Michael Ferguson had a particularly good scene in this where we only see the characters in shilouette. It's quite effective.
Yes, I know that the above was terrible. However, there's a reason for that. A few weeks ago, I got a craving to re-watch a wonderful television program called The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes. I've been binging on episodes on and off for the past couple of days, and today I reached my two favourite episodes of the series: Ultron-5 and The Ultron Imperative. They are both incredibly strong and draining episodes, and they are all that is going through my mind, hence I'm going to babble on about them for a bit here. I don't think that this will become a regular feature, but we'll see how well the series continues and whether I'm able to prepare myself for what's coming ahead.
To begin, some background. The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes (EMH) was a cartoon series that I happened upon one day when I was about 16 or 17. With the Avengers fresh in my mind after their very successful films, I watched it with interest. It was unlike most other shows that were around of the same genre at that time. Plot arcs developed, and characters did as well. The characters presented weren't just stereotypical heroes to save the day, they also had other facets to them, in particular Hank Pym AKA Ant-Man/Giant-Man.
Hank's portrayed as a pacifist with a keen eye for science. When fighting Wonder Man in Everything Is Wonderful (another excellent episode), he both tries to talk Wonder Man down instead of fighting him directly and at the same time geeks out over Wonder Man's powers, intrigued by their capabilities. His character was one that instantly related to the 17 year old me. Everything about him seemed to mirror my life, and I grew to have the character as a hero.
Things change when the episode Ultron-5 comes along. The story begins with the Avengers fighting the Serpent Society. Hank tries to reason with them, but everyone else just wants to fight. Hank's attempt to solve things peacefully ends with the Serpent Society getting away and Hawkeye being injured as a result of Hank's actions. Hank, therefore, realises that he has no place in this world and so he quits the Avengers. Already I admired this character for their morals and their belief in what is right for the world. He's someone who hates the idea of punching people to solve problems and so when he is forced into this eventuality, he realises that his life needs a change. He talks this over with Ultron, a robot that he created. Ultron is a peacekeeping robot that Hank developed to try and rehabilitate criminals. So far in the series, Hank has had to reluctantly teach Ultron the concept of violence, in order to help fight a time travelling conqueror known as Kang. Ultron then knocks out Pym and proceeds to attempt to destroy the Avengers.
What follows is some incredibly intense action. It's shocking to see our heroes fail at almost every opportunity when attempting to attack Ultron, Eventually, Ultron is defeated by Pym teaming up with the Hulk to destroy Ultron's body. Once again forced into solving problems by punching people, Pym is depressed. But not just that, because he's had to fight the thing that he created to create peace and a peaceful society. All of his attempts at peace have ended in failure, and it's all his fault.
Ultron survives the encounter as The Ultron Imperative begins. The action again is incredible as we see Ultron effortlessly take over the world's nuclear missiles and simultaneously launch them at Earth, aiming to destroy the planet. The efficiency of Ultron is terrifying, showing how hopeless everyone is in this scenario. And at the heart of it all, Hank Pym lies. He solves the problem by using logic, telling Ultron that, as he is based on humanity, he cannot destroy all humanity as that would involve destroying himself. Ultron shuts down, in a mirror to the beginning of the two-part episode. Whilst before Pym was unable to save the world by talking things through and coming to an agreement, here he has finally achieved his goal. It's not enough though as he is now constantly reminded of how it's his fault. Not just from his peers, but from himself as well. The episode ends with him walking away from the Avengers, and although the character does return in future episodes, Hank Pym never rejoins The Avengers.
It's a draining episode. It's intense at every angle and brings to a head tension that has been bubbling away between the characters over the past series. And at the heart of it all, a 17 year old who had finally found a character that was exactly like him on TV had his heart broken as he saw his favourite character get destroyed over the course of 45 minutes. It's my favourite episode of The Avengers: EMH, and I wholeheartedly recommend that you watch the whole series. Meanwhile, I've got Work to Do!
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