American Dream in Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes?

 

The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes animated series is often regarded by fans as one of if not the best adaption of the Avengers on the small screen. It’s a little-known fact that the MC2 Universe character American Dream showed up in Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes…well, kinda.

 

The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes series led to spin-off media including a tie-in comic which published brand new stories in the continuity of the show. Thus, within the pages of Marvel Universe: Avengers Earth’s Mightiest Heroes #11 in a story aptly titled ‘The Last American Dream,’ a version of the MC2’s own American Dream makes an appearance. While at first it appears to be a tale set in the future following an elderly retired Captain America aka Steve Rogers watching on as a team composed of James Buchanan ‘Bucky’ Barnes aka The Winter Soldier, John Walker aka U.S.Agent and a Werewolf version of Captain America led by Shannon Carter aka American Dream known as the Captain Americorps battles an army of Doombots, it soon becomes clear things are not as they seem.

 

The heroic Sleepwalker reveals to Steve Rogers that he is in fact ensnared within a dream being influenced and manipulated by the villainous Fear Lord entity known as Nightmare. The Sleepwalker succeeds in breaking Steve out of his dream, one in which he wasn’t frozen for decades and instead grew old and raised a family with Peggy Carter. Empowered by the Sleepwalker’s guidance, Rogers manages to fight off Nightmare’s influence and awakens.

 

It's interesting that the fictional Captain Americorps shares some members with the Captain America Corps seen in the mini-series of the same name: U.S.Agent, Bucky (formerly The Winter Soldier) and American Dream. Considering Steve would have no knowledge of Shannon’s superhero identity it’s would seem Nightmare was responsible for inserting a version of American Dream into the dream reality. Maybe he’s a fan? Another small point is Shannon’s costume including the little wings on the side of her head, as they appeared in her own mini-series.

 

Not quite a case of the MC2 in the animated Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes shared universe, but a case of a character crossover that I considered consequential enough to cover! I think it was neat to see American Dream pencilled in the show’s art style even if only for one page. Let me know what you think of these shorter, simpler posts.

 

Until I forget my hypnocil and fall asleep, I remain

 

frogoat

 

 

Luke Cage in the MC2 *Update*

So, sometimes I get things wrong. When I first wrote about Luke Cage in the MC2 I said we only got one mention of the real (meaning not a magical zombie duplicate) Hero for Hire, and it was Avengers Next #1. I pointed out that the same issue made it canonical that Luke Cage was a former member of the Avengers, despite the MC2's history branching off from the Main Marvel Universe before he joined Earth's Mightiest Heroes.

Well, as I said, I make mistakes at times. I was re-reading the Roger Stern penned Captain America Corps mini series recently and I discovered a detail I'd never noticed before. Throughout the series we see instances of American Dream using her extensive knowledge of Avengers history, such as recognizing Tath Ki aka The Contemplator from the Avengers Database and recalling critical points in the team's history. But the most intriguing piece of information Shannon Carter demonstrates is from this page in Captain America Corps #2, when the team find themselves on an altered reality surrounded by various imprisoned super-powered heroes and villains:

'Sam Wilson...The Falcon? And Luke Cage? Peter Parker. So very young...In my world's past, these men were heroes--Avengers.'

 
So, I think that further supports the idea of Luke Cage being a former member of the Avengers prior to the team re-forming in A-Next #1. The fact that American Dream recognizes Peter Parker as a hero and Avenger also raises other questions...but those are for another time!

Until I stop finding more threads to pull at, I remain

frogoat