Superhero Media: Big Hero 6 The Series - Season 1

Very happy to discover this on Disney+ whilst browsing superhero programmes to watch over breakfast, as I really love Big Hero 6 and was keen to drop back into the world of San Fransokyo. Picking up immediately after the conclusion of the film, Big Hero 6 The Series begins with Fred and Hiro trying to convince Honey Lemon, Go-Go and Wasabi No-ginger to keep being superheroes now that Callaghan is in gaol. Most of the team is reluctant to don costumes again, but circumstances conspire that Big Hero 6 need to go back into action. After stopping a plot by Yama to sell black-market Baymaxes, the team agrees to keep operating in-between classes. Amazingly, most of the cast of the film are retained, with only Fred and Wasabi's actors changing between film and television, even with the switch to a more traditional animation style, the cast coming back really makes the series follow on with barely a missed beat. There are some other small changes in design, like Honey Lemon's hair being red rather than blonde and Go-Go getting more colour on her outfit, but these seem more like choices to match the new style rather than changes for no reason. 

New characters are introduced, most of which are reasonable additions, with supporting cast like Professor Granville (dean of SFIT), Karmi (a classmate of Hiro's) and Minimax (a new robot on the team) and, of course villains for the team to fight. Whereas the film stuck close to a somewhat "hard sci-fi" aesthetic, as the series goes on, individuals with more traditional super-powers, like Globby and Obake, will become regular foils, with Obake being revealed as the overarching villain for the season. Again, this shift in tone doesn't clash all that much once you're in the flow of the series, though some critics seem to take umbrage at this departure from the world of the film. Personally, I'm just happy to spend more time with these characters, to see them grow and develop more than they could in the limited space of the film. Episodes that focus more on civilian activities help grow the core cast even more, like Fred's nemesis, a rival comics collector called Richardson Mole, and Honey Lemon's secret love of fine arts coming to life. What's great about the writing of Big Hero 6 The Series is that the additions tend to stick around and become part of the programme, with only the one antagonist, a teenage girl robot, not being relevant for more than one episode. 

Naturally, I am now keen to add more characters from Big Hero 6 to my Ultimate Alliance project, as I currently only have two versions of Baymax. Sure, the team itself is nothing fancy, with a Speedster (Go-Go), Brawler (Wasabi), Wildcard (Fredzilla), Gadgeteer (Honey Lemon) and whatever Hiro does (seems to be the brains? Hard to tell with a team full of geniuses), but each has a great look and sometimes it's not all about having the most powerful team. A bit of a sad note, Stan Lee returns as the voice of Fred's dad, most often providing advice over video phone to help defeat his old nemesis, Baron Von Steamer. The Stan Lee scenes are well done, with the writing working around his lack of acting talent and some memorable lines and jokes. As of the time of writing (April 2020), only the first season of Big Hero 6 The Series is available on Disney+, but I'm waiting with baited breath for more to hit, I just had so much fun with it. If I can lean on Viv from Knights of Dice a bit, I'd love to take a swing at some San Fransokyo style buildings for my games, landing a setting more grounded than my generic "Hero City". If you enjoyed the film, Big Hero 6 The Series is basically more of the same, but with a slight twist. Highly recommended.