Most Anticipated Superhero Shows of 2013

2012 was perhaps the greatest year yet for superheroes. Marvel's the Avengers and The Dark Knight Rises were the two biggest movies of the year, each surpassing a billion dollars in worldwide box office receipts. Spider-Man was successfully relaunched and even C-listers Judge Dredd and Ghost Rider were given  the chance (though they were not successful) to relaunch potential film franchises. The found footage film Chronicle was another bright spot in the genre paving the way for the success of lower budget films. DC churned out three more animated films with Batman: The Dark Knight Returns Part 1 proving that the film line hasn't yet run out of tricks. So can 2013 top this past year? Perhaps not financially, but there are a ton of projects worth getting excited about. Let's countdown the most anticipated new superhero shows of 2013...

Trailers for Those Other Iron Man Movies Have Landed

While we wait for the trailer to Iron Man 3, we have been treated to the first peeks at the CG tie in Iron Man & Hulk: Heroes United (which coincidentally shares a similarity to today's just announced Lego Batman: DC Heroes Unite) and the anime Iron Man: Rise of Technovore. Lets tackle Heroes United first.

Marvel Aims to Unite Heroes in a New Animated Movie

After kicking off an age of direct to video animated films with Ultimate Avengers in 2006, Marvel eventually shelved the line after it ended on the whimper that was Thor: Tales of Asgard. In the meantime, DC has moved to a three a year release schedule that is still holding strong. Well, thanks to Entertainment Weekly, we now know of plans for Marvel to get back in the game with Iron Man & Hulk: Heroes United.

Bits of Tid from Avengers Season 2

Readers of the blog are probably aware of my DC bias, but there is still a soft spot in my heart for Marvel, particularly when it comes to the X-Men. So what do the X-Men have to do with The Avengers: Earths Mightiest Heroes? Everything! And here is a sneak peak at Storm, Wolverine, Nightcrawler, and a couple other upcoming guests.

The Trial of the Incredible Hulk (1989) - Discount Review

Heroes: Hulk and Daredevil: The Man Without Fear, and a cameo by Stan the Man Lee

Villains: Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin

Counting Down the Most Anticipated Superhero Shows of 2012 (11-19)

Although the sun is setting on 2011, one of the most prolific years ever for superhero shows, 2012 aims to raise the bar even higher. Not only are massive amounts of new shows planned for the upcoming year, but the A-listers are being tapped. While Wolverine and Superman, both originally planned for 2012 releases, scurried off to less crowded pastures, 2012 still promises to be plenty busy. And though any superhero show may at least offer a hint of promise, I can't be super excited for all of them. Here is the ranking of my anticipation for announced shows planned to debut in the upcoming year:

The Incredible Hulk Returns (1988) - Discount Review

Recommended For: Kids who would be excited just to see Thor without actually caring how lame he was.

Heroes: Hulk and Thor AND (surprisingly) Donald Blake the non-alter ego summoner of Thor

Villains: Some extremely forgettable guys

The Incredible Hulk: Pilot (1977) - Discount Review

Heroes: The Incredible Hulk

Villains: Tabloid reporter Jack McGee

Diabolical Schemes: Trying to get to the bottom of the mysterious Hulk sighting, Jack McGee ambushed David Banner and lab-mate Elaina accidentally blowing up the lab, killing Elaina and giving Dave an excuse to play dead as he hit the road for 82 episodes.

Hulk to Star in a 'SMASH'ing New Series

Another big reveal at Comic Con last week was the announcement of a new animated series from Marvel staring the Hulk family. The promotional image for Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H. showed agents Hulk, Red Hulk, Skaar son of Hulk, and She-Hulk. This image is literally all that is known about the series so far. I am a little intrigued by the inclusion of more recently created Skaar and Red Hulk, I think that offers potential for some fun new elements; however, I don't really get the whole 'Agents of S.M.A.S.H.' thing. Are they really agents? What is SMASH? Will Red She Hulk appear? Stay tooned for answers.

First Look at the Hulk and Fully Assembled Avengers

Marvel.com has unveiled the final character image of the Hulk resulting in a mural combining the 7 Avengers as they will appear in the 2012 film. 

Thor Ends the Marvel DtV Line with a Whimper

So this is how it ends for Marvel's "edgy" direct to video line of movie aimed for mature audiences, not with a bang but a whimper. Sure, I expect more Marvel animated movies to come some day, but for now the future is uncertain and with the acquisition of Marvel by Disney, this line is dead. But does anyone care? After a year plus delay, Thor: Tales of Asgard finally hit shelves to cash in on the release of the live-action Thor and I have to wonder how much of a boost the delay will even give the movie.

For a quick recap of history, Ultimate Avengers debuted back in 2006 to pretty big sales offering ratcheted up violence and action and a PG-13 rating aimed at hip teen and less hip 20 and 30 something (but possibly still living at home) audiences. Ultimate Avengers 2 and The Invincible Iron Man also performed well in spite of mediocre stories and sub par animation. Then Marvel started making crazy choices. Just when DC jumped into the game with what ended up being a superior product, Marvel decided to focus on the lesser known Doctor Strange. That was followed up with Next Avengers a PG rated movie focusing on the teen kids of the Avengers. The movie was actually okay, but it seemed clear the line had strayed from its initial promise. To their credit Marvel's next two Hulk vs and Planet Hulk were both excellent, delivering action and intensity that couldn't simply be adapted for Saturday morning cartoons. Lastly, Marvel offered up Thor: Tales of Asgard and I am left scratching my head.

I will go into detail below, but aside from the two Hulk movies, these Marvel DtVs all had a sort of TV pilot feel to them. Not that the movies were bad, just that at the end I always felt like "now that that's out of the way lets see what happens next," only there is no next. These movie have been too much setup and not enough story. Sure DC has had some origin stories but they have balanced them with epic stories at the heroes prime. The Thor movie predates an origin making it even less satisfying. Whatever. At least the Hulk movies saved this line from total mediocrity and if nothing else, Marvel drew DC into the market, so thanks for that. Here is the final ranking of the line.

#8 Doctor Strange: The Sorcerer Supreme may or may not be a faithful telling of a character that I just don't find that interesting or likable. This is a perfect example of a story that felt half told because by the time the character was introduced, organized, and ready to roll, the running time was up. I am confident a Doctor Strange 2 would have been better, but of course there will be no sequel.

#7 The Invincible Iron Man was another decent origin story that begins to feel pointless without any further stories to build upon it. The phenomenal live-action Iron Man movie released after this makes The Invincible Iron Man even more irrelevant and the flaws more evident. Oh, and the CG baddies look horrendous.

#6 Ultimate Avengers 2: The Rise of the Panther was a step down from the first Ultimate Avengers. I did like the Black Panther, but his role on the team didn't seem to justify an entire movie. My memory may also just be failing me, but this movie didn't really seem to have much point other than "stop alien invaders."

#5 Thor: Tales of Asgard doth dishonor its hero. As if they didn't learn from the teen Avengers debacle, once again we are treated with a teen hero in Thor. The movie didn't even bother for a rating which makes me think it would have ended up in the PG category as well. I just don't understand. Thor was in six of the eight Marvel movies, but he never really got his own spotlight. That is a travesty. I know this is technically a Thor movie, and there were some nice references to the rich mythology of Asgard and the Nine Realms, but one crucial element was missing. It may not seem like a big deal, but if I were to ask 10 people to name the first thing they thought of with regards to Thor, I am pretty sure 9 if not 10 of them would say something about a hammer. Well aside from a 2 second gag with a wooden mallet, there was no Mjolnir here. So basically this movie may be a good intro to Thor's world for those that know nothing of him, but its a ripoff for those who do. And its blatant contradictions from the other Thor film will do nothing but confuse new fans of the character won over by the live-action movie. Sadly, the best animated Thor movie to be found is titled Hulk Vs.



#4 Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow is a movie that sounded like a disaster, but wasn't. The story was pretty enjoyable and the Hulk's role was perhaps the movies highlight. My main problems with the movie are that the limited running time prevents the viewer from really caring about this new roster of characters. Also, the movie was annoying in that the whole point of these DtVs was to make animation more geared for teens and adults. Why then produce an (albeit good) adventure aimed at kids?

#3 Ultimate Avengers deserves credit for launching not only this line of Marvel DtVs but DCs line as well as movies for other characters like Hellboy. I really like the WWII sequence as well as the Hulk fight at the end. The middle is a bit uneven, but for the size of the cast, everyone was given a couple of memorable scenes.

#2 Planet Hulk surprised me. No I have not read the original story, but the whole idea sounded a bit hokey to me. I am still not sure I like the idea of perma-Hulk versus transforming Hulk and the movie did seem quite reminiscent of the movie Gladiator. Nevertheless, when all was said and done the talking/thinking Hulk stuff didn't bother me at all.. Besides, if they were going to do another Hulk movie, I suppose this approach was better than another monster that must be stopped story. The arena fights, especially the one with Beta Ray Bill (if they could use Wolverine in Hulk Vs, why couldn't they use Silver Surfer here?) were enjoyable, and all of the flashbacks were entertaining. In the end this movie stands on its own, the most complete movie in this whole line.

#1 Hulk Vs. not only delivered two stories for the price of one, but both were interesting, different enough from one another, and briskly paced. I probably preferred the Wolverine story to Thor, but both were enjoyable. This simple idea begs for a follow-up with a Hulk Vs 2 or even a line of Marvel Vs movies. Even though this isn't really a movie as much as two long episodes, it is proof that longer running time isn't always better.

There you have it. To recap:

#1 Hulk Vs. (Wolverine and Thor)
#2 Planet Hulk
#3 Ultimate Avengers
#4 Next Avengers
#5 Thor: Tales of Asgard
#6 Ultimate Avengers 2: Rise of the Panther
#7 The Invincible Iron Man
#8 Dr. Strange: The Sorcerer Supreme

Retrospective 2010 - Part 1

2010 was a prolific year for superhero shows; and while bigger isn't always better, among this year's output of nuggets there were a fair number of gems. On the other hand some of these nuggets should be tossed aside last last week's left over McDonald's 20 piece. In this part 1, we will revisit shows that arrived during the pre-summer season of 2010.

Human Target

In January, Fox launched the second attempt at a Human Target television series based on the Vertigo (DC) comic book series. Although the series found a big enough audience for a second season, dwindling numbers seem to forecast a dim outlook for the show's future.

Black Panther
The Black Panther animated mini-series created in the motion comic style was intended to debut on BET, but ended up hitting airwaves in Australia in January, later arriving online in the US. I am not sure what all the issues were, but the Marvel Disney merger may have had an effect on this release as it did on other animation projects. In any case, its always nice for a new character to headline his own series. Hopefully Daredevil won't be far behind.



Planet Hulk

February's Direct to Video debut of Planet Hulk was one of the year's early surprises. Many fans of Marvel's animated movies may have felt some Hulk saturation after the Jolly Green One appeared in 4 of the first 6 films. But the 5th time was the charm as this interesting variation offered a fresh take on the character while keeping in plenty of "smash!"

Defendor

Woody's realistic take on street vigilante's found its way to the US in February earning $44,000 in its theatrical debut and somehow paving the way for a similar themed project for Dwight in Super.

The Justice Society of America

Even though Smallville has been on for years, the 9th season featured the first onscreen appearance of the classic Justice Society of America team, the first superhero team in comics (debuting in 1940). Although members of the JSA had appeared elsewhere previously either solo or as members of the Justice League, this was the first time the JSA got some well deserved attention. Hawkman, Dr. Fate, and Stargirl got most of the focus along with nemesis Icicle.

Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths

In late February, DC countered with a Direct To Video of its own. Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths made use of a long dormant script originally planned for as a movie for the Justice League animated series. The story inspired by the Justice League Earth 2 comic saw the League taking on alternate Earth evil counterparts, known as the Crime Syndicate led by the nefarious Owl Man.

The Spectre

Accompanying the Justice League movie was The Spectre, a fantastic ten minute short ushering in DC's new and possible short lived Showcase line focusing on lesser know heroes.


The Losers

As summer neared, a couple of clunkers hit the big screen starting with The Losers. This A-Team wanna-be team of underdogs failed to capture a mainstream audience. On the other this film gave DC's Vertigo its second live-action adaption of the year.

Kick Ass

Spring ended with the ultra violent adaptation of the Kick-Ass comic which earned decent enough reviews and a fair box office earning total of $48 million. Though there is talk of a sequel, its doubtful that hard R heroes are the next big thing.

Three Marvel Heroes Headed for the Small Screen

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Marvel comics is working on two upcoming live action superhero shows for television. The first is Cloak and Dagger (unrelated to the spy movie about the kid with the video game full of secrets and the lady with the missing fingers) a duo of light / dark power users. The second is yet another Hulk project.

I guess Cloak and Dagger could be interesting, but I really have no idea what to expect just yet. Hulk on the other hand is a bit of a surprise. Marvel seems determined to milk the Jolly Jade Juggernaut for all he is worth. In just the last few years he has been booted, rebooted, and now recast for The Avengers. I don't think casual audiences are that stupid, but having a new Hulk every couple of years is a little distracting at the least. Also, a parallel show makes a Hulk sequel movie seem unlikely in the near future. I know Marvel wasn't thrilled with the box office take for The Incredible Hulk, but it still seems like movies are the way to go with this effects heavy character.

Who knows, maybe Hulk will finally recapture the success of his 70's TV series, but if they go for TV budget CG transformations, I am going to be pretty skeptical. Rumors are they are also considering a Punisher series. Whats next, Elektra? Sometimes you just need to move on from a movie bomb to something fresh. I mean, does Catwoman the TV show sound like a good idea?

The Hulk Has Come

The Avengers micro series episode 2 of 20 has arrived. Like yesterday's Iron Man, the designs seem quite influenced by the live-action movies.

Marvelous Animation Tour - The Incredible Hulk (1982)

In 1982, Marvel debuted yet another short lived series. The Incredible Hulk aired as a companion to Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends and lasted just 13 episodes. Over the series run just one classic Hulk villain, The Leader, appeared. The series did remain fairly faithful to the original comic tales and also provided She-Hulk's onscreen debut.

* The Marvel Super Heroes (1966) * Spider-Man (1967) * Fantastic Four (1967) * The Fantastic Four (1978) * Fred and Barney Meet the Thing (1979) * Spider-Woman (1979) * Spider-Man (1981) * Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends (1981) * The Incredible Hulk (1982) *

Retrospective 1990

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles hit the big screen in March of 1990 with a surprisingly dark (though somewhat truer to the source material) tone. The darker tone would be a theme for the live action movie that followed, perhaps a result of the Burtonified Batman the year previous. The film cost $13.5 million and banked 10x that. Though slow at times, this movie is a step ahead of the sequels that followed.

Dick Tracy

Hoping to replicate the previous summer's Batmania with Dickmania, Dick Tracy employed Danny Elfman to write a dark score to this visually interesting film. It also had an all star cast including Warren Beatty, Al Pacino, Dustin Hoffman, Dick Van Dyke, and Madonna. Not a bad movie, but Tracy is no Batman. The movie broke $100 million, but while Batman received sequels and reboots aplenty, Dick Tracy #2 never materialized.

Darkman


Before there was Spider-Man, Sam Raimi brought us Darkman. The movie is about a dude who is attacked, has his face burnt off, and seeks revenge as the masked Darkman. The movie spawned two sequels and a failed TV pilot, so in all a pretty decent run for an original character.

Captain America

Marvel's Captain America did not come to "theaters everywhere "in the spring of 1990. IThe poorly made movie was instead dumped on the poor Aussies down under late in the year and would quietly arrive in VHS bargain bins in the US a few years later. Thanks to youtube, its crappiness will not be forever forgotten.

Captain Planet and the Planeteers

On TV, Captain Planet and the Planeteers launched an incredibly successful series producing 113 episodes in combination with the sequel series The New Adventures of Captain Planet. Apparently heart was the 5th element that went along with earth, wind, fire, and water.

Its not to say the show was very good, but somebody must have been watching it.

Swamp Thing: The Series

Another "green" series, Swamp Thing, also faired better than one would expect lasting 72 episodes.

Death of the Incredible Hulk

Still on the topic of green, the last of the Jade Giants TV specials aired in 1990 titled Death of the Incredible Hulk. This outing unsurprisingly featured Hulk dying. Although there were plans for another TV special, it was not to be and the TV Hulk would rest in peace.

The Flash

Another Danny Elfman scored project was the one season wonder The Flash. Following in the footsteps of the dark Batman film, this series featured a grittier Flash. Later in the season, the tone lightened up a bit to allow for characters such as The Trickster portrayed by Mark Hamil, a role that may have won him the job of voicing The Joker in the Batman Animated Series.

Basically 1990 was a low budget year for the heroes of super. Even though there were a fair amount of shows produced, sadly none of them proved too long lasting.

Marvelous Animation Tour - The Marvel Super Heroes (1966)

A tour through Marvel's animated history begins here.

Marvel's first entry debuted in 1966. The Marvel Super Heroes aired five times a week with a different hero taking the stage each night (each with his own theme song). The series pretty much consisted of straight adaptations of comic book series onto film. In fact, the animation costs were kept to a minimum by photocopying art from the comic pages and just animating the mouths.

Monday night belonged to Captain America (along with occasional Avengers team-ups)




Tuesday was Hulk night




Iron Man took the stage on Wednesday



Thor was all over Thursday



Prince Namor the Sub-Mariner finished the week on Friday



The X-men actually made their onscreen debut in the Prince Namor series, replacing the source story's Fantastic Four due to rights issues.

In all, 195 7-minute segments were produced for 65 episodes.

Retrospective 1989

In my book, or at least on my blog, 1989 was one of the most important years for superhero shows. Looking over the year's entries, it also seemed that green monsters were quite popular that year. After all, who doesn't love green monsters?

The Toxic Avenger Part II

A few years after the cult hit Toxic Avenger, Toxie returned and traveled to Japan (karate kid style). The movie did horribly and even the trailer is so bad / offensive that I won't embed it here, but if you must see it: here ya go.

The Trial of the Incredible Hulk

After Hulk and Thor's successful team up the year before in the Incredible Hulk Returns, Daredevil was ready to do some legal representin'.



The Return of Swamp Thing

"He's got a grudge cuz they turned him to sludge." But "He is turning over a new leaf."



Yeah, pretty much nobody wanted to see this, and so no one did.

Batman

Obviously, Batman was the year's standout. Not only was the movie one of the most successful superhero movies ever made reinvigorating the genre and spawning a slew of Batfilms. Batman also spawned Batman: The Animated Series, itself a highly influential series, as well as other dark takes on heroes such as the short lived Flash series.

Punisher

Marvel's big summer attempt at The Punisher starring Dolph Lundgren fell flat never even making it to theaters.

This fine tradition of Marvel disasters would continue with Captain America and The Fantastic Four before the company finally went on a winning streak some 10 years later with Blade.

The Toxic Avenger III: The Last Temptation of Toxie

As if Toxic Avenger II wasn't enough, 1989 actually delivered two Toxie sequels. Unsurprisingly, this one didn't do to well. Trailer.



X-Men: Pryde of the X-Men

X-Men fans would have to wait a few more years for the acclaimed animated series, but in 1989 they nearly got a series. Pryde of the X-Men was created as a pilot for an animated series which never got picked up. The team consisted of some interesting choices including Kitty Pryde AKA Shadowcat, Cyclops, Colossus, Nightcrawler, Dazzler, Storm, and of course Wolverine.

Retrospective 1988

Superboy AKA The Adventures of Superboy

After the Superman movie franchise had been driven into the ground as had spin-off Supergirl, it was time to "camp up" Superboy. The series lasted 100 episodes over 4 seasons (with two actors playing the titular boy).



The Incredible Hulk Returns

Six years after the cancellation of The Incredible Hulk series, the Green Goliath returned in the form of a TV special alongside Thor.

This movie set the stage for additional Hulk specials over the next couple of years.


Superman

During the hiatus between Superfriends and Batman: The Animated Series, there was a little Superman series that got just 13 episodes. The animation was decent, and the series made good use of the iconic Superman movie score, but the plots for the most part were pretty forgettable.

My Secret Identity

1988 also gave us a Canadian syndicated series which lasted 72 episodes featuring little Jerry O'Connell. The series may be best remembered as featuring a young boy that could fly with the aid of aerosol cans.

Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures

While it should have been listed in the previous edition, Ralph Bakshi's Mighty Mouse debuted in 1987 but its 19 episodes aired throughout 1988.



Shows in 1988 seemed to suffer from wither low production values or very short lifespans. It was the last year before 1989, one of the monumental years in superhero history...