Argument for the Eligibility of Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes to Yuletide
Title: Argument for the Eligibility of Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes to Yuletide
Fandom: Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes
Rating: G
Characters/pairings: Tony Stark, Bruce Banner | Hulk, Clint Barton, Steve Rogers, Maria Hill
Warnings (including spoilers): Spoilers for 85% of EMH, various points in MCU from Iron Man through Ultron.
Wordcount: 2696 words
Author's note: So... meta counts for bingos, right? And... this counts as meta, right? I'm squeezing this in as a fill for the hc_bingo square 'hunger/starvation,' which I feel SO justified for because I can't even tell you how much it sucks to go from the beautiful writing, prime character development, and juicy plots of EMH to the general mediocrity of Avengers Assemble, losing out on T'Challa, Jan van Dyne, Ms. Marvel and an actually funny Hawkeye in the process. I bet you ten bucks EMH would have had Deadpool eventually. *shakes fist at TPTB* *ahem* and also as a fill for my made-up cliche_bingo card's square 'Character Study,' cause... I think this counts? Certainly I'm studying a few characters, in-depth, so...
Summary: Resolved: The universe of Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes is intrinsically different to that of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as are many of the characters there portrayed.
Archive tag
ff.net works
ff.net crossovers
The issue is that it may be confused with the MCU movies, and perhaps with the comics. To argue that EMH is distinctly different from the MCU movies, I have followed along with the Yuletide eligibility questions for closely-related fandoms.
Is it published in a different medium? Yes.
EMH was aired on Disney XD as a cartoon, not a comic or a series of PG-13 movies that had to be edited down from R for several countries. While I can’t find an actual rating for this show, it is clearly aimed at children. Consumer reviews suggested it was suitable for children ages 8+. Accompanying children’s books are recommended for children ages 4-7.
The cartoon Avengers Assemble replaced EMH, which was cancelled after its second season. Avengers Assemble nominally picks up where EMH left off, but has a different cast, and the few characters in common have very different appearances, characterization, even accents, and the writing is honestly a lot worse. Intended as a tie-in for the movies, Avengers Assemble includes only movie characters and follows movie characterization much more closely.
EMH has its own tag in AO3’s ‘Comics & Cartoons & Graphic Novels’ fandom listing, distinct from both Avengers (Comics) and Avengers Assemble (Cartoon). Both seasons are also available on Netflix, while the second season of Avengers Assemble is not yet available.
Is it marketed as a separate series or distinct sub-series? Yes.
EMH was marketed separately from the main comics line, and was actually cancelled because the popularity of the movie universe inspired a tie-in cartoon which would have been in direct competition. EMH had its own 13-issue comic book line released, along with several small collections of episodes, full season, and full series DVD and Blue-ray releases in three regions. Children’s books following the characters on the team in season 1 are available.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Avengers:_Earth%27s_Mightiest_Heroes#DVD_releases
http://www.medinnus.com/AEMH/merchandise.html
Does it focus on different characters, or characters with only minor roles in other canons? Somewhat.
Hawkeye and Hulk receive more screen time in EMH than they do in the MCU. Jan van Dyne and Hank Pym are minimized in the MCU, but both are main characters in EMH, and EMH Hank has very unique character development.
Most of the characters in EMH either have not yet appeared in the MCU-- such as Ms. Marvel, Black Panther, and Spider-Man; have appeared only recently, and thus have not had much time for focus or characterization-- such as Vision and the Winter Soldier; or never will due to copyrights-- such as Wolverine and the Fantastic Four, who appear in several episodes.
While the EMH team is made up of popular comic book characters, most did not appear at the same time or work together at the same time as they do in EMH. For example, in the comics, Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver joined the Avengers when Iron Man stepped down as leader, handing over the reigns of a four-person team to Captain America. In EMH, Hawkeye joins the team only after Hulk says he will not join without him, Iron Man remains leader of what turns into a team of ten, and Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver are nowhere to be found.
EMH’s villains and plotlines are cherry-picked from various comic arcs and even other media: episodes are based on various comic arcs, from the a wide range of Avengers issues and spin-off arcs, to Hulk and Thor titles, to a new adaptation of a graphic novel. However, various lines, plots, and fight moves from this cartoon have been used in Marvel movies that aired years later, suggesting that the movies took inspiration from the cartoon.
Of major MCU villains, Loki, Red Skull, Malekith, AIM and Ultron appeared in EMH. Loki, Malekith and AIM are laughably different (they’re either super campy or ineffective or both) in EMH, Red Skull is a much bigger threat than in MCU, and Ultron has a very different (and frankly much better written) backstory, characterization, character development, and plot sequence than in Age of Ultron. (Now I kind of want to nominate EMH Ultron… hmm…)
Does it feature an alternate universe to the other canons, or significantly divergent events? Yes.
EMH and a few other cartoons are officially designated in a different universe according to the sprawling Marvel multiverse. This universe, Earth-8096, is separate from the main line of comics, Earth-616, and from the movies, which are very far away at Earth-199999. http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Earth-8096.
Many events from the comics universes happened in Earth-8096, but with different duration, in different order, and with different technology and combatants, when the events were battles. For example, Galactus, who is often cited in the top ten of Marvel villains and has been a mainstay for forty years of comics, is defeated in a single episode of EMH, while the Skrull invasion insidiously pops up throughout season 2, but results only in a temporary hit to Captain America’s reputation. In the comics, Captain America was dead when the invasion took place, and it led to a major shift in American military and intelligence power dynamics.
Does it make sense even if you don’t know much about the other canons? Yes.
As the show was aired on Disney XD for young viewers, it is very easy to follow even with no knowledge of other canons.
Differences in characterization between EMH and other media: why certain EMH characters should be admitted to Yuletide, despite their movie and/or comic counterparts being variously popular.
Tony Stark: In the MCU, Tony Stark is a womanizer and a playboy, generally an asshole, alienates the other Avengers anytime he comes into contact with them, and is originally not recommended for the Avengers team by SHIELD. In EMH, Tony Stark is much friendlier and more humble than in the movies, and he spearheads the founding of the Avengers and leads them throughout the series. He also maintains positive and appropriate relationships with other superhero teams and individuals, though MCU Tony can barely maintain a positive relationship with his closest friends. EMH Tony invites the whole team to live in his mansion and builds massive underground levels for elaborate training courses and for storing the multi-million dollar equipment that he builds and rebuilds for them when they trash it. His teammates look to him for tactical and ethical leadership, as well as emotional support and advice. EMH Tony can be forgetful and irresponsible, but this is because of his eccentricity and genius rather than a lack of consideration or contempt for others as in the MCU. He also has a friendly and cordial relationship with Captain America, which is reminiscent of early Avengers comics, but definitely not anything published in the last decade. EMH Tony is stripped of more adult or disturbing comics characteristics for young viewers-- things like his alcoholism and the various painful failures of the arc reactor technology are not mentioned-- but with his spirited leadership of the Avengers, his willingness to accept responsibility for errors without melodrama, to work hard to improve the Avenger’s defences, and to accept help from his teammates rather than going it alone, he distinguishes himself as a well-rounded, unique character.
Bruce Banner/Hulk: The very obvious difference is that in EMH, this character remains big and green and growly most of the time. EMH Hulk and Bruce Banner, while chatting to each other by astral projection(?) about ethics and what makes someone good or evil, have agreed that Hulk will walk around most of the time to allow the world and Hulk himself to accept him as a force of good. Hulk struggles to trust that his teammates will not turn on him (tough when they do, on several separate occasions), and to connect with them. He is friendly with Jan van Dyne, the Wasp, and eventually coerces Hawkeye to join the Avengers with him, where they spend the rest of the series joking around and coordinating their fighting moves and generally being jock besties. Hulk eventually trusts the Avengers so much that he is convinced by (an imposter of) Captain America to turn into Bruce Banner and allow himself to be arrested for attacking the Helicarrier, which he very clearly did not do, just so they can clear his name in an above-board way. EMH Bruce Banner is very emotionally supportive of the Hulk’s attempts to be a good guy and has none of MCU Banner’s constant edginess when he shows up on occasion. In the MCU, Bruce and Clint never have a single exchange of dialogue, and Hulk never shows a smidge of EMH Hulk’s complex emotional relationships or working critical thinking skills.
Clint Barton/Hawkeye: In the comics, Hawkeye was raised in a circus, tricked Iron Man into vouching for him to join the team, had loads of one-liners, bucked authority and eventually got sick of the Avengers leadership and left to form his own West Coast Avengers. In the MCU, he has one or two funny lines, but as of Age of Ultron is characterized as a good soldier, a married father of three, and a close but platonic partner to Black Widow. In EMH, Hawkeye is a loyal agent of SHIELD who is imprisoned as a traitor when he uncovers what appears to be Black Widow’s betrayal of SHIELD for Hydra. He is treated as a traitor for most of season 1, and the emotional scars from Black Widow’s betrayal last well into season 2, possibly due to their romantic relationship. He refused Iron Man’s offer to join the Avengers until Hulk asked him to accede, was not afraid to protest command decisions, and with many stops and starts came to value being on a team and fight for his spot when it was threatened; meanwhile in MCU Barton’s sole bad-soldier moment was hesitating about three seconds to follow orders when Widow went missing in Age of Ultron. Closest to Black Widow in MCU and Mockingbird, Spider-Woman, Black Widow and the other Hawkeye in various comics, EMH Hawkeye enjoys palling around with Wasp and is Hulk’s anchor on the team, not afraid to get into his personal space or tease him. He accompanies Bruce Banner on his one day a month walk-about, when they go fishing in Canada, while in the MCU, Clint and Banner never even speak to each other. In general, Hawkeye gets more screentime, dialogue, fighting time, character development, and funny moments than in the movies. (He’s also more bad-ass, I’m sorry Jeremy Renner ilu.)
Steve Rogers/Captain America: In both the early Avengers comics and the MCU, Steve’s primary characterization is his lack of belonging in the time when he wakes up. In the comics, he eventually acclimates to the new time and becomes a leader in the superhero community. In the MCU, he is still mainly characterized by the struggle to make more than two friends and to connect with and lead the Avengers. In EMH, perhaps because issues like time dysmorphia and the death of 98% of your loved ones are a bit heavy, Steve quickly finds friendship and belonging on the Avengers. He never leads the team, as he always has in MCU and has at various times in the comics. EMH Steve is not snappy and stubborn and headstrong like MCU Steve: he is thoughtful, almost philosophical at times, and carefully weighs decisions and makes plans instead of jumping into fights with bigger opponents and then weathering the resultant beating. While he doesn’t lead the team, he has strong bonds with the other Avengers and they look to him for emotional support, which is very different from MCU Steve’s relationship with his team. EMH Steve is patient even when the world is against him, forgiving when his friends have seemingly betrayed him, and often shows off a good sense of humor, even when covered with semi-sentient goop-- something I really wish the movies would emulate. Further, though I’m no comics expert, Cap seems to have gotten really run-down and perhaps a bit jaded in recent issues (with good reason). In EMH, he takes getting impersonated by a Skrull and having the whole world hate him as something that will pass, that isn’t as important as his work protecting humanity, and in the process inspires Spider-Man to keep fighting crime despite the mangling of his reputation at the hands of J. Jonah Jameson. Basically, I came into EMH inclined to dislike Steve, because personally I think he’s a bit of a jerk in the MCU, and now he’s one of my favorite characters.
Maria Hill: EMH Maria Hill is introduced as fairly green for a second-in-command of SHIELD, in an audience-insert sort of way. She disagrees a lot with Fury and is less acquiescent to his decisions when they disagree than in the MCU; in the movies, Maria seems to me to be a no-man, who argues with Fury to help him make better decisions, then loyally carries them out once they are made. While MCU Maria remained loyal to Fury after the events of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, EMH Maria quickly became comfortable when she took over as Director of SHIELD and did not welcome Fury back with open arms after his stint off the grid. EMH Maria is a lot more relevant than in the MCU movies, is a lot more belligerent than her film counterpart, and actively attacks the Avengers at one point when she believes they are doing more harm as super-heroes than good. EMH Maria also seems to actively hate Tony Stark, though she fights beside him and saves his life. She also appears a lot darker-skinned than in any other Avengers adaptation. Lastly, I particularly liked the way false_alexis put it in her evidence comment last year: “MCU as an argument against allowing Maria Hill in EMH doesn't make enough sense. That's a nomination I'm willing to stand by, because I like that MCU lady just fine but she ain't my 'another day, another damn hellicarrier crash' Director Hill.”
Similarities in characterization between EMH and other media: why certain EMH characters should not be admitted to Yuletide, and characters on whom I reserve judgement.
I agree with rmc_28’s contention last year that Nick Fury and Rhodey are similar enough to their MCU counterparts that they should not be distinguished for Yuletide. Although it saddens me because I wanted to nominate her, after reviewing episodes I also couldn’t markedly distinguish Black Widow from her MCU incarnation, though I encourage people to disagree with me and prove it!
The Winter Soldier in EMH has far more in common with the comics character than the movie character, who has a radically different backstory, and as I haven’t read him in the comics I can’t argue how close he is or isn’t to the comics version. Also, Thor has never really interested me, so I didn’t really pay much attention to his character. As I have never analyzed any version of his character for depth or development or differentiation, I’d encourage anyone who wants to nominate him to make their own case, ‘cause it’d most likely be better than mine.
My Made-Up Cliche Bingo Card
My H/C Bingo Card
Fandom: Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes
Rating: G
Characters/pairings: Tony Stark, Bruce Banner | Hulk, Clint Barton, Steve Rogers, Maria Hill
Warnings (including spoilers): Spoilers for 85% of EMH, various points in MCU from Iron Man through Ultron.
Wordcount: 2696 words
Author's note: So... meta counts for bingos, right? And... this counts as meta, right? I'm squeezing this in as a fill for the hc_bingo square 'hunger/starvation,' which I feel SO justified for because I can't even tell you how much it sucks to go from the beautiful writing, prime character development, and juicy plots of EMH to the general mediocrity of Avengers Assemble, losing out on T'Challa, Jan van Dyne, Ms. Marvel and an actually funny Hawkeye in the process. I bet you ten bucks EMH would have had Deadpool eventually. *shakes fist at TPTB* *ahem* and also as a fill for my made-up cliche_bingo card's square 'Character Study,' cause... I think this counts? Certainly I'm studying a few characters, in-depth, so...
Summary: Resolved: The universe of Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes is intrinsically different to that of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as are many of the characters there portrayed.
Archive tag
ff.net works
ff.net crossovers
The issue is that it may be confused with the MCU movies, and perhaps with the comics. To argue that EMH is distinctly different from the MCU movies, I have followed along with the Yuletide eligibility questions for closely-related fandoms.
Is it published in a different medium? Yes.
EMH was aired on Disney XD as a cartoon, not a comic or a series of PG-13 movies that had to be edited down from R for several countries. While I can’t find an actual rating for this show, it is clearly aimed at children. Consumer reviews suggested it was suitable for children ages 8+. Accompanying children’s books are recommended for children ages 4-7.
The cartoon Avengers Assemble replaced EMH, which was cancelled after its second season. Avengers Assemble nominally picks up where EMH left off, but has a different cast, and the few characters in common have very different appearances, characterization, even accents, and the writing is honestly a lot worse. Intended as a tie-in for the movies, Avengers Assemble includes only movie characters and follows movie characterization much more closely.
EMH has its own tag in AO3’s ‘Comics & Cartoons & Graphic Novels’ fandom listing, distinct from both Avengers (Comics) and Avengers Assemble (Cartoon). Both seasons are also available on Netflix, while the second season of Avengers Assemble is not yet available.
Is it marketed as a separate series or distinct sub-series? Yes.
EMH was marketed separately from the main comics line, and was actually cancelled because the popularity of the movie universe inspired a tie-in cartoon which would have been in direct competition. EMH had its own 13-issue comic book line released, along with several small collections of episodes, full season, and full series DVD and Blue-ray releases in three regions. Children’s books following the characters on the team in season 1 are available.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Avengers:_Earth%27s_Mightiest_Heroes#DVD_releases
http://www.medinnus.com/AEMH/merchandise.html
Does it focus on different characters, or characters with only minor roles in other canons? Somewhat.
Hawkeye and Hulk receive more screen time in EMH than they do in the MCU. Jan van Dyne and Hank Pym are minimized in the MCU, but both are main characters in EMH, and EMH Hank has very unique character development.
Most of the characters in EMH either have not yet appeared in the MCU-- such as Ms. Marvel, Black Panther, and Spider-Man; have appeared only recently, and thus have not had much time for focus or characterization-- such as Vision and the Winter Soldier; or never will due to copyrights-- such as Wolverine and the Fantastic Four, who appear in several episodes.
While the EMH team is made up of popular comic book characters, most did not appear at the same time or work together at the same time as they do in EMH. For example, in the comics, Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver joined the Avengers when Iron Man stepped down as leader, handing over the reigns of a four-person team to Captain America. In EMH, Hawkeye joins the team only after Hulk says he will not join without him, Iron Man remains leader of what turns into a team of ten, and Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver are nowhere to be found.
EMH’s villains and plotlines are cherry-picked from various comic arcs and even other media: episodes are based on various comic arcs, from the a wide range of Avengers issues and spin-off arcs, to Hulk and Thor titles, to a new adaptation of a graphic novel. However, various lines, plots, and fight moves from this cartoon have been used in Marvel movies that aired years later, suggesting that the movies took inspiration from the cartoon.
Of major MCU villains, Loki, Red Skull, Malekith, AIM and Ultron appeared in EMH. Loki, Malekith and AIM are laughably different (they’re either super campy or ineffective or both) in EMH, Red Skull is a much bigger threat than in MCU, and Ultron has a very different (and frankly much better written) backstory, characterization, character development, and plot sequence than in Age of Ultron. (Now I kind of want to nominate EMH Ultron… hmm…)
Does it feature an alternate universe to the other canons, or significantly divergent events? Yes.
EMH and a few other cartoons are officially designated in a different universe according to the sprawling Marvel multiverse. This universe, Earth-8096, is separate from the main line of comics, Earth-616, and from the movies, which are very far away at Earth-199999. http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Earth-8096.
Many events from the comics universes happened in Earth-8096, but with different duration, in different order, and with different technology and combatants, when the events were battles. For example, Galactus, who is often cited in the top ten of Marvel villains and has been a mainstay for forty years of comics, is defeated in a single episode of EMH, while the Skrull invasion insidiously pops up throughout season 2, but results only in a temporary hit to Captain America’s reputation. In the comics, Captain America was dead when the invasion took place, and it led to a major shift in American military and intelligence power dynamics.
Does it make sense even if you don’t know much about the other canons? Yes.
As the show was aired on Disney XD for young viewers, it is very easy to follow even with no knowledge of other canons.
Differences in characterization between EMH and other media: why certain EMH characters should be admitted to Yuletide, despite their movie and/or comic counterparts being variously popular.
Tony Stark: In the MCU, Tony Stark is a womanizer and a playboy, generally an asshole, alienates the other Avengers anytime he comes into contact with them, and is originally not recommended for the Avengers team by SHIELD. In EMH, Tony Stark is much friendlier and more humble than in the movies, and he spearheads the founding of the Avengers and leads them throughout the series. He also maintains positive and appropriate relationships with other superhero teams and individuals, though MCU Tony can barely maintain a positive relationship with his closest friends. EMH Tony invites the whole team to live in his mansion and builds massive underground levels for elaborate training courses and for storing the multi-million dollar equipment that he builds and rebuilds for them when they trash it. His teammates look to him for tactical and ethical leadership, as well as emotional support and advice. EMH Tony can be forgetful and irresponsible, but this is because of his eccentricity and genius rather than a lack of consideration or contempt for others as in the MCU. He also has a friendly and cordial relationship with Captain America, which is reminiscent of early Avengers comics, but definitely not anything published in the last decade. EMH Tony is stripped of more adult or disturbing comics characteristics for young viewers-- things like his alcoholism and the various painful failures of the arc reactor technology are not mentioned-- but with his spirited leadership of the Avengers, his willingness to accept responsibility for errors without melodrama, to work hard to improve the Avenger’s defences, and to accept help from his teammates rather than going it alone, he distinguishes himself as a well-rounded, unique character.
Bruce Banner/Hulk: The very obvious difference is that in EMH, this character remains big and green and growly most of the time. EMH Hulk and Bruce Banner, while chatting to each other by astral projection(?) about ethics and what makes someone good or evil, have agreed that Hulk will walk around most of the time to allow the world and Hulk himself to accept him as a force of good. Hulk struggles to trust that his teammates will not turn on him (tough when they do, on several separate occasions), and to connect with them. He is friendly with Jan van Dyne, the Wasp, and eventually coerces Hawkeye to join the Avengers with him, where they spend the rest of the series joking around and coordinating their fighting moves and generally being jock besties. Hulk eventually trusts the Avengers so much that he is convinced by (an imposter of) Captain America to turn into Bruce Banner and allow himself to be arrested for attacking the Helicarrier, which he very clearly did not do, just so they can clear his name in an above-board way. EMH Bruce Banner is very emotionally supportive of the Hulk’s attempts to be a good guy and has none of MCU Banner’s constant edginess when he shows up on occasion. In the MCU, Bruce and Clint never have a single exchange of dialogue, and Hulk never shows a smidge of EMH Hulk’s complex emotional relationships or working critical thinking skills.
Clint Barton/Hawkeye: In the comics, Hawkeye was raised in a circus, tricked Iron Man into vouching for him to join the team, had loads of one-liners, bucked authority and eventually got sick of the Avengers leadership and left to form his own West Coast Avengers. In the MCU, he has one or two funny lines, but as of Age of Ultron is characterized as a good soldier, a married father of three, and a close but platonic partner to Black Widow. In EMH, Hawkeye is a loyal agent of SHIELD who is imprisoned as a traitor when he uncovers what appears to be Black Widow’s betrayal of SHIELD for Hydra. He is treated as a traitor for most of season 1, and the emotional scars from Black Widow’s betrayal last well into season 2, possibly due to their romantic relationship. He refused Iron Man’s offer to join the Avengers until Hulk asked him to accede, was not afraid to protest command decisions, and with many stops and starts came to value being on a team and fight for his spot when it was threatened; meanwhile in MCU Barton’s sole bad-soldier moment was hesitating about three seconds to follow orders when Widow went missing in Age of Ultron. Closest to Black Widow in MCU and Mockingbird, Spider-Woman, Black Widow and the other Hawkeye in various comics, EMH Hawkeye enjoys palling around with Wasp and is Hulk’s anchor on the team, not afraid to get into his personal space or tease him. He accompanies Bruce Banner on his one day a month walk-about, when they go fishing in Canada, while in the MCU, Clint and Banner never even speak to each other. In general, Hawkeye gets more screentime, dialogue, fighting time, character development, and funny moments than in the movies. (He’s also more bad-ass, I’m sorry Jeremy Renner ilu.)
Steve Rogers/Captain America: In both the early Avengers comics and the MCU, Steve’s primary characterization is his lack of belonging in the time when he wakes up. In the comics, he eventually acclimates to the new time and becomes a leader in the superhero community. In the MCU, he is still mainly characterized by the struggle to make more than two friends and to connect with and lead the Avengers. In EMH, perhaps because issues like time dysmorphia and the death of 98% of your loved ones are a bit heavy, Steve quickly finds friendship and belonging on the Avengers. He never leads the team, as he always has in MCU and has at various times in the comics. EMH Steve is not snappy and stubborn and headstrong like MCU Steve: he is thoughtful, almost philosophical at times, and carefully weighs decisions and makes plans instead of jumping into fights with bigger opponents and then weathering the resultant beating. While he doesn’t lead the team, he has strong bonds with the other Avengers and they look to him for emotional support, which is very different from MCU Steve’s relationship with his team. EMH Steve is patient even when the world is against him, forgiving when his friends have seemingly betrayed him, and often shows off a good sense of humor, even when covered with semi-sentient goop-- something I really wish the movies would emulate. Further, though I’m no comics expert, Cap seems to have gotten really run-down and perhaps a bit jaded in recent issues (with good reason). In EMH, he takes getting impersonated by a Skrull and having the whole world hate him as something that will pass, that isn’t as important as his work protecting humanity, and in the process inspires Spider-Man to keep fighting crime despite the mangling of his reputation at the hands of J. Jonah Jameson. Basically, I came into EMH inclined to dislike Steve, because personally I think he’s a bit of a jerk in the MCU, and now he’s one of my favorite characters.
Maria Hill: EMH Maria Hill is introduced as fairly green for a second-in-command of SHIELD, in an audience-insert sort of way. She disagrees a lot with Fury and is less acquiescent to his decisions when they disagree than in the MCU; in the movies, Maria seems to me to be a no-man, who argues with Fury to help him make better decisions, then loyally carries them out once they are made. While MCU Maria remained loyal to Fury after the events of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, EMH Maria quickly became comfortable when she took over as Director of SHIELD and did not welcome Fury back with open arms after his stint off the grid. EMH Maria is a lot more relevant than in the MCU movies, is a lot more belligerent than her film counterpart, and actively attacks the Avengers at one point when she believes they are doing more harm as super-heroes than good. EMH Maria also seems to actively hate Tony Stark, though she fights beside him and saves his life. She also appears a lot darker-skinned than in any other Avengers adaptation. Lastly, I particularly liked the way false_alexis put it in her evidence comment last year: “MCU as an argument against allowing Maria Hill in EMH doesn't make enough sense. That's a nomination I'm willing to stand by, because I like that MCU lady just fine but she ain't my 'another day, another damn hellicarrier crash' Director Hill.”
Similarities in characterization between EMH and other media: why certain EMH characters should not be admitted to Yuletide, and characters on whom I reserve judgement.
I agree with rmc_28’s contention last year that Nick Fury and Rhodey are similar enough to their MCU counterparts that they should not be distinguished for Yuletide. Although it saddens me because I wanted to nominate her, after reviewing episodes I also couldn’t markedly distinguish Black Widow from her MCU incarnation, though I encourage people to disagree with me and prove it!
The Winter Soldier in EMH has far more in common with the comics character than the movie character, who has a radically different backstory, and as I haven’t read him in the comics I can’t argue how close he is or isn’t to the comics version. Also, Thor has never really interested me, so I didn’t really pay much attention to his character. As I have never analyzed any version of his character for depth or development or differentiation, I’d encourage anyone who wants to nominate him to make their own case, ‘cause it’d most likely be better than mine.
My Made-Up Cliche Bingo Card
My H/C Bingo Card