Addressing the Ben 10 Reboot
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After having a conversation with a Ben 10 fan fiction writer, I've decided to add two more posts about the Ben 10 series and how it relates to the Ben 10 Reboot. The first post will cover more about the character, Kevin Ethan Levin. The second post will cover the problems of the Ben 10 sequels and how that affects the reboot. Here's more information about Kevin.
So, I've already pointed out the psychopathic, sociopathic, and mental instability of Kevin that was a result of the constant abuse that he experienced in his life. Here's more about Kevin that further proves why he is unsuitable to be a hero character and why he has to stay as a villain. Credit for the Ben 10 fan fiction writer, that I discussed with, for pointing this out.
Kevin has a problem and that is that he doesn't really know what he wants. What he does know is that he wants more. No matter what he gets, he wants more. More wealth, more respect, more of pretty much anything. Even when he becomes friends with Ben, has Gwen as a girlfriend, and even becomes an official Plumbers officer, it's still not enough for Kevin. Therefore, he continues to commit criminal acts throughout the entire Ben 10 series. Most commonly stealing alien technology and weapons and illegally trafficking and selling said alien technology and weapons. Even as a Plumber officer and close ally and friend of Ben and Gwen, Kevin commits these illegal acts quite often in the sequels. All Kevin wants is more.
This further explains more as to why Kevin doesn't work as a hero character and why it would be better for him to stay as a villain. What Kevin does is not what a true hero would do. What makes matter worse is that barely anyone does anything about it. Not even Ben and Gwen, who often witnesses Kevin commit crimes. They don't do anything to straighten him out and that's a major factor to why Ben and Gwen's connections with Kevin doesn't work in the sequels. They just let Kevin do whatever he wants to do instead of teaching him what it really takes to be a hero. Even in the sequels, Kevin proves from time to time that he is still a villain. A villain that constantly wants more and that is another reason why he doesn't work as a hero character and why it would be better for him to stay as a villain.
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As I stated before, my second post will cover the flaws of the Ben 10 sequels and how Cartoon Network’s influence can affect the Ben 10 Reboot in a very negative way. I’m also giving credit for the Ben 10 fan fiction writer that I spoke with for some of the points that are going to be made in this post. If you are a fan of the Ben 10 sequels and do like the sequels, that’s your opinions, views, and interests and I’m fine with that. If you like the Ben 10 sequels, you like the Ben 10 sequels and I'll respect your views on it. For me, I just want to focus more on what went wrong ever since Cartoon Network replaced Man of Action with a new set of writers and Man of Action were no longer involved with the Ben 10 series all the way up to the point where they were called back in to help work on the Ben 10 Reboot. I will also explain how Cartoon Network’s treatment with the sequels can show just how much of a negative effect that Cartoon Network has on the reboot.
Here is the most basic and simplest way that I can explain everything that’s wrong with Ben 10 Alien Force, Ultimate Alien, and Omniverse. It is filled with many mistakes and flaws. There is so much about the sequels that don’t make sense whatsoever and are never explained. There is so much about the sequels that is just done wrong. There are terribly implemented elements within the story, setting, characters, etc. There are just a lot of problems with the sequels and all of it is a result of poor and lazy writing, structuring, designing. I can cover every single flaw that the Ben 10 sequels contain but that would only end up making this post way too long and all the information that I would put in would likely be overwhelming for anyone to read and I know that this is going to end up being long anyways due to how much material I plan to cover. Therefore, I will state a few examples of the many various flaws of the Ben 10 sequels and provide an analysis that will be enough for me to prove my point.
Let’s start with an example from Ben 10 Alien Force. Here is one major flaw that I caught and thought about and that is with the DNAliens. So, as we and the characters discovered in the show, the DNAliens were, in actuality, innocent human individuals that were under the control of an alien species called Xenocytes. However, despite this discovery, Ben, Gwen, Kevin, and other hero characters have actually gone and killed quite a lot of DNAliens. The DNAliens were blown up in explosions, absorbed by Michael Morningstar, attacked and pretty much obliterated by our characters and their powers and abilities, etc. If the DNAliens were actually humans under the control of the Xenocytes, then that means that our main characters had, in actuality, gone and killed a lot of innocent people and are responsible for the deaths of even more innocent people due to their actions. Now a counterargument could be that Ben, Gwen, Kevin, and their allies had no other choice. However, Ben does discover that the Omnitrix somehow has the ability to restore a DNAlien back into human form and Cooper, a very intelligent kid with the ability to merge with and control technology, is capable of easily building DNA guns that can also restore DNAliens back into humans. That means that there are other means of combating the DNAliens without actually having to resort to lethal force and action, yet that is what our hero characters continue to use against the DNAliens. Here is another problem that I found about this. Now, if the main characters didn’t realize that the DNAliens were actually humans that are being controlled, I can see that and accept that. However, when Ben, Gwen, and Kevin do discover this and they show basically barely to no reactions to discovering this. Knowing that Ben and Gwen wants to protect people, stop the villains, and become a true hero, you’d think that Ben and Gwen would be at least shocked and show remorse by such a discovery but instead, they just go on their merry way and continue to fight the DNAliens as if they suddenly forgot what they discovered. They could have done more to save these people but instead, our hero characters just end up fighting and even killing these DNAliens without trying to utilize the options that they have to save the people that are being controlled by the Xenocytes. Yeah, great work, Cartoon Network. Great job writing and structuring our heroes like this.
Here’s another point about Alien Force. How does the Omnitrix have the ability to restore DNAliens back into humans and even repair damaged DNA? The Omnitrix is basically a DNA storage unit. Not a DNA repair kit. Azmuth designed the Omnitrix to hold the DNA samples over one million different alien species. Azmuth designed the Omnitrix to basically act as a storage unit. Here’s another question. How and why does the Omnitrix even somehow magically change its appearance after recalibration? What purpose does that bring? How does magically changing the look of the Omnitrix provide any sort of improvements to it? Why does it even change appearances in the first place? These are not the actual functions of the Omnitrix. It doesn’t make sense why the Omnitrix has these functions and it is never explained why. Again, the Omnitrix is basically a storage unit for DNA samples. In actuality, it is not designed to repair damaged DNA and is not even designed to just magically, nonsensically, and suddenly change its physical appearance after the recalibration process. It doesn’t even make sense why the Omnitrix would suddenly replace Ben’s old aliens with a new set of aliens. Again, it’s just a recalibration process designed for the purpose of improving the Omnitrix’s performance and removing its technical issues and that’s just it.
Here is another major example that comes from Ultimate Alien. One of the most glaring problems of Ultimate Alien is that it drags on and on and on and on. This is mostly after the first season. The conflict with Diagon and the Forever Knights just went on and on for pretty much the rest of Ultimate Alien and the later seasons are just filled with filler episodes. Ultimate Alien was just a show more of a purpose of being like the Original Series and just failing to succeed on that. That’s just really the best way to sum up Ultimate Alien. It drags on with one conflict for the last couple of seasons with a very disappointing conclusion with filler episodes that really have no purpose being in. Okay, here’s some minor examples and questions to mention. How does Vilgax turn into some giant alien squid and why? Does every Chimera Sui Generis just have the sudden ability to turn into giant squids? By the looks of it, it only ends up making Vilgax weaker and more vulnerable anyways and it doesn’t even make sense how he could morph himself into some alien squid form. What about when Jetray can warp speed through space? How does that work if Jetray is a winged alien? Here’s one more minor flaw. Humungousaur’s ultimate form grants him the ability to fire missiles out of his arms. How does that work? What, Humungousaur’s species can suddenly evolve to have missile launchers for arms? There’s just so much that doesn’t make sense and are just never explained. That’s just it.
Next up, Omniverse. Do I even have to explain Omniverse? Well, here’s one of the most major flaws of Omniverse and that’s the show being too cartoony, comedic, and silly; even reaching levels of stupid. Once again, there’s a lot that doesn’t make sense and is never explained. The characters make stupid choices and actions. There’s even more filler episodes in Omniverse than Ultimate Alien. Ben started dating Ester before he even realized that he accidentally broke up with Julie so I bet that he still thought that he was still in a relationship with Julie. For some reason, some episodes are released out of order which ended up causing confusion on what was going on with the story. Oh, here’s something that really did some damage to the show. In the episode, “And Then There Were None,” Vilgax uses a Chronosapien Time Bomb to wipe out every version of Ben in the multiverse except for No Watch Ben. Okay so why did Gwen 10 and Albedo get erased by the time bomb? Vilgax specifically targeted Ben and his alternate versions and last time I checked, Gwen 10 is not Ben and Albedo is just a Galvan stuck in the form of Ben. Does the time bomb destroy timelines? If so, then why is Vilgax still around if he just destroyed the Main Timeline, which is where he is from? If Ben Prime and his timeline got erased, then why is his Omnitrix still around with No Watch Ben? Shouldn’t the Omnitrix be erased as well since that it came from the Main Timeline, which the time bomb just wiped out? There’s another major problem with Omniverse. It ends up raising more questions than answers. Yeah, great work, Cartoon Network. You turn what could have been one of the most epic moments in Omniverse into one of the worst episodes of Omniverse just because of the way that time bomb was implemented and used. Trust me. You can’t truly explain all of that. It just doesn’t make any sense at all whatsoever, which really killed that episode and the episode that came after.
Okay, let’s focus on a flaw with the sequels that goes across all the shows. The characters. Now, I already covered why Kevin doesn’t work as both a hero character and as Gwen’s boyfriend in the past on both my article addressing the Ben 10 reboot and my topic page on the Ben 10 Club website. That is one major flaw of the sequels that I already covered and don’t need to cover again. Instead, I’m focusing more on Ben and Gwen. Many fans believe that in Alien Force, Ben and Gwen act more serious because they grew up. Well really, they never actually grew up. They instead completely changed. You want to see Ben and Gwen growing up, take a look at the Original Series. In Alien Force, Ben and Gwen acting more mature and serious wasn’t actually the result of them being older but instead the writers implementing them in a way that doesn’t even match who Ben and Gwen truly are. In fact, when it came to Gwen, all she does is complain about almost everything that Ben and Kevin do yet she just let’s them walk all over her, barely doing anything about it. As for Ben, he was changed to being more serious in Alien Force and then he just became obnoxious and annoying in Ultimate Alien and Omniverse. He constantly want to gather attention to himself while bragging over and over again that he saved the universe a billion times. Really, a billion times? In Omniverse, Ben even sometimes acts so immature for his age. It’s almost as if Ben forgot everything that he learned from the Original Series. Overall, the Ben and Gwen that we got in the sequels are not Ben and Gwen. Cartoon Network completely changed these characters and made them into the type of people that Ben and Gwen would never even want to become. Ben isn’t supposed to be serious and then turn obnoxious in the sequels. Ben isn’t that type of person. What made Ben great in the Original Series is that he was impulsive, egocentric, and fun-loving but more importantly, he was able to truly learn to grow up and mature, develop, and improve himself as a hero and a character as the Original Series went on with its run. As for Gwen, even though she was intelligent and hard working, Gwen is known to be quite a snobbish individual mostly towards Ben but what really stood out for her was that Gwen was the voice of reason in the Original Series. She helps guide Ben into being a better hero and character while also trying to diffuse unnecessary situations and conflicts yet still willing to fight when necessary. Gwen also learns to grow up and to mature, develop, and improve herself as a hero and character, just like Ben. That is what makes Ben and Gwen such great characters in the series. This is what fans truly want out of these two characters. To allow Ben and Gwen to remain their old selves yet still give them a chance to prove that they can become better heroes and individuals. That is what fans truly want out of them. They want Ben and Gwen to improve as characters and not to completely change.
Here’s another point to make about Ben and Gwen and that is how they react to tragic moments. In the Original Series episode, “The Alliance,” Ben’s first encounter with the biker gang leader, Rojo, led to Max being badly injured and having to be hospitalized. This, along with Ben’s further encounters with a cybernetically enhanced Rojo, took a toll on Ben because it made him realize that having the Omnitrix and being a hero meant that those that are close and important to him, such as Max and Gwen, are now in danger and at the risk of being targeted and getting hurt or killed because he has the Omnitrix. Ben is even willing to run away just to protect his family. In “Secret of the Omnitrix,” on the planet Xenon, Ben witnesses Gwen being dragged away by wild Florauna (aka Wildvines) and tries to save her by using the Omnitrix, further accelerating the countdown on the watch’s self destruct mode. He fails, blaming himself for his failure to save Gwen and believing that she died. When Gwen is revealed to be alive, Ben is willing to run across an entire battlefield just to reunite with her. Why am I mentioning all of this? Because Ben cares about his family and cares about protecting and saving innocent people from danger. In the Alien Force episode, “Max Out,” Ben and Gwen witness their grandfather, Max, supposedly die from overloading and detonating his Null Void Projector. Here is the thing, Max was such a strong and positive influence over Ben and Gwen’s lives. In the Original Series, he was the mentor and father figure for Ben and Gwen. Max is one of the most important people to Ben and Gwen yet when he supposedly died, they didn’t show any emotion at all. They didn’t become emotionally affected by the supposed loss of their grandfather. What happened instead is that Ben and Gwen just went on with their lives without even shedding a single tear drop. In fact, all Ben did was just scream a cliched “no.” In the Original Series, you cared for what happened in Ben and Gwen’s lives because there was a strong impact that was left on them. In the sequels, because Ben and Gwen had changed so much, the way that Cartoon Network implemented them as characters and the way that they Cartoon Network had them react to certain situations and events, such as in Alien Force, is what further damages Ben and Gwen’s credibility as strong characters and being true heroes.
How does this all affect the Ben 10 Reboot? Because Man of Action didn’t make the sequels. Cartoon Network were the ones that actually made the sequels. Cartoon Network are the ones that created all these flaws within the sequels. Cartoon Network are the ones that made and released three Ben 10 shows that were poorly and lazily written, structured, and implemented and thus were just terrible shows overall. The moment Cartoon Network kicked Man of Action out of the series and replaced them with new writers is the moment where everything went wrong with the Ben 10 series. Now you’re probably thinking that because Man of Action are now back and working on the Ben 10 Reboot, it means that we’re going to get a great Ben 10 show, right? No. Cartoon Network still has a strong influence and control on the reboot and considering how they treated the Ben 10 sequels and the series overall, that’s not a very good thing at all to have for the reboot. In fact, the moment that it was announced that the Ben 10 Reboot will have and toy line is the moment that Cartoon Network’s true intentions with the reboot were revealed. Cartoon Network just wants to get another show out and gain a profit off the toy line and the Ben 10 name itself. In my opinion, Cartoon Network only sees dollar signs out of this reboot and the series itself instead of seeing it as a piece of art that has the potential and opportunity to be something great and to be a fun and unique show to watch. Now, I don’t mind if Cartoon Network wants to get another Ben 10 toy line out. What I would rather have is for Cartoon Network to just back off and just let Man of Action work on the reboot. To just stay out of the way and let Man of Action write, structure, design, and overall make this reboot. To just give Man of Action the chance to make the Ben 10 show that they wanted to make and that will be right for the series. That is what needs to be done. If Cartoon Network continues to get involved with the Ben 10 series and have the reboot made their way, then, as I stated before, the Ben 10 Reboot will very likely, maybe even guaranteed, to fail and cause even further damage to the series.
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There is one more thing that I forgot to mention in my previous post. I'm not referring to Cartoon Network Studios, the team that's making the Ben 10 Reboot. I'm referring to Cartoon Network, the channel and company, itself. Not the team making the show but the business people and executives in suits that runs the channel and company. When it comes to making a show, Cartoon Network relies on statistics, charts, and their demographic to determine how they're going to make their shows and run the channel. However, making a show is not a type of math and business. It's an art that most definitely and obviously requires creativity. Man of Action and Cartoon Network Studios are entertainers and artists. The Cartoon Network company itself are, again, business people and executives. Man of Action and Cartoon Network Studios know what their fans, viewers, and audience really and truly want and are specialized in making the shows for their audience. Cartoon Network are not specialized in making shows as we've seen examples of that with the Ben 10 sequels. What Cartoon Network is really specialized in is how they can get these show advertised, released, and distributed to their audience. Man of Action and Cartoon Network Studios design and produce the shows. Cartoon Network publishes them. That is another reason why Cartoon Network should not be involved in making the Ben 10 Reboot. Why Cartoon Network should just back off and let Man of Action make the Ben 10 show that they really and truly want to make. Why Cartoon Network should give Man of Action a chance to write, structure, design, and overall make the next Ben 10 show. Because Man of Action and Cartoon Network Studios are the ones that are really and truly specialized in making the shows. Not Cartoon Network.
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I have information about the new alien artworks and one new alien. I am not kidding!
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@chronosapien234 Ok. Do you know if this is confirmed? Just want to be sure. Where can I find them?
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I only got the info from a family friend because he auditioned for one of the voices of the aliens. The information was only given to people who auditioned.
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This is an update on my activities on this website. A while back, I made two new topic pages. One page announces some information about the artwork for the Ben 10 Reboot while the other page acts as a discussion page, that anyone can participate in, about anything on the Ben 10 Series in general.
I will update the page about the artwork information once something related to it is released. I also stated that I will give my thoughts and response out on the Ben 10 Reboot artwork but I've decided to wait on that until somebody eventually releases the artwork out to the public and I see it for myself. Here is the link to it.
http://ben10club.org/topic/14/alien-artwork-and-a-new-alien
As for my discussion page, again, anyone can participate in the discussion if they wanted to. I made an earlier post stating the overall problems of the Ben 10 sequels and some major examples of the flaws of the sequels. The discussion page will also act as a way for me to further list more flaws and problems with the sequels. Again, anyone can participate if they want to. You also need to have an account in order to be able to participate as well. Here is the link to the discussion page.
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Here's another update for my topic page. A YouTuber has opened up a voting poll to determine people's responses to the Ben 10 Reboot. If anyone is interested in participating, here is the link to the poll. It's just one simple question that will only take a few seconds to answer. Very quick. You can even take a look at the results of the poll as well. Once enough votes are sent, the YouTuber plans to make a video discussing the results. The YouTuber's name is Archaic King.
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It's been a while since I've been on this page so here's another update. There is more information about the Ben 10 Reboot in regards to the artwork on my artwork topic page. It's about more information on the brand new alien that my source claims is going to be in the reboot and I gave my thoughts on it as well. My source also states that he will be posting an image from the topic page some time soon so I'll wait and see what happens there. Here is the link to that topic page if anyone wants to read up on the new alien.
http://ben10club.org/topic/14/alien-artwork-and-a-new-alien
I also have some ideas for Ben 10 that I was willing to make and share on this website. If anyone is interested in reading up my ideas, here are the links to them.
http://ben10club.org/topic/16/z-skayr-possesses-ben-idea
http://ben10club.org/topic/17/my-ben-10-video-game-ideaAs for this topic page, so far I have already discussed everything that I wanted to focus on with the Ben 10 Reboot and the Ben 10 Series. I am currently waiting for more information about the Ben 10 Reboot to be released before I make any more posts on this topic page.
I still encourage anyone that has read this topic page and agree with my argument to go and contact Cartoon Network and Man of Action and attempt to convince them to take a different and more acceptable and appropriate approach and not reboot the Original Series, such as rebooting the sequels instead, and continuously repeat this page's message and argument to them. I also still encourage anyone to share this topic page around on the internet and social media to help gather up more supporters. I still have the link to Cartoon Network's website feedback page and the email address for Man of Action in the very first post of this page. I also recommend contacting Man of Action and Cartoon Network through their Twitter pages as well.
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Here is another video, that I found, that acts as another example as to why I encourage people to contact Cartoon Network and Man of Action and convince them to not make the reboot of the Ben 10 Original Series and instead take the approach that I've been arguing for to reboot the Ben 10 sequels. This video is by Jim Sterling, a very well-known video games critic and reviewer and discusses speaking up about issues with the gaming industry. Everything he discusses in this video that applies to video games also applies to Cartoon Network as well Here is the video.
(Warning: Strong Language and Mature Content)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6lvDL4cNdMThis video shows why it's important to speak up about issues that we are facing. In this case, this includes Cartoon Network too. This video also shows why it is important to keep persisting with the efforts and issues that people want to address as well. Silence is what Cartoon Network wants, which is why people should continue to discuss and address the issues that Cartoon Network has created with their channel. It doesn't have to just be the Ben 10 Reboot either. Any and all issues that Cartoon Network has created must be addressed and discussed as if it's front page news and continually persisting with these efforts from the viewers will more likely lead to Cartoon Network to eventually cave in to their audience's demands and do what their audience wants.
Again, I encourage anyone who reads this topic page and does agree with my arguments and efforts to share my topic page around all over the internet to help gather up more supporters and to further address the issues of the Ben 10 Reboot and Cartoon Network's involvement in it as if it's front page news. I also encourage anyone to, again, contact Cartoon Network and Man of Action to convince them to not make this current reboot of the Ben 10 Original Series and instead make a reboot of the Ben 10 sequels. To convince Cartoon Network to let Man of Action make the Ben 10 show that they truly want to make. Don't be silent with your views, opinions, and criticisms people. If anyone wants to, speak up and address your views, opinions, and criticisms to Cartoon Network and keep persisting on your efforts. Eventually, Cartoon Network will cave in, listen to their audience, and do what their audience really truly wants from them.
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I think that the new ben 10 series has got to be about ken 10 and his story with ben 10k aswell
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@devlin-11 No. It's a reboot of the Original Series. Cartoon Network even announced that it's a reboot of the Original Series. It's not going to be about Ken 10 and Ben 10,000. It's going to be a retelling of Ben finding the Omnitrix.
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sorry I said that wrong I meant it would be cool if it was about ken 10 @Tactical-Ochoa
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@devlin-11 Ahhhh. Ok then. Yeah that would be cool but I don't think Ben's story is done yet. I think that there could have been more to be done with Ben and I'm not referring to Cartoon Network's poorly made sequels. I don't like the direction that Alien Force, Ultimate Alien, and Omniverse took. It just didn't feel like the direction that Man of Action wanted the Ben 10 series to take. That we were supposed to get a different sequel to the Original Series from Man of Action and not the new writers that Cartoon Network replaced Man of Action with. I wouldn't prefer making a show about Ben's son, Ken, until we truly finish up with Ben's story.
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yeah I know, I really didn't alien force or ultimate alien but I would give omniverse a 6/10, but I know get why they are remaking the original series, lets just hope the new writers make it good @Tactical-Ochoa
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@devlin-11 Honestly, I don't really have any faith in the reboot. Even though Man of Action has returned as the Executive Producers for the reboot, which does give me some faith, there are just too many factors that are working against it. If you read this entire topic page and my GoogleDoc article (link in the first post on this page), then you should know why I don't have faith in this reboot. In my honest opinion, I think this reboot is going to fail. That it's not going to deliver and that it's going to end up creating more harm and damage to the Ben 10 series than good. I really hope that I'm wrong though but that's what I think about the reboot. I'm still trying to contact and convince Cartoon Network not to make this current reboot and instead go for the approach that I've been suggesting and that is to make a reboot of the Ben 10 sequels. Man of Action had a concept for their sequel to the Original Series called Ben 10 Hero Generation, which I believe is supposed to be the real and true sequel that we were supposed to get. I'm trying to convince Cartoon Network to just let Man of Action make the Ben 10 show that they truly want to make. To just let Man of Action make Ben 10 Hero Generation or something.
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While I'm waiting for more information on the Ben 10 Reboot to come out, I guess I'll just go ahead and discuss more about the problems with the Ben 10 sequel shows. Might as well go further in-depth as to what went wrong with Alien Force, Ultimate Alien, and Omniverse.
Let's start off with one of the biggest problems that I had and still have with the Ben 10 sequels. I mentioned in my GoogleDoc article (the link is on my very first post on this page) that Ben 10 is not really much of a superhero show but more of a Sci-Fi/Action show about Ben learning how to become a true hero. That's one of the biggest problems with Alien Force, Ultimate Alien, and even Omniverse. The Original Series is more of a Sci-Fi/Action yet the Ben 10 sequels were treated more as superhero shows when this shouldn't even be the case. Ben 10 is not about Ben becoming a superhero. It's about Ben becoming a true hero (yes, there's a difference). A hero who is highly moral, determined, not willing to give up, etc. Ben isn't using the Omnitrix to become a superhero. He's using the Omnitrix for a greater and highly moral purpose. So that he can become a hero (again, there's a difference between "hero" and "superhero"). In the sequels (mostly Alien Force and Ultimate Alien), pretty much everything is treated like a superhero show. Heck, many, if not most, of Ben's aliens in the first two sequels looked more like superheroes than actual aliens. Chromastone, Big Chill, Echo Echo, uhhh Fasttrack, etc. Echo Echo's physical shape reminds me of Gizmo from Teen Titans but Fasttrack is one of the most prominent examples of this. He looks exactly like a superhero. EXACTLY like a superhero. My god and there wasn't even any reason whatsoever to put Fasttrack in because Ben has XLR8, to which Fasttrack is just more of a blatant copy of but with a different physical appearance. There were also just so many generic elements from other superhero shows that many have seen over and over again and it just makes the Ben 10 sequels so generic overall. In the Original Series, even though Ben 10 was based off of Dial H for Hero, that show wasn't treated as a superhero show. At least that's my opinion on it. It focused on being a Sci-Fi/Action. The Original Series went away from the superhero route and focused on implementing more unique and original ideas, elements, style, setting, etc. The Original Series was more original and did things that not many cartoon shows have ever done before. Dwayne McDuffie and Glen Murikami (the writers that replaced Man of Action and made Alien Force and Ultimate Alien) are great writers and did make great shows but considering that they usually made superhero shows and Ben 10 is intended more of a Sci-Fi/Action series and not a superhero series, McDuffie and Murikami were just not suitable and fitting choices for writing and making Ben 10 shows. Not only that but there was just so much about the sequels that were just so lazy and poorly done that it created so many problems in the Ben 10 series. Cartoon Network made a huge mistake removing Man of Action from being able to work on the Ben 10 series and replacing them with writers that were just not the right choice for this series. Overall, Ben 10 is not supposed to be a superhero series. It's supposed to be a Sci-Fi/Action series about Ben becoming a true hero.
Feel free to leave your thoughts and opinions about this post if anyone wants to. For my next post, I'll be focusing on the aliens that Ben receives in the sequels and the biggest problem about them in which they are just very much too powerful for Ben's enemies and how this greatly damaged the balance between his aliens and how it even made some of Ben's aliens absolutely useless for Ben to use. I'll also make another post later on that will bring the focus back on Kevin and discuss his relationship with Gwen and why that very relationship just never worked in the series.
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I agree @Tactical-Ochoa
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Alright, now that I got myself some time, let's focus on those posts that I stated before that I planned to make. I'll be focusing and discussing my thoughts on the Omnitrix, the power balance with Ben's aliens in the sequel shows, and the problems with Gwen and Kevin's relationship. This is going to be a long post so feel free to take your time reading through it.
Let's start with the Omnitrix first. I already discussed certain aspects about the Omnitrix before in the sequels, such as how it somehow had the ability to change it's physical appearance as if almost like magic and how this is completely pointless for the Omnitrix to have since that it brings no benefits and improvements to it whatsoever, but I'm also going to discuss the Omnitrix and the planet Primus. In the Original Series, the Omnitrix had it's own internal storage unit that allowed it to store all the DNA samples that it had yet in Alien Force and Ultimate Alien, it gets stated that the Omnitrix is apparently a wireless network receiver connected to Primus, which Azmuth claims that he made to store all the DNA samples that the Omnitrix can use. Here we go again with another change in continuity in the series that further screws things up. If this is indeed correct, how does the Omnitrix even work when it's outside the universe and when it's in another dimension? How is it still able To get a signal from Primus within those very circumstances? Ledgerdomain, the Null Void, the Generator Rex universe, etc. Primus isn't in these dimensions and therefore, Ben shouldn't be able to use the Omnitrix and the Ultimatrix because he wouldn't be able to get a freakin signal from Primus. Does anyone here see how illogical and non-sensible this is? How simple common sense can very much easily kill the credibility of this concept of Primus. I'm actually glad that they decided to wipe Primus off the continuity and have the new Omnitrix have an internal DNA storage unit again because this makes no sense whatsoever.
Alright, with that out of the way, let's focus on the aliens. One of my biggest problems with the Ben 10 sequels is that Ben's new aliens are way too powerful and therefore, Ben's enemies are incapable of being able to challenge Ben. Even Vilgax was progressively becoming less capable of being a threat to Ben and challenging him. Swampfire can pretty much regenerate from any injury he can sustain plus he's a combination of both Heatblast and Wildvine. Big Chill has the ability to freeze his enemies with his breath and can go intangible, which pretty much makes Ghostfreak almost useless. Gravattack is cool but this is an alien who has the ability to control gravity. That's a lot of power right there. Echo Echo is a prominent example of this problem though. Echo Echo has the sonic shout ability of Benwolf and the cloning ability of Ditto. However, unlike Ditto, Echo Echo doesn't have any link between each of his clones. Therefore, Echo Echo does not have to worry about any of his clones getting killed since that there's, again, no link between his clones. This means that Ben can use Echo Echo to literally form an army to use against his enemies. With every Echo Echo clone that dies, Ben can replace that clone with ten more. This makes Ditto completely and absolutely useless. The thing with Ditto is that Ben can use him to have the advantage of numbers against his enemies but because of that link, Ben can't clone Ditto too much without running the risk of making his clones as easier targets and thus endanger Ben. It a great system of balance. In the Original Series, even though all of Ben's aliens are very powerful, they're not too powerful as they do have their limits and disadvantages that prevents Ben from being able to bulldoze his way through his enemies and allows his enemies to properly challenge Ben. It helps maintain the tension of the series and puts Ben in a situation where he needs to think more on how he could tackle at least most situations in the best way possible. However, the new aliens in the sequel shows ended up greatly removing at least most of that tension and made it too easy for Ben to gain the upper hand.
Alien X is the most obvious example of this problem, though. The moment Ben gets pass Serena and Bellicus, Ben as Alien X is literally and completely unstoppable. Nothing can stop him. Not even another Celestialsapien (which is the name Alien X's species) was able to defeat him. Although, at least in that instance, Ben had to do some thinking with that situation but the solution that he found was just too easy. Alien X even had enough power to be able to recreate the entire universe after it got destroyed. Every situation, such as the battle with Diagon, could've been easily dealt with just by using Alien X alone. In fact, at the end of season 3 of Ultimate Alien, when Vilgax tried to corrupt Ben with power by telling him that he could use the Ultimatrix, the Sword of Ascalon, and Diagon's power to remove every essence of evil in the universe, Ben doesn't need Ascalon and Diagon's powers to do that because he has Alien X. Alien X needs to go and never come back. That alien is way too much for Ben to have in the series. Alien X should have never even existed in the first place.
In fact, let's focus on another topic with the aliens in regards to XLR8 and Fasttrack. So apparently it's stated that Fasttrack is stronger than XLR8, as stated by Matt Wayne, the head writer of Omniverse and one of the writers that contributed in each of the sequel shows.What is the apparent proof of this. The episode "Basic Training" in Ultimate Alien where Ben used Fasttrack to carry Hulka, a pretty big Plumbers instructor, and Tack, a mere Plumbers recruit. That's it. That's proof that Fasttrack is stronger than XLR8. Yeah, I'd say Matt Wayne is wrong. In one instance, there was one scene where XLR8 was able to carry both Gwen and Max at once and Max is a pretty big guy like Hulka. Yes, Hulka is wearing armor but Max is still a pretty big and heavy guy to carry. Apparently this scene is was supposed to be in the episode "Hunted" but didn't end up appearing in the actual episode so I'll leave a link to the image of this scene down below. The more prominent example of this is the episode "The Krakken" where after rescuing Gwen from the Krakken, Ben uses XLR8 to pull three people (two adults and one kid) out of the water and take all three of them to shore at once. Ben also used XLR8 to chase the Krakken away from the researchers (aka the poachers, which Ben didn't know at the time) and was even able to both XLR8's strength and speed to pull one of the Krakken's tentacles off of a box (which actually had one of the Krakken's eggs inside) and thus break the Krakken's grasp on it. While, again, XLR8 did use his enhanced speed to help him with that task, he was still able to pull this task off with a creature that was at least somewhere around fifty times XLR8's size. Even the tentacles were bigger than XLR8. Therefore, I'd say that Fasttrack is not stronger than XLR8 and that Fasttrack and XLR8 are at least equal in strength. Heck, maybe XLR8 is actually stronger than Fasttrack but Fasttrack is certainly not stronger than XLR8, or at the very least has not proven himself to be stronger than XLR8, and since that XLR8 can control his speed better than Fasttrack, I'd say that Fasttrack is very much a useless alien for Ben to use and very much pointless to put into the show. The writers of Ultimate Alien could've very much easily had brought back XLR8 instead of making Fasttrack and have a better outcome with that approach.
http://ben10.wikia.com/wiki/File:XLR8_strength.jpg
Now that we got all of that out of the way, let's focus on the final subject of this post and that the relationship between Kevin and Gwen in the sequels. What's the problem with this? Considering the type of person that Kevin is, which I did explain about in a previous post, this relationship is a disaster waiting to happen. In fact, that disaster did happen at the end of season 1 of Ultimate Alien when Kevin went nuts from all the power that he absorbed and later went after Gwen because of all the energy she has. All Kevin wants is more for himself and Kevin has the ability to absorb energy. Gwen can cast magic through the manipulation of mana (life energy) and Cartoon Network also decided to do a non-sensible BS approach of making Gwen half human and half energy-based alien. Does anyone here see the problem with this pairing here. Again, this disaster did indeed happen in Ultimate Alien and yet Gwen is still with Kevin and Ben is fine with this? Not only was the set up to Gwen and Kevin's relationship was so forcefully done and so badly rushed by the new writers that it further strengthens my theory that Man of Action intended for Ben and Gwen to be in a romantic relationship with each other and that Cartoon Network was trying to cover that concept up, but this shows that Gwen and Kevin do not work very well together in a relationship and just shows that this is a disaster waiting to happen and did indeed happen in the series, let alone this relationship not even making any sense considering the type of person that Kevin is and what he did to Ben and Gwen in the Original Series. For the reboot, it would be best to keep Gwen and Kevin separated from each other. To not put them into a relationship with each other because their relationship won't work for the series because of these very reasons that I mentioned.
This further points out just how incapable and unsuitable Cartoon Network is when making shows for the Ben 10 series. It shows just how much they don't truly understand what made Ben 10 great in the first place. These concepts that I mentioned in this post and my earlier posts shows that what Cartoon Network did to the Ben 10 series only ended up working against the series and causing harm and damage to it. The best decision that Cartoon Network can make here is to just step away from the Ben 10 series and let Man of Action take control and make the Ben 10 show that they really truly want to make.
Speaking of Gwen being half Anodite, I was thinking of making a post later on that will focus on discussing the issues of the Anodite species, the introduction of Verdona and Max's relationship with Xylene in the Original Series, and Gwen being half Anodite so I'll discuss these points when I get a chance later on. As for this post, feel free to leave your thoughts and opinions if anyone wants to.
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Alright, now I feel like discussing my next points about the Anodite species, the Tennyson family tree, Gwen being half human and half Anodite, and Verdona making an appearance. I'm also going to discuss why in further detail, based on the claim that this is being made for the "next generation of kids," making the Ben 10 Reboot is very much unnecessary.
So Dwayne McDuffie, one of the lead writers of Alien Force and Ultimate Alien, stated before that Anodites lack DNA. That they don't have any DNA. Therefore, Ben can't scan an Anodite into the Omnitrix DNA database to use and any non-Anodite species that reproduces with an Anodite will remain 100% pure to that very non-Anodite species, such as a human. Ok, let me just ask this. How does that even work? How is it that a species, such as an Anodite, is able to have no DNA, the one thing that truly designs and structures a species and that defines any and all species for who and what they really are? DNA is DNA. It is the very blueprint for what makes a species what they are and what makes anyone who they are. Genetic structure and material, personality, reproduction, respiration, intelligence and thinking, consumption of food and water, etc. DNA is what makes any and all species who and what they are. Without DNA, Anodites wouldn't even be a species and wouldn't even be able to have and do the very functions and traits that other species have and that I described. And no, don't give the excuse that Anodites have mana-based or energy-based DNA because McDuffie didn't even specify what type of DNA that he's referring to so he could be referring to just any DNA in general. Just the statement that Anodites lack DNA makes absolutely no sense in this series. This at least makes me glad that Derrick J. Wyatt at least confirmed that Anodites have something analogous to genetic material but, to me, the damage is done and since that I'm referring to mostly Alien Force and Ultimate Alien, I might as well discuss this argument around what was implemented in those two shows.
Speaking of lacking DNA, how is it that the Tennyson family tree the way it even is. How was Max and Verdona able to mate and Verdona able to give birth to Carl and Frank Tennyson, Ben and Gwen's fathers respectively. There's no excuse that it can be done if Verdona was in her "human form" because her "human form" is basically just a costume. Look up the episodes that debuted Verdona and Sunny (who for some reason, Ben and Gwen or anyone else couldn't obviously tell is an Anodite despite the fact that Sunny looks and sounds exactly like Gwen but with black hair and that she acts all free spirited, a typical behavior of an Anodite). When they remove their "human forms" to reveal their Anodite forms, they remove them in a way that is similar to a costume. Therefore, no, Anodites aren't capable of mating with other humans in their "human forms" because it's just basically a costume so they don't really have a human form at all. Just a disguise. At least that's my take on it.
This comes to my next point. How is it that Gwen was able to inherit the traits and attributes of an Anodite if Anodites lack DNA? Why did Ben not inherit these very traits and attributes and neither their fathers? What, because Gwen had "the spark." What causes a non-Anodite individual with an Anodite biological relative to even have "the spark" anyways? As stated before, Anodites lack DNA and any non-Anodite species individual that has an Anodite biological relative are still 100% pure to the non-Anodite species in DNA. Let me ask this question again, how was Gwen fortunate enough to inherit Anodite traits and attributes and not Ben and their fathers? Come to think of it, shouldn't this also mean that Carl and Frank Tennyson are really just direct and exact copies of Max or something? Again, just like with my previous points, this makes no sense at all and just feels so generic and similar to typical superhero shows. It was so much better if Gwen was just the fully human sorceress that she was in the Original Series because it makes more sense and was implemented so much better than the whole Anodite excuse.
Now, what about Verdona? Well, here's another thing about the sequels that got me scratching my head. If Verdona is still around and Max still strongly loves her so much, then what was the deal with Max's relationship with Xylene? If Max still loves Verdona and Verdona is still around, then why is it that it was revealed in the episode "The Visitor" that Max's love interest is Xylene? What's the deal with that? Wait a minute. Is Verdona even supposed to be alive or did something tragic happen with her or something? In that same episode, you can see that Max is depressed or feeling down and lonely since that St. Louis was where he and Verdona first met. We also never got to see Ben and Gwen's grandmother at all in the Original Series and since that in that show Gwen is fully human, I'd imagine that Verdona or whoever was supposed to be Ben and Gwen's grandmother and Max's partner or wife would also be human and considering Max's down and lonely attitude and the revelation that Max and Xylene are in a love relationship with each other, I believe that Ben and Gwen's grandmother could have actually possibly died or something tragic happened. It's the only theory that I would find that would make Max and Xylene's relationship justifiable and sensible yet because Verdona showed up in the sequels, it doesn't make sense and just makes things complicating.
Oh and by the way, Max was not intended to be the wielder of the Omnitrix. Xylene sent the Omnitrix to Max because she needed him to keep it safe and protected considering that Vilgax was attacking her ship. Not because Max was intended to wield the Omnitrix although it would be likely that he would end up using the Omnitrix considering that it latched onto Ben the moment that he found it. Either way, Max was supposed to protect it. Not to use it.
Now my final point. Why do I think it's even further unnecessary and pointless to make a reboot of the Original Series considering the claimed reason that it is for the "new negation of kids" that haven't been introduced to the Ben 10 series yet. Well, Omniverse ended their eighth and final season on November 14, 2014, seven months before the announcement of the Ben 10 Reboot. Plus, there has been a toy and other products line for Omniverse during its air time and there has been two Omniverse video games along with many Ben 10 Omniverse flash games on the Cartoon Network website, which are still being played while also recording that millions of people have played them, alongside full episodes and short clips of Ben 10 Omniverse that are still available to watch on the Cartoon Network website at the very moment this post gets made and submitted. Omniverse itself even garnered success and millions of viewers despite the negative criticisms that many or most viewers gave it. Don't believe me, look up Omniverse on the Cartoon Network website and see for yourselves. In fact, I'll leave links down below to act as evidence. Ben 10 is still fresh in pretty much everyone's, or almost everyone's, minds even over a year after Omniverse ended. Cartoon Network and Man of Action claim that this reboot is being made to introduce the "new generation of kids" that haven't seen Ben 10 before. Well, the "new generation of kids" and any other kids that haven't seen Ben 10 yet had already been introduced to Ben 10 through Omniverse. Therefore, it very much is, if not completely, unnecessary and pointless to make the Ben 10 Reboot under the claim that it is for introducing today's children that haven't seen Ben 10 yet. It also further backs up the claim by most fans that Cartoon Network is really just doing this reboot just so they can exploit and cash in on the series again. Not only that but the other Ben 10 shows are already posted online with easy access to get into. I'd imagine that many newcomers to the Ben 10 series that learns of the announcement of the Ben 10 Reboot would go around online and look up the other Ben 10 shows just to introduce themselves to the series.
http://www.cartoonnetwork.com/games/ben10/index.html
http://www.cartoonnetwork.com/video/ben10/episodes/index.htmlEven if this claim is justifiable, there is still a much better and more rewarding method to achieve this very goal that Cartoon Network is claiming that they're doing with this reboot. Do a marathon of the Ben 10 Original Series. Marathons of various franchises and series are there for the purpose of promoting the next season or next sequel entry into the franchise as well as to also introduce any newcomers to that very series so that when the next season or sequel show comes out, those very newcomers had grown interested in the series and they won't be lost and trying to figure out what's going on. It helps build more viewers for the next Ben 10 show. AMC does this with the Walking Dead series. Why can't Cartoon Network do the same with Ben 10? It's easier, more favorable, and a more rewarding approach to take with the reason of introducing newcomers to Ben 10. Do a marathon of the Ben 10 Original Series, and maybe the sequel shows, to introduce newcomers to the Ben 10 series as well as to promote the next Ben 10 show. It's a much better route to take considering the claim that the reboot is for, again, introducing the "new generation of kids" to the Ben 10 series.
There's my thoughts and arguments here. If anyone has any thoughts and opinions of their own, feel free to to post them on this page if anyone wants to. I believe that I'm good for a while so I'll make another update when something about the Ben 10 Reboot comes up later on.
