Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H. premiered on August 11, 2013 as part of Disney XD's Marvel Comics' animation block as clear slap to the face of Cartoon Network's own DC Comics' block on weekends.
Overview:
Hulk (Bruce Banner; currently affiliated with the Avengers as well), She-Hulk (Jennifer Walters; Hulk's cousin), the Red Hulk (General "Thunderbolt" Ross; Hulk's former archenemy turned superhero), A-Bomb (Rick Jones; Hulk's best friend), and Skaar (an alien warrior who strangely possesses gamma powers as well) join together as the Agents of S.M.A.S.H. (the acronym has not been defined yet) to tackle threats no other superheroes can face in the cameras set up by Rick Jones for his reality show so that the people can see that Hulk is more than a monster.The show is shown from the perspective of Rick's cameras resulting in humorous vignettes and visual gags throughout each episode such as a description of the "original" Hulk's choice words after a hamburger landed on him, or when the Collector took off Spider-Man's mask (his face was pixelated to hide his identity from the the viewers in the show).
Principal Cast:
Clancy Brown - Red HulkBenjamin Diskin - Skaar
Eliza Dushku - She-Hulk
Seth Green - A-Bomb/Rick Jones
Fred Tatasciore - Hulk
The Plot:
Doorway to Destruction Part I
The Hulk and Rick Jones respond to a gamma portal from the Negative Zone created by Annihilus in an effort to drain Earth's resources. But unable to get through, Annihilus sends a mind-controlled Skaar to retrieve a Gamma ray cannon to help him push through. Red Hulk traces the portal and arrives to lend a much needed hand in battle.Doorway to Destruction Part II
The explosion caused by the fight against Annihilus' army has turned Rick Jones into A-Bomb (a blue version of Abomination). With the help of She-Hulk, Hulk and A-Bomb travel to the Negative Zone to rescue Red Hulk and defeat Annihilus.
The Verdict:
Compared to the campy nature of Avengers Assembled and Ultimate Spider-Man, I can stomach this show to an extent. For those who didn't know, most comic book shops offered a free comic based on this premiere episode on Free Comic Book Day. The first episode literally goes off it word-by-word verbatim.
I'm going to spoil something that most Marvel Comics fans can easily tell you right now too. Hulk is Skaar's biological father as a result of the Planet Hulk storyline. I don't know why they are acting like it's a big mystery as it's just as lame to keep it a secret as Aqualad and Artemis' true identities/backgrounds in Young Justice for comic book fans.
As a whole, the series has an unique concept as I found the reality TV show theme to be pretty unique for a superhero-themed show. It's not that traditionally forced comedy that is shoved down our throats in both Ultimate Spider-Man and Avengers Assembled, more like more insight on what the heroes are thinking in the spur of the moment. Besides, anyone who knows me personally knows how much I mark for anything She-Hulk-related (eat your heart out Deadpool marks, she was breaking the 4th wall before he even dreamed of it back when John Bryne was doing her solo book) and to have her as part of this show's roster was an instant "must-watch" on my radar.
As for this premiere, I'm not going to say it was great, nor I'm going to say it was bad. It falls into a bit of a middle ground. They could have selected a stronger adversary than Annihilus to open this series out with. With The Leader obviously pulling the strings from behind the scenes that's revealed at the end of this premiere, I don't see why he could not have been established the main antagonist from start. On the other hand, I could see why they went with him. Annihilus is that one token Marvel villain who has been up against the Fantastic Four, the Avengers, and even the Silver Surfer on numerous occasions, so Marvel does get kudos for including a baddie who isn't that well-known to most so-called fans of this stuff.
From the bad dialogue to the concept that a team of five individuals with the same set of powers, makes me a bit concerned on how long Marvel actually expects this show to last. It would have benefited better to debut this during the peak of interest throughout Marvel Comics' Fall of the Hulks angle from roughly two years ago as there was a lot of interest on Hulk and his gamma-powered "family" back then. Now? Not so much, despite that he was the most popular character to come out of last year's summer blockbuster Marvel's The Avengers. I find it a bit odd that Red Hulk is on the team's roster, but without any reference to Banner's former wife and Ross' own daughter - Betty Ross, aka Red She-Hulk, especially that she has her own solo comic book going on right now. Her inclusion on the team roster would have been potentially more sales for that comic. If I were to guess right now from this premiere, Red She-Hulk will pop up later as one of The Leader's lackeys under his control, possibly along with Lyra (Hulk's daughter from an alternate future) too. Another thing that annoyed me was that they pretty much killed She-Hulk's (Jennifer Walters) background as the best lawyer in Marvel Universe ...when she's not adventuring around as a superhero. Yeah, even better than Daredevil's blind ass. Instead, they simply say that she's a professional stuntwoman. Talk about weak... but I won't be too mad as Eliza Dushku is voicing her in this. I would have rathered Maria Canals Barrera voiced her in this like she did a stellar job doing in both Marvel vs. Capcom 3 and Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, but I can't complain too much.
Despite the huge "meh" factor coming from this show, I can humbly respect Disney's attempts to expand the Marvel Animated Universe. To this day, I still found it was highly idiotic that Warner Bros. allowed the DC Animated Universe that Bruce Timm and his team spent well over a decade crafting and honing to perfection, to die off after the cancellation of Justice League Unlimited. Am I saying that Disney's attempts so far have been good? Not in the least, but I appreciate what they are trying to do with these characters - giving them a lasting appeal for this generation of children and young adults can reminisce with their own children in the future.
Ugh... I feel like I've rambled on too long on this review. For a two-part premiere, this could have been a lot worse. We saw the team of Hulks come together and SMASH. That's all what we were expecting from this right? I don't see any harm done other than what was mentioned prior, so I'm going to give this a fair 3.5 out of 5.
Despite the huge "meh" factor coming from this show, I can humbly respect Disney's attempts to expand the Marvel Animated Universe. To this day, I still found it was highly idiotic that Warner Bros. allowed the DC Animated Universe that Bruce Timm and his team spent well over a decade crafting and honing to perfection, to die off after the cancellation of Justice League Unlimited. Am I saying that Disney's attempts so far have been good? Not in the least, but I appreciate what they are trying to do with these characters - giving them a lasting appeal for this generation of children and young adults can reminisce with their own children in the future.
Ugh... I feel like I've rambled on too long on this review. For a two-part premiere, this could have been a lot worse. We saw the team of Hulks come together and SMASH. That's all what we were expecting from this right? I don't see any harm done other than what was mentioned prior, so I'm going to give this a fair 3.5 out of 5.
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