‘Marvel Disk Wars: The Avengers’ Anime Website Launches With New Video And Art

It doesn't yield too much specific plot information about Toei and Marvel's first major teamup since Japanese Spider-Man circa 1978, but the freshly-launched official website for the Marvel Disk Wars: The Avengers anime does deliver a lot of new character information via new artwork, character bios and even some animation.

Set to debut on April 2 on Japan's TV Tokyo, Marvel Disk Wars: The Avengers will show fans just what happens when Loki hijacks Pokéball-like disk technology from S.H.I.E.L.D. and traps many of Earth's heroes (and villains) inside, leaving it up to a group of special kids with the ability to access the disks to set things right.

Special kid/hero teamups include Akira and his partner Iron Man, Hikaru and his partner Thor, Chris and his partner Captain America, Ed and his partner the Hulk and Jessica and her partner Wasp. As we mentioned when these pairings first surfaced in Bandai's commercial for the the show's toy disk "bachicombat," a few of these characters' names are apparently references to Marvel’s movie stars (Chris Evans = Captain America, Edward Norton = the Hulk).

Google translate doesn't really help fans who can't read Japanese to fully grasp the official character descriptions on the website, but it's clear that the kid/Avengers pairings are designed with commonalities in mind. Akira seems to be the son of the scientists who developed the disks and embody the energetic shonen hero archetype the way Tony Stark (sort of) does in Marvel movies. Akira's older brother Hikaru is said to be a calm genius, which should help him get along with Thor. Chris has a REALLY rough Google translation, but he might be a smartass with a good heart deep down? Edward is the youngest, smallest nerdiest of the bunch, much like his partner The Hulk when he's in Bruce Banner mode. Just like her partner Wasp, young Jessica is apparently the daughter of wealthy socialites.

Peter Parker seems to have escaped Loki's disk-shenanigans and doesn't have a kid partner as Spider-Man. It could be that he'll act as an adult mentor to the kids, or perhaps he'll skew younger as in Disney's own Ultimate Spider-Man series and be more of a kid himself? Japanese fans will find out in just a month, while American fans wait to see if the show gets localized stateside in some fashion.