I was expecting a quickie origin tale where the Avengers get together to fight some common threat, or maybe even the possibility that the team was already formed and the show would just treat viewers to weekly bad guys. I was pleasantly surprised to find the show puts a good more time into the development of the characters and the buildup of the show's premise.
The first five episodes in Heroes Assemble! focus on particular soon-to-be Avengers. The show starts off with an episode focusing on Iron Man, then one that gives a good bit of background on Thor, followed by a Hulk episode, then a Captain America one that shows the Cap in WWII and finally one concerning Ant-Man and Wasp with a bit of Black Panther thrown in to round things out.
By using a full episode to introduce each character, the show does a great job of getting the viewers to know who these heroes are and what their personalities are like. For instance, while the movies have flooded us with origin stories for Iron Man and Hulk, and we will soon get to see Thor and Captain America on the big screen, Ant-Man and Wasp haven't had a lot of screen time to introduce viewers to these characters.
In their episodes, we learn that Hank Pym is a very professional scientist who uses his size-changing technology purely for scientific reasons. His assistant, on the other hand, feels that their suits would help fight evildoers and when the pair actually take on a super villain, Hank starts to see her point.
That isn't to say the other heroes' specific episodes lack anything, they just don't focus as much on any kind of origin; these are all heroes that have been helping the Earth for some time. I especially liked the Cap's episode that features America's side-kick, Bucky, as well as Thor's as he has to stop his trickster of a brother from invading Asgard.
These first five episodes also introduce S.H.I.E.L.D., Nick Fury and most importantly, four specially-designed prisons that each specialize in containing a different kind of super villain. This is important because the volume's last two episodes, "Breakout" Parts 1 and 2, bring the team together when those prisons' security fails. As each of the heroes (well, minus Cap, he is still frozen in the North until Volume 2) gather together to fight the released foes, they decide that they need to work together in order to find and round up all of the escaped baddies.
The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes! Volume 1 Heroes Assemble! is a little light on special features. It only has one featurette that give s a bit of a sneak peek at Season 2 of the show. That's okay though, the show really stands on its own. The story is good, and doesn't feel too episodic or serial. It finds a nice middle ground that should mean most viewers could simply jump into an episode without needing much back story and it will have just enough hook to make the viewer want to come back for more. Even the most basic Marvel fan will want to at least watch this show, if not buy the DVD outright.
