Jon Peters Reviews: “Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow” (Blu-Ray)

Marvel’s current division of animated feature films haven’t faired as successfully as DC’s animated films. I believe DC and their team can capture the story and the characters perfectly for the 70 minute time frame and Marvel’s team is just learning how to do so. A lot of people have just outright dismissed Marvel’s animated films and I understand why they do so. The films struggle to capture the proper beats to the story and seem a bit rushed. I haven’t seen ‘Doctor Strange’ but the other three, ‘Ultimate Avengers’, ‘Ultimate Avengers II’ and ‘Invincible Iron Man’, are okay. There’s nothing exceptional about them, but hopefully, they’re the training ground for better future projects.

‘The Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow’ really came out under my radar. While I wasn’t a huge fan of the recent Marvel animated films, I was surprised to see this on the shelves, all under my nose. If we were to judge the book by its cover, it would be easy to scoff at this film. One, the previous films were of various quality and two; it looks like baby Avengers, aimed at the kid crowd. We all know how aiming a film at the kids can hurt a franchise, just look at the recent bomb ‘Star Wars: Clone Wars’, but we don’t judge books by their covers now do we?

The story begins as the Avengers are defeated by Ultron, a powerful villain that has advanced artificial intelligence. Fearing the eventual collapse of American civilization to Ultron’s brand of society, Tony Stark takes in and hides the offspring of various Avenger members. Here, he will train them to hopefully defeat Ultron, something their parents could not do.

There’s a lot I like about this film. For one, the story plays like a ‘what if?’ scenario, so any continuity or previous knowledge is not needed and for the diehard fans, we can appreciate a new take on the Avengers Universe. There are some cool things like an older Tony Stark and an exiled Hulk, but it’s the young voice work on the new avengers that really sell the story. These kids capture the characters through good delivery; they hit all the right notes of their naive and curious characters. Torrun, Thor’s daughter, really has a nice arc. She goes from stubborn and mad about why her dad has abandoned her to appreciation of his sacrifice and the power she has.

If anything, I would’ve like the film to be a little longer, so we can see more of the city Ultron built and its residents, how they live and whatnot and a little more back-story on Ultron too. The opening static animation of the rise and fall of the Avengers could’ve used more time to animate it better, but ‘Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow’ is a welcomed surprise and a hopeful turning point to better Marvel animated projects. I dug this film, obviously and kids and Marvel fans should dig this one-off story too. Marvel’s animation team has a unique chance to give us cool stories that the live-action films can’t or won’t since their budgets are so high and this is a positive step in that direction of giving fans some cool films based on the characters.

The Blu Ray:

Audio/Video: Lions Gate Entertainment, to me, is the leader in giving any film a solid audio presentation. Even an animated DTV film like this is given a DTS 7.1 lossless track and my friends, this rocks the house. I only sampled the DTS, because I feel DTS blows away Dolby Digital when given the option. It’s a solid sound mix; dialogue is clear and is never drowned out by the action. The bass is thick and robust, giving your sub a workout. Video wise, this is a great transfer. Colors are bright and vivid. Any noticeable flaws are due to the FPS in the animation and not the transfer itself.

Legacy: Making of Next Avengers: This is a decent ten minute feature with the art team, director, and writer stating their case for the project, their intentions and goal. They are all likable and you start to appreciate their work more after this.

Kid Power: Next-Gen Marvel: The same people come back and are accompanied by various writers from Marvel. This feature talks all about various books that deal with young Marvel superheroes. Its okay, but mostly for comic fans, as non-fans might be bored.

Preview of Hulk vs. Wolverine: Showing actual footage of the upcoming film, this project looks bad ass. The animation looks really good, the story seems fun as it’s a one-off to like ‘Next Avengers’ as a pre-X-Men Wolverine must take down the Hulk in Canada. We also hear the art team as they talk about their intentions and character designs. Deadpool looks really cool. I can’t wait for this film.

Preview of Hulk vs. Thor: The art team again tells why this project is being made and while it looks good, it might feel a bit redundant after ‘Hulk vs. Wolverine’ to me, but they try to debunk that notion. Looks to be a fun time for Marvel’s DTV films.

This is a great Blu Ray to own. If you’ve been down on previous Marvel animated films, don’t worry this is a good step away from those films. I can’t wait for ‘Hulk versus Wolverine’ after seeing the preview.