Iron Man and Hulk: Heroes United
Directors: Eric Radomski, Leo Riley
Writers: Brandon Auman, Henry Gilroy
Running Time: 71 minutes
Welcome to the latest animated feature from the House of Ideas and Disney: Iron Man and Hulk: Heroes United Blu-Ray and DVD combo pack.
The story is a retelling (of sorts) of the 1973 Incredible Hulk #166 comic by Steve Englehart and Herb Trimpe 
which is the first appearance of the Hulk villain, Zzzax. There is a new modern spin put on this movie, Hydra, Mandroids, S.H.I.E.L.D, the Abomination, Hulkbuster armor, and Iron Man are all involved, but essentially Iron Man and Hulk: Heroes United is a classic, if not the overly done to the point of grabbing a bat to wail on the dead horse, story of comic science gone awry resulting in a world conquering villain’s creation that can only be thwarted by our intrepid heroes only after they are done pounding on each other due to a misunderstanding but in the end all is resolved and the villain is sent packing.
And there you have this movie in a CG Animated nutshell that, to me, did nothing exciting or different to hold my attention outside of the animation, but to a younger audience would more than likely play well. (*as a side note: This is the paradox Marvel now finds itself in. If they are going to be releasing animated movies, do they appeal to their much older comic book reading demographic or to a younger audience just starting their fandom?)
Admittedly, I am an old school sort of geek when it comes to animation. I like there to be pen and paper involved at some point and a little less “rendering” and “modeling” but the CG in the movie, overall, looked good. There were some hiccups that I am sure, as time and technology goes on, will be rectified (I will point to Tony Stark’s face as exhibit A) but the colors worked and the scenes looked fluid.
The extras packed on to the Blu-Ray/DVD combo were ok (on a scale of super villains, they rank somewhere between Stilt-Man and Puma…like a Trapster). Each time you pause the movie, you get Marvel’s ‘Inter-Missions’ which seemed silly to me because the only reason I pause a movie is to get up and away from the television but I do enjoy the Marvel Mashup shorts (all of them can be seen in the Extras). There is also an interview/round table discussion with Joe Quesada and Agent M talking about comics. I think Marvel missed the Helicarrier by not including a behind the scenes of the animation process and for such a base story obviously directed at kids, character bio’s might have been nice too.
Marvel is clearly trying to become a conglomerate of entertainment for the masses (to appease their Disney masters and stock holders) which means we can expect them to dive head first in to more and more animated films (whereas before they only dipped a toe in to that arena). However, if Marvel is going to be putting their exploding pumpkins in to the animated bag and challenge their rival DC Comics for a piece of the animated pie (DC being heads above Marvel in anything animated) then they need to work on the writing and mix traditional animation in with the CG until the technology can fix some of the missteps and produce solid animated movies, not what essentially boils down to a long, somewhat good, television show.
Overall, Iron Man and Hulk: Heroes United is a movie has its shortcomings, a serious lack of original writing and extras being on tops on the list (the animation was the only thing that held my attention). For a whopping $21.95 as listed on Disney’s website, it would not be a movie I would ever buy until it was lying next to an Ashton Kutcher movie in the $5 bin at Walmart. As a lifelong Marvel devotee, I am hopeful they begin to approach their animated movies with the same vigor as they are doing with their movies. Until that time comes, Iron Man and Hulk: Heroes United feels less like the massive event Marvel wants us to believe that it is and too much like one more thing being slung out to fans meant to fill the Disney coffers with our money.
Rating*: 
2 out of 5 saluting Caps.
*Rating system is based on Captain America Salutes . The worst rating is 1 saluting Cap (which means he’s saluting you just to rub it in because he gave you a red/white/and blue beatdown). The best rating is 5 saluting Caps (which just means a Living Legend is acknowledging just how kick ass you are)