There’s Gonna Be (Another) Avengers Cartoon

A real one. Like, a 26-episode cartoon series. Not a straight-to-DVD movie, and hopefully better than the previous Avengers cartoon from the late ’90s that managed to air at 5:30 a.m. in select podunk markets. Or, so says the Hollywood Reporter.

Film Roman, the company behind “The Simpsons” and “King of the Hill,” has been tapped to produce the 26-episode series, which will be available for broadcast in 2011, in time for Marvel Studios’ releases of the tentpole live-action movies “The First Avenger: Captain America” and “The Avengers.”

Producing the series is Ciro Nieli, whose credits include “Super Robot Monkey Team Hyper Force Go!” and “Teen Titans,” based on the DC Comics title. The series’ story editor is Christopher Yost, who has worked on the Marvel cartoons “Iron Man Armored Adventures” and “Fantastic Four: World’s Greatest Heroes.”

As you can see, it’s very stylized, giving most of the character’s very oddly shaped heads. It kind of looks like it’s trying to be Bruce Timm-esque and violently anti-Timm-esque at the same time. I’m not sure how I feel about that. At any rate, for those playing at home, this is Marvel cartoon series #5, after the Iron Man: Armored Adventures (with disturbingly teenage Tony Stark), Wolverine and the X-Men (where Wolverine leads the X-Men), Superhero Squad (with the kiddie versions of Marvel’s mightiest) and Black Panther. I’d say this also clears up why Stark is so young in Armored Adventures?so he can be a grown-up in Avengers.

Someone accused Topless Robot of having a Marvel bias, but honestly, the only Marvel or DC comic I’ve bought in the last decade has the been Mark Millar’s Ultimates stuff. I have no vested interest in either company. The only difference is that Marvel is getting newsworthy shit like this done.