Marvel superheroes coming to Disney's Phineas and Ferb in 2013

If you've ever had to watch television while also supervising a kid, Disney XD's Phineas and Ferb might already be on your radar. If it isn't, then here's the good news: this is a kids' show that is actually pretty fun to watch! Even without kids around! And if you're a Marvel fan, there is even better news: For the first time, Disney and Marvel characters will join forces in a Phineas and Ferb special set to air in 2013 (unclear whether it's going to be a regular episode or a longer special, like a movie). And it's not just Spidey -- who has his own show on Disney XD -- who is showing up in Danville.

The plot begins when Spider-Man, Iron Man, Thor, and the Hulk drop by the hometown of Phineas and Ferb to track down the evil Dr. Doofenshmirtz, who took away all their superpowers. While they're trying to regain all their lost powers, they'll have some familiar bad guys to worry about -- Venom, the Red Skull, M.O.D.O.K., and Whiplash, all of whom are working with Doofenshmirtz.

And if you're wondering if any of this crossovery goodness has anything to do with all the live-action Marvel sequels coming out with all those superheroes, then give yourself a pat on the back for keeping up with current events! This is a very fun and not-at-all-secret way to remind everyone that 1. Disney owns Marvel, and 2. all those young Phineas and Ferb fans might also like to see the sequels to Iron Man and Thor (both 2013), and Captain America and The Amazing Spider-Man (2014) with all those cool Marvel characters in them. Because when you've got a humble little creative upstart like Disney, you need to do something to create awareness.

Marvel heroes get a new-era mission -- dropping in on a Disney cartoon [Hero Complex]

• [NefariousNewt]

  I have to say that most Disney properties annoy me to no end, but Phineas & Ferb is one of the best cartoons out there, and I enjoy watching it with my daughter. This will be so cool!

  • [Martijn]

    Phineas & Ferb is one of the two Disney properties that makes it really hard to boycott Disney like they deserve. The other one is the Dutch weekly Donald Duck magazine (which is still as excellent as when I was young, I recently found out).

    I don’t see how Marvel’s superheroes can possibly be any good for Phineas & Ferb, though.

• [moonsammy]

  How exactly does one steal Iron Man’s super powers? 

  • [Jose]

    I know, right?  That’s exactly what I was thinking.  Tony Stark doesn’t have super powers; he has a super-powered suit.  If his suit was disabled, then why is he still wearing it?  My cynical half sez that he’s only there because people are familiar with Iron Man from the movies.  (Shut up, cynical half!  That takes care of that.)

    • [AsteriskCGY]

      If I know this show enough, they’ll ask that same question. 

      • [Ken Vermette]

         They stole his battery. He has until literally the end of the episode to find it.

  • [ian morris]

     take over his company?

  • [gijoel]

     With his take-away-inator. Duh.

• [Rob O’Daniel]

  Love Phineas & Ferb, but I’m growing very weary of the constant barrage of marketing from the Disney folks.

  The only reason they even bother making movies is to sell Happy Meals, toys, & pajamas – and they’ve even corrupted the venerable Pixar, who has bought a round-trip ticket on the “Let’s churn out crappy sequels so we can sell lotsa merch” train.

  • [Travis]

    The only crappy sequel Pixar has put out is Cars 2. Toy Story 2 and 3 were damn fine movies. The Monsters Inc and Finding Nemo sequels haven’t come out yet, so it’s a little early to judge them.

  • [Ramone]

    Except that Disney hasn’t sold Happy Meals since 2006. http://articles.latimes.com/2006/may/08/entertainment/et-mcdonalds8

• [thehighandlow]

  Hahahahah, I’m the animatic editor on Phineas and Ferb and am currently sitting here with Dan Povenmire working on the aforementioned Marvel special!

  • [Marco Polo]

    It’s like you guys tapped right in to my six-year old son’s mind.  I can’t wait to tell him about it when I see him in a few hours.  Sounds awesome!

  • [relawson]

    Keep up the great work! I watch it with (and without) my kids often. :)

  • [mat catastrophe]

     Could you guys possibly tone down the fact that you’re all well aware of the show’s numerous repeating tropes?

    Yes. Yes you are.

• [bfarn]

  Awesome!  Maybe you guys can trot out what’s left of the muppets and squeeze some money out of them too!

  • [pupdog]

    Psst – There was a new Muppets movie last year – and it was pretty good!

    • [bfarn]

      Ok, you got me.  My reaction was a knee-jerk for sure.  But help me out here.

      I begrudgingly admit that the post-disney-buyout muppets have been consistently funny.  The mouse puts a lot of work into their muppet productions and their writing is better than I would have expected.

      But regardless of how well it’s made, there’s a difference between an original creation from a passionate artist and a “property”.  Ya know?  Jim Henson and his pals were really clearly present in every second of their work, and you could tell that they had a really special understanding of the world that they were desperate to share.

      So Henson is dead, and there’s no reason the muppets should be permanently shelved, and times evolve and I shouldn’t live in the past and all that.  But I can’t shake the feeling that all of this co-branding and crossover-ing and rebooting is just a bit….  hollow.

      I’m trying not to be too thin skinned about it, but when I see Kermit the frog shilling for Pizza Hut, or Iron man hanging out in a treehouse, bristling with missiles and bullets, along with a Norse god and a bunch of eight year olds, I just don’t feel like The Walt Disney Company has creativity’s best interest at heart.

      Also: apologies for the rant.  I’m done now.

      • [pupdog]

        Hugs?

        Honestly, it could be much worse. Disney is at least still trying to entertain and potentially enlighten kids (a little) – it could have been Fox…

      • [Brad Shur]

        “I begrudgingly admit that the post-disney-buyout muppets have been consistently funny.”

        I think you missed Muppets Wizard of Oz, Muppets letters to Santa, Kermit the Swamp Years, and let’s face it, all but a few movies. Occaisionally funny would be a better phrase.

        • [Ramone]

          Yah, but those were all pre-Jason Segel. And since the new film rocked, I’d be surprised if Misney would leave the muppets to anyone less competent.

    • [mat catastrophe]

       No, it wasn’t.

• [Brad Gall]

  Hey Ferb, I just figured out what we’re going to do today.

  • [Chuk]

     Ouch, mangled quotation hurts my brain.

    • [Brad Gall]

      Sorry, I need to recharge my Quoteinator.

• [Patti Sundstrom]

  “…surfing tidal waves, creating nano-bots and locating Frankenstein’s brain…!” : )
  Phineas and Ferb are the best – with or without Marvel superheroes!

  • [pupdog]

    Not to mention keeping Bowling For Soup in tshirts and ramen…

• [Larry Parker]

  Whatcha doin?

  • [Iron Clad Burrito]

    Say… where’s Perry?

• [Meat Cigars]

  All this crossovery “let’s make money” goodness. Bleh!

• [Guest]

  The story is incomplete.  They forgot to mention the shark-jumping scene.

  • [allium]

     Agent P is a platypus. It’s a common mistake.

• [John Goulden]

  Agent P will save the day.

• [Willie Johnson]

  This sounds terrible, I was devastated when Disney bought Marvel because I hate all Disney movies, and the Disney channel so honestly I figured Marvel would suffer too. Fortunately Disney seemed to have left Marvel alone and is just making a profit, because they know way to many people would be pissed if Mickey Mouse showed up in the Avengers. But I do hate all the stupid tiny marvel hero cartoons that are out. Pisses me off.

• [mantooth]

  Wait, wait, wait.  Are some of you mad that comic book characters are going to be appearing in a children’s cartoon?

  • [Chentzilla]

    Yes, yes we are.

• [Brock Rockington]

  I knew this kind of thing would happen. *sigh*

• [Brian]

  A Marvel crossover? What a horrible, horrible idea.

• [Tim Noble]

  Dr. Doofenshmirtz it my favorite character- I mean, his relationships with his daughter, ex-wife, and Perry make him so human and complex. Way better than the Marvel one-dimensional baddies. Plus, I can do the voice dead-on and keep my kids in stitches at the dinner table. Don’t make him too evil! (Now I’[m going to have “records on my fingers” in my head all afternoon…)

  • [Chentzilla]

    >Way better than the Marvel one-dimensional baddies.
    And, uh, other P&F characters?