Phineas and Ferb: Mission Marvel

The entire Tri-State Area, and, possibly, the world, is at stake here! "Mission Marvel" is a special hour-length episode of Phineas and Ferb, tat premiered on Disney Channel August 16, 2013. As suggested by the title, it is a crossover with the Marvel Comics superheroes.

Spider-Man, Iron Man, Thor and Hulk stand powerless after being struck by Dr. Doofenshmirtz's power-draining "inator." Once the supervillains – Red Skull, Whiplash, Venom and M.O.D.O.K. – find out that Dr. Doofenshmirtz is responsible for robbing the superheroes of their powers, they seek him out and together create mayhem in Danville. Meanwhile, Phineas and Ferb do everything they can to restore the superheroes' powers before the evil villains take over the world.

Act I
Phineas, Ferb, Buford, Isabella, and Baljeet are surfing in the asteroid belt. The boys had collected cosmic rays to power the surfboards. The gang then surfs to a space station shaped like Phineas and Ferb's heads in which they are connected to Irving. Irving checks on the kids and Phineas asks if it's safe to land. He then wonders where Perry is. At Doofenshmirtz Evil Incorporated, Perry is already trapped. Doofenshmirtz explains his power-drain inator, which makes people lose power. He wanted to take Roger's mayoral powers away so that Doofenshmirtz can be the leader. Doofensmirtz would be able to raise taxes and cut the ceremonial ribbon, in which he had special scissors for. He accidentally cuts the hydrolic pump, and Perry escapes. Agent P destroys the machine and Doofenshmirtz says that he thought it was going to be special extended episode.

The broken inator fires once toward New York City. Spider-Man comes and slings his way around. Hulk, Iron Man, and Thor are fighting Venom and Whiplash. When Spider-Man arrives, he joins the fight and M.O.D.O.K and Red Skull come in. Anti matter is being fired at the superheroes, but all the shots miss. That is when Doofenshmirtz's ray drains the heroes. They realize that they have lost their powers. Iron Man's suit was frozen, Spider-Man couldn't climb up walls, Hulk lost his strength, and Thor is no longer mighty. No one was able to carry Iron Man, so they went to get a dolly.

Back in Danville, the kids have arrived and there invention screws into the ground. Candace tries to show linda what they have done, but it was gone. She then asks why the boys aren't in space and buford says they got hungry. Linda says thats her cue and asks if they want snacks. On the S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier, the heroes are informed by Nick Fury that the ray came from Danville in the Tri-State Area and hit a satellite off a space station. Spiderman questions if the space station belongs to S.H.I.E.L.D., but Fury answers that it belongs to Phineas and Ferb. Back at D.E.I., Norm cleans up the debris from the destroyed inator. Doofenshmirtz wonders where the ray hit. A report on TV states that it hit the superheroes in New York. Doofenshmirtz gets so excited by this report that he blogs about it on the L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N. web site.

At Red Skull's lair, they are talking about there fight with the superheroes, mostly about how they could have destoryed the heroes once and for all. Red Skull says that that does not change the fact that the superheroes have lost their powers, and questions what happend to ther powers and calls MODOK, who comes in and tells everyone who he is (even though they all probobly know) as he tells him that he has traced the ray in question to D.E.I. Red Skull says that Doofenshmirtz sounds Drusselshteinian, and MODOK projects his picture, saying that he lives in Danville to be precise. Back at the Flynn-Fletcher house, the doorbell rings and Phineas asks Ferb if he was expecting any one. Ferb opens the door to see Spiderman, Iron Man, Hulk and Thor and says "Not them".

Act II
Spider-Man asks the boys if they are a little young to be stealing superheroes' superpowers, to which Phineas says they would be but denies that he did it. The gang give the heroes juice boxes, which baffles Thor, since it is not an Asgardian item. The superheroes tell Phineas the ray that took away their powers came from Danville and hit their space station. Phineas knows what the gang is going to do today. At this point, Candace comes down and does her "I'm in charge" spiel, and obliviously greets Spider-Man, but then gets stunned by the fact that there are superheroes in the kitchen. Isabella leads Candace out so she can lie down and process this. Iron Man falls down and Phineas once again asks where Perry is.

Down in Agent P's lair, Major Monogram communicates from an old black and white TV set, since Fury is speaking on the big screen. Fury is confused that the agent is in fact a platypus, and gets irritated when Monogram starts wearing an eyepatch and lies that he has a stye. (Carl says that Monogram thinks it makes him look cool.) Fury informs Perry about the heroes losing their powers and tells him to go after the super villains. Monogram now wears eyepatches on both eyes, much to Fury's annoyance. Carl says that Monogram believes that two eyepatches make him look twice as cool, which Monogram innocently denies.

Back at D.E.I., Doofenshmirtz gives the villains a tour of his Hall of Inators, which is full of really useless inators, which confuses Red Skull. Red Skull asks where the inator that took away the superheroes' powers is, to which Doofenshmirtz reveals it was destroyed by Perry the Platypus. Red Skull asks if Perry is a super-soldier platypus like Captain America, and Venom asks if he was bitten by a radioactive platypus, like Spider-Man. Red Skull instructs Doofenshmirtz to rebuild the Power-Drain-Inator, which excites Doofenshmirtz. Red Skull then tells Whiplash to go along with Doofenshmirtz and then give him to MODOK to destroy. Doofenshmirtz then says he has to run some errands and invites the villains to come with him.

End Credits
The gang approach the familiar looking platypus superhero. Buford wants to know who he really is, but Phineas is against it. Buford unmasks him anyway in a Scooby-Doo-style ending to reveal...Ducky Momo?, much to Candace's surprise. Ducky Momo flies away. Perry returns and Phineas says, "Oh, there you are, Perry!" The gang all walk away, but not before the camera reveals both Agent P's superhero suit and a Ducky Momo mask in the trash can.

Songs

 * Surfin' Asteroids
 * These are My Streets
 * Horse in a Bookcase (instrumental)
 * Free (instrumental)
 * J-Pop (Welcome to Tokyo) (instrumental)
 * My Evil Buddies and Me
 * Only Trying To Help
 * Feelin' Super
 * Jump

Ferb's Line
He clicks his tongue and winks and points at Iron Man after being offered a summer internship at Stark Industries.

Perry's entrance to his lair
None.

Evil Jingle
Doofenshmirtz Evil Incorporated! (instrumental)

Mistaking Doofenshmirtz for a pharmacist
The Comic-Con trailer has the announcer mistaking Doof for an "Evil Pharmacist". This is followed by a clip from Across the 2nd Dimension where he says, "Actually I'm an evil scientist..."

Background Information

 * This is the show's second one-hour special, following "Phineas and Ferb Summer Belongs to You!", and the fourth extended episode after "Phineas and Ferb Christmas Vacation!", "Phineas and Ferb Summer Belongs to You!" and "Phineas and Ferb Musical Cliptastic Countdown Hosted by Kelly Osbourne".
 * It is revealed that Baljeet has a fear of heights.
 * Each of the characters wear a costume of some kind while saving Danville except for Isabella. The Avengers and Spider-Man will wear their normal attire. Phineas and Ferb bring back the Beak, although the suit gets an arm ripped off in battle. Baljeet gets Hulk-like powers. Buford dresses in his bear suit, that now has a capital B on the front, along with gloves and a cape. Candace supposedly was to reprise her Dangeraffe costume in some of the trailers, but does not do so in the actual episode, and also dresses like Thor in a promotional image. In addition, Doofenshmirtz reveals he tried to be MODOK in the 90s. Perry gains his own superhero outfit with blue gloves, boots, and mask. Perry's outfit also has a red cape and rockets on a yellow utility belt allowing him to fly. Monogram wears an eyepatch briefly when conversing with Fury and Agent P. Later, he is seen with two eye patches and then grows a goatee.
 * First episode in which Isabella goes to Candace's room.
 * Prior to this episode, the Marvel heroes were parodied several times on the show:
 * Spider-Man: "Bowl-R-Ama Drama", "Phineas and Ferb Christmas Vacation!", "Quietest Day Ever", "Bee Story"
 * Iron Man: "The Beak"
 * Thor: "Thaddeus and Thor"
 * Hulk: "Let's Bounce"
 * Comic book creator Stan Lee cameos as a hot dog vendor in New York.
 * The hot dog stand that he runs is labelled "Excelsior! Hot Dogs". "Excelsior" is Lee's catchphrase.
 * Once again, Doof is mistaken for a pharmacist.
 * This is one of the few episodes in which Phineas is angry, or serious.
 * Irving acts as mission control while the rest of the gang is in outer space again ("Moon Farm").
 * Horse in a Bookcase is mentioned again ("What A Croc!", "Ferb TV").
 * The mention that the daycare was built on top of an ancient burial ground may be an allusion to how the giant floating baby head came into existence.
 * Phineas and the gang wears the same spacesuits from "Moon Farm", whereas Isabella wears the same spacesuit from "Out to Launch" but in white.
 * Thirteenth time Phineas and Ferb go to space ("Rollercoaster", "Out to Launch", "The Chronicles of Meap", "The Secret of Success", "The Doof Side of the Moon", "Rollercoaster: The Musical!", "Moon Farm", "Meapless in Seattle", "Sleepwalk Surprise", "Happy New Year!").
 * Second time Doofenshmirtz blogs something that he saw ("Agent Doof").
 * Second time Phineas and Ferb see Perry as a secret agent (Phineas and Ferb The Movie: Across the 2nd Dimension).
 * Although they don't recognize him in the superhero costume.
 * This is the fourth episode where Major Monogram refers to Agent P as Perry, and the first where he calls him by his full name, Agent Perry the Platypus. ("Toy to the World", "Phineas and Ferb-Busters!", "Phineas' Birthday Clip-O-Rama!")
 * During "My Evil Buddies and Me", MODOK passes by the inexplicable Giant Floating Baby Head.
 * This is the second episode where Phineas gets angry at Candace. ("Phineas and Ferb Summer Belongs to You!")
 * This is the third time Isabella asks "What'cha doin'?" in a sad tone. ("The Great Indoors", "Just Desserts")
 * Ferb has five lines in this episode, so this episode is only third to Summer Belongs to You (nine lines) and the movie (seven lines).
 * Like Perry, Candace, Phineas, Ferb, Lawrence and Baljeet before her, Linda also has a smartphone now.
 * Vanessa is the only main character missing from this episode, although Lawrence has a cameo.
 * Doof mentions no one ever coming to celebrate his birthdays. ("Raging Bully")
 * Surfin' Asteroids, These are My Streets, Feelin' Super, Jump and the evil jingle were only instrumental when this episode premiered on Disney Channel.

Production Information

 * This is a special Season 4 episode and serves as the first animated crossover between Disney and Marvel, as formerly happened with the online game Club Penguin.
 * In 2009, Disney Company acquired Marvel Entertainment. "Our partnership with Marvel has yielded big returns this year - first with the launch of the Marvel Universe block on Disney XD, and now with production beginning on the Phineas and Ferb / Marvel special. To paraphrase Phineas himself: best year EVER!," said Gary Marsh, president and chief creative officer, Disney Channels Worldwide.
 * Dan Povenmire revealed in an interview that Doofenshmirtz creates the "power-drain-inator" with the intention of draining his brother's "power" as mayor of Danville, but it mistakenly hits Marvel's heroes. In the same interview, Jeff "Swampy" Marsh said that Candace's plot in the episode is going to involve her love of comic books and fan fiction.
 * The storyboard of the episode's final two acts consists of 1,801 pages.
 * Teaser promotions:
 * The first images were shown in the Disney Channel Summer 2013 promo, debuting in May 2013.
 * A teaser trailer was released on May 15, 2013.
 * On June 6, 2013, USA Today released the full-length trailer.
 * A 90-second sneak peak aired during the premiere of Marvel's Avengers Assemble on Disney XD on July 7, 2013.
 * A seven-minute teaser showing the first moments of the special was posted on Disney Channel's website for viewers in the USA on July 23, 2013.
 * Visitors to the biannual D23 Convention got their first look at the special Friday, August 9th.
 * Dan Povenmire and Jeff "Swampy" Marsh tweeted pictures from the foley session for this episode.
 * In order to make them fit in with the Phineas and Ferb animation style, the Marvel characters' heads were slightly enlarged.
 * Disney's newest animated series, Wander Over Yonder, had its first episode premiered right after the broadcast of this special on August 16th on Family Channel Canada and after the Mickey Mouse Short "Bad Ear Day" on Disney Channel in the US. Wander Over Yonder also stars Jack McBrayer, the voice of Irving Du Bois.
 * The conversation between Iron Man and Thor is based on a real-life conversation between the P&F writers and the Marvel executives.
 * This special episode was aired on Disney Channel on Demand and made available for verified users of WatchDisneyChannel.com and the Watch Disney Channel iPhone and iPad apps on August 11, 2013.
 * Dan stated it took about a week to receive permission to do the Howard the Duck joke.
 * During the premiere on the east coast, Doofenshmirtz live-tweeted on Twitter @DoofDaily.

International Premieres

 * August 16, 2013 (Family Channel, Canada)
 * August 17, 2013 (Disney Channel India)
 * August 18, 2013 (Disney XD Canada)
 * October 6, 2013 (Disney XD Brazil and Latin America)

Reviews
Den of Geek states that the special was good, and praised the song Only Trying To Help. AV Club gave the special a "B+" and had a tad contrived, but the P&F creators have so much fun with the classic superheroes that it’s also pretty hilarious, poking fun at the hero genre it so clearly idolizes.

Continuity

 * In the beginning, the gang ride on rocket powered versions of the surfboards seen in "What'd I Miss?" and "Great Balls Of Water".
 * The Beak appears again, although it is a modified version since there is no voice disguising mechanism, and it is not waterproof. ("The Beak", Phineas and Ferb The Movie: Across the 2nd Dimension).
 * Buford once again emphasizes his stance on brawn over brains, which Hulk seems to share. ("Where's Perry?")
 * Buford wears the bear suit from "Buford Confidential".
 * At the 2012 Comic-Con, pictures from "Out to Launch", "Moon Farm", "Magic Carpet Ride", "The Beak", "Bullseye!", "Escape From Phineas Tower", "Lotsa Latkes", and "Mom's in the House" appeared in the trailer.
 * Pizzazium Infinionite is mentioned by Doofenshmirtz. ("Vanessassary Roughness")
 * The Disintegrate-inator from "Where's Perry?" reappears.
 * Major Monogram appears in black and white. This is his second occasion to do so. ("The Baljeatles")

Allusions

 * Phineas and Ferb Theme - In the opening title sequence, Spider-Man takes the place of Candace and parodies her line as "Aunt May, Phineas and Ferb are making a crossover!"
 * Star Trek - In the song Surfin' Asteroids, outer space is referred to as the "final frontier", like the famous opening narration from the classic sci-fi TV series.
 * Wikis - The Marvel heroes tell Candace that they can't accept unsolicited material, similar to our policy that this and wikis are not a place for sending episode ideas.
 * Charlie Sheen - After realizing he is responsible for the superheroes losing their powers, Doofenshmirtz remarks that he is "winning!", a catchphrase popularized by the actor during a series of 2011 interviews after being fired from his lead role on the sitcom Two and a Half Men.
 * The Lone Ranger - Most radio episodes of The Lone Ranger ended with the one being saved asking, "Who was that masked man?" Red Skull parodies this with the phrase, "Who was that masked...beaver...duck?"
 * Doctor Who - Ferb mentions using "British sci-fi technology" to make the S.H.E.D., in reference to this series's main mode of transport, the TARDIS, which is also "bigger on the inside". Previously, there were references to that series in "Out to Launch" and "For Your Ice Only".
 * Let's Call the Whole Thing Off - The classic Gershwin song is once again referenced ("Bad Hair Day").
 * X-Men - Stan Lee previously played a hot dog vendor in the first X-Men movie.
 * Ghost Rider - Dr. Doofenshmirtz says to the Red Skull "Is your head going to burst into flames or am I thinking of someone else?" This is a reference to the Marvel character Ghost Rider.
 * Scooby-Doo, Where are You? - The end credit scene is a parody of the typical "unmasking" scene at the end of every episode of this classic animated series.
 * The Incredible Hulk (TV series) - After Phineas bans Candace from S.H.E.D., she walks away to dejected piano music like David Banner does at the end of every episode of the live-action series. Then Buford says 'I always told her "don't ever make Phineas angry. You wouldn't like him when he's angry."' (a common catchphrase uttered by Banner in the TV show).
 * Captain America - Cap does not appear in this special, but he is still referred to when Red Skull asks if Perry the Platypus is a super soldier platypus.
 * Howard the Duck - Spider-Man believes the masked beaver-duck to be this Marvel character.
 * Monty Python and the Holy Grail - Fury asks Major Monogram if the agent he heard about is "behind the platypus", much like King Arthur asks if the hideous killer beast is "behind the rabbit".
 * The Avengers - After Hulkjeet saves Iron Man, Iron Man says, "We have a Baljeet", just like he says "We have a Hulk" in the film. The beginning of the ending battle even pays tribute to the revolving shot of all the heroes, and at one point during the battle the movie's theme tune can be heard.
 * White Heat - When Doof fires his Waffle-inator, he says, "Top of the world, Ma!" like James Cagney said in this 1949 film.

Cast

 * Vincent Martella as Phineas Flynn
 * Ashley Tisdale as Candace Flynn
 * Thomas Brodie-Sangster as Ferb Fletcher
 * Caroline Rhea as Mom
 * Richard O'Brien as Dad
 * Dan Povenmire as Dr. Doofenshmirtz, Vinnie, Aditional Voices
 * Jeff "Swampy" Marsh as Major Monogram, Gordon Gutsofanemu, Additional Voices
 * Tyler Mann as Carl
 * John Viener as Norm
 * Dee Bradley Baker as Perry the Platypus
 * Maulik Pancholy as Baljeet/Hulkjeet
 * Bobby Gaylor as Buford Van Stomm/Bear Boy
 * Alyson Stoner as Isabella Garcia-Shapiro, Additional Voices
 * Jack McBrayer as Irving
 * Chi McBride as Nick Fury
 * Travis Willingham as Thor
 * Adrian Pasdar as Iron Man
 * Drake Bell as Spider-Man
 * Fred Tatasciore as Hulk
 * Liam O'Brien as Red Skull
 * Charlie Adler as MODOK
 * Danny Trejo as Venom
 * Peter Stormare as Whiplash
 * Stan Lee as New York City Hot Dog Vendor, Narrator
 * Allie Mac Kay as the Little Old Lady
 * Additional voices: Kelly Hu