The Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow. Directed by Jay Olivia

Next in the series of Marvel Animated Movies, The Next Avengers is a little bit different. Set in the future, the Avengers are mostly dead, and Ultron, the Artificial Intelligence created by (in this reality) Tony Stark, is taking over the world.

Tony Stark is still alive, and responsible for the children of the Avengers. They are, James Rogers, son of Captain America and Black Widow. Like his father, he uses a shield, generated by his bracer. Unlike his father, he is not super. Pym is the son of Giant Man and the Wasp. He has both his parent's size shifting abilities, and his mother's wings and sting. Torunn is the daughter of Thor. Her father is alive, but with Odin's death, his responsibility is in Asgard. Torunn speaks in his same hokey accent, though she does slip up at times. She wields a sword, not a hammer, but outside of that seems to be her father's daughter in everyway. Azari is the son of Black Panther, and Storm. He is possessed of his father's powers, and has his mother's talent for lighting, but not weather control. He moves much like a panther.

They live in a jungle paradise, and train, and Tony tells them stories about the Soldier, and the Spy, the Giant, and the pixie, The King, and his Queen, The God, The Knight, The Ghost, and The Archer.

Everything goes quietly, Tony raising the kids, until the Vision appears, badly damaged.

The Vision has been Stark's link to the outside world, using intangibility to avoid Ultron. Now, his machines can overcome that as well.

His presence also means the kids learn about the hidden labs, and Rogers inadvertently activates robots dressed as the Avengers, the Iron Avengers, and they follow their primary program; seek and destroy Ultron.

Tony freaks, and orders the kids to safety. They take the Vision's head with them. He knows Ultron will back track the Iron Avengers, and they will be attacked. He is not wrong. The Vision over rides the safe room and launches it; it is really a quinjet, and takes the kids to safety. But his power conks out, and the jet is under their control, so they fly for Ultra City to face the beast in his lair. The Iron Avengers have been subverted, and attack their "offspring!"

They are rescued from their folly by a kid with a bow and arrow, Hawkeye! Son of the original, he takes them into the arms of the Scavengers, what is left of the humanity of Ultra City. There, they are reunited with Tony, who escaped, and with a mysterious older woman.

They decide to try to find the Hulk and enlist his aid in defending the kids. But the Hulk is a loose cannon; always has been, apparently, always will be. Will he become involved in the war? And if so, will the good guys survive his involvement?

This is a simplistic little tale. It's main novelty is approaching the story from a view point of future history, and having the Avengers being by and large dead. There is also one nugget of greater story telling, with the almost oedipal fight between the Iron Avengers, representing their parents, and the kids. There is a tiny bit of character development; Rogers goes from bored brat to leader (soldiers without a war are often bored.) Azari releases a panther shaped construct of lightning, wedding his two powers into one, Pym grows up, literally, and Torunn learns the lesson of self-sacrifice, the very thing her father sent her to Earth to learn. Her story is the best in terms of development.

The art is consistent with the rest of the Marvel Animated Movies, fairly realistic anatomy with a manga flavoring, two tone shading, and detailed backgrounds. The kids are very definitely Manga, so much so that I dislike this take on the art. I like manga, but I can get enough of the real thing; finding non manga animation is becoming more difficult.

The sound track is innocuous. It doesn't help, it doesn't hurt.

All in all, this effort is less worthy than the first four Marvel Movies, Ultimate Avengers 1 and 2, Invincible Iron Man, and Dr. Strange. It is better than most straight to video animation, but it would have been easy to make this one a bit better. Three and half stars, rounded to three.

The Cast
Noah Crawford ... James Rogers (voice)
Aidan Drummond ... Pym (voice)
Tom Kane ... Tony Stark / Ultron (voice)
Brenna O'Brien ... Torunn (voice)
Dempsey Pappion ... Azari (voice)
Adrian Petriw ... Hawkeye (voice)
Fred Tatasciore ... Hulk (voice)


Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for a Rainy Day
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children up Ages 8