Ultimate Avengers
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| Ultimate Avengers | |
|---|---|
 The promotional poster for Ultimate Avengers. |
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| Directed by | Curt Geda Steven E. Gordon Bob Richardson |
| Produced by | Bob Richardson |
| Written by | Comic Book: Mark Millar Bryan Hitch Story: Greg Johnson Boyd Kirkland Craig Kyle Screenplay: Greg Johnson |
| Starring | Justin Gross Marc Worden Andre Ware Grey DeLisle Nolan North Dave Boat Olivia D'Abo Fred Tatasciore Michael Massee Nan McNamara James K. Ward |
| Music by | Guy Michelmore |
| Editing by | George P. Rizkallah |
| Distributed by | Lions Gate Entertainment |
| Release date(s) | February 21, 2006 |
| Running time | 72 min. |
| Language | English |
| Followed by | Ultimate Avengers 2 |
| IMDb profile | |
Ultimate Avengers (also known as Ultimate Avengers: The Movie) is a direct-to-video animated film based on the Marvel comic book The Ultimates. This is one of two Marvel Comics properties to be released by Lions Gate Entertainment on DVD. The sequel, Ultimate Avengers 2, features the Black Panther. The DVD was released on February 21, 2006 in America, and in Europe on October 2, 2006. It has been rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association of America for stylized action violence.
Contents |
[edit] Storyline
When a nuclear missile was fired at Washington in 1945, Captain America managed to detonate it in the upper atmosphere. But then he fell miles into the icy depths of the North Atlantic, where he remained lost for over sixty years. But now, with the world facing the very same evil, Captain America must rise again as our last hope of survival, and lead a strong-willed team of today's superheroes.
[edit] Plot
The film starts out during the World War II, and shows Captain America being frozen in suspended animation, only to be revived in the twenty-first century by the American military, who are hoping that they can recreate Captain America's super-serum in order to create more super-soldiers.
Bruce Banner and his girlfriend Betty Ross are among the government scientists working to recreate the Super-Soldier serum. Banner has been taking a series of drugs to prevent his transformation into the Hulk, but wants to stop taking the drugs because they interfere with his ability to work. Meanwhile, the revived Captain America has to get used to living in the twenty-first century, while Nick Fury is trying to persuade Thor, Giant-Man, Wasp, and Iron Man to unite under the leadership of Captain America in order to stop an attempt by Chitauri space aliens to take over Earth.
Infighting between the superheroes hurts the ability of the team to battle the space aliens. Thor is only interested in environmental issues, while Iron Man is only interested in working alone. Giant Man and Wasp's domestic disputes (although not as explicit as in the comics) interfere with their superheroics, and Banner is struggling to both crack the secret of Captain America's serum and control his Hulkish rages. An attack by the alien Chitauris provides the spark that unites the team together, and the Avengers successfully defeat the aliens.
However, a new problem arises in the form of the Hulk. Banner, by using a form of the super-soldier serum, is able to turn into an intelligent form of the Hulk. Unfortunately, Banner goes into a berserker rage during the battle with the Chitauri, and attacks the Avengers. With the help of Betty, they are able to stop the Hulk and imprison Banner. The film ends with the Avengers reunited and celebrating after saving the world.
[edit] Reviews
Ultimate Avengers was released to mixed reviews. Some reviewers were impressed by the film's voice actors and storyline, while others detracted the film for basing the personalities of the Avengers on their normal Marvel Universe counterparts as opposed to their Ultimates incarnations (with the exceptions of Thor and Banner, who stayed close to their Ultimate counterparts despite the fact that Thor speaks in his normal Marvel terminology). The reaction to the animation was mixed, many critics saying that while the animation was adequate, it seemed surprisingly underfunded. The film was criticized by some fans for the story's plot and more mature themes being toned down from the original source material.
[edit] Comparison to The Ultimates
The plot of Ultimate Avengers is adapted from the first two story-arcs of the Ultimates comic book series, "Super-Human" (the formation of the team, their battle with the Hulk) and "Homeland Security" (the war with the Chitauri), set simultaneously, rather than one after the other. Notable differences from the book (mainly making the movie similar to the mainstream Avengers) include:
- Hawkeye, who is a prominent member of The Ultimates, is missing from Ultimate Avengers.
- In The Ultimates, Captain America's frozen body is found by accident. In Ultimate Avengers, Nick Fury personally leads an expedition to find his body.
- In The Ultimates, there is never any explicit evidence of extraterrestrial involvement in the German superweapon project. In Ultimate Avengers, three Chitauri ships are seen as the nuclear missile launches.
- Henry Pym is portrayed as merely hotheaded rather than abusive and unstable (although a scene in which he yells at the Wasp is clearly meant to invoke the abusive aspect of his character, for those aware of the original source material).
- Tony's dual identity as Iron Man is public knowledge in The Ultimates. In Ultimate Avengers, the public is unaware that Tony Stark and Iron Man are the same person.
- Tony Stark's brain tumor in The Ultimates is not mentioned in the film. His mainstream counterpart's heart condition is used instead.
- Bruce Banner was affected by gamma radiation (as in the classic storyline), which caused him to transform into the rampaging Hulk. In The Ultimates, Bruce Banner was working to recreate the Super-Soldier serum that created Captain America. He used an experimental version of the formula on himself and transformed into a mindless Hulk. The means by which he assumes his second, gray Hulk form, however, is the same in both the comics and movie - a modified version of the Super-Soldier Serum.
- In Ultimate Avengers, Bruce Banner never goes on a rampage through New York as the Hulk, but a mention from Fury as he and Captain America fly over New York City and survey destroyed buildings implies he had previously.
- Betty Ross in Ultimate Avengers is a scientific colleague of Bruce Banner. In The Ultimates Betty is the team's public relations manager.
- Thor speaks in antiquated English, as in the regular Marvel Comics universe, while in The Ultimates he speaks Modern English. Additionally, Thor is clean-shaven in the movie, but sports a beard in The Ultimates. Thor has occasionally gone with the bearded look in the regular Marvel Universe, but is most frequently depicted without.
- The team is never called the Avengers in The Ultimates.
- In Ultimate Avengers, Black Widow appears to be attracted to Captain America. In the Ultimates, she pursues a relationship with Tony Stark, which culminates in their engagement. Additionally, in the comic Wasp is the one who pursues a relationship with Cap, though she makes a comment about how he looks "young", but this isn't mentioned again.
- In The Ultimates, it is never mentioned that the Chitauri use vibranium as armor and is highly unlikely, since they are easily killed by conventional weaponry rather than the vibranium-tipped bullets used in Ultimate Avengers.
- The battle against the Chitauri is much more expansive in the Ultimates, involving dozens of ships, a vast but unknown number of ground troops, at least two countries, and a bomb capable of destroying the entire solar system. A much larger-scale, worldwide war later took place in animated form in Ultimate Avengers 2.
[edit] DVD
The DVD contains numerous extra features, including interviews with the comic book creators of the Ultimate Avengers comic book, exploration of the creation of the animated film, a video game and previews for the future film.
[edit] Cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Justin Gross | Steve Rogers / Captain America |
| Marc Worden | Tony Stark / Iron Man |
| Andre Ware | General Nick Fury |
| Grey DeLisle | Janet Van Dyne Pym / Wasp |
| Nolan North | Henry Pym / Giant Man |
| Dave Boat | Thor |
| Olivia D'Abo | Natalia Romanov / Black Widow |
| Fred Tatasciore | Hulk |
| Michael Massee | Dr. Bruce Banner |
| Nan McNamara | Dr. Betty Ross |
| James K. Ward | Herr Kleiser |
[edit] Additional Voices
- Dee Bradley Baker
- Steven Blum
- Keith Ferguson
- Quinton Flynn
- Kerrigan Mahan
- Aileen Sander
- Fred Tatasciore
- James Arnold Taylor
[edit] Errors
- When Captain America is found in the ice he is in a spread eagle position. In the next scene when he is unloaded out of the transport (still encased in ice), he is perfectly straight.
- General Fury incorrectly uses the DEFCON System. When all of S.H.I.E.L.D's secrets are revealed to the Chitauris, Fury moves to DEFCON 4, which is peacetime with increased intelligence and security. When the threat increases and Chitauri ships are approaching, Fury moves to DEFCON 5, which indicates peacetime. In the DEFCON system, lower numbers indicate higher threats.
[edit] Trivia
- The final shot is of a newspaper (the "New Yorker News") featuring a cover story on the new Avengers team. The photograph on the cover of the paper is The Ultimates artist Bryan Hitch's double-page spread from "Ultimates #11: The Art of War". There are differences between the characters in that double-page spread and the way they appeared in the rest of the film (Thor has a goatee, Captain America's shirt has gray side panels, etc.).
- Ultimate Avengers made its television debut on April 22, 2006 on Cartoon Network, though slightly edited for time and content.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Official Ultimate Avengers website
- Marvel's Ultimate Avengers page
- Toon Zone's Ultimate Avengers page
| The Avengers | ||
|---|---|---|
| Teams |
The Avengers | New Avengers | Mighty Avengers | Young Avengers | Great Lakes Avengers | Agents of Atlas | West Coast Avengers | Force Works |
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| Characters | ||
| Locations | ||
| Animation | The Avengers: United They Stand | Ultimate Avengers | Ultimate Avengers 2 | |
| Other topics | ||
