Across the Stars (Avengers Unleashed)

Across the Stars is the 20th episode of the Season 1 in Avengers Unleashed.

Featured Characters

 * Avengers
 * Captain America / Steve Rogers
 * Iron Man / Tony Stark
 * F.R.I.D.A.Y.
 * Black Widow / Natasha Romanoff
 * Spider-Man / Peter Parker
 * Jocasta
 * Thor
 * Hulk / Bruce Banner
 * Captain Marvel / Carol Danvers
 * Phoenix Princess / Mary Jane Watson
 * Black Cat / Felicia Hardy
 * Hawkeye / Clint Barton
 * White Swan / Gwen Stacy (flashback and main story)
 * Falcon / Sam Wilson
 * Redwing
 * Tigra / Greer Grant (cameo)
 * Silk / Cindy Moon
 * She-Hulk / Jennifer "Jen" Walters (cameo)
 * Hulkling / Theodore "Teddy" Altman / Dorrek VIII (first appearance) (flashback and main story; origins revealed) (joins the New Warriors)
 * Wiccan / Belle Kaplan (first appearance joins the New Warriors)

Supporting Characters

 * Skrull Empire
 * Queen Veranke (first appearance)
 * Princess Anelle (first appearance) (flashback and main story)
 * General Talos (first appearance)
 * New Warriors
 * White Tiger / Ava Ayala
 * Azrael
 * River
 * Iron Fist / Danny Rand
 * Power Man / Luke Cage
 * Mecha Hulk / Amadeus Cho
 * Scarlet Spider / Kevin Watson
 * Blue Eagle / Sally Avril
 * Agent Venom / Flash Thompson
 * Avengers Academy
 * American Son / Max Olson
 * Midgard Valkyrie / Tarene Olson
 * Kid Arachnid / Miles Morales
 * Ms. Marvel / Kamala Khan
 * Speed / Thomas "Tommy" Kaplan (first appearance; joins team)
 * Mar-Vell (flashback and main story)
 * Aunt May
 * Commissioner George Stacy

Villains

 * Ronan the Accuser
 * Ronan's Elite
 * Nebula / Minn-Erva
 * Korath the Pursuer
 * Outriders
 * A.I.M.
 * Super-Skrull / Kl'rt / Alexander Pierce (first appearance)
 * M.O.D.O.C. (first appearance)

Other Characters

 * Avengers Academy
 * Spider-Girl / Anya Corazon
 * Reptil / Humberto Lopez (cameo)
 * Nova / Sam Alexander (cameo)
 * Power Pack
 * Zero-G / Alex Power (cameo)
 * Lightspeed / Julie Power
 * Mass Master / Jack Power (cameo)
 * Energizer / Katie Power (cameo)
 * Helen Stacy (only appearance) (flashback only; deceased)
 * Hydra (mentioned only)

Premise
While the Avengers and the New Warriors aid a Skrull army led by Talos in saving Xandar from Ronan the Accuser and his army of brainwashed Outriders, White Swan befriends Theodore Altman, the Skrull/Kree hybrid son of Mar-Vell and Skrull Princess Anelle, while helping him save his girlfriend Belle Kaplan from A.I.M. forces commanded by Alexander Pierce, who is in reality rogue Skrull Kl'rt / Super-Skrull in disguise planning to create an army of brainwashed metahumans to aid him in overthrowing Talos and Queen Veranke.

Plot
It all starts with Gwen Stacy along with several citizens in Central Park admiring a flock of swans swimming in the lake during the Swan Lake Festival. On the middle of the event, Gwen sees a swan mother swimming with her babies, reminding a tearful Gwen of her own late mother Helen, who used to take her to the zoo to watch the swans when Gwen was younger, before she is comforted by Aunt May. Just then, the city is invaded again by Ronan the Accuser and his followers Korath the Pursuer and Nebula, who demand answers about the whereabouts of the "Half-breed scum".

Gwen puts on her guise of White Swan and battles the villains. She is just then aided by Theodore "Teddy" Altman / Hulkling, a new young hero with the Hulk's powers, and the two defeat Ronan, Korath and Nebula, forcing them to retreat. Later on, Hulkling reveals some of his origins as an alien hybrid of the Kree and Skrull Empires; he is the son of Skrull Princess Anelle with Mar-Vell, whose union with Anelle was a reason why Ronan branded Mar-Vell a traitor to the Kree Empire (as the Kree are forbidden from any relationship, even less romantic, with other planet's inhabitants, especially of the Kree's rival races) and condemned him to exile. Later on, Gwen also meets with Teddy's girlfriend Belle Kaplan, a young metahuman with Reality-warping abilities which she received due to exposure of an experiment on her by Hydra agents with the Reality Stone, and is fighting crime as Wiccan. At the same time, Avengers Academy students American Son, Midgard Valkyrie, Kid Arachnid, Ms. Marvel befriend Belle's speedster younger brother Thomas "Tommy" Kaplan / Speed. Meanwhile, the Avengers and New Warriors are with Mar-Vell in the Skrull's new planet of Tarnax IV, where they had answered Skrull Queen Veranke's distress call and help her and General Talos deal away with both Ronan's new army of Outriders... and the traitor to the Skrull Empire.

By reading Captain Marvel's mind, Gwen overhears the conversation and becomes concerned that the Skrulls are after Hulkling, but Belle compliments that it is actually another Skrull who had gone rogue and turned their former homeworld of Skrullos over to the Kree. Through her telepathic link with Hulkling, Anelle likewise overhears her son's conversation with Gwen and Belle and suspects that the Skrull traitor is hiding somewhere on Earth. Meanwhile, White Swan continues spending time with Hulkling, Wiccan, and the Avengers Academy students in the Avengers Compound until they are attacked by a squadron of A.I.M. agents led by M.O.D.O.C. and sent there by Alexander Pierce, who intends to capture and brainwash metahumans for his personal goals. Spider-Man, Captain Marvel, Blue Eagle and Mecha-Hulk arrive there in time to help the three as Hulkling directly confronts Pierce. Just by hearing the A.I.M. leader call Hulkling a "Half-breed scum" just like Ronan called him before, White Swan comes to realize in shock that Pierce is the fugitive Skrull whom Veranke and Talos are searching for: Kl'rt, also known as the Super-Skrull.

Hulkling and Super-Skrull engage into a destructive fight, on which Super-Skrull gains the upper hand. Right before he can finish, however, Super-Skrull is double-crossed by M.O.D.O.C., who had suspected of the presence of a Skrull on A.I.M. and, believing the Skrulls to be just another invasion force like the Kree, attempts to obliterate him, but only for Super-Skrull to counter and disable M.O.D.O.C.. Taking advantage of this distraction, White Swan, Hulkling and Wiccan combine efforts to defeat Super-Skrull. With unexpected help from Speed and Midgard Valkyrie, the Avengers are likewise able to defeat Ronan and his army, forcing Korath, Nebula and their Outriders to retreat. As Super-Skrull and Ronan are incarcerated in Prison 42 at the Negative Zone, Hulkling and Wiccan are praised for their performances and invited by White Tiger to join the New Warriors, which the couple accept, as Speed earns a place in Avengers Academy. As the Avengers and New Warriors resume to train the students, Gwen surprises Peter, Mary Jane, Teddy and Belle by revealing her new great change: by experiencing the Skrulls' shape-shifting powers, she earned herself a new ability to shape-shift into an actual swan. As she is persuaded to show her new trait to the rest of the team, Gwen has one last look at Central Park's swans which are flying in the skies and mutters: "Thank you for all this great purpose, mom.".

Voice Cast

 * Mae Whitman as White Swan / Gwen Stacy
 * Scott Porter as Spider-Man / Peter Parker
 * Ashley Johnson as Phoenix Princess / Mary Jane Watson
 * David Kaufman as Hulkling / Theodore "Teddy" Altman / Dorrek VIII
 * Tara Strong as Wiccan / Belle Kaplan, Speed / Tommy Kaplan, Midgard Valkyrie / Tarene Olson, Jocasta, Lightspeed / Julie Power
 * Caitlyn Taylor Love as White Tiger / Ava Ayala
 * Roger Craig Smith as Captain America / Steve Rogers
 * Mick Wingert as Iron Man / Tony Stark
 * Jennifer Hale as Captain Marvel / Carol Danvers, F.R.I.D.A.Y.
 * Laura Bailey as Black Widow / Natasha Romanoff, Helen Stacy
 * Travis Willingham as Thor
 * Fred Tatasciore as Hulk, General Talos
 * Troy Baker as Hawkeye / Clint Barton
 * Alyssa Milano as Silk / Cindy Moon
 * E.G. Daily as American Son / Max Olson
 * Kathreen Khavari as Ms. Marvel / Kamala Khan
 * Nadji Jeter as Kid Arachnid / Miles Morales
 * Kari Wahlgren as Princess Anelle, Spider-Girl / Anya Corazon, Blue Eagle / Sally Avril
 * Robbie Daymond as Scarlet Spider / Kevin Watson
 * Eric Bauza as Mecha-Hulk / Amadeus Cho
 * Khary Payton as Power Man / Luke Cage
 * Bumper Robinson as Falcon / Sam Wilson
 * Greg Cipes as Iron Fist / Danny Rand
 * Alan Tudyk as Commissioner George Stacy
 * Misty Lee as Aunt May
 * Christopher Daniel Barnes as Mar-Vell
 * Will Friedle as Agent Venom / Flash Thompson
 * Erica Luttrell as Queen Veranke, Nebula / Minn-Erva
 * Keith Szarabajka as Ronan the Accuser
 * Dave Fennoy as Korath the Pursuer
 * Clancy Brown as Super-Skrull / Kl'rt / Alexander Pierce
 * Charlie Adler as M.O.D.O.C.