Summary

• Marvel Disk Wars: The Avengers combines Marvel superheroes with Digimon-like elements, creating a unique and refreshing animated series.
• The show features iconic Marvel characters battling villains like Loki alongside heroes like Iron Fist and War Machine.
• Despite positive reviews, the English dub of Disk Wars never officially aired in the United States.

Originally released in 1999, Bandai’s Digimon was (and still is) an immensely popular anime series about seven children who team up with digital monsters to save the world from evil. Throughout the show, the main character, Tai Kamiya, and the other youngsters use a technological tool called a Digivice to not only store these creatures but purify them of evil code and even upgrade their powers. In contrast, Disney’s The Avengers were first seen on the big screen in 2012 as part of the first phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Consisting of Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk, Thor, Black Widow, and Hawkeye – these primary six (along with many other heroes in sequel films) have fought against the likes of the mischievous Loki, the robotic Ultron, and the mad titan, Thanos. While any crossover between these two franchises will never likely happen, there was a moment when the world came close. Enter Marvel Disk Wars: The Avengers.

If the title isn’t strange enough, this animated series (which was only possible due to Japan’s creativity) was produced by the combined efforts between Toei Animation and the Walt Disney Company in 2014. Considering the former company is responsible for shows like the original Dragon Ball and Sailor Moon, this sudden partnership with the House of Mouse was truly a sight to behold.

There was also a lot riding on this show. The last time these two production powerhouses cooperated was for a short-form series in 2008 that aired on Toon Disney, which didn’t last very long. But considering the widely popular subject (that being Marvel superheroes), Disk Wars shouldn’t have had a problem in that department. While the show never actually reached the States (it only aired on TXN in Tokyo and Disney XD in certain countries within Asia), trading digital monsters for members of the Avengers and sticking them into Digivice-like devices turned out mighty interesting for all Marvel fans in the long run.

Collecting Marvel Characters for Battle

The premise of this bizarre Marvel amalgamation goes like this: Tony Stark finishes working on handheld Digital Identity Securement Kits (or DISKS, for short). These would not only help to apprehend supervillains but also act as a portable containment unit. After invading the unveiling ceremony aboard the maximum security prison known as the Raft, Loki frees all the villains and attempts to capture The Avengers using this invention.

Five children who are exposed to a Biocode installer (which imbues the user with the power to use the disks) enlist the aid of Iron Man and Spider-Man to help obtain the other hero disks that went missing. Here’s the catch: the children can only call out the assorted Avengers for five and a half minutes. Otherwise, the iconic heroes must recharge and become much smaller, transparent miniatures. While this naturally works out for a character like The Wasp (a primary team member in this iteration), seeing a bite-sized Hulk is far more hilarious.

Not only does Marvel Disk Wars: The Avengers take inspiration from Digimon, but there is also some sense of Pokémon here as well. While battling Loki and his Celebrity Five team (yep, those are his cronies), our young squad comes across other hero disks, which not only have to be technically captured into a D-Disk but can then be swapped in and out with the default Avengers cast – this happens with characters like War Machine and Iron Fist. That’s just a taste of what’s to come. Japan doesn’t hold back on servicing Marvel fans, either. Names like Deadpool, Blade, The Guardians of the Galaxy, and even the black-suit Spider-Man show up, not to mention the entirety of the X-Men!

Japanese Style Is Refreshing for the Avengers

It’s a visual treat to see what many would consider a Marvel battle royale happen before our very eyes. Not only that, but the obtaining and swapping of heroes (just like Pokémon) and the theme sequence every time a character is thrown into the battle (like Digimon) is a weird but refreshing take on the usual Marvel dynamic. With the Celebrity Five (besides Loki), all wearing suits and wearing gala-like masks, this is certainly a one of a kind anime twist as well. There are some caveats to the style choice, though. Because of the Japanese influence, some iconic names have been visually changed to appease the international audience.

For example, some of these changes include The Hulk never being seen as Bruce Banner and Thor featuring a more angular type of armor on his suit than usual. One of the craziest changes (this was possibly something lost in translation) is that Doctor Octopus is not a human being but an actual octopus humanoid with metal limbs.

And yes, this show also presents many villains (including Red Skull, Magneto, The Abomination, The Green Goblin, and King Cobra, for starters). With critics from CBR, Nerdist, and Screen Rant all giving the underrated series positive reviews, it's a real wonder why the English dub (which does exist) of Marvel Disk Wars: The Avengers never came to air in the United States. Did the Marvel-themed show dip into anime inspirations well beyond comic book fans' reach? Or was it because superheroes (once seen as strong and self-willed individuals) were now relegated to catch-em-all caricature versions of themselves? While the reason remains unknown, Disk Wars is still a dazzling foray into an alternate earth (Earth-14042, to be exact) where all the heroes and villains came together for what was one epic showdown – with some Pokémon/Digimon twists. Marvel Disk Wars is not officially streaming in the United States.