Remember that one day when you could wake up without an alarm? When you would get your favorite bowl of cereal and sit between the hours of 8 and 12? This is a blog dedicated to the greatest time of our childhood: Saturday mornings. The television programs you watched, the memories attached to them, and maybe introducing you to something you didn't realize existed. Updated every weekend.
The DC Animated Universe
was the biggest shared universe in animation. While Spider-Man
had constantly crossed over with unused characters in his own shows and
eventually X-Men:
The Animated Series, the DCAU was the crossover of several shows
based on DC Comics characters.
The DC Animated Universe.
It all
began with Batman:
The Animated Series. The show itself was largely insular, restricted mostly
to Batman-related characters with a non-powered version of magician Zatanna (Julie Brown) being the only major
outside character featured. But then came Superman:
The Animated Seriesfrom the same crew, and based on its success
The WB wanted more episodes
of Batman. The New Batman Adventures, while utilizing Superman’s
design-style due to a significantly reduced budget, maintained largely the same
cast and was treated as an extension of Batman. It would also be paired
together with Superman in a block called The New Batman/Superman Adventures.
The long-awaited meeting of these two titans.
Shortly after its debut, Batman (Kevin Conroy) would find
himself in Metropolis meeting Superman
(Tim Daly) for the first time
in the three-part episode “World’s Finest”, written by Alan Burnett, Paul Dini, Rich Fogel, Steve Gerber and Stan Berkowitz, which was also
released as a separate film. A cash-strapped Joker (Mark Hamill) stole a statue
made out of a large piece of Kryptonite and went to Metropolis to try and form
an alliance with Lex Luthor
(Clancy Brown) by promising
to get rid of Superman for a big payday. Lex ultimately tries to back out of the
deal when Joker fails, leading Joker to steal a LexCorp super jet
that will allow him to destroy the city.
Superman helping Robin keep the peace and find his mentor.
Batman returned to the show in the
episode “Knight Time”, written by Robert
Goodman. When Batman goes missing, Superman disguised himself as Batman to
help Robin (Matthew Valencia) deal with the
crime in Gotham City
while investigating his disappearance. The final crossover episode, “The Demon
Reborn”, written by Fogel, saw immortal villain Ra’s al Ghul (David Warner) steal a mythical
staff that would allow him to steal Superman’s powers, leaving it to Batman to
rescue him.
Bad girls just wanna have fun.
Over onBatman’s show, Batgirl (Tara Strong) and Supergirl (Lauren Tom) got in on the crossover action with
“Girl’s Night Out”, written by Hilary
J. Bader. Livewire (Lori Petty) escaped a prison
transport taking her to Gotham for experimental treatments to remove her
electrical powers. She joined forces with Poison Ivy (Diane Pershing) and Harley Quinn (Arleen Sorkin) to help them
commit some crimes. With Batman and Superman both away, it became up to Batgirl
and Supergirl to stop the villains—which didn’t always go quite that smoothly.
This marked the only time a character from another DCAU show would appear on Batman.
Zeta taking the Batmobile for a spin.
At the conclusion of both series, a
new Batman spin-off was produced: Batman
Beyond, which took place in the future and saw teenager Terry McGinnis (Will Friedle) taking up the
mantle with an elderly Bruce Wayne guiding him. The episode “Zeta”, written by Goodman,
saw the debut of Infiltration
Unit Zeta (Gary Cole), a
synthezoid built for the NSA that could disguise
itself with holograms in order to gather information through interrogation or impersonation
with extreme prejudice. Zeta would develop a conscience and go on the run from
his creators, with his adventures continuing in the spin-off The
Zeta Project.
Classic hero misunderstanding fight.
Zeta (now Diedrich Bader) would return toBeyond
in “Countdown”, written by Fogel and Dini. Zeta and his companion, Ro (Julie Nathanson), came to Gotham in
search of Zeta’s creator. Radical Mad Stan (Henry Rollins) rescued Zeta from NSA agents
that manage to shut him down, but upon discovering he was a robot believed he
was sent by the government to kill him. Stan strapped a bomb to Zeta and made
him believe that Ro was being held at the Department of Health as a means to
get revenge on the agency for raising the price of pet licenses (as he had a
dog, Boom-Boom). The same
day that episode aired, Batman would appear on Zeta’s show in the episode “Shadows”,
written by Fogel and Bader. Infiltration
Unit Seven (Bader) tracked Zeta and Ro down to a mall owned by Wayne-Powers. Their
resulting fight drew the attention of Terry and Bruce, with footage making it
seem like Zeta reverted to his old programming. Batman arrived and attacked
Zeta, believing he was going to hurt an injured Ro in the hospital. Ro tried to
convince Batman Zeta was innocent, but it was only with the arrival of IU7 that
Batman believed and helped them stop it.
Static on the case with Batman and Robin.
Also airing on Kids’ WB was the seriesStatic
Shock, based on the character from Milestone comics that
was also under the ownership of DC. Initially, the show was an entity unto
itself until it joined the DCAU in its second season with the premiere episode “The
Big Leagues”, written by Len
Uhley. The Joker came to Dakota
to recruit Bang Babies—the
powered individuals of the city who all gained the abilities from a chemical
unleashed by an explosion—for his new gang after Batman put his old one in
jail. Batman and Robin (now Eli
Marienthal) follow Joker to Dakota to help Static (Phil
LaMarr) put a stop to his plans (while they were from the revamped Batman
series, by this point that show was long over and Batman was currently starring
in Cartoon Network’s Justice
League).
Static and Gear hanging out with the Justice League.
For Static Shock’s third
season premiere, “Hard as Nails” written by Dini, saw Bang Baby Allie Langford (T’keyah Keymรกh) having trouble coping with her transformation
into the hard-skinned and taloned Nails. Static tailed her to Gotham City where
she had been communicating with people who could supposedly cure her online,
turning out to be Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn who convinced her to help on a
robbery. Static teamed-up with Batman to stop them, urging him to go easy on
Nails as she needed help, not prison. Later that season, the two-part “A League
of Their Own”, written by John Semper, Jr.,
Ernie Altbacker and Static
co-creator Dwayne McDuffie,
saw the Justice League call on Static to recharge the Justice League’s Watchtower as it was drained
by a cosmic storm and was threatening to crash into Earth. During the chaos, Brainiac (Corey Burton) managed to escape
confinement and took control of the Watchtower while the Justice League were
off dealing with what turned out to be a false distress signal. That left
Static and his sidekick, Gear (Jason Marsden), alone to deal
with Brainiac.
Static with the future Batman.
Continuing the one-upmanship of the
previous seasons, the final season of Static Shock was crossover heavy
with three episodes. “Future Shock”, written by Berkowitz, saw Static in Gotham
helping Batman and Robin with a criminal named Timecode. Static trying to
free Batman from one of Timecode’s devices ended up shunting him into the
future of Batman Beyond. Old Bruce requested Static’s help in rescuing a
high-value prisoner taken captive by criminal organization Kobra in exchange for their leader
in GCPD custody. Static had no choice but to accept when he learned that the
prisoner was his future self. “Toys in the Hood”, written by Semper, Altbacker
and John Ridley, presented
the first encounter between Static and Superman (George Newbern). Darci (Nicollette Sheridan), the
mechanical woman created by the maniacal Toyman (Bud Cort) to be his companion
before she escaped, had come to Dakota under the guise of teacher Miss Moore. It
seemed as if Toyman had found her and sent his toys after her, drawing the
attention of Static and Superman. However, that turned out to be a ruse so she
could study Static’s classmate Daisy Watkins (Crystal Scales) in order for
Toyman to place Darci into her body and take her place completely. The final
one, “Fallen Hero” written by Semper and Berkowitz, saw Static forced to take
down his personal hero, Green
Lantern (also LaMarr), when it appeared he went on a crime spree. However,
after doing so Static learned that it was actually Sinestro (Ted Levine) disguising himself
as Lantern utilizing power from his stolen Power Battery. Static teamed-up with
Lantern, provided a power source to recharge his ring, and helped take Sinestro
down.
The Justice Leagues of two eras working together.
Finally, in the last entry of the
DCAU, Justice League Unlimited, there were two last crossover episodes.
The two-part “The Once and Future Thing”, written by McDuffie, saw Batman,
Green Lantern and Wonder
Woman (Susan Eisenberg)
chasing time thief Chronos (Peter MacNicol) into the Wild
West, where people there were equipped with advanced weaponry. After helping that
era’s heroes take down the corrupt sheriff, the modern heroes again follow
Chronos into the future Gotham City where they encounter that era’s Justice
League: Batman, Static and Warhawk
(Peter Onorati), who turned out to be
Lantern’s son. There they learned that Chronos had decided to abandon his
restraint in traversing time and instead became a warlord. However, his mucking
about had caused serious disruptions to the time stream: Wonder Woman faded
from existence and John Stewart’s Lantern is replaced by his predecessor Hal Jordan (Adam Baldwin). Ultimately,
Chronos headed to the beginning of time where he planned to re-write history
and become a god.
Terry learns the truth about himself.
“Epilogue”, also by McDuffie and Bruce Timm, served as a finale
of sorts for Batman Beyond and was intended to be the series finale of Unlimited,
bringing things full circle by ending where the DCAU began. 15 years
into the future of Beyond, an elderly Amanda Waller (CCH Pounder) revealed to Terry
that he was a clone created by her in order to carry on Batman’s legacy as she
felt the world would always need a Batman. She initialized a program called
Project: Batman Beyond and took Batman’s DNA, found Terry’s parents to be near-psychological
match for Batman’s parents, and overwrote his father’s DNA with Bruce’s making
Terry his biological son (as was Terry’s brother).
At a time
when Warner Bros. didn’t have their
own animation facilities (having long since shut them down), they typically
contracted outside studios mostly run by former employees to produce cartoons
for them. However, there was one rare instance where they loaned out their Looney Tunes characters
to another studio for their own production.
Daffy with Drac and Frankie.
Filmation was that studio, and
that production was one of their offerings for The
ABC Saturday Superstar Movie: Daffy Duck and Porky Pig Meet the
Groovie Goolies, with the Looney Tunes crossing over with the titular
Goolies.The hour-long special saw Daffy Duck (Mel Blanc) in Hollywood
producing a movie about King
Arthur starring himself when a ghoulish being identified as The Phantom (Larry Storch) threatened to destroy
every production Daffy worked on. Frankie Frankenstein (Howard Morris), a big fan of
Daffy’s, decided to go to Hollywood to help along with the other residents of
Horrible Hall. Naturally, the Looney Tunes coming face-to-face with the
monstrous Goolies did not go smoothly at first, but after the dust settled
production was back underway with the Goolies helping out. Unfortunately, The
Phantom, disguised as Hauntleroy (Morris), made off with the film into “Mad
Mirror Land”, where a live-action chase ensued; partially utilizing the stop-motion
pixilation technique writers Len
Janson and Chuck Menville
had used on short films
previously (home video releases would edit this sequence out, but they would be
repurposed as the Goolie short “The Haunted Heist”).
Daffy gets on Hagatha's bad side.
Along with
Daffy, Blanc voiced Porky
Pig, Elmer Fudd,
Yosemite Sam, Sylvester, Tweety, Wile E. Coyote, Pepe Le Pew
and Foghorn
Leghorn, while Jane
Webb (as Joanne Louise) voiced Petunia Pig in her first appearance since
the 1930s. Blanc famously hated the experience working on this short,
particularly with how they incorrectly pitched Daffy, Tweety and Elmer making
them sound off. This was the first and only time he ever worked for Filmation, spending
the majority of his career between Warners and Hanna-Barbera.
Ben
10: Alien Force premiered just three days after the final
episode and was set 5 years later. The series took on a more serious and
action-oriented tone, although still maintained elements of the trademarked
comedy. The now-teenaged Ben (Yuri
Lowenthal) had removed the Omnitrix—the
wrist device that allowed him to assume various alien forms—and lived a normal
life until his grandfather, Max (Paul Eiding), ended up abducted by an alien
species called the Highbreed
seeking to end all human life on Earth. Of course, he also had to contend with
The Forever
Knights, a group formed in the Middle Ages that stole and
traded in alien technology; Vilgax
(James Remar,
replacing Steve
Blum),
an alien warlord who wanted the Omnitrix to aid in his conquest of the
universe; and Albedo (Lowenthal), a Galvan
and former assistant to Azmuth
(Jeff Bennett),
the Omnitrix’s creator, who created his own inferior Omnitrix that left him
stuck as a clone of Ben. Ben put the Omnitrix back on, and his advanced age
caused it to take on a new, sleeker shape and allowed him access to even more
alien forms. Ben was joined by his magic-casting cousin, Gwen
(Ashley Johnson),
and former nemesis and eventual boyfriend of Gwen, Kevin
Levin (Greg
Cipes), who could absorb the properties of any solid matter
he touched.
After
3 seasons and a live-action
telefilm, Alien Force gave way to 3 seasons of Ben
10: Ultimate Alien a month after its finale. Ben was in possession of the Ultimatrix
he acquired from Albedo after destroying the Omnitrix to defeat Vilgax. The
Ultimatrix allowed him to access more powerful “ultimate” forms of his various
aliens. However, Ben’s secret life became public when a young internet
conspiracy theorist, J.
Jonah “Jimmy” Jones (Scott Menville),
deduced his identity and revealed it online. He had new threats in the form of Aggregor
(John DiMaggio), an Osmosian who
stole alien abilities on his quest to acquire the abilities of a godlike being;
his aliens’ ultimate forms gaining sentience and desiring their freedom; an
extradimensional energy being known as Dagon
(also DiMaggio) who sought to take over the minds of all humans; and the return
of Vilgax, who managed to absorb Dagon and take his power for his own. At the
end of his struggles, Ben was awarded a new Omnitrix from Azmuth.
Promo art featuring Ben, Rook and alien forms Feedback, Four Arms, Gravattack, Shocksquatch and Bloxx.
Following
the conclusion of that series came Omniverse. Set a few months after Ultimate
Alien, The
Plumbers, a secret government and intergalactic agency
designed to deal with alien threats, were back in full operation with Max in
charge and running it from the giant base under his plumbing store. Sometime
before the series, Ben and his girlfriend, Julie Yamamoto
(Vyvan Pham),
had broken up (because some of the producers didn’t care for their relationship
and wanted to do something different, despite some staff protests) and she was
seeing a boy named Hervรฉ (Lownethal). Gwen decided to go off to college and
Kevin went with her (although they would return for guest spots, with Gwen
deciding she wanted to be addressed by the more mature-sounding “Gwendolyn”).
Ben was prepared to continue his Plumber duties solo, however Max had other
plans as he assigned him a new partner: Rook Blonko (Bumper Robinson), a feline-like
Revonnahgander
from the planet Revonnah.
Contrasting Ben’s brash personality, Rook was more stoic and by-the-book;
preferring to think before acting. Despite his lack of experience at first as a
Plumber, Rook was highly-trained in combat and strategy. He utilized a Proto-Tool,
a weapon capable of adapting into various other types of weapons, and a Proto-TRUK,
a spaceship that could transform into a small truck and served as their primary
mode of transport. The pair also discover an alien underground city under Bellwood
called Undertown,
which becomes a part of their regular patrol.
11-year-old Ben and some of his aliens.
McDuffie
and executive producer Glen
Murakami began conceiving of the idea for Omniverse while
planning out the end of Ultimate Alien. Despite making some substantial
progress neither would be able to follow through with their intended vision as
McDuffie would pass away early in 2011 and Murakami would go off to work on Beware
the Batman. Cartoon Network sent down a mandate to
make the look and tone of the show closer to the original Ben 10 as that
continued to perform best in airings around the world. They hoped to attract a
new audience of younger viewer that would be interested in the toys, which were
essential for subsidizing the costs of production. As a result, art director Derrick J. Wyatt’s
initial character designs were an “homage” to the original series (and drew fan
backlash from those that enjoyed the look of the last two shows). For example, Ben’s
hair was made messier like his original look and he traded his jacket for a new
t-shirt, while Gwen, despite first appearing as she did in the last two shows,
returned with her hair shorter and sporting a t-shirt with a cat face. Ben’s (somewhat)
maturity he had displayed in the previous two shows was removed entirely to
bring him closer to his original, brasher personality (this was attempted to an
extent beginning with the 3rd season of Alien Force). Also,
there were frequent flashbacks (occasionally entire episodes) to an 11-year-old
Ben (with Tara Strong reprising the role) during weekend trips with Gwen and
Max set the year after the end of the original series (a promotional
trailer initially stated Ben was still going to still be 10).
With Wyatt on board, the production adopted a methodology similar to what was
used on Transformers: Animated by having the art crew be a part of the
story meetings. Additionally, Wyatt pushed for the show to take an anime
influence, encouraging the art team to do as much as they could within the time
they had available.
Along
with a number of previous alien forms, several new alien forms made their debut
in the series. They included Astrodactyl (Dee Bradley Baker), a Pterodactyl-like
being who could fly with a jetpack, created energy weapons, shoot out stars and
an energy beam from his mouth, had super strength and could survive in space; Atomix
(DiMaggio), a robotic being that had a righteous personality and spoke to
others using proper titles, and could create and manipulate atomic energy as
well as fly; Ball Weevil (Robinson), an insect-like being with the ability to
create balls of sticky plasma that could absorb matter and explode; Bloxx
(Robinson),a shapeshifter made up of colorful blocks that allow him to
transform or turn into various-sized constructs (think a giant LEGO man); Bullfrag
(DiMaggio), a humanoid frog with frog-like abilities, enhanced strength and
durability, expertise in hand-to-hand combat, and could stay underwater for an
extended period of time; Chamalien (Baker), a purple lizard-like creature that
could blend into his surroundings, was agile and flexible, had a slipper body
and a retractable barb in his tail; Crashhopper (Baker), a humanoid cross
between a grasshopper and praying mantis with powerful legs good for jumping
great distances or kicking with a powerful force; Feedback (Lowenthal), a
one-eyed humanoid with plugs at the ends of his tail, antennae and fingers that
allow him to absorb and redirect various forms of energy; Gravattack (David
Kaye), essentially a living planet that can control gravity; Gutrot (Rob
Paulsen using a Brooklyn accent), a mechanical humanoid that holds various
chemicals inside his body with the ability to mix and match compounds and expel
the resulting gas; Kickin Hawk (Lowenthal), a humanoid combination of a rooster
and a hawk with retractable claws and elbow blades; Mole-Stache (Lowenthal at
first, then Kaye), a small rodent with a mustache that can grow to any size and
perform a number of functions like an additional limb; Pesky Dust (Lowenthal at
first, then Strong), a fairy-like being capable of flying at great speed and
releasing a dust that causes foes to fall asleep, thus allowing him to enter
their dreams; Walkatrout (Lowenthal), a fish-like being with legs with a
slippery body, enhanced durability and tail strength, agility and able to
breathe and swim underwater; Whampire (DiMaggio using a Romanian accent), a vampire-like being in a bat-like costume
(modeled after Marvel Comics’
Baron
Blood) that could control beings via eye hypnosis or the
Corrupturas he fires, fly, suck life energy and use enhanced vision; and The Worst
(Lowenthal at first, then Baker), a fat round alien with a malleable skin that
made him indestructible and claws. The crew wanted to debut a lot of aliens—including
alternate and future versions—and had several more in the pipeline, but the
network put a stop to that, feeling there were far too many in the show between
Ben and his evil and future counterparts that would appear (each with some
unique aliens of their own). They also put a restriction on the number of
transformations per episode. An alien’s use in an episode was determined by
desire, situation or simply on what cast members were scheduled to do a
particular episode. Pesky Dust, Mole-Stache and The Worst were all originally
given Ben’s voice, explained by an “Omnitrix malfunction”, as the crew
initially felt they wouldn’t be useful in future episodes and didn’t cast for
them; but they won them over in the end and got more appearances with their own
unique voices.
Maltruant, the show's ultimate big bad.
A
number of villains made their return, such as Vilgax (Blum again) and his loyal
minion Psyphon
(Baker), Albedo, Ben’s evil alternate dimension doppelganger Eon
(Judd Nelson),
self-proclaimed “master magician” Hex
(Khary Payton)
and his former apprentice Charmcaster
(Kari Wahlgren),
mad geneticist Dr.
Animo (Dwight
Schultz) and his mutated animals, Omnitrix escapee Zs’Skayr
(Blum) and his minions, criminal clown mastermind Zombozo
(DiMaggio) and his Circus
Freaks, the criminal Vreedle
family, the toad-like conquering Incurseans and
The Forever Knights, to name a few. Joining them were a new selection of foes. The
major antagonists consisted first of The Faction;
a group whose goal was to get the Omnitrix to kill Azmuth (now voiced by Renรฉ Auberjonois).
It was comprised of incomplete mutated Galvanic Mechamorph Malware
(Burton), evil Cerebrocrustacean
scientist Dr. Psychobos (Bauza), intergalactic huntsman Khyber (Kaye) and his
hunting dog-like alien Zed (Eiding). Zed was equipped with the Nemetrix,
a version of the Omnitrix invented by Psychobos that allowed her to become the
predatory species of the Omnitrix’s aliens. Then there were The Rooters:
a former black ops section of The Plumbers that defected and currently viewed
Ben and the Omnitrix as a universal threat. The biggest threat, however, came
from Maltruant
(Mark Hamill).
He was a Chronosapien,
a race of biomechanical beings, that was obsessed with ruling time itself and
could control and manipulate it. His ultimate goal was to journey to the
beginning of time and recreate reality in his image.
The future Tennysens face off against Maltruant.
Additional
characters included Skurd (Kaye), a Slimebiote that fed on DNA and became
attached to the Nemetrix, which he later traded for the Omnitrix; Kai Green
(Bettina Bush), one of Ben’s first crushes and granddaughter of Max’s old
partner who ends up married to Ben’s future self, Ben
10,000 (Nelson); their son Ken
(Menville), who helped out from time to time in the past in disguise as
Spanner; Professor
Paradox (David
McCallum), a time-travelling professor who often aided the
Bens from various timelines; Rad Dudesman
(Carlos Alazraqui),
a duck-like alien who was a trigger-happy mercenary-for-hire and smuggler;
Blukic (Eiding) and Driba (Bauza), the Galvan tech support for the plumbers
that often got into their own misadventures with Ben; and Magister Patelliay
(Paulsen), a fish-like alien from Piscciss
Volann who served as the Plumbers’ second-in-command.
Ben and Rook with the Saturdays.
Even
with the ever-growing stable of original Ben 10 characters, Omniverse
became the second entry in the franchise to feature a crossover with
outside characters. Ultimate Alien had previously crossed-over with
fellow Man of Action-created Cartoon Network program Generator Rex in an
hour-long special episode. Omniverse’s crossover came in the form of The
Secret Saturdays. Created by cartoonist Jay Stephens,
the series followed the adventures of the titular Saturdays, a family of
cryptozoologists that worked hard to protect cryptids and ensure their
existence was never made general knowledge. The Saturdays were comprised of Solomon “Doc” Saturday
(Robinson), a super genius that spent his life studying cryptids and whose
belief was firmly grounded in science; Drew Saturday
(Vanessa Marshall),
Doc’s more open-minded wife who was raised by monks, a skilled linguist and
utilized a flame sword; their son Zak Saturday
(Ogie Banks),
an adventure-seeking boy with the ability to psychic ability to connect with
cryptids, enhanced by the staff/grappling hook-like Claw weapon he carried; and
Fiskerton
(Burton), a tall and somewhat cowardly Lemurian adopted by the Saturdays who
generally communicated in grunts and mumbles that the Saturdays could
understand. They teamed-up with Ben in the episode “T.G.I.S.” after Dr. Animo
resurrected their arch nemesis V.V. Argost
(Burton), a yeti posing as a human that attacked real humans for fun and sought
immense power. Animo had revived him from his final fate using a combination of
cryptid and alien DNA, as well as machinery. Zak knew of Ben and the original
series was referenced in their own show, and Ben had a crush on Drew which
irritated Zak immensely. Only Burton reprised his role of Argost from The
Secret Saturdays. Drew would return for one more silent cameo in the episode
“The Most Dangerous Game Show”.
Initially
only 4 seasons were ordered, but Cartoon Network upped it by 2 before the
series premiered. In 2013 they upped the order again for an additional 2. As
each episode took about 6 months to produce, different directors would work on
a block of them simultaneously in order to have them ready for a weekly
broadcast schedule. The intro was changed for Arcs 4 and 5, and a special intro
was done for the episode “Clyde Five” focusing on Ben’s cousin Clyde Fife (Jon Heder). While the final
episode served as both a conclusion and as a starting point for another story
arc, no further season orders came. Ultimately, it ended up being the series
finale as despite it still performing exceptionally well despite the lackluster
fan reception to the new show, the toy sales were immensely disappointing.
Without the toys to help with the funding, Cartoon Network was ready to cut
their losses and move on to another attempt with the franchise. However, they
were obligated to air the remainder of the series and quickly burned off the
last three seasons on a daily schedule in the 6 A.M. timeslot. It should also
be noted that several episodes were aired out of their intended order, creating
continuity issues with events being references before they ever happened and
aliens being used before their official debuts. Further, several episodes
produced as part of a particular story arc ended up being used in a completely
different one. Warner
Home Video released the entire first three arcs onto DVD, along
with 5 episodes from both Arcs 4 and 5. The entire series was made available to
purchase digitally
in arcs or individual episodes, and for streaming on HBO Max.
Two
video games were published based on the series. Omniverse was released
in 2012 by D3
Publisher and Bandai Namco Games,
developed by Monkey
Bar Games and 1st
Playable Productions. It’s a 3D beat-em-up where Ben and Rook
(either computer or player controlled) try to foil the plans of Malware. Ben
could transform into up to 16 different aliens for a limited time. Omniverse
2was released the following year, with
High Voltage Software
replacing Monkey Bar Games on development. This one was another beat-em-up, but
also put players on a timer to try and use strategic transformations to get
through levels quickly while trying to stop the Incursean invasion.
With
Omniverse wrapped, Cartoon Network looked to the future. They decided
that Ben 10 as it was had run its course and it was time for a fresh
beginning after classic Ben made one final non-speaking cameo
in “The
Grampies” episode of Uncle Grandpa.
They commissioned the development of a Ben 10 reboot that would bring
the entire franchise back to square one: Ben (Strong) and Gwen (Montserrat Hernandez)
on a summer road trip with Max (Kaye). However, the classic universe isn’t
completely dead yet. There have been several attempts at giving Gwen a solo
series; McDuffie reportedly had plans to do so during Ultimate Alien and
Omniverse episodes focusing on her in college could have been viewed as
backdoor pilots. In 2021, Man of Action confirmed in
an interview that they were working with an anime
company to bring Gwen to her own series without Ben, largely due to the fact
she’s more popular in Asia than Ben is.
EPISODE
GUIDE: Arc
1: The More Things Change “The
More Things Change, Part 1” (9/22/12) – Ben gets a new partner when Gwen and
Kevin go off to college. “The
More Things Change, Part 2” (9/22/12) – Ben and Rook discover an underground
alien city and learn Psyphon is behind a protection racket. “A
Jolt from the Past” (9/29/12) – The Megawhatts return and ask Ben for help with
liberation from being Fistrick’s power source. “So
Long, and Thanks for All the Smoothies!” (10/27/12) – When Argit and the
Vreedle Brothers accidentally destroy the universe, Ben uses Alien X to
recreate it. “It
Was Them” (10/20/12) – Ben and Rook must track down and escaped Dr. Animo
before he turns the world into a mutant ant farm. “Trouble
Helix” (10/6/12) – Khyber breaks into the Plumbers’ base and steals footage of
young Ben battling Malware. “Hot
Stretch” (11/3/12) – Ben finds himself falling for an alien girl while two
other aliens plan to ignite a volcano with a nuclear bomb engine. “Have
I Got a Deal for You” (10/13/12) – An alien activist asks Ben to help free a
Screegit from an alien con artist, however the Earth’s atmosphere ends up
turning the Screegit into a monster. “Of
Predators and Prey, Part 1” (11/10/12) – An argument sees Ben and Rook
splitting up, allowing Khyber his chance to capture Ben. “Of
Predators and Prey, Part 2” (11/17/12) – Rook comes to rescue Ben and they find
themselves facing The Faction. Arc
2: Malware’s Revenge (* = aired during Arc 3.) “Many
Happy Returns” (12/1/12) – Gwen and Kevin return for a visit just as Tetramand
warships threaten the planet. “Gone
Fishing” (12/8/12) – Ben, Rook and Max head off to save Magister Patelliday
from pirates. “Outbreak”
(11/24/12) – Psychobos infiltrates the Plumber’s base to steal a part from the
Omnitrix to fix the Nemetrix, causing its powers to leak into other beings. “Blukic
& Driba go to Mr. Smoothy’s” (12/15/12) – Blukic and Driba search for a Mr.
Smoothy’s to try their new grasshopper smoothie while Ben and Rook try to stop
Trumbipulor’s quest for absolute power. “Malefactor”
(12/22/12) – Khyber attacks Ben and Rook at a festival while Malware’s origin
continues in flashback. “Bros
in Space” (1/12/13) – Ben and Rook visit Rook’s family during the Amber Olga
harvest, which Fistrick plans to steal using the planet’s rodent population. “Arrested
Development” (1/5/13) – Billy Billons turns Ben and Rook into kids and
unleashes an army of Dimension 12 robots. “Rules
of Engagement” (3/23/13)* – Ben meets Julie’s new boyfriend when they join him,
Rook and Fistina in rescuing Ester’s village from Princess Looma. “Showdown,
Part 1” (2/9/13)* - Ben reveals Malware killed his Feedback form when The
Faction attempts to take Azmuth, but upon their defeat Malware settles on
destroying Galvan Prime’s moon. “Showdown,
Part 2” (2/16/13)* - A gigantic Malware appears on Galvan and Ben is absorbed
into him, bringing him into a confrontation with his 11-year-old self. Arc
3: Incursean Invasion (^ = aired during Arc 2.) “T.G.I.S.”
(10/5/13)* - The Secret Saturdays team-up with Ben and Rook when Dr. Animo
resurrects their arch-nemesis, V.V. Argost. *Aired
during Arc 4. “Tummy
Trouble” (2/23/13) – Ben and Rook must rally the feuding Gourmands in order to
save their queen from the Incurseans. “Store
23” (1/26/13)^ – Ben takes Blukic and Driba to a Mr. Smoothy’s that travels
dimensions, bringing him in contact with his wealthy and selfish counterpart,
Ben 23. “Vilgax
Must Croak” (3/2/13) – The Incurseans interrupt Vilgax’s transfer to a
maximum-security prison by Ben and Rook. “Ben
Again” (1/19/13)^ – Eon returns and switches Ben’s mind with that of his
younger self as part of a plot to conquer the timelines. “Special
Delivery” (2/2/13)^ – Ben is forced to make deliveries for Mr. Baumann after
accidentally destroying his car, and one of them ends up being a power source
Psyphon plans to auction. “Rad”
(3/30/13) – To rescue Plumbers trapped in Incursean territory, Ben and Rook
must employ the toughest smuggler in the galaxy: Rad Dudesman. “While
You Were Away” (3/9/13) – Princess Attea frees Dr. Psychobos to get his help in
invading Rook’s home planet. “The
Frogs of War, Part 1” (3/16/13) – The Incurseans take control of Earth and the
Plumbers must figure out how to stop them without Ben. “The
Frogs of War, Part 2” (3/16/13) – With Ben exiled, it’s up to the remaining
Plumbers to mount a resistance against the Incurseans. Arc
4: Duel of the Duplicates “Food
Around the Corner” (10/12/13) – Rook must shrink down to eliminate some “fleas”
from Ben’s Gravattack body before it ruins his chances at getting a peace
treaty in place. “The
Ultimate Heist” (11/16/13) – Albedo—disguised as Ben—seeks a device that will
finally change him back while Ben—disguised by Khyber as Albedo—is in a Plumber
prison cell. “O
Mother, Where Art Thou?” (10/19/13) – Octagon and Rhomboid Vreedle take Pretty
Boy along on their attempt to prove themselves to their Ma, but she threatens
to blow up the sun until Pretty Boy is returned. “Max’s
Monster” (12/7/13) – Phil returns as a human-Terroranchula hybrid and begins
sucking up all the power in Bellwood before turning to the Megawatts in
Undertown’s power-plant. “Evil’s
Encore” (4/6/13)* – Feeling nostalgic for trying to conquer the Plumbers HQ in
Mt. Rushmore to mutate the planet, Dr. Animo attempts it again. *Aired
during Arc 3. “Return
to Forever” (10/26/13) – The Forever Knights recruit Will Harangue in their
plot to eliminate all alien DNA on Earth. “Mud
is Thicker Than Water” (11/2/13) – Ben, Gwen and their cousin Lucy investigate
how Psyphon is getting Plumber tech but Gwen suspects Lucy based on her love of
tricks. “OTTO
Motives” (11/9/13) – While enjoying an intergalactic auto show, Khoros, Kevin,
Rook and Agit run into Kevin’s old enemy OTTO who plans to make off with some
expensive cars. “A
Fistful of Brains” (11/23/13) – Albedo leads Ben into a trap that puts him on
Kyber’s hidden hunter preserve against his new Nemetrix-wearing pet. “For
a Few Brains More” (11/30/13) – Albedo takes Azmuth’s brain and plans to absorb
it in order to conquer the galaxy. Arc
5: Galactic Monsters (* = aired during Arc 6) “Something
Zombozo This Way Comes” (2/15/14) – Ben must overcome his fear of clowns to
save Bellwood from being turned into a clown army. “Mystery,
Incorporated” (2/22/14) – Ben and Rook visit Gwen and Kevin at college just as
Darkstar returns to use Gwen to open a portal to absorb mana and become
all-powerful. “Bengeance
is Mine” (3/1/14) – A human plumber that resembles Vilgax accidentally sets off
one of Vilgax’s weapons and gets Psyphon to pledge his loyalty in destroying
Bellwood. “An
American Benwolf in London” (3/8/14) – Ben’s childhood crush asks him for help
when her grandfather is kidnapped by the Forever Knights in their quest to find
Excalibur. “Animo
Crackers” (3/15/14) – Ben and Rook get some future help when Animo’s future
self returns to the present to free Animo from prison and complete their dream
of mass mutation. “Rad
Monster Party” (3/22/14) – Ben, Rook, Rad and Hobble crash on Anur Transyl
while on a delivery run and learn what they were delivering was Zs’Skayr and
Dr. Viktor’s revenge. “Charmed,
I’m Sure” (3/29/14) – Using the Omnitrix on Anur Transyl gives Ben terrible
acne, and Charmcaster proposes an alliance to defeat Zs’Skayr to retrieve her
Alpha Rune. “The
Vampire Strikes Back” (4/5/14) – Zs’Skayr awakens Lord Transyl to form an
alliance and they end up hypnotizing everyone on Anur Transyl—including Ben’s
team. “And
Then There Were None” (10/6/14)* – Vilgax and Eon join forces to wipe out every
Ben across every dimension. “And
Then There Was Ben” (10/7/14)* – Professor Paradox unites various good Bens to
take on their evil counterparts, Eon and Vilgax. Arc
6: The Evil Rooters (* = aired during Arc 5) “Catfight”
(4/12/14)* – Ben and Rook’s double date is interrupted when Nyancy Chan places
Ben in a trance and uses him to commit crimes. “Collect
This!” (4/19/14)* – While Ben is jealous an actor portraying him is more famous
than he is, Simian hires an alien collector who can turn things into trading
cards. “The
Vengers” (10/8/14) – Billy Billions assembles a team of villains to take down
Ben and humiliate him in front of the whole town. “Cough
It Up” (10/9/14) – Argit swallows a weapon that could generate Techadons with
water to keep it out of the hands of Psyphon. “The
Rooters of All Evil” (10/10/14) – The Rooters return to Plumbers HQ to find
Kevin and make use of his abilities. “Blukic
and Driba go to Area 51” (10/13/14) – Ben and his team head to Area 51 to
locate a powerful weapon before a strange threat can. “No
Honor Among Bros” (10/14/14) – Fistrick’s “bro” essence affects Rook, turning
him into a bro when he and Ben need to infiltrate an alien fight club. “Universe
vs. Tennyson” (10/15/14) – Ben is put on trial in intergalactic court for his
hand in recreating the universe. “Weapon
XI, Part 1” (10/16/14) – Kevin and Argit attempt to warn the amalgam kids about
The Rooters while Ben, Rook and Gwen end up stuck in the Null Void looking for
Kevin. “Weapon
XI, Part 2” (10/17/14) – The Rooters manage to turn Kevin and the amalgam kids
against Ben. Arc
7: The Mad Nightmare “Clyde
Five” (10/20/14) – Ben’s country cousin wants to be a hero too and gets his
chance when he finds a mysterious device that he dubs the “Cincotrix”. “Rook
Tales” (10/12/14) – Rook’s former teacher is preventing his sister from joining
the Plumber Academy in order to preserve their home planet’s traditions. “Charm
School” (10/22/14) – Charmcaster goes after Gwen for Hex’s mystical staff while
Rook and Kevin work on making Kevin’s car indestructible. “The
Ballad of Mr. Baumann” (10/23/14) – Realizing his grumpiness stems from
loneliness, Mr. Baumann goes soul-searching and stumbles upon a big secret. “Fight
at the Museum” (10/24/14) – Ben already ruins his hangout with Ester by
bringing Rook along, but things end up more complicated when they run into his
former crush and have to team-up. “Breakpoint”
(10/27/14) – Ben goes undercover at Fistrick’s gym to find out what he’s up to
when he’s committing robberies disguised as Ben. “The
Color of Monkey” (10/28/14) – Argit starts a secure transport firm with
Techadons as workers, which Ben becomes suspicious of. “Vreedlemania”
(10/29/14) – Pa and Ma Vreedle reunite for some mayhem while Rhomboid and
Octagon continue to try and impress their parents. “It’s
a Mad, Mad, Mad Ben World, Part 1” (10/30/04) – Ben 23 is sent by his Azmuth to
Ben’s dimension to be mentored in order to stop Maltruant’s plans to conquer
the space-time continuum. “It’s
a Mad, Mad, Mad Ben World, Part 2” (10/31/04) – Psychobos helps Ben and Ben 23
escape Mad Ben’s labor camp and stage a revolution. Arc
8: The Time War “From
Hedorium to Eternity” (11/3/14) – In the past, Zs’Skayr returned to Earth with
a plan to block out the sun so that his fellow Ectonurites could colonize the
planet. “Stuck
on You” (11/4/14) – Khyber attempts to team-up with a Slimebiote named Skurd so
he can safely use the Nemetrix, but Skurd finds he prefers the DNA he can
consume from the Omnitrix. “Let’s
Do the Time War Again” (11/5/14) – Ben 10,000 and Professor Paradox team-up
with Ben and Rook to stop a Time Beast awoken by the theft of its eggs by Eon. “Secret
of Dos Santos” (11/6/14) – Ben, Skurd and Rook accompany Kai as she searches
for the Temple of the Sky and find an old Galvan guarding a dangerous component
of Maltruant. “Third
Time’s a Charm” (11/7/14) – Charmcaster enacts her revenge against Gwen by
transforming her into a totem. “The
Final Countdown” (11/10/14) – The graveyard shift turns deadly when Rook’s
sensei arrives with a desire to purge the galaxy of all technology. “Malgax
Attacks” (11/11/14) – Ben finally gets rid of Skurd just as Vilgax uses
Malware’s calcified husk to make powerful armor for himself. “Most
Dangerous Game Show” (11/12/14) – Ben is forced into an alien reality show
where all the girls he’s met are made to compete for the chance to become his
bride. “The
End of an Era” (11/13/14) – In the future, Maltruant attacks Plumbers’ HQ to
get the Annihilaarg and Dwarf Star. “A
New Dawn” (11/14/14) – Ben and Rook chase Maltruant to the beginning of time
where he attempts to recreate all of reality in his own image.
