Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow (2008) Reviews

• Next Avengers Heroes of Tomorrow: A hugely pleasant surprise

  Platypuschow2017-12-15

  When I go into these Marvel animated outings I expect play by numbers stuff, whether it be a dark or kiddie friendly one they rarely surpise but manage to entertain to some degree. With this one I went in with even lower expectations than usual. The children of the Avengers? Sounded like a blatant cashgrab and the plot seemed to confirm that further. However from the opening sequence, it's writing and perfect score I realised I was mistaken and this was going to be something quite special. Telling the story of a world where Ultron defeated the Avengers and killed most of them, Tony Stark has hidden away their offspring keeping them safe and off the grid. But of course things go wrong and they find themselves forced to embrace their destiny. The whole thing looks beautiful and almost feels like a AAA movie, the score is outstanding and the movie is a kid friendly riot of fun. Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow exceeded all my expectations and showed that these things can rise above mediocrity. Really good stuff. The Good: Great opening Very well constructed Excellent score Some good ideas The Bad: Some really dumb ideas Few unanswered questions Things I Learnt From This Movie: Fred Tatasciore is more Hulk than Mark Ruffalo, seriously he's in every one of these things

• A Very Nice Surprise!

  Themattman12008-09-03

  Warning: Lots of spoilers ahead: Upon reading the first article on Next Avengers (I believe it was Avengers Reborn at the time) I thought to myself "dear mercy, this is either going to be a cheap knockoff of Batman Beyond or the superhero version of Muppet Babies." There was no way in my mind that you could kill off the icons of Marvel Comics, replace them with children and still have a good cartoon. I was wrong! I also thought this was going to be like Spider-Man Unlimited or the 90's Avengers show. Thank goodness, I was wrong there as well. The cartoon is something along the lines of the Marvel Action hour cartoons from the 90's, just with a better script and much better animation. In fact, having seen the cartoon, I would be more than willing to watch it as a cartoon series. Keep in mind, it is intended for a younger audience, but I think most Marvel fans will enjoy it. Now, there are flaws. Mainly in that the beginning is done with quite a bit of exposition to get you up to speed on what has transpired in the Marvel U and where the heck these kids came from. I feel that Marvel could have taken an extra 15 minutes and given us a little more to go with than some static shots. But the story is told as a bedtime story to the Avengers' kids, and since it figures into the story later on, I suppose it is all right. The only other thing that bothered me is that they never explained how Ultron gained that much power. The Avengers have already beaten him several times in the past. The only thing I could think of is maybe after years of being out of commission; the Avengers just couldn't cut it any more. The kids themselves are pretty well adapted and are very close in persona to their "parents" while being individual enough to not seem like direct rip-offs of the original Avengers. In addition to this, they are also not as strong as their parents. This was what won me over. Marvel could have easily gone off the deep end and made these kids an ultra-powerful super group that every child should want a toy of. They played them off as kids with kid-like uncertainties and still developing skills, however, and it never felt like the kids were supposed to be better than the original avengers. They even needed help from the Hulk, which is a great scene. In the end, all of the kids are very likable, and are very Marvel-esquire. The writers did good to keep this one just above Saturday morning cartoon level. There wasn't any really painful dialogue. Even Pym, who was supposed to be the annoying little kid of the bunch wasn't annoying enough to stop you from liking him. The art was nice. The CG used wasn't too overly distracting, and the costume designs were cool and functional and futuristic (keeping with the theme). Iron Man and Hulk both looked good, as did Ultron. The people living below "Ultra City" look like something out of an anime (Origin and Nausicaa come to mind), and seem to serve no other purpose than to explain where Hawkeye's son has been, but it at least explains where the remaining humans have been. The look of the cartoon reminded me of Avatar in a way. Mainly because it has that 'not-quite-anime-but-definitely-influenced-by-it' style that Avatar uses. The animation is very smooth and the fight scenes are energetic and fun to watch. The character designs are nice and, once again, are very much in tune with Marvel. Personally, I liked James' getup. Very retro. The music was extremely similar to Ultimate Avengers, along with the slightly Danny Elfman-ish theme (which reminded me of the Batman & Robin theme from '97). It fit though, and the music was actually fairly well placed for a direct to DVD movie. The sound effects were also well played, and nothing sounded out of place or distracting. Voice acting was very good. This is particularly impressive given the age of the voice cast. They all blended very well with each other and fit the characters nicely. Overall, I think Next Avengers is a very good cartoon and definitely one that kids and Marvel fans will find cool and I recommend it! I really do hope they make more! -Matt

• very strong animated feature from Marvel (8.5/10)

  disdressed122008-11-23

  this is one of the latest Marvel animated features,and i gotta say,i liked it.this one involves the children of the Original Avengers,most of which do not appear in the story.i won't say why.you'll have to watch to find out.anyway,i found the premise of the future an interesting concept.but there is more to the story than just the children.i mentioned earlier that mos of the original Avengers do not appear,but one or two do show up to lend a hand.i liked the fact that in this feature,the threat to humanity is very grave,with a very strong and powerful villain.there's some great character interaction here,as well,including some conflict among the heroes.and for action fans,there are some great action scenes,including some great hand to had combat fighting.beyond that,i really like the colour scheme of the movie.,and i thought the voice castling was very good,especially,the voice of the villain.it was truly an inspired choice.my vote for The Next Avengers:8.5/10

• Not entirely on the same level as previous Marvel animated features but still nice!

  chrichtonsworld2008-09-08

  The Next Avengers is not based on an existing comic. It does however feature characters from the Marvel Universe. Basicaly you can view this cartoon as one of many alternate stories in the Marvel Universe only with one difference. And that is the fact that this cartoon is meant for a younger audience than usual. We get introduced to the children of some of the Avengers. While I have no real objections to this premise I do wonder why these children almost have the same power as their parents. Surely these kids would have some extra or different powers since some of them are products of two parents who both had super abilities. I understand that this is done for recognition and to simplify matters. But it would have been nice to see some new abilities. OK,done with the nitpicking. The story itself is not that impressive. The characters however are fun and there is just enough action to keep you entertained. There are some surprises featured in this cartoon considering you haven't had a good look at the cover of the DVD. Let's just say that a certain character we all love finally gets more screen time then he did in Ultimate Avengers 1 and 2. Overall this is a nice cartoon that plays around with the Marvel mythology.

• Another Quality Marvel Studio production

  theycallmemrglass2008-10-08

  All of Marvel Studios animated films in the last 3 years starting with The Invincible Iron Man, Dr Strange, and Avengers 1& 2 were first rate comic book animated films that truly delivered the character drive and action that comic book fans have lusted for decades. They now follow up with a suspiciously kiddish animated movie set in an alternative future where the avengers have been long wiped out by Ultron apart from Tony Stark who takes the children of the Avengers into hiding to raise them away from harm. This is definitely a more kid friendly entry but don't let that put any of you off. The children behave like normal children with powers (did that make sense?), are likable, very vulnerable and needing adult guidance. The story is entertaining if rather straightforward with a couple of interesting revelations and welcome cameos. The voice acting for the children Avengers are charming (much akin to those in The Incredibles) with production levels on par with Marvel's previous films. This is not the best of the Marvel series but it is certainly a great deal of fun for both children and adults.