Review: Marvel Rising: Initiation

Initiate more, please.

Overview (Spoilers Below)

Ghost-Spider aka Gwen Stacy is pegged for a murder she didn’t commit, and as a result, Squirrel Girl, Ms. Marvel, The Patriot, and Quake are fast on her tail trying to bring her in all under the direction of Gwen’s father, a police captain getting revenge for the murder of her daughter’s best friend. Fortunately, Ghost-Spider is able to state her case to the other girls, but she still has S.H.I.E.L.D. hot on her tail.

Our Take

By far and away, Marvel Rising: Initiation is one of the better-produced animated Marvel properties that this network has ever done. The fight choreography and nuanced animated sequences make the multi-arc shorts series a sight to behold whence compared to say the nowhere near as polished Marvel’s Spider-Man which preceded the shorts airing on Disney XD. Dove Cameron returns in the role as Ghost-Spider and blows Laura Bailey’s portrayal out of the water. Chloe Bennet is equally strong as “Quake”, even if her animated character doesn’t offer a fair resemblance to her live-action counterpart in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 

That’s not to say this reimagining of some rather unknown superheroes isn’t without quandary. For example, Squirrel Girl, while hilarious in her dialogue, is even more hilarious in her depiction, almost coming off more as a chipmunk than a superhero. I also think The Patriot’s character designs and powers are largely uninspiring and I question the use of even introducing him in this series. Fortunately, we’ve got a strong villain with an even stronger “Who dunnit?” storyline that should hook you in and make you wanting more. If Disney can give us more like this, I’m okay with fewer episodes of franchises in exchange for higher quality acting and animated production.