Avengers Assemble: The Serpent of Doom, Review
Now this is more like it! An action packed superbrawl in the streets of New York City with Doctor Doom, Ulik, and the Midgard Serpent make this feel exactly like an Avengers story should!
After last week’s disappointing, repetitive, and dull installment (seriously, read all about it right here), the fourth episode of Avengers Assemble, “The Serpent of Doom” was like a much-needed cool breeze on a summer afternoon. As I was starting to worry that this show could potentially devolve into a series of sight gags that fail to advance the plot (similar to what we’ve become accustomed to on Ultimate Spider-Man), this week we’re treated to a big, loud, punch-up that somehow still found ways to throw in some appropriate character moments.Thor, so far, is the most interesting character on the show, and this week was the first time the fact that an otherdimensional “god” would have extraordinarily different beliefs than his teammates has come into play. During the opening battle with Ulik (I can’t tell you how cool it is to see a Thor/Ulik match in animation again), where Thor warns Iron Man of the powerful Asgardian magic at work, Tony dismisses him with a “magic is just science I haven’t figured out yet” bit of flippancy. It seems throwaway, but it’s a nice way to introduce the disparity in worldview between these two , without breaking the pace of a big opening fight. When Thor realizes that recent events could mean that he is fated to die soon, he resigns himself to this fact, prompting Captain America to speak up in near horror! Again, a nice way to play these three core Avengers off each other and establish how they see themselves and the world around them.But Ulik isn’t the real threat of the episode. That honor belongs to Doctor Doom, who has made brief cameos in earlier chapters. Doom is voiced to supervillain perfection by Maurice LaMarche, and when he summons the Midgard Serpent (thereby making Thor’s worries about the prophesy that much more valid), the stage is set for a perfect storm of Marvel Comics hysteria. C’mon, Doctor Doom harnessing magical forces he can’t possibly control or understand? That’s textbook stuff, right there! I wouldn’t go looking for nuance in the rest of this episode, just sit back and enjoy the ride.Hawkeye, Hulk, and Falcon show up and do their part, but really, this is Thor’s show, and the best parts of “The Serpent of Doom” showcase his relationship with Captain America and Iron Man. It’s another big, dumb, and loud chapter of Avengers Assemble, but it feels much more true to the spirit of the comics than any of the earlier episodes did. If this is what future episodes are going to be like (more villains, please!) then they might be on the right track after all!Den of Geek Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars. Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for all news updates related to the world of geek. And Google+, if that’s your thing!
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Mike Cecchini is a man with a deep and abiding love of comics published before he was born, low-budget sci-fi, lo-fi garage rock, giant monster movies,…