Sometimes I think Marvel’s animation department has to deal with constantly being in the shadow of so many great DC cartoons. With shows like Justice League, Batman and Superman’s 1990’s series, Static Shock, Young Justice, Teen Titans and Batman Beyond under WB Animation’s belt, I guess to many out there it feels as if the Marvel shows aren’t worth their time. Personally, there’s no way I’d go that far.
While I do agree with those who say DC’s had the better track record with their animation so far- the Killing Joke movie being a rare misfire- there’ve been a number of Marvel cartoons I really liked. Disney XD’s Guardians of the Galaxy show is very charming, Spectacular Spider-Man and the campy 1990’s Spider-Man series were fun, and I can still happily go back to the X-Men cartoon that aired on Fox.
And Marvel Rising’s premiere film Secret Warriors makes use of a similar dynamic from the 1992 X-Men, that of prejudice against people with supernatural abilities. If only the Inhumans on the ABC show could have been as interesting as the ones in this movie. Even their dog Lockjaw is utilized better here.
The prelude to Warriors is a series of “Initiation” shorts, which introduce us to Kamala Khan (Kathreen Khaviri) and Doreen Green (Milana Vayntrub), who fight crime together respectively as Ms. Marvel and Squirrel Girl- who as the name describes, can communicate with and possess the nimbleness of squirrels. Kamala, who was inspired to become a caped fighter for justice by Captain Marvel (Kim Raver), also has to deal with the social stigma of being an Inhuman, having gained the ability to manipulate and grow her body parts after a Terrigan Wave.
They run afoul of Ghost-Spider (Dove Cameron), who in reality is Gwen Stacy, searching for her friend’s murderer. As a fan/apologist of the first Amazing Spider-Man film, seeing Gwen work alongside Spider-Man was entertaining, but she’s had a pretty strong revival as a character for the general public since she was retconned as Ghost-Spider. It sure beats being almost entirely known as a dead girlfriend. Of course, Squirrel Girl and Ms. Marvel can’t help but to do a sentai pose, which Spider-Gwen valiantly counters by nodding off to sleep.
She manages to escape the clutches of Rayshaun Lucas (Kamil McFadden), a Cap-style super-soldier known as Patriot, and Daisy Johnson/Quake (Chloe Bennet, who reprises her Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D role), who as you’d imagine can generate seismic earthquakes. In Secret Warriors, they’re part of the search for Dante Pertuz (Tyler Posey), a fire-generating Inhuman who himself is being tracked by a villain named Exile (Booboo Stewart).
Along with a powerful alien living among earthlings named America Chavez (Cierra Ramirez), the heroes are roped into a plot to bring potential warriors to Hala the Accuser (Ming-Na Wen), and it’s up to Squirrel Girl, Patriot and Quake to try to rescue Kamala and the others.
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Secret Warriors is a very snap, bang, action-oriented film that tries to pack in a lot within a fairly brief runtime, but there is a lot of nice character development within the time frame of an hour and twenty minutes. Squirrel Girl is a prime example here, as there’s a serious grounding to her character even as the jokester of the movie.
Lesser writers would have just turned her up to eleven and made her annoying, but she’s got a lot of heart of display in this movie. (Like Naruto, her superpowers are essentially befriending, motivating and rallying powerful friends.) Speaking of the humor, it does feel a bit MCU-ish in the better sense, as there’s just enough not to erode the tension and it’s not insulting.
Patriot’s hero worship of Steve Rogers is a major motivating factor for him, and his desire to be as noble as him does cloud his judgement at points, but he does learn to grow beyond that. Ms. Marvel’s idolizing of Captain Marvel is very charming, there’s almost this All Might-like quality to Carol Danvers with Kamala as her Deku. This movie’s tone is very anime, that’s why I’m going with these comparisons.
The back stories of many of the characters are good motives as to why their personalities are what they are, and well written within the frame the of the story. (And also sometimes poignant, notably in the case of America.) Overall, this an extremely likable interpretation of these characters, as a younger and more diverse generation of heroes who respect and admire their predecessors, but also want to be themselves- even when they’re misunderstood by others. It comes off sort of like Tiny Toon Adventures if the focus wasn’t on satire, but heroics.
Visually it uses a simplistic art direction that allows for some fun fight sequences and action scenes, especially when the team has to take down a rampaging monster aboard a starcruiser. There’s just enough detail in the expressions of the characters to feel believable, but still very much like a cartoon at the end of the day. Also, Doreen’s pet squirrel Tippy Toe is the cutest thing ever.
The soundtrack with songs performed by Dove Cameron is a bit cheesy at points when they start playing out of nowhere, but they fit the overall upbeat and family-friendly tone.
If Marvel Rising doesn’t become the next Batman: Animated Series, that’s okay and it doesn’t need to in order to succeed. This premiere film is a nice introduction to newer characters that the company is wise to invest in, so as to keep their brand fresh and consistent with the times.
For those interested in an intelligent superhero cartoon that has the spark of old Saturday mornings, I’ll happily recommend Initation and Secret Warriors. If you’d had the chance to see it, head to @Official_FAN on Twitter as always and speak your mind!