Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-6527064-20151205151611/@comment-24152851-20151216070200

Well I liked AF Kevin as his own character, and not because he was a reformed villain. If they introduced an entirely new character, and gave AF Kevin's role and personality to him, then I would be fine with that as well. Another reason why I think they gave Kevin so much focus was they really liked Greg Cipes (I know I like him and his work). I mean seriously, Greg nailed that role. It's just a shame they had to divide the base for those who really liked Kevin 11. If they made a new character then there never would have been a problem. Maybe he could be Kevin's cousin or something.

As to Gwen and Kevin's relationship. Yes, it was rushed, yes it was very confusing as to how it happened. But by the time of Omniverse, every other relationship had been so badly damaged, that was the about the only one which I didn't hate.

Oh you agree that AF Kevin was the highlight? So you get what I mean, and why some people like him (for his current personality, not for being changed from before). I think the proper way to do it, is firstly Kevin shouldn't have transitioned to hero so quickly, he shouldn't have joined the team right in episode 1 (give it half a season at least), and needed proper motivation to join the team (like an "enemy of my enemy" situation). Afterwards, he could start as an antihero who Ben and Gwen did not like but needed, and gradually slip into the hero role.

Omniverse actually gave a (very poorly done) attempt at explaining why Kevin turned into a hero. Apparently Servantis, a guy with telepathic powers, put false memories into Kevin's head and made him friends with Ben so he could get closer to him (so he acted as a mole). While it was appreciated they acknowledged the plothole, they had to retcon a third of what happened in AF in order to make it happen, which really pissed me off.

As to Ben being dull, can't say I disagree. While I'm not opposed to the direction they went in, for making him grow up and mature. However they overdid it and gave no explanation for the initial change. Right from episode 1, Ben's lost all his cockiness and hero wannabe personality, and got replaced with a very serious "no nonsense" leader. They tried to bring back OS Ben in AF Season 3, but that didn't work either. I think they got the order wrong. Season 3 AF Ben should have come first, and then slowly slipped into Season 1/2 Ben. And he should only acted that way after he believed Max died, and not before.