SUPER BOWL SLIDERS I

It's a dark, deserted parking lot late at night. A woman cries out for help.

And a slew of super-heroes from Marvel appear, all ready for Clobberin' Time - Captain America, Thor, Spiderman, Wolverine and Storm of the X-Men... plus a few others I couldn't identify.

But when they learn of the woman's dilemma, they all groan in exasperation: her Visa Check Card was missing! All of the super-heroes know that if your card lost or stolen, you won't be held liable for any purchases made by anybody else and the card will be replaced by the next day.

Even Captain America carries one.

It was a great opportunity to see a Marvel Team-Up, TV Style.

But this wasn't exactly Toobworld. It was more like one of those nexus worlds where characters from different dimensions end up meeting, because they certainly weren't all from the TV Universe, no matter which dimension.

Thor? Thor has been represented several time in Earth Prime-Time, most notably in episodes of 'Hercules: The Legendary Journeys' and in a showcase pilot. So it doesn't matter too much that the details of his physical appearance might have altered slightly - after all, he's a "god"; he can do what he wants.

Wolverine, Storm, and the others - they are certainly not the superheroes from the Cineverse; they're definitely not Hugh Jackman or Halle Berry. And they're not the versions found in the Tooniverse either. Although usually we pass off cartoon characters as the artistic representations of real life people, there's something about these versions that doesn't quite fit. More than likely, they're from one of the alternate versions of Earth Prime-Time, and for alls I know, they're probably from the evil mirror universe.

Captain America? This tele-version is probably from Earth Prime-Time Delayed. There was a Captain America who appeared in prime time already about two decades ago, maybe more. Not being immortal, he would have been aging all this time and this cowled crusader was too young to be the same guy. And too much of a wise guy to boot - you could tell by the facial expression he made.

Then there's Spiderman. Here's another of Marvel's Mightiest who appeared in Toobworld decades ago. He'd be in middle-age by now if this was the same guy. And based on the vocal impersonation when he told the lady to "read my lips" (great line/visual, by the way), it's apparent that they were going for the Tobey McGuire sound.

And that makes him the Spiderman from the Cineverse, the movie universe explored by a sci-fi writer in a trilogy several years back.

Finally, one last super-hero showed up, but not from the Marvel line-up. There was no need to fear, for Underdog was there! And as such, he must have arrived there from the Tooniverse, where humans and humanoid animals co-exist.

(I hope someday to find out who provided the voice for Underdog in this commercial. It's my hope that they used the original soundtrack from the 60s cartoon, so that it would pay homage to the late, great Wally Cox.)

BCnU!
Tele-Toby