# The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes

The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes is an American superhero animated television series by Marvel Animation in cooperation with Film Roman based on the Marvel Comics superhero team. The first season debuted on Disney XD in the fall of 2010. The second season was one of the inaugural shows of the Marvel Universe programming block alongside Ultimate Spider-Man.
The series originally features a team based on the roster for the original Avengers, consisting of Iron Man, the Hulk, Thor, Ant-Man, and Wasp. The team is later joined by Captain America, Black Panther, and Hawkeye in the first season, and Ms. Marvel and Vision in the second. In terms of overall tone and style, the series is based on the original stories by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. The series also uses material from all eras of the comic's run as well as other sources, such as the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

## Synopsis
### Season one

Following a mass prison breakout, Earth's mightiest heroes unite to form the Avengers, a team comprising Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, the Hulk, Ant-Man, Wasp, Black Panther, and Hawkeye. The Avengers battle various supervillains, including Baron Zemo, the Leader, Kang the Conqueror, and Ultron, as well as the criminal organizations Hydra and A.I.M. It is ultimately revealed that Loki orchestrated the breakout and had the Enchantress form the Masters of Evil to distract the Avengers so that he can conquer Earth as well as the nine realms, including Asgard.

### Season two

Following Loki's defeat, the Avengers track down the remnants of the Masters of Evil. The team is joined by Ms. Marvel and the Vision as they face new enemies including Doctor Doom, Thunderbolt Ross, and the Red Skull, as well as alien threats such as the Skrulls, the Kree, and Galactus. The season alludes to a developing storyline in which Surtur escapes Muspelheim and gathers strength to oppose the Avengers as a prelude to Ragnarök.
Numerous other Marvel Comics characters make guest appearances, such as Spider-Man, Wolverine, Ant-Man (Scott Lang), the Heroes for Hire, the Guardians of the Galaxy, Quake, Beta Ray Bill, Falcon, and Winter Soldier.

## Episode list

| Season | Season | Episodes | Originally aired | Originally aired |
| Season | Season | Episodes | Season premiere | Season finale |
| | 1 | 26 | September 22, 2010 (2010-09-22) | June 26, 2011 (2011-06-26) |
| | 2 | 26 | April 1, 2012 (2012-04-01) | November 11, 2012 (2012-11-11) |

## Cast

* Brian Bloom – Steve Rogers / Captain America
* Chris Cox – Clint Barton / Hawkeye, Crimson Dynamo, Fandral, Rattler
* Jennifer Hale – Carol Danvers / Ms. Marvel, Corrina
* Peter Jessop – Vision
* Phil LaMarr – J.A.R.V.I.S., Wonder Man
* Eric Loomis – Tony Stark / Iron Man
* James C. Mathis III – T'Challa / Black Panther, Bulldozer, King Cobra
* Colleen O'Shaughnessey – Janet Van Dyne / Wasp, Cassie Lang, Vapor
* Fred Tatasciore – Hulk, Graviton, Mandrill, Red Hulk, Thing, Volstagg, Yon-Rogg, Kalum Ro
* Rick D. Wasserman – Thor, Absorbing Man, Surtur
* Wally Wingert – Hank Pym, MODOK

## Crew

* Joshua Fine – Supervising producer
* Vinton Heuck – Director
* Sebastian Montes – Director
* Jamie Simone – Casting and voice director
* Christopher Yost – Story editor, writer
* Ciro Nieli - Supervising director (season 1)
* Frank Paur - Supervising director

## Production
### Development

Josh Fine and a number of other creators of The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes were initially developing a series based on the Hulk. However, it never made it past the scripting stages, with the team instead creating a new series based on the Avengers.

### Production

Marvel announced in October 2008 that its Marvel Animation division and the outside studio Film Roman would produce an Avengers animated TV series, The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, for planned broadcast in 2010. Fifty-two episodes were confirmed as being in production. The show's executive producers include Simon Philips and Eric S. Rollman. Joshua Fine serves as supervising producer and Christopher Yost serves as story editor on the show. A 20-part micro-series debuted on September 22, 2010, on Disney XD, focusing on each hero's backstory and the events that lead to the main series. The series started airing on Marvel's sister network, Disney XD in the United States on October 20, 2010, and on Teletoon in Canada on October 22, 2010, in English and March 2011 in French. According to Jeph Loeb, season 2 would presumably begin around October 2011, same as season 1 and producer Josh Fine tweeted in April 2011 that 13 episodes were completed.
At the 2011 New York Comic-Con, Loeb contradicted his earlier statement of season 2 launch in late 2011. Loeb announced at the panel at New York Comic-con that "Avengers Season 2 will be coming in early 2012 (to coincide with Ultimate Spider-Man)." This date would later be clarified as April 1, 2012. Dong Woo Animation, Lotto Animation, and Noxxon Enterprise produced the series' animation.

### Cancellation

The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes was not renewed for a third season and was succeeded by a new Avengers show called Avengers Assemble in 2013. On July 14, 2012, at the 2012 Marvel Television Presents panel at San Diego Comic-Con, Jeph Loeb, head of Marvel Television, said of the relationship between the two shows:
   We're not in any way saying Earth's Mightiest Heroes never happened. You will see an epic conclusion. And then you'll say, 'Oh, what's next?'
The only voice actors to reprise their roles for Avengers Assemble are Fred Tatasciore and James Mathis as the Hulk and Black Panther, respectively. Additionally, Drake Bell returned to voice Spider-Man for guest appearances, while the other members of the team share their voices with their counterparts in the Ultimate Spider-Man.

### Unproduced content

According to Christopher Yost, Surtur and the X-Men would have been featured in an unproduced third season. His line-up for the X-Men would have been Professor X, Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Storm, Shadowcat, Colossus, and Rogue, among others.
Due to executive changes during the second season, a planned multi-season story arc involving the Red Skull was compressed into the season's second half. Various characters were considered to appear in the series, including Nova, Silver Surfer, Sentry, Hercules, Morgan le Fay, Taskmaster, Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, and Doctor Strange, but were cut. The Spider-Man who appears in the series was originally supposed to be the same version of The Spectacular Spider-Man, with Josh Keaton reprising the role, but he was replaced with Drake Bell, who voiced the character in Ultimate Spider-Man. The series was originally planned to adapt the "Emperor Doom" comic arc, which became the episode "Emperor Stark".
In 2012, character designer Thomas Perkins created concept art for a potential third season. Characters appearing in the art included Impossible Man, Mockingbird, Human Fly, Rom the Space Knight, Crystar, Deathlok, the U-Foes, Adam Warlock, Morbius, Baron Blood, Daimon Hellstrom, 3-D Man, Omega the Unknown, Captain Universe, Bill Foster, Monica Rambeau, Machine Man, Shuma-Gorath, Uatu, Black Bolt, and Super-Adaptoid.
In September 2020, for the 10-year anniversary of the series' premiere, Christopher Yost revealed further unrealized plans for characters, including Tigra, Namor, the Defenders, Nightmare, Magneto, the Brotherhood of Mutants, Modred the Mystic, Kulan Gath, the High Evolutionary, Chthon, Juggernaut, and the Brood.
Additionally, regarding the fourth season, Christopher Yost mentioned that the first half would be called "Under Siege", while the second half would be dubbed "Infinity Quest". "Under Siege" would have been an adaptation of "Acts of Vengeance", with Doctor Doom bringing together several villains to put the Avengers on the run, while "Infinity Quest" would have involved the Elders of the Universe searching for the Infinity Gems to destroy the universe. In turn, Josh Fine mentioned that plans for the fourth season included an adaptation of "Civil War".
As for a fifth season, the only thing that has been revealed is the interest in having adapted "Secret Wars" (with the Beyonders starring), which would have involved all the teams of heroes and villains, along with all the possible characters from Marvel Comics, within a saga that would have spanned the entire season.
While accepting that it would still be unlikely, Yost and Fine have discussed their renewed interest in continuing the series.

## Release
### Home media

| DVD/Blu-ray name | Region 1 | Region 2 | Region 4 |
| Heroes Assemble! | April 26, 2011 | July 25, 2011 | September 14, 2011 |
| Captain America Reborn | April 26, 2011 | August 22, 2011 | December 1, 2011 |
| Iron Man Unleashed | October 25, 2011 | April 2, 2012 | March 7, 2012 |
| Thor's Last Stand | October 25, 2011 | April 30, 2012 | May 2, 2012 |
| The Complete First Season | April 17, 2012 | April 30, 2012 | August 1, 2012 |
| Secret Invasion | September 25, 2012 | May 6, 2013 | March 6, 2013 |
| End of the Cosmos | February 19, 2013 | June 13, 2013 | |
| The Complete Second Season | May 7, 2013 | | April 3, 2013 |
| The Complete First and Second Season | | September 29, 2014 | |

## Reception
### Critical response

On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the first season has a 100% approval rating with an average rating of 7.50 out of 10 based on 5 reviews.
Allan Scoot of Screen Rant stated that The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes featured impressive animation and writing, updating the classic origins of the Avengers while faithfully introducing key members such as Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, and others. He praised the series for offering a comic-accurate and entertaining portrayal of Marvel's superhero team. Scoot found the series unfortunate to be cut short after two seasons to make way for Avengers Assemble, but noted that it still provided fans with a standout take on the Avengers, complete with a memorable theme song, making it a notable entry in the genre of Avengers cartoons. Will Wade of Common Sense Media gave The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes a grade of 3 out of 5 stars. He found the show to be action-packed, with numerous super-powered battles resulting in significant destruction but few injuries. Wade praised the series for its engaging plotting and character development, appealing to both teens and older Marvel fans. He noted the depiction of positive messages and role models, saying that while the villains sometimes appear to gain the upper hand, the Avengers ultimately prevail, showcasing the heroes' bravery in their ongoing mission to protect the world from powerful supervillains. Alex Zalben of MTV ranked The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes 1st in their "5 Best Avengers Cartoons Of All Time" list, describing it as the best animated Avengers series to date, despite being the most recent. He highlighted its faithfulness to the comics, its fun and ambitious nature, and its successful blend of large storylines and a vast array of Marvel characters. Zalben stated that the series works well for both kids and adults, and not only considered it the best Avengers cartoon, but possibly one of the best Marvel animated shows of all time.
Jonathon Dornbush and Joshua Rivera of Entertainment Weekly ranked The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes 4th in their "9 Best Animated TV Series Drawn From Comics" list, stating that it gave Marvel's superhero team the proper animated treatment, showcasing many heroes and villains who had not yet appeared in films, though they anticipated all would eventually be featured. They praised the show for its well-constructed team dynamic, creating a core cast that felt both familiar and fresh, complementing the live-action Marvel properties at the time. Dornbush and Rivera noted that there was still much to appreciate in the show's 52 episodes, making it a worthwhile revisit, especially during the long waits between live-action Avengers films. Trey Pasch of MovieWeb ranked The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes 2nd in their "Best Marvel Animated Projects" list, noting that, despite its two-season run, the show earned some of the highest ratings of any Marvel animated series. Pasch praised the show's unique lineup, which began with Iron Man, Giant Man, Hulk, Thor, and Wasp, with additional characters like Captain America and Black Panther joining later. He highlighted how the show adapted popular storylines, such as the "Avengers: Breakout" arc by Brian Michael Bendis in the first season, and an overarching plot involving Loki as the main villain. Michael Doran of Newsarama ranked The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes 10th in their "10 Best Comic Book Animated Series Of All Time" list, praised it as one of the newest and most impactful Avengers cartoons, noting that the show made a strong impression in its first season. He highlighted the show's structure, with solo episodes that gradually led to the team coming together in a significant way. Doran described the series as possibly the purest Avengers cartoon, filled with heroes working together, over-the-top villainous threats, and big action. He also appreciated the overall sense of happiness in the show, adding that its catchy theme song was unforgettable, often lingering in viewers' minds until the next episode began.

### Accolades

The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes was nominated for Best Sound Editing: Television Animation at the 2011 Golden Reel Awards.

## In other media
### Comic book

The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes comic book series, written by Christopher Yost, and artwork by Scott Wegener, Christopher Jones and Patrick Scherberger was published to accompany the series. It was a four-issue limited series. An ongoing comic book series titled The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes Adventures debuted in April 2012, alongside the Ultimate Spider-Man Adventures series. Christopher Yost returned as the main writer, with Adam Dekraker serving as the comic's creative team, while Nuno Plati provided artwork.