Japanese Avengers Animated Series Announced

The Walt Disney Company Japan today announced production of the first Japanese Marvel animated television series targeted at boys. Marvel Disk Wars: The Avengers will premiere nationwide on terrestrial television in spring 2014. The story, which is aimed at boys aged 6-12, will revolve around how The Avengers – Iron Man, Captain America, Thor and the Hulk together with the help of Spider-Man and a group of teens, will harness their respective fighting skills and superhuman powers to foil Loki's scheme to take over the world. Walt Disney Japan aims its content at "localizing" for Japan and have created a number of popular series in that vein, including the animated short-form series Fireball in 2008, Disney's first animated series produced entirely in Japan, and Stitch!, which stars the popular Disney monster with a change of setting from Hawaii to Okinawa. Marvel Disk Wars: The Avengers will be its first animated television series specifically targeted at boys. Through this collaboration, Marvel, Walt Disney Japan, Japan's top animation studio Toei Animation, and character merchandising leader Bandai hope to leverage their respective strengths to deliver a television series for nationwide broadcast and a range of merchandise that is sure to breathe new life into the boys market in Japan.