Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes Review Episode 1-14

Reviews

This is a review of the episode “Masters of Evil” which first aired on December 5, 2010.

Before I start, a special thanks to my friend, Caleb Walker (aka gamesrgreat). In my review from last week, I asked:Where did the Masters of Evil pick up Crimson Dynamo? Caleb dropped me a line saying that it happened in the tie-in comic. Thanks for the head’s up!

Spoilers

Over the last few episodes, we’ve seen Enchantress putting together a team of villains, including Executioner, Abomination, Wonder Man, Crimson Dynamo, and Baron Zemo, all with the goal of getting revenge on the Avengers.

Instead of going after the team all at once, the Masters of Evil first target Wasp. Enchantress uses her magic to create the illusion that Whirlwind is back attacking New York, so Wasp goes after him and is easily taken down. They use Wasp’s ID card to get into the mansion and to summon the rest of the team to take down Captain America, Thor, Hulk, and Iron Man one at a time.

Hawkeye and Panther were at the Wakandan embassy, so they arrive late and see what’s happening from a nearby rooftop. Hawkeye suggests calling in SHIELD as back up, but Black Panther points out that innocent bystanders and their teammates would be hurt in a big fight, so they need to do it alone.

Black Panther and Hawkeye rush the mansion, and are quickly defeated. SWERVE! It turns out to have been a diversion to sneak Hank Pym in to get to his lab and arm himself. He takes out Wonder Man and frees the other Avengers. Zemo and the rest decide to retreat.

When the Masters of Evil arrive back at their headquarters, Enchantress doesn’t seem all that upset by the loss. She goes to a hidden room and talks to a figure hidden in the shadows (very clearly Loki), telling him that all the pieces are in place.

End spoilers


We really need to start a Earth’s Mightiest Heroes drinking game:

  • When a solo hero takes down the entire team, take a shot.
  • When someone manages to break into the mansion, take a shot.
  • When Hawkeye saves the day, take a shot.
  • Someone hits Abomination hard enough to send him flying several blocks away, take a shot.

I am all for callbacks, but this is a bit much.

That said, they managed to get a lot into this episode without making it feel rushed, which I had commented in the past has been a major issue with Avengers.   But the pacing felt much better in this episode.

Hawkeye is perfect! His banter with the rest of the team is very well done, and I like how he’s outright saying what is on the others Avengers’ minds, Stark is not suited to leave the team. I also liked how he had criticisms for each member of the team, but when Panther asked him about Cap, he stayed silent. Even the new members understand Cap’s importance to the team.

There was an interesting contradiction in this episode that I am very sure was intentional. When Thor wasn’t around for the Wakanda adventure, Iron Man comments that he thinks he went back to Asgard. But in this episode, Thor tells Jane Foster that he hadn’t been back to Asgard since the first episode. Combine that with Loki’s appearance at the end of the episode, and I wonder what’s really going on in Asgard.

As usual, the small details make this show fit perfectly in a bigger Marvel universe. In the beginning, we see a newspaper that mentions the X-Mansion and also has a headline saying,  “Replaced by Aliens” – Baxter Tenant Speaks. A nice reference to the Fantastic Four. They really need to make an appearance soon, as this is the third time they have been referenced indirectly!

All in all, this was a very good episode, though some of the overly done elements did get on my nerves a little. Not enough to make me not enjoy the show, but definitely enough to make me worry that I might get sick of them soon.

Next week, CAPTAIN MARVEL! I am actually a huge Mar-Vell fan. At one time, I basically owned every appearance he had ever made. And when I sold my comic collection recently, I ended up keeping his first appearances in Marvel Super-Heroes #12 and 13 and his regular series. The episode seems to feature the Sentry from those early issues. That should be great!

Final Score: 8.5/10: I was surprised how much they managed to get in this episode. They set up for a bigger confrontation with the Masters of Evil later, and helped establish the newly formed Avengers team. Can’t ask for much more than that.

Mike Maillaro is a lifelong Jersey Boy and geek. Mike has been a comic fan for about 30 years from when his mom used to buy him Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Adventures at our local newsstand. Thanks, Mom!! Mike's goal is to bring more positivity to the discussion of comics and pop culture.