Addressing the Ben 10 Reboot
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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.
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Something popped into my mind recently in regards to Gwen being half Anodite. So the series established that mana is life energy and resides in every living organism (except for Ectonurites), including humans. However, what the Ben 10 series also established was that, with enough training and experience, humans can actually learn how to control and manipulate mana. Examples of this being Charmcaster, Hex, and Gwen in the Original Series. Any human individual can actually gain mana powers.
Because of this fact, here is where the concept of Gwen being half Anodite really started to bug me. If any human individual can learn and gain the ability to control mana, then why did Alien Force even establish that Gwen is half Anodite and that is where the source of her powers came from? Why does Gwen even have to be half Anodite to have mana powers if she, as a fully human individual, can still gain and use mana powers anyways? Gwen doesn't even have to be half Anodite just so she can use her mana powers because of this very fact in the previous paragraph. Because any human can learn and gain the ability to control mana, establishing that Gwen is half Anodite is very much, if not completely, pointless and unnecessary and is also a poorly implemented and lazy approach to take. It would be better to just keep Gwen as a fully human sorceress because "humans learning to control mana" is a much better and more sensible reason to explain Gwen's mana powers and magic abilities than the Human/Anodite hybrid route, which I already explained in my previous post as to why it never made sense and didn't work for the series.
For the Ben 10 Reboot, Gwen needs to stay fully human and not be a Human/Anodite hybrid because it's a much better route to take for her as a character and for the series.
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@Tactical-Ochoa Completely agreed.
When lives are on the line, it's hero time!
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@admin Thanks. I'm glad you like it.
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In fact, I realized that I haven't done this yet. For anyone that does like and agree with my posts, thank you for your support. Even for those that do disagree with my points, I still thank you for at least taking the time to read through my posts and at least trying to understand the points that I've made here.
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Wow, I thought I was done with this but another thought popped up in my mind again. If anyone is thinking that they can rebuttal and counter argue my previous post by saying that Gwen being an Anodite explains why she is so powerful, let me counter that point with this.
Explaining why Gwen is so powerful with her magic can be explained the same way that explains how she was able to be better at Ben in both playing video games and using the Omnitrix in the episode "Gwen 10" and how she was able to be better at magic than Charmcaster, despite the fact that she just picked up on all that stuff. Gwen is a prodigy kid. She works hard to achieve what she does. She's strongly focused on that tasks that she puts herself in. She's dedicated and determined to do something great. She constantly works on getting better and better at what she does. She puts the time and effort into her work. That is the true reason how and why Gwen is so skilled, experienced, and powerful at using magic and casting spells and in the Original Series, she rightfully deserves the credit for such an achievement like that.
When Alien Force established that Gwen was half Anodite and that this was the reason why she was so powerful, it felt cheap. It felt like she unintentionally took a shortcut; that she unintentionally took the easy path. Suddenly, all that time and effort and hard work felt pretty much pointless because she was powerful with her mana and magic anyways. Suddenly, she no longer deserves the credit and hand work that she truly deserves because of what Cartoon Network and Dwayne McDuffie and Glen Murikami did to her as a character. Gwen being half Anodite and that being the very reason why she is just so powerful works against her as a character as well as discredits her as a character. It doesn't match the type of person that she really is. It goes against who Gwen is and goes against everything, or almost everything, that she stands for as a character.
For the reboot, Gwen needs to stay fully human. She needs to be who she was in the Original Series. That way, when she does grow to be as skilled, experienced, and powerful with her magic and mana abilities as we saw her as, knowing the type of person that she is, achieving something like this will feel right for her and it will rightfully justify all the credit that she truly deserves as a character.
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I meant to mention this but i asked duncan rouleu if he thinks people that prefer action will still like the reboot and he responded with i do
10 Years Of Hero Time!!!!
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@Omni-Triforcer Oh yeah, I think I saw that on Twitter. Well, I'm still greatly skeptical and concerned about this reboot, though.
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This is an update to any further activities that I've done on this website. I made two new discussion posts. One focused on discussing the fan debate as to either a more mature Ben or a more cocky Ben being better for the series while the other focused on discussion my thoughts on a fan popular concept of having Ben and Gwen be a romantic couple in the series, even though they are cousins. If anyone that follows this page would like to check these posts out and maybe even join on on the discussion in them, I'll leave links to those discussion posts here. I'm also putting the links here because I want to add these posts as part of my arguments and discussions on the Ben 10 Reboot and the Ben 10 series as a whole.
Mature Ben or Cocky Ben:
http://ben10club.org/topic/25/mature-ben-or-cocky-ben -
Duncan rouleau has confirmed they are making episodes as we speak https://twitter.com/rouleau1/status/672166954870824960
10 Years Of Hero Time!!!!
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@Omni-Triforcer I know. I'm the guy that asked him on that link.
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@Tactical-Ochoa said:
@Omni-Triforcer I know. I'm the guy that asked him on that link.
Oh.... so you are lol i didnt notice that sorry.
10 Years Of Hero Time!!!!
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@Omni-Triforcer Lol. No worries. You didn't know. I asked Rouleau because I believe last month he said that the reboot was in production and I wanted some clarification on what he said.
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Its been confirmed that each episode is 11 minutes NOOOOOOOO!!!! http://anmtv.xpg.uol.com.br/cartoon-network-planos-para-2016/ 11 minutes is not enough time to develop a story this has confirmed my fears the show will probably not be that much action and this is very dissapointing
10 Years Of Hero Time!!!!
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@Omni-Triforcer said:
http://anmtv.xpg.uol.com.br/cartoon-network-planos-para-2016/
WHAT! ARE YOU KIDDING ME! Goddammit Cartoon Network. Thanks for the info, even if it is bad.
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someone has pointed out that MOA said that the show will be more action then comedy so thats good.
10 Years Of Hero Time!!!!
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@Omni-Triforcer Just because the reboot will have more action than comedy is not going to be enough. There's more that needs to be done as well. Story, character development, setting, etc. Most of this can be hampered by length. Just because there's more action than comedy doesn't mean that it will turn out great. Alien Force and Ultimate Alien is my example of that and I already discussed the many issues that those shows had.
Not only that but no this is not because kids like shorter content. I'm sorry for the language but this is typical Cartoon Network bullshit. Cartoon Network is just being lazy and cheap here. 11 minutes is the same length for each episode of Teen Titans Go as well. I don't think it even matters if this reboot is more action oriented. If Cartoon Network makes this reboot more like TTG, we got ourselves a very serious and bad problem here.
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@Tactical-Ochoa said:
@Omni-Triforcer Just because the reboot will have more action than comedy is not going to be enough. There's more that needs to be done as well. Story, character development, setting, etc. Most of this can be hampered by length. Just because there's more action than comedy doesn't mean that it will turn out great. Alien Force and Ultimate Alien is my example of that and I already discussed the many issues that those shows had.
Not only that but no this is not because kids like shorter content. I'm sorry for the language but this is typical Cartoon Network bullshit. Cartoon Network is just being lazy and cheap here. 11 minutes is the same length for each episode of Teen Titans Go as well. I don't think it even matters if this reboot is more action oriented. If Cartoon Network makes this reboot more like TTG, we got ourselves a very serious and bad problem here.
Wow its funny how some people have completely different reactions not to say either of you are wrong another person has said that the show being 11 minutes does not mean it will turn out like ttg and there have been many action shows that were 11 minutes i have hope that this show will be good and i will watch but i definitely agree this isnt looking good.
10 Years Of Hero Time!!!!
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@Omni-Triforcer Yeah, I know but still, people are getting really freakin tired of CN doing stuff like this. It may not likely be like TTG but it does feel like it to me and I don't like that at all.
