Ben 10: Alien Force

Ben 10: Alien Force is an American animated television series created by team Man of Action (a group consisting of Duncan Rouleau, Joe Casey, Joe Kelly, and Steven T. Seagle), and produced by Cartoon Network Studios. It takes place five years after Ben 10 and takes a darker turn than its predecessor.

Ben 10: Alien Force
Genre
Created byMan of Action
Starring
Theme music composerAndy Sturmer
Composers
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons3
No. of episodes46 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producerSam Register
Producers
Running time23 minutes
Production companyCartoon Network Studios
DistributorWarner Bros. Television Distribution
Release
Original networkCartoon Network
Picture format480i (4:3 SDTV)
Original releaseApril 18, 2008 (2008-04-18) –
March 26, 2010 (2010-03-26)
Chronology
Preceded byBen 10
Followed byBen 10: Ultimate Alien
External links
Website

The series premiered on Cartoon Network in the United States on April 18, 2008 and on Teletoon in Canada on September 6, 2008, and ended on March 26, 2010. The series was originally produced under the working title of Ben 10: Hero Generation. The series ran for a total of three seasons and forty-six episodes with its final episode being aired on March 26, 2010.

It was nominated for four Emmy Awards, winning one for Outstanding Sound Mixing – Live Action and Animation.

Plot

Set five years after the end of the original series, Ben Tennyson, now a teenager, once again dons the Omnitrix to protect the earth and other parts of the universe from villainous alien activity. The Omnitrix itself, a wristwatch-shaped device, allows Ben to transform into numerous alien forms, thereby inheriting the unique abilities of that alien race.

Characters
Main article: List of Ben 10 characters

Heroes
At the age of fifteen, Ben fills the role of leader after Grandpa Max mysteriously disappears. The powerful Omnitrix has recalibrated, giving him access to a new set of alien heroes that are much stronger and more powerful than those in the original series. Over the past five years, Ben has matured dramatically and gained strength, leadership and wisdom.
At the age of fifteen, Ben's cousin Gwen is much more skilled with her innate magical powers. She is able to create, control, and manipulate magical energies that she can mold into various shapes and forms such as ropes and bridges, solid projectiles and shields, and stepping stones for quick traversal of dangerous areas. She is not nearly as fiery or short-tempered as she was in the original series, and she shows a much more concerned and caring attitude toward her cousin.
A former nemesis of Ben, Kevin now works as an alien tech dealer. He unintentionally gets involved in the Highbreed plot and joins Ben out of a desire to make up for his actions. He has the ability to absorb the properties of any solid matter he touches--like rock or steel--providing him greater strength and protection in battle.
Julie is Ben's love interest and girlfriend. She enjoys tennis, eating chili fries, and caring for her pet, Ship (an alien Galvanic Mechomorph found by her and Ben).
Max is a semi-retired member of the Plumbers--an interplanetary law enforcement group--and Ben and Gwen's paternal grandfather. He disappears while investigating the Highbreed plot, leaving only a few cryptic messages for Ben to find. He is briefly reunited with his grandchildren in "Max Out" but sacrifices himself to destroy a Highbreed factory at the end of the episode (transporting himself to the Null Void). In the episode "Voided", Ben and Max reunite in the Null Void, and he promises Ben that he'll come back soon. He eventually returns in the second season finale of the show to aid Ben in his final assault against the Highbreed.

Villains
  • Highbreed
The Highbreed believe themselves to be the purest and most powerful of all species and intend to cleanse the galaxy of impure lower life forms. It is later revealed that they were dying out, having become sterile and vulnerable to disease due to heavy inbreeding and that they intend to destroy the rest of the universe.
  • DNAliens
These human-Xenocyte hybrids are alien drones that serve the Highbreed. The DNAliens are able to disguise themselves as humans using special identity masks called ID Masks.[1]
  • The Forever Knights
A paramilitary organization that has worked in secret since their formation in the Middle Ages, Forever Knights steal and then trade alien technology with anyone who is willing to pay large amounts of money.[1]
One of Ben's most formidable foes from the original series, Vilgax is an alien warlord set on conquering the universe. His desire is to take Ben's Omnitrix and use it to further his goal. While not present in the first two seasons, he returns in season three with new powers and abilities. He loses to Ben in the episode "Vengeance of Vilgax" and is banished from Earth, though he swears vengeance. Keeping his promise, Vilgax returns in the episode "The Final Battle" to procure the Omnitrix and destroy Ben, but is unsuccessful.[2]
Albedo is a young and arrogant Galvan. A former assistant to Azmuth, the creator of the Omnitrix, Albedo asked for an Omnitrix of his own. When Azmuth refused, Albedo built one himself of inferior quality and synchronized it to work exactly like Ben's. Instead of being able to control the transformations himself, however, because Ben's device was the default, Albedo was transformed into a clone of Ben, even developing many of Ben's habits, which he considers utterly repulsive. Albedo's goal is to steal Ben's Omnitrix so that he can undo the cloning transformation and return to his original form.

Themes

Ben 10: Alien Force is set five years after the original series. The second series is quite different from the first one: the storyline is notable for having matured the characters and taken a darker tone with more complex plots, more characters dying, and much less humor. The original logo has changed from the original series. This change received mixed reactions from the fans, and caused a division among them. Despite this, Ben 10: Alien Force's ratings were successful, allowing the production of Ben 10: Ultimate Alien, taking place one year later.

The evolved Omnitrix

When the Omnitrix was recalibrated it gained a more watch-style shape, a green wristband, and became smaller and sleeker with the face plate becoming black and green. The inside of the hourglass shape on the face now glows in different colors at special moments; these colors signify the state that the Omnitrix is in. The display mode of alien-shaped black silhouettes printed on the face has been replaced by a dark green 3D hologram hovering above the watch, giving a more detailed look of the selected alien.

The new Omnitrix also functions as a Plumber's badge which is used in the series as a communicator, a detector of other Plumber's badges, an alien-language translator, and as a key for accessing the Extranet, an intergalactic Internet.

In Ben 10, the reason Azmuth invented the Omnitrix was for all the beings of the universe to better understand each other. It was revealed in Ben 10: Alien Force that there was another reason for the creation of the Omnitrix. Azmuth tells Ben that the Omnitrix was invented to preserve the DNA of all living beings in the Milky Way Galaxy and restore them if they should ever become extinct.

Episodes
Main article: List of Ben 10: Alien Force episodes
SeasonEpisodesOriginally aired
First airedLast aired
113April 18, 2008 (2008-04-18)August 31, 2008 (2008-08-31)
213October 10, 2008 (2008-10-10)March 27, 2009 (2009-03-27)
320September 11, 2009 (2009-09-11)March 26, 2010 (2010-03-26)
Live-action movieNovember 25, 2009 (2009-11-25)
Video shortNovember 21, 2009 (2009-11-21)

Media

DVD releases

Region 1 releases

DVD title Season Aspect ratio Release date
Ben 10: Alien Force Volume 1 Season One 4:3 October 21, 2008
Ben 10: Alien Force Volume 2 January 13, 2009
Ben 10: Alien Force Volume 3 April 7, 2009
Ben 10: Alien Force Volume 4 Season Two 16:9 September 1, 2009
Ben 10: Alien Force Volume 5 November 17, 2009
Ben 10: Alien Force Volume 6 March 30, 2010
Ben 10: Alien Force Volume 7 Season Three June 29, 2010
Ben 10: Alien Force Volume 8 August 24, 2010
Ben 10: Alien Force Volume 9 October 5, 2010

Region 4 releases

DVD title Aspect ratio Release date
Ben 10: Alien Force – Season 1 4:3 June 1, 2011
Ben 10: Alien Force – Season 2
Ben 10: Alien Force – Season 3

Ben 10: Alien Swarm
Main article: Ben 10: Alien Swarm

Ben 10: Alien Swarm is a live-action film based on the series, announced by Cartoon Network at their 2008 upfront. It is a sequel to Ben 10: Race Against Time. The first teaser trailer was shown on October 3, 2008 during the premiere of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, a full trailer was shown after the season 2 finale on March 27, 2009, and another full trailer, this time showing a preview of Humongousaur, was shown during the season 3 premiere on September 11, 2009. The film aired on November 25, 2009.

Again directed by Alex Winter, the film's cast included Ryan Kelley as Ben, Nathan Keyes as Kevin, and Galadriel Stineman as Gwen. Lee Majors was offered to reprise his role as Grandpa Max, but he turned it down; the role was recast with Barry Corbin. The film also featured Alyssa Diaz as a new character named Elena, who was a childhood friend of Ben.[3] The aliens seen were Big Chill, Humongousaur, and a new alien named Nanomech. In the movie, Kevin's car was a green Dodge Challenger.

Video games

A total of three games based on Ben 10: Alien Force were produced: Ben 10 Alien Force: The Game, Ben 10 Alien Force: Vilgax Attacks, and Ben 10 Alien Force: The Rise of Hex. Characters from the Ben 10 series also made appearances in Cartoon Network's MMO, FusionFall.

Comics

Ben 10: Alien Force has been featured in Cartoon Network Action Pack!, an anthology comic book series published by DC Comics, since issue #27 (September 2008 cover date). It normally alternates bi-monthly with The Secret Saturdays as the lead story.

Ben 10: Alien Force stories have been published in Cartoon Network Action Pack! #27, 28, 31, 33, 35, 37, 38, 41, 42, and 43.[4]

Ben 10: Alien Force: Doom Dimension is a two-part graphic novel series published by Del Rey Books, written by Peter David, and illustrated by Dan Hipp.[5]

Books

Scholastic Books has published a number of books based on the series, including a collection of chapter books written by Charlotte Fullerton, who has written several episodes for the show.[6]

Toys

Six construction sets were produced by LEGO, depicting Spidermonkey, Humunousaur, Swampfire, Chromastone, Jet Ray, and Big Chill.[7]

References
  1. "Ben 10: Alien Force". Cartoonnetwork.com. Archived from the original on March 28, 2008. Retrieved March 24, 2008.
  2. "Ben 10: Omniverse". Cartoonnetwork.com. Retrieved July 11, 2013.
  3. "Ben 10: Omniverse - Free Videos and Online Games - Cartoon Network". Cartoonnetwork.com. Retrieved April 30, 2019.
  4. Cartoon Network Action Pack! at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)
  5. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on November 23, 2009. Retrieved June 1, 2010.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on June 12, 2012. Retrieved June 1, 2010.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. "Ben 10: Alien Force". Brickset.com. Retrieved April 30, 2019.
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