One of the greatest Marvel animated series when it comes to comic book authenticity was Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, and it adapted some of the best Avengers stories even better than the MCU. This Marvel animated series debuted in 2010 on Disney XD, and unlike many comic book television shows, this animated series set out to retell actual Avengers stories on the small screen.
The show paid respect to the stories by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, but it also honored material from all eras of the Avengers run, and it did so in a way that was almost like watching the beloved comic book stories come to life in the cartoon. Here is a look at five Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes stories from the comics that did justice to the source material better than the MCU.
5) The Ballad of Beta Ray Bill
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“The Ballad of Beta Ray Bill” is a second-season episode that takes a story that is actually from Thor comics, but is still done fantastically on Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. The episode itself has Thor looking for the fire demon Surtur, but then he ends up being attacked by Beta Ray Bill.
What happens next is shocking, as Beta Ray Bill actually lifts Mjolnir, proving himself worthy. The two then team up to save Asgard from Surtur and Enchantress. This is an incredible story, and seeing Thor and Bill teaming with Asgardians to fight Surtur, and it is obvious from the start that the MCU has still never given Beta Ray Bill the spotlight he should have already received in the Thor movies. This episode is based on Thor #338.
4) Nightmare in Red
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Released in the second season of Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, “Nightmare in Red” does a much better job at retelling Red Hulk’s origin story than the MCU did. Red Hulk showed up in Captain America: Brave New World, where General Ross became the U.S. president and then turned into Red Hulk in front of the world, where Sam Wilson had to stop him. This is nothing like his comic book origins, and it isn’t just the fact that Ross was never the U.S. President.
In the comics, no one knew who Red Hulk was, not even the readers. This was a giant secret that Marvel played out in a fantastic story, and when people learned it was Ross, it came as a shock. In “Nightmare in Red,” Red Hulk attacks SHIELD, and while SHIELD refuses to believe it is anyone other than Bruce Banner, the Avengers know it has to be someone different. The best part was that it wasn’t until 13 episodes later, in “The Deadliest Man Alive,” that Red Hulk changed into Ross and was sent to prison.
3) Living Legend
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In the first season, the Avengers found a frozen body discovered in the Arctic, and they realized this was the World War II hero Captain America. This was kind of told in the MCU, but not in the way that it was in the comics, and honestly, the fallout wasn’t really shown at all. In the MCU, Cap went into the ice at the end of Captain America: The First Avenger, and then in the post-credits scene, he was found and woke up in the present day.
However, the story from Avengers #4 had the team find the frozen Captain America, and then they fought him until he calmed down and realized he had been frozen for years. That is the story that played out in “Living Legend” in Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. This was the ninth episode of the first season, so viewers got to know the team before they found Cap, and when he arrived, it was time to take the next step. This was a perfect look at what happened when Captain America came back, where the MCU just jumped ahead in time.
2) Under Siege
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The biggest beatdown the Avengers ever experienced came in the comic book storyline Under Siege, which ran from Avengers #270-277. That story saw the Masters of Evil attack the Avengers methodically and destroy them one by one. In the comics, they even brutally assaulted Jarvis in the attack on Avengers Mansion, and this was a shocking beatdown. The MCU has always stuck with Earth-shattering events.
However, Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes did take on this storyline. The first season had an episode called “Masters of Evil,” and it had the same storyline. The villains changed somewhat, with Baron Zemo leading Abomination, Crimson Dynamo, Wonder Man, Enchantress, and Executioner into the battle and beating Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk, Thor, and Wasp, a great homage to the classic Avengers storyline.
1) Secret Invasion
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Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes told the Secret Invasion storyline, and this is one of the stories that the MCU also told. However, Secret Invasion might be the worst MCU Disney+ show that the company made, because it took an incredible Marvel Comics storyline and condensened into a minimal approach that ignored almost everything that made the comic book story special.
This played out in three episodes in the second season, starting with “Prisoner of War,” where Cap is replaced by a Skrull, and then “Infiltration” before wrapping up in “Secret Invasion.” The first episode saw the Skrulls start their invasion of Earth, starting in Wakanda, and then in the second episode, where the Avengers battled an army of Super-Skrulls with Earth’s heroes and villains’ powers and their queen, Veranke. This episode is based on Secret Invasion #5-8, and Secret Invasion: Fantastic Four #1-3.
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