Featured TV on DVD Review: The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes

November 5, 2011

The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes - Buy from Amazon: Volume Three and Volume Four

It wasn't that long ago that Marvel was on the verge of bankruptcy. The comic industry had collapsed, comic book movies in general were box office poison, while Marvel's track record was even worse. However, since X-Men, nearly everything they've touched has turned to gold. This includes movies and TV shows. One of their latest TV shows is The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes. It makes sense to push this franchise, as The Avengers movie hits theaters next year. I previously reviewed the first two volumes, but how well do these volumes hold to the first half of the season?

Volume Three: Iron Man Unleashed

Volume three begins with the return of every single villain we've seen so far! Okay, that's not quite true, but we do see Enchantress, Executioner, Crimson Dynamo, Abomination, Wonder Man and one Baron Heinrich Zemo. Baron Zemo is leading the team he calls Masters of Evil. His plan is to capture the Avengers one by one and he's off to a great start. The first episode isn't halfway over and he's captured most of the team. While Zemo is the leader of The Masters of Evil, it's clear Zemo is working for someone else. Exactly who he's working for and why is a spoiler, but it involves two alien races and a time travelling empire.

Strangely, while most of the DVD builds up to a climactic worldwide battle, it ends by returning to a more personal storyline with Hawkeye trying to get revenge on the Black Widow after she betrayed him and joined with H.Y.D.R.A. Unfortunately, this is a multi-part storyline and only the first part appears on volume three, so the disc ends on a disjointed note. Fortunately, volume four came out the same day.

The Extras

The first episode on the disc, The Masters of Evil, can be seen with a comic book trivia track.

Volume Four: Thor's Last Stand

Volume four starts off not exactly where volume three ended, but instead starts in Norway, where Malekith the Accursed retrieves a lost relic for The Enchantress and Skurge, only to turn on them and use the Casket of Ancient Winters to throw the Earth into an everlasting winter.

We then switch back to the Black Widow story line, after she shows up asking for help. Turns out she wasn't a traitor, but went deep undercover in H.Y.D.R.A.. H.Y.D.R.A. had been working with A.I.M. to create something called the cosmic cube, which would have the power to alter reality. While the combined efforts of these two forces are a threat, the world may end at the hand of a former ally.

After a few episodes of that, we get back to the Asgard storyline. It's kind of strange how they split the two storylines like this. On the other hand, that's my only real complaint about these two DVDs.

The Extras

There is another comic book trivia track, this time for Hail, HYDRA!

The Verdict

The action is certainly ramped up on these two DVDs and, without the need to introduce the characters or explain how the teams form, the series can concentrate on the many enemies The Avengers have faced. All aspects of the show are extremely well done. We have strong character moments from most of the cast. There is a huge cast of villains from the decades long history of the comic book franchise and a tantalizing look at things to come. I would have loved to have some audio commentary tracks here, but the extras on Volume Three and Volume Four are enough that they are easily worth picking up.


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