Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H.

Season 1 – 40% – It targets children but misses everyone. I have been fond of the green grump ever since I first saw Ang Lee's feature film twelve years ago, but giving him a team where everyone has almost the same abilities was a big mistake. Five smashers, among whom the Hulk is the smartest, should have sounded suspicious to me from the beginning. Sadly, the perpetually green Bruce is also the most interesting character, while the others just fulfill stereotypes. A-Bomb is a joker, Red Hulk is an unbearable grouch, Skaar is a tough wild man, and She-Hulk is the only female character (with Eliza Dushku's voice), but her solo storyline hardly ever revolves around her and ironically remains the most extraneous of the entire squad. The individual plotlines don't contribute much either. The long-term struggle with the villain Leader is not surprising in any way (except for the fact that the last regular episode, Planet Leader, is a lively one and probably the best of the whole series), and the episodic plotlines only catch your attention when you're expecting a Marvel colleague to appear. Occasionally, these frequent visits result in pleasant adventures (Wolverine, Deathlok, Inhumans), but most of the time, they are quite boring or even colossal failures (Venom, Galactus). Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H. cannot be recommended to even the youngest children because mindless destruction can be found in every other action-packed animated series, often with funnier lines and visually better executed ideas. Season 2 – 40% – I vowed as a comic book fan that I would stick with this group until the end, and I must say it was probably the worst idea I've had in a while. The boredom is comparable to the previous season, but for the viewer, it's even worse because they already know what they're getting into. They treat the child viewer, who is clearly the target audience more than ever, as more or less a fool, and finding a smarter joke, pun, or plot twist is an impossible task. Even time paradoxes are presented extremely sloppily in the five-part Days of Future Smash and then proceed to violate all possible imaginable paradoxes. Another mystery is Spider-Man. It is unbelievable that the episodes where the audience's favorite spider-themed hero appears are almost rubbish due to their stupidity, doing a disservice to such a popular character. The episodes that try to delve into Hulk's personality (such as Banner Day) are somewhat enjoyable, but the "playful" episodes like Wheels of Fury are downright annoying. However, there is one thing I appreciate about the creators, and that is the ending of the entire series. I don't know if they were aware of the impending cancellation, but the way they dealt with all the ongoing plotlines in Spirit of Vengeance and the subsequent two-part finale, Planet Monster, is fair and pleasantly breaks the rule that superhero comics always have to end with a hint of another adventure. In the apocalyptic finish, where almost everyone we met in the series gets drawn into the fight, it is somewhat sadly suggested that the Smashers can't handle it on their own and when push comes to shove, they simply have to invite the Avengers, X-Men, Fantastic Four, or Guardians of the Galaxy (in this case, even more heroes!) to join the party. But it was almost worth it for that Marvel gallery. The feeling of a wasted series, at which the most die-hard fans of the green grumbler's source material must be tearing their hair out from start to finish, but it remains deeply buried. (04.06.2015) (vähemmän) (lisää)