Phineas & Ferb creator and voice actor Dan Povenmire has called out The Avengers for its similarities to Phineas & Ferb: Across the 2nd Dimension. Povenmire co-created the hit Disney Channel series in 2007 alongside Jeff "Swampy" Marsh, also voicing hapless villain Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz across the show's 4 seasons. The cartoon once held a special crossover episode that saw numerous Marvel heroes and villains interact with the show's cast.
Starring Vincent Martella and Thomas Brodie-Sangster as the titular characters, Povenmire and Marsh's animated series sees the two brothers come up with creative, inventive, and spectacular schemes to fill every day of their summer vacation, from building a city-wide roller coaster to going to space to building a haunted house to cure a friend's hiccups, much to the stress of sister Candace (Ashley Tisdale). Though the series had ended after its fourth season, a long-awaited film aired on Disney+ in 2020, albeit with some cuts, titled Phineas & Ferb: Candace Against The Universe. With an inventive premise, witty writing, and catchy songwriting, the series has a special place in many fans' hearts, with Povenmire keeping the fandom alive with new content despite no new releases.
In a TikTok video that Povenmire shared on his Instagram account, the co-creator and voice of Doofenshmirtz compared the 2011 TV movie, Phineas & Ferb: Across the 2nd Dimension, to Marvel Studios' The Avengers. Povenmire outlines The Avengers' now-iconic Battle of New York which saw the heroes fight back a Chitauri invasion after a portal is opened above the city, then compares it to the alternate-universe Doofenshmirtz's interdimensional invasion during Across the 2nd Dimension's closing act. Stating he was just saying that he and Marsh did the same plot a year earlier than The Avengers, Povenmire suggests fans watch both on Disney+ to see for themselves. Check out Povenmire's post below.
With Marvel revisiting the Battle of New York as a pivotal point in its own continuity in recent works, the final battle of The Avengers has become an iconic moment in superhero filmmaking. Not only did the film culminate the first phase of the MCU, but it also proved the studio's ambitions could pay off in a satisfying way. The scene has also been referred to outside of film, as a photograph of the New York skyline by author Scott Westerfeld drew comparisons to the portal Loki (Tom Hiddleston) created above New York.
Though Povenmire's post is made in a joking manner, it's hard to deny the uncanny similarities between the two. Much like the now incredibly detailed Battle of New York in The Avengers, the battle of Danville seen in the Phineas & Ferb TV movie also paid off numerous threads the prior series set up, with long-awaited character returns and team-ups, interdimensional portals in the sky, and numerous nameless drones defeated when a control point is destroyed. While it ultimately is a fun coincidence at best, it is also a perfect way to link two beloved and influential pieces of modern media in a playful way.
Source: Dan Povenmire