‘Ben 10’ Was, First and Foremost, for Children—and Additionally for Itself

For individuals who’ve made action-focused western animation a key a part of their life, 2005 is a crucial yr. It received off to an important begin with Avatar: The Last Airbender, which helped get the non-converted into anime and serialized storytelling that felt mature to anybody in its meant audience again within the day. On the finish of that very same yr, the demographic received Ben 10, a present equally as essential as Avatar however in its personal approach.

The debut venture of animation studio Man of Motion and first launched December 27, 2005, the Cartoon Community collection follows a 10-year-old child named Ben Tennyson who finds an alien watch referred to as the Omnitrix, which lets him morph into considered one of 10 aliens for 10 minutes at a time. With Ben, his cousin Gwen, and their Grandpa Max spending their summer season trip touring the nation, every episode had Ben use a handful of aliens to struggle villains like monster clowns, secret orders, and different aliens seeking to take the Omnitrix for themselves.

On its face, it’s a fairly easy thought for a youngsters’ present, however execution-wise, it was mainly perfection. Man of Motion’s founding crew was comprised of American comedian e-book writers and artists like Joe Casey and Duncan Rouleau, whose collective credit included Marvel, DC, and Picture Comics. As soon as you realize that pedigree, it’s only a matter of clocking what influences run by the present, just like the Kirby Krackle or Kevin Levin being a mashup of Tremendous-Skrull and Metamorpho. What made it work was the earnest playfulness that ran all through, whether or not it was that still-catchy theme song or Ben’s aliens themselves. The best way he slams that dial and transforms, who wouldn’t wish to be one thing referred to as XLR8 or 4 Arms?

So it’s not shocking that Ben 10 grew to become an enormous deal for Cartoon Community with a four-season run, three films (considered one of which was live-action), and a tie-in online game. It’s additionally not shocking that it went on to grow to be a franchise that’s gone on to incorporate extra movies and video games, toys, and three sequel collection in Alien Force, Ultimate Alien—which turned 15 earlier this yr—and Omniverse. For Cartoon Community, this was its Avatar: one thing geared towards youngsters however that additionally had the great sense to age up with its viewers. With Ben, Gwen, and Kevin made into youngsters, viewers had their very own Spider-Man, even earlier than Ben’s teenage actor Yuri Lowenthal wound up changing into Spider-Man.

The truth is, that they had one thing higher right here: Ben was an authentic property and due to this fact its personal supply materials. So in contrast to the animated adventures of Spider-Man, Batman, or different big-name heroes happening on the time, you possibly can watch any Ben present and be continuously stunned on a week-to-week foundation with out having a nagging thought at the back of your thoughts about issues being undone or interfering with issues happening in different components of the identical universe. There was lots that went on from Ben 10 Basic as much as Omniverse, with continuity largely maintained, and all of it in dialog because the reveals hit about each main superhero comedian trope or storytelling system when all was mentioned and performed. (Loads of that may be attributed to comedian e-book author Dwayne McDuffie, who co-developed and did lots on Alien Power and Final Alien up till his passing in 2011.)

That Ben 10 was such an ongoing success had the added impact of bringing extra action-oriented reveals to Cartoon Community’s lineup, whose output at that time consisted of short-lived originals like Megas XLR or Juniper Lee and the occasional DC collection. However due to Ben, we received Generator Rex and Secret Saturdays. The previous was Man of Motion’s second animated collection, set in its personal separate universe and based mostly off an previous Picture comedian made by Casey, Rouleau, and Aaron Sowd. Whereas Rex and Ben crossed over within the Heroes United particular, the previous didn’t have fairly the identical endurance as its predecessor. The identical might actually be mentioned for Secret Saturdays, which started the identical yr as Alien Power and whose solid finally appeared in Omniverse. 

Neither Rex nor Saturdays was unhealthy, they usually may be value a watch now, however their particular person vibes didn’t solely hit like what Ben had been offering for what was half a decade at that time. Additionally they simply didn’t arrive when Ben did. In 2005, superhero fever was taking up the world, and by 2008, the style was actively making a go at changing into the dominant tradition. Children had been eased into this because of Ben; Alien Power premiered days after the unique present ended, which was additionally weeks forward of the primary Iron Man and months earlier than The Darkish Knight. 

It was (and perhaps nonetheless is) an extremely assured transfer on Cartoon Community’s half that led to a multimedia franchise that’s grow to be a part of its model and allowed for Ben 10 to endure for therefore lengthy. After a divisive reboot wrapped again in 2021 with its personal respectable run—4 seasons, a film, two video games, and specials that allowed for crossovers with each Generator Rex and its previous self—Man of Motion hasn’t solely let go of its authentic creation. The studio’s apparently received comics in the works and can possible hold attempting to get one other live-action film off the bottom after the initial attempt failed, to not point out Rouleau has talked about it might warrant an adult-oriented sequel within the vein of Samurai Jack or Fionna and Cake.

Such an thought feels antithetical to what made the unique reveals so profitable, however what would Ben 10 be if it didn’t exit on a limb and see if that gambit labored?

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