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Seems that Marvel has a few special powers up its sleeve this year. I wrote an article a few days ago about the Marvel Animation's latest double DVD release, “Hulk Vs,” which pitted our favorite big green badass against two popular Marvel mainstays, Wolverine and Thor. If people liked THAT one (and they did, by the way), they'll love what's coming up in 2009 – if the hype and fanfare at the New York Comic Con (NYCC) 2009 is to be any indication.

Marvel Animation has reported some really good reviews and returns from its latest brainchild, “Wolverine and the X-Men,” which premiered in the US Network Nicktoons two weeks ago. According to reports, Nicktoons viewership increased by a whopping 8 times than the previous year when the firs

t episode of “Wolverine and the X-Men” premiered. On the second episode, viewership was up by over 10 times. The first season of “Wolverine and the X-Men” will be out in late April, while a second season has already gotten the green light.

(Whew... and I thought Wolverine's appearance in “Hulk Vs” was enough to fire up anticipation for the live action “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” movie coming out this summer. Now with a whole animated series up and running around him, I totally can't wait until May.)

Marvel also unveiled plans for an animated series about Iron Man. “Iron Man: Armored Adventures” revolves around a much younger Tony Stark (think high school), which is a deviation from the conventional womanizing Tony Stark we've all come to know and love. This is apparently an attempt to resonate with a younger audience.

Marvel whetted the fans' appetites at NYCC '09 by showing an entire episode of the new Iron Man series. The animation style showed a leaning towards Japanese animation, possibly indicating a trend shift in Marvel's animation ventures in the future.
Another, more comical kid-friendly Marvel animated series on the way up is “Marvel Super Hero Squad.” It's a play on the popular toy line and web comic, it pits the forces of good (with Wolverine, Silver Surfer, Falcon, Thor, and the Hulk, and led by Iron Man) against the forces of evil (with Magneto, Sabertooth, Juggernaut, Loki, and others, led by Dr Doom). Despite the badass lineup, the series is going to be more of a comedy than an action series, which should be interesting to see.

Of course, there's enough rumors going around about the upcoming Thor animated series to keep Marvel fans (and geeks like us) watching and waiting. What's more, when asked whether there were any plans to pit the Hulk against other popular Marvel characters in further installments of “Hulk Vs,” Marvel Animation President Eric Rollman said it was on the table.

Oh, and do read my semi-review on "Hulk Vs" - good stuff every lil' geek boy and girl shouldn't miss!