Recap: Avengers EMH (Micro-Episode 1) "Iron Man is Born!"

Hokay. So.

Before Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes debuted on TV, Marvel came out with a crapton of online "Micro-Episodes", which acted like prequels to the events of the series. The thing is, you need to watch all of the Micro-Episodes to understand the two-part premiere "Breakout". The solution? Assemble the Micro-Episodes into full episodes and air them on TV... after they already aired the two-part premiere. Way to confuse everyone by airing the must-watch prequels after the events they set up. I'd expect that from DC Nation, but not from you, Marvel.

The numbering is a bit odd, too. Iron Man's story, for example, is told in Micro-Episodes 1, 4, 6, and 9. The production codes make more sense, but the airing order is still weird. But that's beside the point. On with the Recap!

Just the one Avenger, really.

The episode opens from the point of view of someone’s camcorder on a New York pier. He ogles a woman for a second before lasers suddenly happen, courtesy of a giant robot causing havoc in the water. The camera goes all Cloverfield as the guy runs to get away (passing a Stan Lee cameo briefly fleeing the scene).

As a large bit of debris form an explosion threatens to fall on him, something suddenly flies out of the sky and catches it.

Camcorder Guy: “I-I-I…”
Iron Man: “Iron Man.”

Then we see that this amateur footage was being used as part of a news broadcast, watched by Tony Stark’s buddy, James Rhodes, while he rides shotgun in Tony’s car.
    

Tony Stark: “I don’t like to brag, but that footage really didn’t capture how big the thing really was. I mean, huge.”

Rhodey tells Tony off for rushing in, risking his life while America has organizations like S.H.I.E.L.D. to take care of things like this. Tony rebuts with his new outlook on life, coupled with a need to redeem himself after having been a weapons manufacturer. Rhodey raises a good point about working with S.H.I.E.L.D. to do good, but…

Tony Stark: “I am not listening to Rhodey anymore, la la la la….”

Our hero.

Meanwhile, at Stark Tower (the interior of which looks suspiciously like Tony’s garage from the Iron Man films), Tony’s secretary, Pepper Potts, waits for him to arrive. When he does, she tells him that there’s been a problem: the terrorist group known as Hydra just attacked the United Nations building (while every world leader is there). With a gigantic skull-faced robo-squid! And S.H.I.E.L.D can’t get there in time.

Tony tells Pepper to reschedule lunch and suits up in a fairly epic sequence before flying off.

Rhodey (over radio): “Be careful, man.”
Iron Man: “Why would I start now?”

It's not the same without AC/DC blaring.

Over at the UN, the military’s getting its butt kicked by the Hydra-bot. Suddenly, Iron Man blasts it with his chest-beam, and it falls right over, reducing his power level to 40%. Iron Man tells JARVIS (his suit’s AI) to activate the external speakers, and, surprisingly, delivers an ultimatum to the Hydra goons instead of cranking up Black Sabbath.

Iron Man: “Attention Hydra goons: You’ve been trying to take over the world for sixty years? It’s not happening.”

One of the goons responds with a rocket launcher, and Iron Man counters with smart mini-missiles that latch onto the goons’ weapons before detonating. Iron Man blasts the rest of the goons into unconsciousness, and is subsequently attacked by ten-foot robotic weaponized suits (called Dreadnoughts).

Dreadnought: “Target acquired. Designation: Iron Man. Destroy."
    

Dun dun dunnnnn!

To be continued! In Micro-episode 4.