From Avengers: EMH to Avengers Assemble, Part 2: A Sequel Show?

Is Avengers Assemble in continuity with Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes?

The million-dollar question. Well, maybe a couple bucks.

In a word: Maybe?

In several words….

Originally, yes. Allegedly.

It was originally announced that even though the show would both look, feel, and sound completely different, all the events from EMH would be in continuity. This was later contradicted by not only the people in charge of the show, but by everything in the actual show. For example, the fact that Luke Cage and Iron Fist were adults in EMH, while their counterparts in the Marvel Animated Universe are teenagers. Or the fact that none of the supporting cast from EMH is seen, the designs and voices are all different, and pretty much everything else. Avengers Assemble seems to follow the film continuity (minus everything past the Avengers film, because those hadn’t been made yet), and yet has additions like Avengers Mansion which are clearly references to EMH! What’s the dealio? According to an interview Comic Book Movie did with Man of Action (aka Joe Kelly and Steven T. Seagle), the dealio is as follows:

Joe Kelly: “[…] when we sat down to work on the show we were very conscious of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. As far as a direct continuation, we can't be really clear.”
Steven T. Seagle: “I think fans should know that we also worked on 'Earth’s Mightiest Heroes' so it's not a bunch of guys who don't care about or don’t like that show and just messed everything up, we worked on that show too. We love it too.”

So the official answer is: Not even the people in charge know. Holy. Crap.

Confusing the matter even further is the flashback seen in the Avengers Assemble episode “Molecule Kid.” For that episode, the creative team got the bright idea to render the flashback in the style of EMH, which was probably supposed to be a little gift to the fans, but ended up backfiring when it just prompted viewers to demand continuity answers. Heck, the Marvel Animated Universe can’t keep continuity straight between the shows in the same universe, but that’s another can of worms for another time.

I don’t know about you, but I’m sick of typing “continuity” over and over. I think the best thing to do is for all of us to say, “It’s just a show. I should really just relax.”

All in all, the journey from Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes to Avengers Assemble was… interesting, to say the least. The transition was marred by fan reaction, but it’s good to know that there was no ill will behind the scenes.