Spoilers ahead if you aren't caught up with Season 2 of SuperMansion.
You might never get to see members of the Justice League and the Legion of Doom living together under the same roof--which would be disastrous--but you can get an idea of just what that might look like in Season 3 of Sony Crackle's SuperMansion. As ridiculous and hilarious as ever, the Emmy-nominated stop-motion animated series returns today with the first of six, all-new episodes arriving weekly on the streaming content provider. And I'm happy to say that, if the first two episodes are any indication, SuperMansion has found a fantastic new angle to explore when it comes to superheroes and supervillains and the comedy that comes out of their conflicts.
After the events of Season 2, Dr. Devizo (Chris Pine) has been declared a hero after “saving the world”, so he and the Injustice Club are all made honorary members of the League of Freedom. That means that they'll be living under the same roof and attempting to learn to live and work together if they’re going to combat the never-ending amount of evil in the world. It's a very clever twist that will put the superheroes and supervillains in direct conflict with each other, cutting to the quick and getting right to the punchiest of punch lines.
Zeb Wells and Matthew Senreich's creation, a Stoopid Buddy Stoodios production, also stars Bryan Cranston, Keegan-Michael Key, Jillian Bell, Yvette Nicole Brown, Heidi Gardner, Tucker Gilmore and Wells himself. Additionally, newcomer Mikey Day (Saturday Night Live) will guest star on the Monday, May 14th episode as Max Penalizer, an anti-hero meting out justice with his Ball Peen Gavel of justice. More on his particular brand of nonsense in a moment.
If you've been following the laugh-out-loud misadventures of SuperMansion over the last two seasons, you already know the superheroic and supervillainous players; simply knowing they'll be living together in very close quarters should clue you to some of the insanity to come. But even if you're checking SuperMansion out for the first time ever and starting with Season 3 for some reason, the opening sequence of the premiere "Home Is Where the Shart Is" is a solid introduction. You'll get to see the original League of Freedom take on Nazis (and who doesn't love that?) and meet the powerful and too-cool-to-be-a-Nazi supervillain, Swine Kampf. This flashback, which is as action-packed as it is a laugh-riot, sets up the season to come and roots all the trouble in Titanium Rex's shortsighted past.
So while tracking down a Nazi war criminal in the present serves as the action-focused part of the premiere's plot, the bulk of the comedy comes from the Odd Couple relationships as superheroes and supervillains pair off in the mansion in unexpected and super-awkward ways. It's got a dash of fraternity comedy shenanigans that flavors the usual conflict between the do-gooders and their arch nemeses. And who knows, being in close proximity like that might even spark up some romantic relationships ... or at least some hilarious one-liners from Omega Pet member, Buster Nut.
The super-powered Step by Step premise isn't confined to just one episode; this conflict isn't resolved in the premiere, thankfully. It continues at least into the next episode, "Masters of Lex", where Titanium Lex's two dads take issue with her dating the vigilante anti-hero Max Penalizer. (Meanwhile, Robobot learns some hard truths about dealing with humans and may inadvertently start a cult in the process...) Penalizer is a perfect addition to the already oversexed and psychologically damaged cast of characters for reasons that will become abundantly clear. And in the second episode, the League of Freedom and the Injustice Club are already showing signs of cooperation, but how long that lasts and how it all ends up is anyone's guess. No matter what, it'll be a fun ride!
SuperMansion doesn't lose a step in Season 3 and, in a pleasant surprise, finds a way to make the overdone superhero sub-genre fresher and funnier than ever. The raunchy humor might rub some the wrong way, but the solid animation, top-notch action, and laugh-out-loud comedy (and Arby's product placement) should please returning fans and newcomers alike.
Rating: ★★★★ Very good
Be sure to tune into Sony Crackle to check out the brand new episode of SuperMansion Season 3 starting today!
Wells and Senreich executive produce alongside Seth Green, John Harvatine IV, Eric Towner and Tom Root. Cranston and James Degus also serve as executive producers under their production banner Moon Shot Entertainment. SuperMansion is directed by Nick Simotas (Back at the Barnyard) and distributed by Sony Pictures Television Inc.
