The Cartoon Network has announced that Ultimate Avengers: The Movie, the first in a series of animated films featuring Marvel superheroes produced by Lion's Gate (which just debuted on DVD on Tuesday) will be shown on the network's Toonami block on March 11th.  While it is too soon to know exactly how well this direct-to-DVD feature will do, it is currently #8 on Amazon's DVD list, which indicates it's off to a pretty good start.

 Loosely based on the Mark Millar/Bryan Hitch Ultimates comic, the 68-minute film has gotten high marks for character design, which clearly reflect Hitch's treatment of the characters, and for the smooth animation of its high-powered action scenes.  Some hardcore fans are displeased with deviations from the inspired madness of the original Millar storyline, while others are just happy with an American superhero cartoon feature gritty and violent enough to gain a PG-13 rating.