Jeph Loeb, the head of Marvel Television, has announced that Disney XD will be the host of a new animated series, Marvel’s Avengers Assemble. TV Guide lists the show premiering on Disney XD on Sunday, May 26.
Loeb goes on to say, “Our job is to create stories that make your heart race, to re-create that feeling you get when you first open the comic book.” He promises, “People will be blown away.” The series will follow up Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, which was also aired on Disney XD.
While staying true to the story of the original comics, Marvel would also like the new series to mesh with the latest big screen adaptation of “the Avengers”, directed by Joss Whedon. Imagine Games Network quoted the Chief Creative Officer of Marvel, Joe Quesada, who stated, “We took our inspiration from the wonderful work that’s been done in the comics in the past, and also what’s happened on the big screen… Looking at the success of that movie, we wanted to have a show that reflected the attitude of that movie…” Marvel also stated that they hire many comic book artists as their designers to keep the “Marvel DNA” throughout their animation projects.
Characters to be featured in Marvel’s Avengers Assemble include Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, Black Widow and Hawkeye. The official trailer shows Iron Man introducing the team, including a “new guy”, who will be the Falcon, according to IGN.com.
When asked about the inevitable villains the Avengers will face in the new series, Quesada confirmed the return of “the Cabal”. According to Marvel.com, “After the brutal invasion of the extraterrestrial Skrulls, Norman Osborn assembled the Cabal, united in common cause as they move to change the very landscape of the planet Earth.” This anti-hero group is formed with the famous villain Doctor Doom.
Superhero movies have and always will be popular, however, the Avengers have had a particularly well-known run lately. The “Iron Man” major motion picture series, starring Robert Downey Jr., began in 2008 with its third installment premiering earlier this month. “The Avengers” movie was released in 2012, with a sequel rumored to be released sometime in 2015.