Written by Nicole Pedersen
Marvel Animation, the cartoon arm of Marvel Entertainment, is launching another animated version of "The Avengers" – and this time it won't be going straight to DVD! According to The Hollywood Reporter, a full television series called "The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes" is being produced by Film Roman, the company behind Fox's "The Simpsons" and "King of the Hill." Wait… does that mean the new Avengers are going to be funny? I mean, I always find them funny (Thor! HA!)-- But I'm not sure if that's theangle Marvel is going for. "Teen Titans" vet Ciro Nieli is producing the animated adventures of Captain America, Iron Man and whichever other superheroes Marvel decides to shoehorn in to "The Avengers" this time, with a proposed premiere scheduled for 2011. This would place it in the vicinity of the summer debuts of both "The First Avenger: Captain America" and "The Avengers" feature films. According to Marvel Animation president Eric Rollman, this is all part of the "plan to complement each of our tentpole live-action features with an animated series. This new ensemble series tracks perfectly with our 'Road to the Avengers' strategy." The 'Road to the Avengers' is being laid with many bricks: "Iron Man" and the animated Nick Toon series "Iron Man Armored Adventures" is just the start. Marvel has to do something to keep us occupied for the next year, after all – and word is that "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" just isn't going to cut it.