Karen: Last week's episode, which saw the Hulk depart the team after stating that they didn't trust him, was very reminiscent of Avengers #2, only the culprit in this episode was the Enchantress, not the Space Phantom. Even though we know Cap will be on the scene soon, I'm glad they followed the course of events from the Marvel Universe and are bringing him in later. And I doubt Hulk will be gone for good.
Doug: Somehow I've only managed to see exactly 15 minutes of each part of the origin 2-parter, and of the episode of which you speak. But, I've for the most part liked what I've seen. I did keep looking for the Space Phantom whenever it seemed like a good spot to be Phantom-ing. The reveal of Cap's shield in the ice was a nice bit of foreshadowing -- exciting!
Karen: What do you think of the way they are handling the Hulk? He's not the "dumb" Hulk, but he definitely isn't Banner in Hulk's body. His split personality is certainly played up. I'm wondering if this may give a clue to how Hulk will be portrayed in the Avengers movie?
Doug: I'm not sure what to make of the Hulk, other than I think he's too big. But, since you bring up the films, I guess he was depicted by Hollywood as around 10-feet tall (does the Marvel Handbook still list him at 7'?). I'll tell you one that I'm loathing and loving at the same time, and that's Giant-Man. It's been well-documented here that I'm a fan of giants, Hank Pym in particular. But ol' Henry seems a bit dim-witted in this show. I also don't care for his enormous scale -- 100 feet tall, maybe?? However, seeing him in the park scene last week did strike me as reminiscent of Alex Ross' famous shot of Hank striding over buildings in Marvels #2. So I think they show him as too big, but there's a "cool factor" there that makes me feel a bit fanboyish.
Karen: Yeah, Hank comes off a little too 'absent-minded professor'-ish, but it hasn't been terrible. The scene in the park, with Hulk throwing Giant-Man, was classic.
Doug: I also like the way the Wasp is shown. The CGI in the upcoming live-action films should make her a very visually appealing character. As for voice actors, I'm not really digging Iron Man (sounds too young) and Thor is pretty good but not superior.
I'm really glad that so far there's no character who sounds like Wolverine of the 1990's X-Men cartoon, or the Thing from the 1960's Fantastic Four cartoon! Puh-lease!!Karen: The Iron Man actor sounds like he's trying to do Robert Downey Jr, which is kind of distracting. I thought Thor was fine, and the others too. I like the Wasp -she's got all the spunk without the flightiness.
Doug: As I said, my viewing has been limited, but it's been nice to see a bunch of super-baddies. It's given me hope for all of the possible storylines (new and old) that can be explored. It's been a nice mix of superstar bad guys and perimeter players. It seems like those at the reins of this show have done their homework.
Karen: Yeah, I laughed when the team surrounded the Mandrill. The Mandrill? Please!
Doug: Overall, I wish the look of the show was a bit more realistic (although not as pushy as the X-Men of the '90's -- way too hard of an attempt to show musculature, etc. -- subtle is OK). But I'm happy with this so far and looking forward to more!
You can see more at the Marvel site.
EDIT: Comics Continuum has a link to the commercial for this week's episode, which introduces Captain America. On the same page, they have some new still photos in high res from the Captain America: The First Avenger film. Enjoy!
