How Disney’s Crossover-Spinoff Sitcom Killed a Franchise

Ok so this is just a theory but I think the writers of Mighty Med planned to have Oliver and Cass have combined powers that only worked when they were touching. They touched the relic at the same time while holding each other, their powers activated when they hugged, and in the final scene of Mighty Med they were flying side by side with their arms touching. Kinda disappointed they didn’t go with this since it could’ve made for some interesting moments/ character arcs.

I love how the writers of Mighty Med made Skylar Storm a worse version of Starfire, and then the writers of Elite Force made her much worse Raven.

Lab Rats: Elite Force successfully gaslighted me into thinking the hospital getting destroyed was part of the Mighty Med finale despite having watched it, and I'll never forgive them for that.

The fact that one of the main antagonist's actors was a martial artist and they had him just turn into a dust cloud every time was something I found irritating.

Can we just appreciate Principle Perry for a moment. She went from supposed to being the most hated character to being the comic relief we needed

“How bad is Elite Force?” “There are only 18 speaking characters in Elite Force.” “Oh, that’s real bad.”

I might be in the minority here but I feel like Bree trying to give herself more powers was out of character. She's the bionic teen who most resented not being able to have a normal life. She finally has the chance to not be a bionic hero full time, and take the chance to have a life outside of being part of the team like she's wanted to do. If anything I'd expect Chase to be the one who tries to give himself more powers. He's the one who asked Douglas for more abilities to help him be on even footing with Adam, he's one who's powers most influence who he is due to having more passive abilities like super intelligence and super senses.

tbh the most unforgiveable part is how much skylar is BUTCHERED. like i had no horse in the race but seeing how the girls are even STYLED the same is driving me insane. literally they both had such distinct styles (down to skylar preferring flats and even outright SAYING she'd never fight in heels) and the girls are just. somewhat carbon clones of each other with their powers the same, their styles the same, and one shot of them sitting side by side has the same goddamn hairstyle. they took away everything that made skylar unique and interesting. it is insane to see.

that million dollar freshman segment really put things into perspective. the reason why bree was never a character was because she was never MEANT to be a character. think of the thematic harmony of “adam and brad”. two brothers, a and b, one super strong but dumb the other super smart but physically weak. this two person dynamic doesn’t really have room for another person in any way shape or form, but instead of thinking about it they just shoved a girl shaped non-character in between them

Fun Fact. Tyrell Jackson Williams and Spencer Boldman (Leo and Adam from lab rats) Weren't able to be in Elite Force because of back problems Because of how hard they carried Labrats. Not even Adam has enough strength to Carry that without strain

For YEARS I have said that the main villain of Elite Force should have been Oliver's mom. It is the only thing that would have made even a little sense. Killing off superheroes falls perfectly in line with her motivations.

In all fairness, Chase reflexively using his bionics to calculate the odds of his team winning the no powers competition is a pretty funny and clever joke.

oh my GOD the fact that you actually managed to successfully recreate the elite force intro in like two hours with zero budget is SO funny to me

I think the most telling thing is the fact that the show is called Lab Rats Elite Force. It was never about Mighty Med, it's a Lab Rats sequel and they're wearing that badge of mediocrity proudly. From the title alone you can tell where the focus lay and which half of the supposed crossover was getting shafted.

1:03:00 Okay there is no way in hell you can convince me that Kaz, the obsessive comic book nerd, would call those dolls and not action figures

A big part of why Lab Rats worked for me was because of the cast. They all worked well together and every character played an important role. Taking away most of the cast for this spinoff just took away the magic. Bree and Chase felt like random characters

This show possesses a distinct lack of characters that share their fond appreciation for large structures designed for crossing bodies of water, vallies, roads, or rails. That's a bit of a deal breaker for me.

One of the weirdist things about Oliver's characterization is that even in Mighty Med when he was being a bit weird, not only was it addressed but also he was a young child. In Elite Force all of the kids are in their late teens and look like adults which automatically makes Oliver's actions seem so much more sinister, as he can no longer use the excuse of not knowing how to properly express himself.

I always looked at Lab Rats (2012-16) more as the story of Leo, him going from a goofy main character to probably one of the best developed characters in the show. When they removed him and Adam, it just felt like the main purpose of the show was gone, and replaced with something no one really wanted. I love the darker tone of Elite Force, but it could’ve easily been handled better, I would’ve brought over Adam and Leo as well, OP team, for a MASSIVE threat!

So, you're telling me that Chase build and programmed SIX different androids and ALL of them liked Kaz?! I honestly think that Chase is hiding something from us. I like this. Thank you.