prefer to stay with the Collector. Production In 1997, Roland Poindexter, the supervising executive in charge of animated series at Fox Kids Network, approached two X-Men (1992) animated series writers named Robert N. Skir and Marty Isenberg to develop a proposal for an Avengers cartoon. After creating a detailed Bible that included a 13-episode story arc, the network decided a Captain America series would be more suited to its schedule. But before Fox Kids could green light either series, Marvel went into bankruptcy, effectively ending the development process for all its shows. It wasn't until after the publisher's financial woes were resolved in late 1998 that Poindexter revived interest in the Avengers project, using the series bible written by Robert N. Skir and Marty Isenberg; because Skir and Isenberg were already committed to spearhead Beast Machines: Transformers, the network approached former X-Men animated series story editor Eric Lewald and his wife, Julia, to come on board as story editors for the series. In January 1999, Fox finally gave the official go-ahead and Ron Myrick was hired to oversee the show's visual development. The Avengers roster for the cartoon is loosely based upon the roster for the 1984 Avengers spin-off series The West Coast Avengers. Notably absent from the lineup are the traditional core members: Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor, who were originally prohibited from appearing in the series due to licensing issues. Story editor Eric Lewald has commented on their absence and had said "We want this to be a team of Avengers, instead of making it 'Captain America and the Avengers' or 'Thor and the Avengers. We prefer to have a balanced team of superheroes rather than a superstar on the team." However, Captain America and Iron Man each made one guest appearance (in "Command Decision" and "Shooting Stars", respectively), while Thor did not appear outside of the opening sequence. The decision to pair Scarlet Witch and Wonder Man up as a couple was based upon the storyline then running in the Avengers comic in which Scarlet Witch resurrects Wonder Man to serve as her protector after an evil sorceress transforms the planet into a medieval world under her control. During their time together, the two fall in love and become a couple. In the promotional images of the series, and the action figure photos, Hawkeye didn't wear a mask. However, in the series and the final version