Your favorite Marvel hero is back! Well okay, your favorite animated… suit-wearing… non-human Marvel hero is back! Marvel and Hulu’s raunchy animated action-comedy series Hit-Monkey has returned for a second season and it is as ridiculous as you would expect. Perhaps even more so.
In this new season, Monkey searches for a path to escape his life of killing while Bryce attempts to repair the damage to those he wronged in life. In the meantime, they face off with the criminal underworld of New York City and deal with a mystical weapon and all of its power.
Season two of Hit-Monkey picks up pretty much right where season one left off, even filling in some gaps in between. The characters are reunited in New York City after their heroics in Japan and start dealing with the fallout. It doesn’t take long for this new season to get as crazy as the last, with the action picking up almost immediately.
The returning cast delivers once again and gets to dive deeper into their characters. Jason Sudeikis once again steals the show as Bryce, handling most of the show’s humor. The endlessly talented Fred Tatasciore once again brings Monkey to life and he and Sudeikis provide those same hilarious back-and-forths, despite the audience only being able to understand one of the two characters.
Leslie Jones is a shining addition to the cast, portraying The Handler, a former contact of Bryce and Monke’s new agent. As one would expect, she brings some more comedic value to the show while the character also manages to ground things at times.
As for the story of this new season, it does seem to be heading down a more supernatural route. Yes, the frist season introduced a gun-wielding monkey who was in contact with the ghost of a former assassin, but this season is getting even crazier. Some wild new characters and mystical abilities separate this season from its somewhat more grounded criminal-hunting predecessor.
And yet, make no mistake, this show is still incredibly far from your typical superhero story. In fact, I wouldn’t even qualify this show as a superhero story. Sure, Marvel has crossed into the anti-hero genre at times, but this is something else. While Monkey certainly has a conscience and Bryce is trying to right some past wrongs, they are both certainly willing to push the envelope.
And just like the first season, these new episodes can be incredibly gruesome at times. It’s been a while since season one, so if you’ve been re-sensitized to animated violence, season two will reacclimate you rather quickly. Let’s just say there’s a whole lot happening with swords in the early going of this new season.
Overall, the second season of Marvel’s Hit-Monkey is right on par with the first in terms of the violence and humor. If you enjoyed the first season, you will likely enjoy this one as well. It is venturing a bit more into the supernatural, but if you were willing to watch a monkey and ghost duo kill a bunch of criminals, this probably isn’t going anywhere you’re not willing to follow. This new season likely isn’t winning any new fans, but it also isn’t losing any.
The first episode of season 2 of Marvel’s Hit-Monkey is now streaming on Hulu.