A brand new Marvel series has been released on Disney+. “Marvel’s Hit Monkey” has just made its debut on the platform. This ten-episode animated series focuses on a character unknown to the general public. But suddenly, who is Hit Monkey?
Hit-Monkey : Hulu’s surviving series
Led by Josh Gordon and Will Speck, Marvel’s Hit-Monkey is an anime series that focuses on an assassin monkey. The plot is quite simple, and follows the wanderings of Hit Monkey, a Japanese macaque gifted in martial arts who trains to exact his revenge against a large criminal organization.
Initially, this series was part of a larger strategy from the Hulu platform. Indeed, the latter had the desire to produce several animated series: Hit-Monkey, Howard the Duck and Tigra & Dazzler. The three shows would have been approached in the same way to then offer a crossover between the three productions.
But of this trio, alone Hit-Monkey came out alive. The Marvel show managed to survive in the shadows and aired on Hulu before being picked up by Disney+ for France. A system that the studios had already implemented with the series MODOK, which followed the same diffusion pattern.
Hit-Monkey therefore takes place in the slums of Tokyo and offers an ultra violent animation, representative of the character. Josh Gordon and Will Speck approach the series in a trashy way full of humor, and offers a compelling glimpse into what the crossover of the three series put together would have been like.
Focus on this assassin monkey
In the comics, Hit Monkey was created in 2010 by Daniel Way and Dalibor Talajic. Basically, he made his very first appearance in a digital comic book for Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited. This one-shot was subsequently released in physical format a week later. At the genesis of its history, Hit Monkey is part of a clan of Japanese macaques. One day, the latter collect a wounded soldier in their camp. A decision that does not please Hit Monkey at all.
By dint of opposing the leader of his clan, Hit Monkey is banished. On his road to eviction, the monkey crosses paths with the soldier’s enemies. When he returns to his clan, he discovers that his entire family has been murdered. He then decides to collect the weapons of the deceased soldier and undertake an ultra-violent revenge quest. Since, he dedicates his life to assassinating assassins under the alias of Hit Monkey.
The series follows the plot of the comics, and thus resumes the dark and violent genesis which pushed the animal to become an assassin. Helped by the ghost of Bryce (voiced by Jason Sudeikis), Hit Monkey arrives in Tokyo to clean up and learn about human life. The series is of a rare and attractive violence, full of humor and sits somewhere between Archer and Mr Pickles.
