AVENGERS: EARTH'S MIGHTIEST HEROES S1x013

"GAMMA WORLD PART 2"
Story by Christopher Yost & Joshua Fine | Written by Michael Ryan
Directed by Sebastian Montes

The Plot: A satellite beams gamma energy into Las Vegas, mutating the people there. The gamma field speads out past the Cube, mutating the SHIELD agents and Avengers there. Doc Samson is knocked out, and Thor finds himself alone against the gamma monsters. Meanwhile, Hawkeye and Black Widow, who were en route to the Cube, land in the desert. Hawkeye knocks out the Widow as the Leader makes a broadcast to the world, describing his plan to mutate humanity with gamma radiation. Hawkeye sets out to find the Hulk, leaving Black Widow alone as the gamma field expands toward her.

The mutated Avengers bring Doc Samson and Thor to the Leader. Samson is dragged away, while Leader sets the Abomination against Thor. Elswhere, Hulk battles against against the Hulkbusters in Canada. Hawkeye arrives to interrupt the fight and save the Hulk. Hawkeye convinces Hulk to change back into Bruce Banner, and the duo heads to Banner's cabin to make plans. And in the Leader's Vegas lair, Thor gets the villain to begin a monologue, allowing him to regian his strength and summon his hammer. At the cabin, Banner prepares a way to counteract the Leader, then turns back into the Hulk and leaves with Hawkeye.

In Vegas, Mjolnir returns to Thor, but the Leader realizes this was part of his plan. Absorbing Man appears and takes on the hammer's physical properties, then double-teams Thor with the Abomination. Absorbing Man and Thor move outside, but Hawkeye and Hulk arrive a moment later in the Leader's control room. Abomination attacks Hulk while Hawkeye goes after the Leader, but the mutated Avengers come to the Leader's defense. Hawkeye begins hitting the Avengers with special arrows devised by Banner, which changes them back to normal. But the Leader transforms his control dais into a mech with which to fight back.

Outside, Thor defeats Absorbing Man by controlling him like Mjolnir. Inside, Hawkeye battles the Leader alone, while Hulk fights Abomination on the roof. Hawkeye shows up and helps Hulk to defeat Abomination, but the Leader isn't far behind. Thor appears, using Absorbing Man to destroy the Leader's mech, then Hulk grabs his gamma ray generator, hurling it into space.

Later, Clay Quartermain clears Hawkeye's name after studying footage from the archer's skycycle which confirms Black Widow is a double-agent -- however he also reports that she's no longer in the desert where Hawkeye left her. Hawkeye refuses to rejoin SHIELD -- and turns down Iron Man's invitation to join the Avengers as well -- instead declaring that he will hunt down the Black Widow on his own. Hulk, however, says that he'll remain with the team if Hawkeye will stay too, prompting a change of heart from the bowman.

In the desert, the Abomination, hurled away during the fight by Hulk, is found by Baron Zemo, Enchantress, Executioner, Crimson Dynamo, and Wonder Man.

Continuity Notes: The opening credits group shot shows Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, Giant-Man, Wasp, and Black Panther.

Reaction shots to the Leader's broadcast depict (besides various random citizens) Pepper Potts, Nick Fury, Hank Pym (still in Wakanda), and Arnim Zola, Baron Zemo, and the Enchantress.

Hawkeye notes that the Hulk has battled the Leader before, adding to the microseries idea that these characters have been having solo adventures long before the series started.

Thor is brought to the leader without Mjolnir, his hammer, leading him to explain that only those who are worthy can lift it. I'm pretty sure that's the first time this is mentioned in the series.

The Hulkbuster chopper pilot who looks like G.I. Joe's Wild Bill shows up again for the fight in Canada (this time with dialogue).

Leader, apparently mentally linked to the gamma ray generator, is mutated into his notorious "scrotum-head" form when it's destroyed.

Do I Know That Voice? Nope. (And also, a number of characters who had speaking lines in the previous episode are totally silent here, including Captain America, Wasp, Black Panther, and Doc Samson! They must have blown their budget on the animation -- this is a really good-looking installment.)

My Thoughts: This is a pretty good episode, delivering a satisfying conclusion to the events of part one (even if, as noted last week, that episode didn't necessarily end on a traditional cliffhanger). Black Widow is still at large, keeping the ongoing Hydra storyline in motion, plus we have the formation of the Masters of Evil coming to fruition as well (with Crimson Dynamo having been recruited at some point off-screen) -- and we'll see that plot reach its climax in next week's installment.

More than anything else about this episode, I its portrayal of Hawkeye. He's smart, independent, and more than capable of going toe-to-toe with the mutated Avengers and the Leader -- plus he's pretty fearless, not flinching when the Hulk gets in his face early on. My brother, who started watching this series for the first time around the time Disney Plus launched, noted that once Hawkeye joins the team, he's practically the series' main character. I had forgotten that from the show's initial run, but after seeing him in action here, I can totally understand it. The guy is just so cool that it would be hard not to make him a major figure! (Plus, as I mentioned some weeks ago when we looked at "Hulk vs. The World", he looks great too, in his real costume rather than that boring piece of garbage they dress him in nowadays.)

And now for something I've wanted to address ever since that first Hulk episode, but I've been saving it until now: one issue I remember having with EMH nearly all the way through its run was its handling of the Hulk and Bruce Banner. In "Hulk vs. the World", we're presented with the classic Hulk status quo: Banner on the run, dogged by the military, turns into Hulk when he's angry, etc. In "Breakout", Banner convinces Hulk to help against Graviton, which is great -- but it's on the promise that Banner will allow himself to be banished into the Hulk's head forever. Now, Banner does show up a few times through the series (such as right here), but for the most part he's nonexistent, permanently and willingly a prisoner in the Hulk's body. We never really see the classic setup again, which has always felt off to me.

And more than that, I don't quite understand Hulk's relationship with the law in this series, either. From the start, he's being chased by Thunderbolt Ross and the Hulkbusters. He's even incarcerated by them until the events of "Breakout". Then, after that episode, he joins the Avengers. In "Some Assembly Required", his tenure is short-lived and he departs, though there is a moment where SHIELD tries to arrest him and Iron Man steps in to prevent it. Come "Gamma World", Hulk is on the run again, being chased by the Hulkbusters. All of this seems fairly consistent, aside from the fact that Hulk apparently spent some brief time among the Avengers between "Breakout" and "Some Assembly" during which the military wasn't trying to capture him for whatever reason.

But my recollection is that from this point forward, he's basically a member of the team, able to live in the mansion and go out in public without being chased by SHIELD or the Hulkbusters -- and I don't think it's ever explained. It seems possible (and entirely probable) to me that whatever criminal record he had was wiped clean due to his heroics here (and in "Breakout"), but the thing that bugs me is that it's never explicitly stated on-screen. So we just go from a fugitive Hulk to a Hulk who is a valued member of society with absolutely no explanation!

(Plus, if Hulk isn't wanted anymore, and is free to go about his business, why not let Banner out more often? This seems an ideal situation for them to co-habitate, rather than have Hulk continue to hold Banner hostage for no good reason.)

But, whatever. The rest of the series is really good, so I'll try not to let this bug me too much. Just be aware that I will always, always be thinking about it every time Hulk shows up on-screen without Ross or somebody trying to arrest him!

Next week: "Masters of Evil"!