Synopsis
While Phineas and Ferb are tinkering with a self-made space station, the evil Dr. Doofenshmirtz accidentally misfires his ‘Power-Drain-Inator’, which ricochets off the space station’s satellite and ends up hitting four Marvel super heroes (Hulk, Thor, Iron Man and Spider-Man), while they’re battling evil forces in New York City. The result? The super heroes lose their power, which prevents them from stopping the evil doers from causing chaos in the world. Phineas and Ferb must help the super heroes regain their powers and stop the villains before it’s too late.
With the emergence of Marvel films taking off recently (okay, last three years — there has been so much success that it feels recent), it’s fun to see that Disney’s Phineas and Ferb creators have jumped on board to take advantage of the wave. Of course, understand that they’re not merely mixing the two universes for the sake of popularity, nay-nay. In true Phineas and Ferb style, they’ve mixed the story of the super heroes losing their powers in some freak Doofenshmirtz Evil, Inc. ‘Power-Drain-Inator’ gone wrong create a very clever and fun experience in true Phineas and Ferb style. In other words, you won’t have to take this episode seriously like you would a normal Marvel cartoon. The heroes and villains are all aware of their existence in the Phineas and Ferb world. For example, MODOK is constantly being made fun of in the episode, as no one can clearly identify what the heck he truly is (best guess: giant egg). You wouldn’t really find this sort of humor about a Marvel character unless it would be in the Phineas and Ferb universe. Another example of humor is when the powers get mixed up in the episode and Iron Man ends up with Thor’s might. Iron Man asks how to call the hammer, Thor tells him he has to be worthy, but Iron Man continues to try to call it through various methods. It’s funny, subtle humor that, again, fits right up there with the usual Phineas and Ferb flavor of funny.
Having said that, the rush to get the powers back is fun and not too death-defying. There is some mild violence that reminds you that you’ve got the Marvel universe packed within P/F’s universe, but nothing overly violent that you want little kids to stray away from it. It’s a well-written extended episode that honors both the show it comes from and the Marvel universe it’s mixed with. It definitely doesn’t miss a beat or feel boring one iota. Does it deserve its own DVD? Well, for $19.99 ($13.99) it is a bit of a tough sell…if it were they only thing packed in, but thankfully it isn’t the only thing packed in.
Included with this DVD is an additional eight episodes of the show (two of them are two-parters). The episodes included are quite entertaining. The first of the bunch is called Fly on the Wall, which has our favorite snitch Candice accidentally changed into a fly before her big date with Jeremy. Another great one is a two-parter called Primal Perry, which puts Perry against an Australian platypus hunter named Liam. It’s a bit intense, but fun nonetheless.
Here is the list of extra episodes you get along with the Marvel one:
– Fly on the Wall
– Sidetracked (pt 1/2)
– Primal Perry (pt 1/2)
– Backyard Hodge Podge
– Knot My Problem
– Mind Share
If my kids loved this show, and they do, and I didn’t get this for free, then I would probably definitely consider this for purchase. My son (5) absolutely adored the Marvel episode, and watched the others in one sitting (yes, I’m an irresponsible parent), so I know there is some validity to my argument that this is a good purchase for fans of the show. This is definitely worth the $19.99 asking price.