Review and Media by Stu
Episode 19 - To Battle The Living Planet
Original Airdate – 4th November 1995
As natural disasters disrupt the earth, Reed discovers the nature of the
catastrophes and flies into space to stop them. He finds Thor and discovers the
cause, Ego The Living Planet. When the combined might of The Fantastic Four and
The Mighty Thor cannot stop Ego, who can?
Credits
Directed By: Ernesto Lopez
Music By: William Anderson and Anderson Scores
Animation By: PASI (Philippines)
Guest Starring: John Rhys Davies as Thor, Tony Jay as Galactus, Ron Feinberg as Terrax, Kay Kuter as Ego
Based on Fantastic Four #234 + #235
Review:
This is arguably one of the best episodes of the series. It’s a type of threat that couldn’t really be done on X-Men, Spider-Man, or Iron Man. It also featured the return of Galactus, who is now nothing like his first season character. No, in this season, Galactus is arguably the coolest villain in the entire show.Galactus is no longer a joke. He has the presence, the dialogue and the voice that a booming giant who eats planets needs. He has a new enemy, a new, viscous herald but the same lack of compassion for human life. The build up for his return was handled magnificently. Reed had only Thor to help, and it made sense that he was worried. If Galactus said no, well Earth was screwed.
The scene in which Reed had to lift to Galactus’ embargo on Earth was one, if not the best scene in the show. Thor’s appearance was pretty cool. Thor is a character known for his somewhat bizarre appearance, his amusingly noble dialogue, and a string of really mediocre stories. He works well as a guest star, both here and on the Hulk show. He also had some very entertaining scenes with The Thing.
Ego seemed like a threat, and despite the fact only a short amount of the episode took place on Earth, the danger his presence presented was nicely done. Of course, it was helped by the sheer amount of cameos, mostly The Avengers. The good ones like Captain America, Iron Man and She Hulk. No crappy armor here folks!
One of the best aspects of the episode is the fact that you know it’s going to have a follow up, with the return of Galactus; a great episode on so many levels.
Screenshots:
