| The Super Hero Squad Show | |
|---|---|
 Promotional poster | |
| Genre | Action Adventure Comedy Science fantasy Slapstick Superhero |
| Based on | Marvel Super Hero Squad |
| Developed by | Matt Wayne |
| Voices of | |
| Theme music composer | Parry Gripp David Ari Leon |
| Opening theme | "The Super Hero Squad Show" Theme |
| Ending theme | "The Super Hero Squad Show" Theme (instrumental) |
| Composer | Guy Michelmore |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 52(list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
|
| Producer | Dana C. Booton |
| Running time | 22–23 minutes |
| Production companies | |
| Original release | |
| Network | Cartoon Network |
| Release | September 14, 2009 (2009-09-14) – October 14, 2011 (2011-10-14) |
The Super Hero Squad Show is an Americansuperheroanimated series produced byMarvel Animation that aired from 2009 to 2011. It is based on theHasbro toyline "Marvel Super Hero Squad", which portrays theAvengers, theX-Men, and various other Marvel characters inchibi forms.[1]
The show is also a self-awareparody of Marvel, taking influence from theMini Marvels series. The series was produced byFilm Roman andMarvel Animation. It was made available to stream onDisney+ shortly after its launch in December 2019.[2][3]
Prior to the beginning of the series,Doctor Doom attempted to acquire the Infinity Sword in pursuit of world domination.Iron Man foiled his plan, but the sword was destroyed and separated into fragments known as Infinity Fractals.
In the present, Doom forms theLethal Legion to gather the fractals. Doom's forces, includingMODOK andAbomination, dwell in Villainville, which is separated from Super Hero City by a giant wall. Opposing Doom is Iron Man, now a member of theSuper Hero Squad alongsideFalcon,Hulk,Silver Surfer,Thor, andWolverine.
The Super Hero Squad is headquartered in theS.H.I.E.L.D.Helicarrier, and are frequently aided in their defense of Super Hero City by their bossCaptain America, S.H.I.E.L.D. leaderMs. Marvel, rookie Squad memberReptil, and many more of their superhero friends.
At the end of the first season,Galactus arrives to devour Earth, leading the Squad to reforge the Infinity Sword to stop him. Silver Surfer takes the Sword and leaves the team to serve as Galactus' herald.
The second season focuses on traveling to different parts of the Marvel Universe, the galaxy, different dimensions, and through time.Thanos is the main antagonist for the first half of the season, seeking theInfinity Gems to gain supremacy over the universe.Scarlet Witch replaces Surfer, with original squad members Iron Man, Hulk, Falcon, Wolverine and Thor returning.[4][5]
In the second half of the season, the Surfer is corrupted by the Sword's power, steals the Infinity Gauntlet from Thanos, and becomes the Dark Surfer. He scatters the Squad throughout time and space, but is eventually defeated and the Infinity Sword destroyed once more. Silver Surfer refuses to rejoin the Squad until he repents for his actions.
| Season | Episodes | Originally released | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First released | Last released | |||
| 1 | 26 | September 14, 2009 (2009-09-14) | February 20, 2010 (2010-02-20) | |
| 2 | 26 | October 23, 2010 (2010-10-23) | October 14, 2011 (2011-10-14) | |
The show's executive producers included Alan Fine, Simon Philips, and Eric Rollman, withJoe Quesada andStan Lee as co-executive producers. Cort Lane was supervising producer.Mitch Schauer, creator of theNickelodeon seriesThe Angry Beavers, was the show's supervising director and character designer.Matt Wayne was the show's story editor and head writer.[6] Other writers include Michael Ryan,Nicole Dubuc, Atul Rao, Eugene Son, James Krieg, and Mark Hoffmeier. Singer-songwriterParry Gripp composed the theme song.
Marvel executive and writerJeph Loeb explained the series as something everyone would like, stating "Marvel Super Heroes have always entertained fans of all ages in our comics, and we're proud to offer an animated series that families can enjoy together. With the most exciting super-powered adventures,The Hub can now offer the greatest fun of all—experiencing Marvel for the very first time. So whether you want to fly with Thor, suit up with Iron Man or smash with Hulk, this series has everything your family wants to see from our heroes."[7]
The show's first season was to debut onCartoon Network in the United States on September 19, 2009,[8] but aired five days earlier on September 14, 2009. The second season of the series, based onThe Infinity Gauntlet, premiered on October 23, 2010 and stopped being shown on Cartoon Network on February 19, 2011, with episode 40 ("Fate of Destiny!"). Afterward, new episodes aired only onTeletoon and were available to purchase oniTunes. On July 23, 2011, the series returned on Cartoon Network, at a new timeslot of 12:00 pm.[9] Although in the next following weeks no new episodes aired. In September 2011, Cartoon Network announced thatThe Super Hero Squad Show would be airing new episodes on weekday mornings at 7:00 am starting Monday, October 3, 2011.[10] The series ended on October 14, 2011. A total of 52 episodes were produced for the show. Hub Network began airing the series on January 30, 2012 as part of their daily weekday line-up and aired on Discovery Family until January 30, 2015.[7][11] As a result of Cartoon Network losing the rights to the show, allSuper Hero Squad content was removed from the network's website. On January 3, 2020, both seasons of the show were added toDisney+.[12]
The series first premiered onTeletoon in Canada on Sunday, September 13, 2009, at 8:30 am as part of the network's Action Force block. The show returned on Teletoon on Sunday, February 6, 2011, at 7:00 am for the debut of the second season. All 52 episodes aired in Canada, ending on July 10, 2011.
The series premiered on December 4, 2009, in Australia, onABC3, in October 2009.[13]
It was aired onNicktoons in the UK. The show also used to air reruns onDisney XD in the United States.
Most of the episodes have been released on DVD across several volumes byShout! Factory.
Five volumes have been released on DVD so far.Hero Up contains episodes 1–6,Hulk Smash contains episodes 7–11,Don't Call Me Wolvie contains episodes 12–16,Tales of Evil contains episodes 17–21, andMother of Doom contains episodes 22–26.
Magna Home Entertainment releasedThe Super Hero Squad Show: The Infinity Fractal War (Vol 1) andTitanic Team-Ups (Vol 2) on June 2, 2010, andThe Lethal Legion Strikes (Vol 3) on September 8, 2010. Each DVD includes 6–7 episodes of the show, as well as character profiles. (Australian release). The final volume of Season 1, entitledQuest for the Infinity Sword (Vol 4) was released on November 3, 2010, containing the final six episodes of Season 1. Season 2The Infinity Gauntlet (Vol 1) is currently available.Infinite Thanos (Vol 2) was also released on November 2, 2011.
Vivendi Entertainment under the named Vivendi Entertainment Canada released two volumes under the names ofThe Super Hero Squad: Hero Up, Squaddies (Vol 1) andThe Super Hero Show: Titanic Team Ups (Vol 2), both released on May 4, 2010.[25] A Vol 3 was announced to release on June 29, 2010.[25] On September 28, 2010,[26] Vivendi released aThe Super Hero Squad Show: The Complete Season 1 DVD set containing an unnamed Vol 3 and Vol 4.
Rob Keyes ofScreen Rant said, "In short, this is just a big pile of awesome for kids. For adult Marvel fans, it's still a fun watch too, especially if you have children of your own to share the experience with. There's a lot of shout outs (and a few jokes) for the fans that only adults would pick up on,"[27] while Shawn S. Lealos included it in their "10 All-Time Best Animated Series Based On Marvel Comics" list.[28] Philip Etemesi ofComic Book Resources rankedThe Super Hero Squad Show 10th in their "13 Best Animated Movies & TV Shows Featuring Black Panther" list.[29]
A four-part comic book series based on the show calledMarvel Super Hero Squad was released in the fall of 2009. The series was a success and Marvel renewed the series in January 2010 as an ongoing series, now entitled:Super Hero Squad. The comic does not feature only characters from the show, but also characters outside the show. As of December 8, 2010,Super Hero Squad had a total of 12 issues released. No new issues have been released since, seemingly indicating that the comic book franchise has been cancelled. Trying to bring back the franchise, Marvel released aSuper Hero Squad Spectacular where theBeyonder sends them to another planet with theirLethal Legion foes.
