Those Superhero Shows

I'm not one for comic books. There are several reasons for that: I find them boring a lot of the time, they're extremely hard to get around here, I'm so far behind that there's not much point in starting now. But I do like Marvel and DC superhero shows. Sometimes.
Yeah, I never really got over that stage. I watch kids shows still, within reason. But I'm also at that stage when I don't like my shows to ever change. So when two of my favourite superhero shows, Spectacular Spider-Man and Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, were cancelled... Well, it wasn't pretty.
I'd started watching Spectacular Spider-Man a long time ago, when it first started. What was that, 2007? So yeah, it held some sentimental value to me. It was a good show. Fans of the comics said it stayed true to the comics for the most part, it had likable characters, and an alright plot. It was far from my favourite show, but it was good.
Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes matters more to me. I started watching this a little latter, but liked it a lot more. Why wouldn't I? It started off with the Avenger's forming, starting to get along, which is half the fun, and new members appearing every so often. The humour was good enough, the plot was very good in my opinion, and I liked the characters.
And both of these were cancelled, to be replaced by new shows. Ultimate Spider-Man, and Avengers Assemble. I tried the first episodes of both of these.
Ultimate Spider-Man was one of the worst shows I've ever seen. And if you think I might be comparing it to the other show too much- I am comparing it. As I should. They cancelled the show and replaced it with this. It was built for comparison.
The humour is downright painful, the plot is boring at best, and- Well, there's nothing redeeming about it. Spider-Man is a useless person, is hired by shield and forced to work with a 'team' of other teenage superheroes. It's painful. He rides a Spidey-Motorbike or something.
Quick derailing here. The guy who voiced Spidey is Spectacular Spider-Man was taken on to voice Spidey in an episode of Earth's Mightiest Heroes. He recording all of his lines. So when the episode premiered... they had replaced his voice with the one from Ultimate Spider-Man. Without telling the Spectacular guy or anything. This made me very sad.
So- I just watched Avengers Assemble. It's average, and that's the best I can give it.
It starts off with these characters already knowing each other, having disbanded the Avengers a long time ago. So, no need for character development of any sort. In the first few minutes of the show, Cap dies and Iron Man gets the rest of the old team to avenge him. And by the old team, I mean Hulk, Thor, Hawkeye, Black Widow and Falcon. Yeah, good characters, but where are the others I love? I know this is meant to take an approach like the movie, meaning using the characters from the movie plus one new guy. But the best aren't there. Ant Man- the pacifist. Black Panther- the calm awesome guy. Ms Marvel- One of the few tough female superheroes. I can deal with not having Wasp, she annoyed me.
Maybe they'll appear later in the series. But if they were Avengers for years before disbanding, then surely that would be a good chance to meet these people? Or am I meant to believe that they disbanded shortly after coming together? I find that hard to believe. Yeah, I know I was complaining that they didn't show any of the characters joining and getting to know one another. But you're either going to do it or not. Don't flip flop.
So, a few minutes later, Cap turns out to be alive, Red Skull switches bodies with him, shortly switches bodies back and steals Iron Man's armour. And that's episode one.
Riveting stuff, isn't it?
Episode two is getting Iron Man back to the mansion for a new Arc Reactor, having these little nanobots take over the Avengers and having them fight each other, and then them disarming a bomb. Boring stuff.
First off, MODOCK, allied with Red Skull, says his nanobots can make the Avengers do anything he wants. So... he has them fight each other? Instead of having them under his control? I mean, nothing seemed to be wrong with the nanobots. It was Iron Man, never taken under control, that freed the rest. There was never any reason shown that he couldn't do this.
It feels as if the creators tried to cram too much into these first two episodes, and nothing really had time to settle. Cap's dead, no he's not, Red Skull took his body, no he didn't, Iron Man's dying, no he isn't, the Avengers are trying to kill one another, that's over, Red Skull is defeated, no, he teleported away.
I could have tried the third episode, but it was too painful to go on.
People are going on about how the animation is so much better than EMH. I didn't really think it was anything special. EMH was outdated, but unique. AA just seems like generic animation to me. Except for the god awful panning shots. Also, some of the character designs seem off to me. Cap, Iron Man and Hawkeye especially. Hawkeye is meant to be a brilliant archer. But he wears purple sunglasses? Wouldn't that just get in the way?
They're also saying the voice acting as improved. That the voice of Iron Man is no longer someone trying to sound like Robert Downey Jr. Well, for one, this new voice actor isn't that good. For another, the old one may have sounded like Downey, but that's not saying he was a bad voice actor. He was good, even if one of the reasons he was cast was that similarity. All the voice actors seem out of place, bar a few. One of the few is the same person that voice Hulk in EMH, and does it well evidently. Though the character design for Hulk make is seem strange.
What else... Oh yeah, the character relationships seemed forced. They go on and on about Hulk and Thor fighting each other for fun. Also, if for some reason you watch this, count how many times they repeat that joke about Hulk hitting people next to him without looking. Ugh.
It just comes down to the fact that Earth's Mightiest Heroes had two seasons of plot an character development, while Avengers Assemble is trying to act like these people already know each other. It just doesn't work.
But the painful thing is that I know these shows are going to do well. Because I'm at an age where I value characters and plot relevance above all else, but kids just want to see the Avengers beat up villains, which is what they'll get.
Sorry for ranting guys. Ciao for now.