Episode Review: Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes! : Episode 103 : "Hulk Vs the World"

The Incredible Hulk smashes into his first appearance on Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes in a great episode scripted by Chris Yost and producer Josh Fine. Titled 'Hulk Vs the World' it also happens to be a surprising introduction for the Green Goliath as he's not alone with 'The World' including the series' introduction to both Hawkeye and the Black Widow. So there's a lot going on in this episode that isn't Hulk just breaking stuff for 22 minutes as you might expect, because there's also a lot more Avengers world-building going here AND Hulk breaking stuff!


The episode begins with a man walking down a barren highway - a classic, haunting image that should be recognisable to anyone who's seen the 70's Bill Bixby Hulk TV series or ever glanced at a Hulk comic. Louis Leterrier's Incredible Hulk film also cribbed influence from both of these sources to great success, especially with the casting of the brilliant Ed Norton as Bruce Banner, fugitive scientist on the run. So Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes really has a very deep well to draw from for Hulk lore.

A funky bass line creates a sense of tension as the man evades Police entering Las Vegas, sighing like he's done it all before, and we get a first glimpse of the Hulk as Banner struggles to keep his anxiety at bay with a green flash flaring behind his pupils.

Here the animators present us with a thin and dishevelled Bruce Banner sporting a baseball cap, a look taken from the aforementioned 2008 film and he doesn't look too far off from an animated Edward Norton in appearance. It's a nice touch keeping with the updated Banner in my opinion, as it works well here.

We learn that Bruce has come to Vegas to meet with Crusher Creel, also known as the Absorbing Man, who's recently escaped from prison. Banner looks, well, puny seated next to the hilariously massive Creel at the diner counter, and there's a cute joke slipped as Banner's asked if he wants coffee, replying "Definitely, decaf."

We're also given another quick Cameo-fest similar to the first episode as Creel recounts to Bruce his time spent within the Cube - another super-max prison designed by SHIELD to incarcerate and experiment on radiation afflicted villains, specifically Gamma irradiated villains - and we're shown via flashback The Abomination, The Leader and even newer Marvel villains the U-Foes. I've also really been liking how the show has been subtly establishing a growing distrust of SHIELD in this universe, spotlighting the need for a certain team to start assembling and avenging threats that SHIELD might not be able to contain.

Creel reveals his power to absorb the properties of any matter on Earth to Bruce in the diner, an ability he also just so happens to want to test out on the Hulk, and he punts Banner through a window. I have to say, the cartoon's first 'Hulk out' sequence doesn't disappoint as we get a transformation complete with torn trademark purple pants, nuclear green eyes and much shirt ripping. That first epic roar is also delivered absolutely perfect thanks to Fred Tatasciore, the Hulk voice veteran reprising his role from many successful Marvel Animated outings.

The cartoon also doesn't tone down both the Hulk and Creel's enormous strength levels and the battle displays an epic scope that one would expect of two behemoths trading blows which alter the landscape the Nevada barrens. It's an old-fashioned, super-powered brawl that reaches anime levels of over the top action as the the pair battles it out mid-air, smashing each other into mountains. Each impact also booms out from my home theater's sub-woofers nice and loud as well, heightening the intensity of each hit and roar, although truth be told I might have the volume cranked up a little louder than normal in anticipation of that awesome Fred Tatasciore Hulk roar.

The Hulk's appearance also fits with that 'Saturday morning cartoon' feel of the show, as he's neither overly monstrous or ridiculously muscular, instead being more stunted in height then he's usually portrayed. His thick mop of hair is also bit different to what I'm used to seeing in a Hulk design, and I'm unsure if I like it yet, however the initial characterisation of the Hulkster is another story as we even get some truly great Hulk-style sass in this episode. The first classic line being spoken right after Creel transmutes into himself into Rock with Hulk noting, "Hulk smash rock Einstein."




The action in the episode continues as Hulk's fight with Absorbing Man is interrupted by General "Thunderbolt" Ross and his Hulkbuster units, who open fire on the Jade Giant with green-tinted gamma missiles. It's an old, familiar dance between the Hulk and Ross's army, and the current 'Red Hulk' of the comics is still just as crazy as he ever was here, but the cartoon enlivens it somewhat with Hulk charging directly into the firing line, punching missiles along the way. Beyond that I see we're gifted with a far more intelligent brute in this series at this point, as the Hulk turns a missile launcher right back on the Hulkbuster tanks in another great little moment of the episode.

Ross is soon ordered to stand down by two SHIELD agents who enter the fray - revealed to be 'codenamed' Hawkeye and the Black Widow - and the action shifts once again to a melee, however this time they shake it up a bit as it's between the Hulk - the strongest one there is, you know - versus two very 'human' but admittedly very well-armed superheroes.

Now Hawkeye as a hero has always been portrayed as brash, arrogant and sports a gaudy costume which really shouldn't work as well as it does, which in a universe of technological wonders and magic he somehow still manages to stop villains using only his bow and arrow. We see his trademark cocky attitude first hand as he uses a range of his trick Arrows against the Hulk, verbally taunting him that he looks more beat-up than angry.

Can't you just picture Jeremy Renner as this guy?

Black Widow in contrast comes off like the Russian femme-fatale stereotype you'd expect from a Saturday morning Disney cartoon, yet despite the heavy accent it's thankfully not as bad a throwback to a character like Linka from Captain Planet, with her repeated exultations of 'Nyet' and 'Boise Moi' ad nauseum. Widow's also fairly formidable in a melee against the Hulk, nimbly dodging and countering his attacks, and really both Hawkeye and Widow should be putty next to the Hulk but the animators do a good job with the match-up making it believable that these two un-powered heroes can hold their own in battle.

The final part of the episodes focuses on the fallout from the Nevada desert battle with Banner locked up within the Cube super-max prison, meaning even more quick cameos, mainly I note that they even managed to include 'superhero' psychologist Doc Samson in this episode. Hawkeye soon comes to question his involvement with capturing the Hulk, not believing what he's been told about the monster's rampage. There's some necessary back story laid out for the viewer at this point just before Banner reveals the real reason why the military wants him so badly: deadlier weapons and to create an army of Hulks. This revelation causes Hawkeye to question his position as a SHIELD operative and also SHIELD's own interest in the Hulk.

I was interested going into this episode to see how it would introduce both Black Widow and Hawkeye to the viewer as I've never actually had the chance to read their original comic debuts, and their Avengers history that I do know comes from brief recaps of their origins I've read in various Marvel books over the years. The show completely re-jigs their original comic origins to fit the show, updating and altering where needed, but the changes all ultimately lead the characters into similar paths taken just before they joined the Avengers team.

The show's direction for Black Widow feels completely in line with her history, and happens to be far more interesting than the eye candy introduction she was given in Marvel Studio's Iron Man sequel (fingers crossed Joss Whedon's Avengers film will do more for her character than Favreau managed in his outing). Also Hawkeye's shocked reaction upon his discovery of Widow's betrayal endears him as the breakout favourite character for me this episode, and leads directly into a dramatic confrontation between Widow and Hawkeye in the finale.

Overall the episode didn't deliver on Hulk fighting the entire world, but who he did fight was pretty cool by the end of the show. Watching 'Hulk vs the World' you essentially get three different variations of classic "Hulk" fight scenarios: 'superhuman' brawling with the absorbing man, the classic General Ross military engagement and a cool melee against the two 'un-powered' heroes. I am disappointed they skipped on doing a flashback or recap of Hawkeye's origin though, something I'm really interested to see updated in the show's style, so I hope we get to revisit it in later episodes. It's still a great introduction for all involved however, and we even got a cameo from Mockingbird as well, so I definitely count this episode as a win for Marvel fans and a great romp from Yost & Co.