Max Steel
Max Steel is an American media franchise produced and owned by the multinational company Mattel. Originally released as a line of action figures marketed from 1999 to 2022, the Max Steel name has expanded to live-action movies, animated series, and video games.[1]
For other uses, see Max Steel (disambiguation).Max Steel
1999–2012, 2013-2022
- Endangered Species
- Forces of Nature
- Countdown
- Dark Rival
- Bio Crisis
- The Mutant Menace
- The Toxic Legion
- Makino's Revenge
- Montrous Alliance
The original figures based on the first TV series were similar to the original 12-inch G.I. Joe toys, consisting almost entirely of different versions of Max Steel, the main character, and one or two of his enemies, a couple of vehicles and two or three special packages.[2] The original toy series ran from 1999–2012. At the end of that period, was substituted by a different series of toys with the same brand name, but with a change in quality and design intended to tie into the companion TV series in 2013. The 2013 line did not exhibit 1/6 scale of the original and reduced the number of articulations and action features of the figures.
Max Steel was simultaneously developed into an animated series of the same name, which originally aired from February 25, 2000, to January 15, 2002, followed by nine direct-to-video animated films, being released annually from 2004 to 2012. A reboot aired on Disney XD in the United States,[3][4] where it had premiered on April 1, 2013.[5]
In 1998, Netter Digital was commissioned by Mattel to create and develop a secret agent themed TV series partially based on James Bond's adventures, but aimed to young kids. The series premiered in 2000, but since October 1999, the first toys based on the series hit the shelves. The Max Steel toy line quickly become an instant success, although most of the first toys were completely different from the characters on the series.[6] This may be due to the fact that both, series and toys, were developed simultaneously, but in independent way. Most early Max Steel toys had a notorious military, adventure or sport clothes not related to the series in any way, but surprisingly quite similar to the 70's Mattel's action figure Big Jim. It was also noted that in Latin American market, many Big Jim toys were sold at that time under the name "Kid Acero", which literally translates as "Kid Steel", a different Mattel toy line who also had a similar plot as Max Steel's TV series. Eventually, Mattel cleared those apparent coincidences in a TV episode in which it is revealed that Max Steel is indeed Big Jim's son, and other secondary character named "Jefferson Smith" is actually "Big Jeff" from the same classical Big Jim toy line, just 20 year older, hence making a connection between both toy lines, thus making this one of the first times a toy company makes a continuation of generations of toys, taking in consideration their history, backgrounds and timeline.
After the first year, development of the series went to Foundation Imaging, an animation company which eventually declared a bankruptcy at the end of second series. Mattel then choose Rainmaker Entertainment as the main animation studio, which at the time also was in charge of Transformers: Beast Wars. Following the same formula as Beast Wars, once Mainframe took control of the production, every new toy makes an appearance in the series or the movies, so they finally made a match. After the Endangered Species movie, every new set of toys includes at least a couple of wild animals as companions of Max too. The original run of the original toy series began in 1999 and ended in late 2012, with the reboot of the TV series starting in early 2013. Since the toy line was intended solely for male kids, despite of the constant presence of empowered women in the series as main or supporting characters, no female figures were ever produced.
Max Steel Series 1
Series 2: Themed series
Endangered Species
World of elements Series
Adrenalink Series
Max Gear
Extroyed Series
Turbo Missions
Battle for the Earth series
Max Steel's alter ego[edit]
In the TV show's initial run, Josh McGrath was a white, blond 19-year-old. After the accident in which the N-Tek nanoprobes infected his body, he gained the ability to transform himself into a dark-haired athletic adult, older and stronger than Josh. This grown-up alter ego is Max Steel.[21]
Contrary to most heroes with secret identities, Josh's wasn't an issue except with his personal relations, mostly with his girlfriend and fans from the Extreme Sports Circuit. At different times, both Psycho and Dread witnessed Josh's transformation into Max from a remote location and don't show any surprise about it. In at least one episode, Josh transforms in Psycho's presence. In another episode, Psycho chases Josh, forces him to separate from his friends and obligates him to transform into Max Steel. It is not clear how many of Max's enemies knows about his secret identity. At the end of the first season, it is revealed that one of the most trusted Directors of N-Tek, Jean Mariot, was really a DREAD mole, which explains how their members knew about Max's true identity, but does not explain why Max himself never cares about keeping his identity a secret.
In the Season 2 episode "Old Friend, New Enemy," Max personally reveals to Bio-Con his true identity.
In the third series, due to a combination of factors- the change of the creative design team, a change in the animation company, and the lack of market in the US- all companies involved in the production of Max Steel gradually dropped the secret identity concept, but still had them going on "secret missions", with little-to-no help from N-Tek. The movies, released after the TV show ended, took a different approach: Officially, his Josh identity was dropped and Max does not transform at all. This decision wasn't difficult to take, since all Max Steel merchandising and licensed products, promos and advertising campaigns always portrayed him as a brunette and no licensed products were ever produced with his secret identity. The "Josh" as secret identity concept was present only on the TV show and the first movie, Endangered Species, although Josh is also seen in a flashback scene in "Forces of Nature," when Jeff reflects on when the creation of "Max Steel" took event.
By 2006, "Josh McGrath" was almost forgotten, and all references to him and his personal life were removed from the main story. Even in normal situations, the character was still referred to as Max. Apparently, Josh was slowly phased out until he was simply eliminated from the story continuity, which was readjusted to eliminate any trace of him. Any mention of Josh was removed from action figure boxes and all other licensed merchandising. The 2005 movie Forces of Nature shows Josh for the final time in a flashback in which the origin of Max Steel is briefly explained for new audiences. The 2008 movie Bio Crisis recreates the very same scene when Psycho infects Max with the N-Tek's nanoprobes, followed with a brief explanation of the process used to save his life. However, this time, it is stated that Max Steel (not Josh) is the victim. The character in scene is Max Steel indeed, with his exact "Max" appearance. In the movies current continuity, Josh simply never existed.
In the 2013 TV series reboot, the main character is renamed Maxwell MacGrath, "Max" (for short) by family and friends. When in "turbo mode" he is known as Max Steel because he combines with an Ultralink named Steel.
