorable story was his battle with alcoholism?

jimmy:  They probably don’t deal with alcoholism much on Saturday morning cartoons.

tomk:  You’d be surprised.

jimmy:  That sounds like foreshadowing.

tomk:  Or a Tiny Toons reference. Look it up.

jimmy:  Tiny Toons eh?  Wow.  Those animated underage anamorphic kids sure are lightweights.

tomk:  One kills.

jimmy:  1/3 even.

tomk:  They are smaller.  Smaller people get drunk faster.

jimmy:  Not sure why this would be banned. I get that is shows underage drinking, but that was the point. They weren’t even subtle about it.

tomk:  They didn’t want to give Iron Man any ideas.

jimmy:  That didn’t work. Live action anyway.

tomk:  He was more addicted to cheeseburgers in those.

jimmy:  Not in the stellar Iron Man 2: Iron Maner.

tomk:  One forgettable party scene does not a full-blown alcoholic make.

jimmy:  You’ve always been soft on alcoholics in suits of armor.

tomk:  You’re soft on frozen custard.

To be fair, frozen custard can be delicious.

jimmy:  Indubitably!

tomk:  In fact, have some.  It was properly aged by Baron Strucker’s hand gizmo.

jimmy:  That’s bad?

tomk:  I dunno.  It isn’t cursed.

jimmy:  All right then. Hail Hydra!

tomk:  Hey, stay there for a moment, Jimmy.  I have to call security.

jimmy:  Ok. Sure.

tomk:  And you may end up in one of four prisons.

jimmy:  I thought there was only 3?

tomk:  Well, there’s the Vault for tech-based baddies.  There’s the Cube for gamma-powered baddies.  There’s the Big House…and then there’s one more that may be above your security clearance.

jimmy:  There’s security clearance above mine?

tomk:  Yeah.

Obviously.

And telling you who has it also above your security clearance.

jimmy:  Well. What can you tell me?

tomk:  The next episode introduces Thor?

jimmy:  That is good information.

tomk:  Wanna meet the Thunder God?

jimmy:  For reals?

tomk:  On a cartoon.

jimmy:  Oh. Well, ok, I guess so.

tomk:  It’s that or we give up right now.

jimmy:  We’re not giving up yet!

tomk:  Then let’s see Thor take on all comers.

“Thor the Mighty!”

Thor defends Midgard and Asgard from anyone who would attack the weak!

jimmy:  More pure evil Loki than lovable scamp MCU Loki…who’s only occasionally pure evil.

tomk:  This one has some scars from the looks of things. He ain’t handsome.

jimmy:

tomk:  He has the Enchantress when he needs someone pretty.

jimmy:  Loki says as much. Though she is disguised when she fools Thor.

tomk:  Not much of a disguise.

Then again, Thor never questions how a random mortal both knows his name and knows the Wrecking Crew is attacking the docks.

jimmy:  Thor might not be so bright.

tomk:  That or he has never looked at the Enchantress’s face for some reason.

jimmy:  Watson the Thunderer.

tomk:  You had to make the Watson joke to keep from saying nothing for the next couple hours after I posted that gif, I wager.

jimmy:  Maybe.  I better check that gif again to be sure.

tomk:  I’ll get comfortable in case this takes a while.

jimmy:  Still checking…

tomk:  Oh good. Pizza’s here.

jimmy:  What were we talking about?

tomk:  Why Thor doesn’t recognize the Enchantress with a change of clothes even when the outfit is the same color.

jimmy:  Maybe she had on glasses. That seems to be a good disguise.

tomk:  Not in the Marvel universe.

jimmy:  Right. They need a ball cap.

tomk:  Now, in some other universes, that works.  I mean, check out Aquaman here:

Would you know that was the King of Atlantis if I didn’t tell you?

jimmy:  I would not.

tomk:  That’s good.  Because that’s not Aquaman.  That’s Duncan Idaho.

jimmy:  Mind.  Blown.

tomk:  But that doesn’t stop the Wrecking Crew, four guys who figure dropping more stuff on a god’s head can stop him because they liked Roadrunner cartoons.

jimmy:  I don’t think they’re the brightest either.

tomk:  Oh, Thunderball is supposedly very smart.  It’s only Wrecker, Piledriver, and Bulldozer who are dummies.  I mean, Bulldozer is like someone crossed the Rhino with the Juggernaut because Marvel loves bad guys who ram people with their heads.

jimmy:  It’s well known those guys are just jerks.

tomk:  At least they practice good safety standards with appropriate helmets.

jimmy:  Workplace injuries hurt the most at home.

tomk:  Is that a reference for how halfway through the episode, everything moved to Asgard?

jimmy:  It was more an occupational health and safety joke…but sure.  Asgard!

tomk:  Message to Thor:  open with the lightning stike.

jimmy:  If Thor’s powers are lightning based, why is he the Lord of Thunder?

tomk:  Thunder is the sound lightning makes. You can’t have thunder without lightning.

jimmy:  But the thunder doesn’t hurt anyone or contribute to the fight.

tomk:  It scares away the bad guys’ pets.

jimmy:  That can be helpful I suppose.

tomk:  Wouldn’t you be distracted if your dog ran away?

jimmy:  For sure.

tomk:  How much worse is it if you are a frost giant?

jimmy:  Are there frost dogs?

tomk:  I dunno.  Probably.

jimmy:  Then that theory works I guess.

tomk:  It works at least as well as how Thor finally beat those frost giants with a lightning strike.

jimmy:

tomk:  Thor had to. Sif and the others weren’t getting the job done.

jimmy:  Volstag is usually helpful for winning hot dog eating contests. Hogrun is actually great a5 slam poetry. Fandral makes an excellent wingman. Sif makes excellent mixed drinks.

And Baldur?  He can’t even get into the MCU.

He sucks.

jimmy:  Just don’t stand between him and his turkey leg.

tomk:  You seem more like a mutton man anyway.

jimmy:  Can’t say I’ve ever had the pleasure.

tomk:  Giant cheeseburger?

jimmy:  Now you’re talking.

tomk:  Side of fries?

jimmy:  Please.

tomk:  Yeah, now we have something Baldur can never take from you.

jimmy:  It didn’t last long enough for anyone to take.

tomk:  You should slow down. Savor your meals. Let’s practice. Here’s a horn of Agardian mead. Now, don’t gulp it all down at once.

jimmy:  I’ll sip it.

tomk:  Good.

Because there’s no more when that one is finished.

jimmy:  I don’t want to be drunk for the next episode.

tomk:  Smart man. You don’t wanna be banished to a silent realm without color either.

jimmy:  How would I hear my favorite music?

tomk:  You could play it in your memory.

Or maybe the Moose knows a sound spell.

jimmy:  He knows how to make a sound smell, not sure about spell.

tomk:  Well, you’d only smell it then.

jimmy:  Don’t remind me.

tomk:  Can I point out this clearly came out before the first Thor movie since Jane Foster is an EMT?

jimmy:  Yeah, that was a little different twist.

tomk:  She’s still in medicine. An EMT will be on the front lines where a superhero is likely to find them.

jimmy:  That’s a good point. Not like Thor wil be hanging out in emergency rooms.

tomk:  He’s not Donald Blake here.

jimmy:  Exactly.

tomk:  He’s just being set up badly by Loki, who went to the Phantom Zone as part of a long range plan.

jimmy:  He’s always a step ahead. And he knew Odin would be sleepy.

tomk:  He also knew that the Leader sounds like Jeffrey Combs.

jimmy:  That guy gets around.

tomk:  Loki?  Well, he can teleport.

jimmy:  I meant Mr Combs.

tomk:  He even appeared on Gotham.

jimmy:  That must have been after I stopped watching.

tomk:  It was season one.

jimmy:  I guess I blocked it out.

tomk:  I’ll say. I flashed that picture once before to your horror.

jimmy:  I plan to block it out again.

tomk:  Like the Talking Cat?

jimmy:  Exactly.

tomk:  What do you want to remember?

jimmy:  To put on pants. Most days.

tomk:  I see you realize the Hulk introduction is up next.

jimmy:  And we’re very glad he keeps his pants on.

tomk:  You didn’t realize “Hulk smash!” could have a dual meaning?

jimmy:  I did not.

tomk:  Just as well. Wanna see what the Hulk is up to?

jimmy:  Will he have on pants?

tomk:  This show aired on the Disney Channel. So yes.

jimmy:  Phew.

tomk:  They may even be purple.

jimmy:  Purple is the stretchiest color.

tomk:  Then why does Plastic Man wear red?

jimmy:  He wears purple underneath.

tomk:  You think you got answers for everything?

jimmy:  No.

tomk:  Well good. Ready for the Hulk?

jimmy:  Let’s get unglamorous.

NEXT:  Tom and Jimmy will be back sometime soon with a chat about the episodes “Hulk vs the World” and “Meet Captain America”.