Earlier this week we caught our first real look at Marvel's forthcoming animated series 'Avengers Assemble,' which replaces prior series 'Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes' as the animated Marvel universe's tie-in to Joss Whedon's blockbuster film. While 'Avengers Assemble' clearly evokes the movie of its namesake, what do the producers have to say of its connection to the Marvel Cinematic Universe? Get a peek at the new series with a fresh clip inside!

For as much as we'll miss 'Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes,' Marvel chief creative officer Joe Quesada, supervising producer Cort Lane and executive producer/writer Joe Kelly want to assure fans that Disney XD's forthcoming 'Avengers Assemble' has clear ties to both the blockbuster film franchise and the series that preceded it. Via IGN, we've learned the trio delivered a press call that clarified 'Avengers Assemble's' role within Marvel's brand, attempting to create a certain synergy (and consistent animation style) between all mediums:

We took our inspiration from the wonderful work that's been done in the comics in the past, and also what's happened on the big screen. Looking at the success of that movie, we wanted to have a show that reflected the attitude of that movie and a bit of the look of that movie and the flavor of that movie within the context of our animated world, so we'd have a little bit more of that connective tissue between the people who have been introduced to the Avengers and the Marvel Universe through that movie and what we're doing now.

The trio added that 'Avengers Assemble' would reflect a latent trend of 'Earth's Mightiest Heroes' in utilizing more standalone stories, whereby the introduction of The Falcon would would serve as the viewers' eyes and ears in acclimating to the existing character dynamics. Even with the standalone stance, 'Avengers Assemble' will slowly build toward its own version of "The Cabal," including such villains as the Red Skull and Modok.

As for 'Assemble's' inherent connection to 'Earth's Mightiest Heroes,' which itself had earned rave reviews in its treatment of the Marvel universe:

We never wanted to disregard any of the Earth's Mightiest Heroes work. Man of Action worked on the last bunch of episodes on that show. We all liked that show. It doesn't come off as a reboot. It's not the characters meeting each other for the first time. These are characters that definitely have a history. Some of that stuff is loosely, kind of tangentially hinted at. We wanted to give the sense that maybe a little time has passed, and now we're just picking up X amount of time later.

The series will air a preview on May 26 on Disney XD, before its proper debut on Sunday July 7, while the first episode of the series is also available for free on iTunes. ‘Avengers Assemble’ brings together a cast that includes Adrian Pasdar (‘Heroes‘) as Iron Man, Fred Tatasciore (‘Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness’) as the Hulk, Roger Craig Smith (‘Wreck-It Ralph‘) as Captain America, Travis Willingham as Thor, Troy Baker as Hawkeye, Laura Bailey as Black Widow and Bumper Robinson as Falcon.

We’ve included a brand-new clip for ‘Avengers Assemble’ below, so take a look and tell us in the comments if you'll tune in for Marvel's latest animated series!

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