Back in Action: Alien Universe

Mature Content Warning	LSV

Back in Action: Alien Universe
Genre	Action/Adventure
Original release	August 29, 2012 - January 5, 2014 (first run) October 4, 2019 - 2023 (second run)
No. of seasons	3
No. of episodes	47 (39 aired) and 9+ Shorts
Production
Created by	Color
Chronology
Franchise	Alien Universe
Preceded by	Ben 10: Alien Universe
Succeeded by	Cassette (prequel)
Related to	Seventeen in College Clad in Darkness Benjection

Back in Action: Alien Universe (or simply Back in Action) is the sequel series to Ben 10: Alien Universe announced on August 19, 2012 that premiered on August 29, 2012.

The series experienced a five-year hiatus but returned on October 4, 2019.

Fans

(To sign in either section, create a new line and then add ~~~~)

Original Run (2012-2014)

Fan of the first run of Back in Action: Alien Universe showed some love by signing below.

1. GIVE UP, STOLEN PLUMBER SHIP! YOU CAN'T ESCAPE FROM RATH! YAAH! (The ship begins to crash) CRASHING'S GOOD TOO! RATH CAN CRASH ALL DAY!! (Rath falls down) NOW YOU'RE USING GRAVITY!! WELL FORGET IT! YOU CAN'T BEAT RAA.. (slams into ground) 15:24, September 20, 2012 (UTC)
2. OMNIVERSE (Wall - Blog - Contribs) 12:27, October 11, 2012 (UTC)
3. I should've done this a long time ago....
4. badadadada I'm lovin' it --I am the Ruler of all that belongs to the Light! The Photon Commander! (Wall - Blog - Contribs) 10:03, March 9, 2013 (UTC)
5. ISM SAYS THIS IS EPIC :D TALK TO ISM :D READ ISM'S LEGENDS 18:04, December 23, 2013 (UTC)
6. I am vengeance. I am the night. I am BATMAN! (Wall - Blog - Contribs) 18:11, January 5, 2014 (UTC)

Second Run (2018-)

Fan of the new run of Back in Action episodes? Sound off below! :)

1. UltiEpic! (Wall - Blog - Contribs) 10:36, 28 October 2021 (UTC)

Accolades

Accolade	Date
Featured Series	February 2012
Featured Episode: The Alternative	June 2018
Featured Episode: Ten Plus Twenty	November 2018
Featured Character: Sii	February 2019
Featured Alien: Streak	December 2021
Featured Character: Mercedes Barnes	December 2021
Featured Episode: Maximum Slumber	December 2021
Featured Character: Chelsey Tennyson	January 2022
Featured Episode: Dusk	January 2022

Episodes

Main article: List of Back in Action: Alien Universe episodes

3 seasons are planned, arriving at 24, 15, and 8 episodes (for a total of 47 episodes), respectively. 9 Shorts are also planned at the moment.

Seasons		Episodes
	1	24
	2	15
	3	8
	Shorts	9+

Synopsis

Potential Spoilers Ahead!

Season 1

17 year old Ben unravels the plot of the Thep Khufan Armada, and together with many of his closest friends and newest allies, he must thwart its shifty Commander or sacrifice the Earth and universe to him.

Season 2

In the aftermath of a great loss, Ben is faced with troubles at home as a being armed with their own Omnitrix runs amok in Bellwood. Meanwhile, two infamous prisoners of Incarcecon in the Null Void are plotting their escape - Vilgax and Malevolence.

Season 3

Ben hides from the most dangerous villain between all timelines - his own future - on a mysterious prison planet. While there, he is forced to team up with his worst enemies, as well as alternate timeline Omnitrix wielders, to survive.

Themes

This section is incomplete.

Characters

Main article: List of Back in Action: Alien Universe characters

Potential Spoilers Ahead!

Main

• Ben Tennyson
• Future Ben Tennyson (supporting in Season 1 and 2, main in/after Never Set in Stone)
• Thep Khufan Commander Tersce Tenebrosi (Season 1)
• Scarogus (Seasons 1-2)
• Mercedes Barnes/Mistress/Dawn (supporting in Season 1)
• Gwen Tennyson
• Kevin Levin
• Julie Yamamoto (Season 1)
• Albedo (Seasons 1 & 3)
• Vilgax (Seasons 2-3)
• Malevolence (Season 2, minor in Season 1)
• The Unleashed (Season 1)
• Elena Validus (Season 1, minor in Season 2)

Supporting

• Max Tennyson
• Professor Paradox
• Azmuth
• Second Gynurans/Forever Knights (Season 2)
  • Eli
  • Sir George/The Safeguarding One
  • Aion
  • Cash
  • JT
• Omega Squad
  • Reginald Poe
  • Graca
  • Mars
  • Armando
• Chelsey Tennyson
• Charmcaster
• Michael Morningstar/Darkstar
• Sii/Selina
• Cyanne
• Karin Frikton
• Zennith
• Cooper Daniels
• Kennedy Tennyson
• Loitus (Season 1)
• Magister Patelliday
• Rook Blonko
• Mosquito (Season 1)
• Eunice (main in Plight of Pinocchio)
• Verdona
• Ship
• Thep Khufan Commander Rex
• Magistrata
• Slix Beta
• Nightcaster II (Season 1)
• Clancy (Season 1)

Ben's Aliens

Through the Assault Omnitrix, Ben has access to over 50 alien transformations, and Future Ben countless more. Bold aliens have been reunlocked since Recalibration with the new Assault Omnitrix. Crossed out aliens are hard-locked by Azmuth.

Unique Season 1 Aliens

• Anos
• Bugbite
• Streak
• Obsorber
• Nigester (removed in Ten Plus Twenty)
• Plastikitee
• Muckslide (re-unlocked in Maximum Slumber)
• Autosassin
• Clinger
• Healding

Season 2 Aliens

• Combustiball
• Frisbit
• Alkamine
• Brawnoceros
• Plasmodic
• Dreadsense
• Seismix
• Cardstruct
• Wavelength
• Koldiak
• Warrock
• Fetterwing
• Suctionrupt

Unique Ultimate Aliens

• Ultimate Upchuck
• Ultimate Benmummy (mentioned in Fate of the Helpers)

Classic Aliens

• Heatblast
• Diamondhead
• XLR8
• Four Arms
• Ghostfreak
• Stinkfly
• Grey Matter
• Upgrade
• Cannonbolt
• Wildvine
• Way Big
• Articguana
• Benmummy
• Benwolf
• Buzzshock
• Eye Guy
• Ditto
• Benvicktor
• Swampfire
• Echo Echo
• Humongousaur
• Jetray
• Big Chill
• Chromastone
• Brainstorm
• Spidermonkey
• Goop
• Alien X (disabled in Season 2)
• Rath
• Lodestar
• Fasttrack
• Nanomech
• Astrodactyl
• Water Hazard
• Terraspin
• NRG
• Forge (Armodrillo)
• AmpFibian
• Jury Rigg
• Kickin Hawk
• Bloxx

Classic Ultimate Aliens

• Ultimate Big Chill
• Ultimate Wildmutt
• Ultimate Cannonbolt
• Ultimate Swampfire
• Ultimate Echo Echo
• Ultimate Humungousaur
• Ultimate Way Big
• Ultimate Spidermonkey

Mentioned-Only Aliens

• Unnamed Revonnahgander

Dawn's Aliens

• Vertigo
• Starhavoc
• Slyt
• Blankslate

Future Ben's Aliens

• Atomhammer
• Ultimate Brainstorm

Changes

Back in Action mainly occurs in an alternate timeline from the one focused on in canon. As such, there are some liberties taken with certain elements where they either don't fit in the timeline specifically or just don't feel like they make sense in the grand scale of the franchise. As such, there are some distinctions from canon. As production was halted on the show during its original run due to all written notes being misplaced (leaving all concepts up to memory), there are also retcons that occurred in the second run of the show (2019-).

Differences from Omniverse

• Ben received the Assault Omnitrix instead of the final Omnitrix.
• The Plumbers' origin on Earth happened differently, as explained in Foreverlasting. This was because Omniverse's was both nonsense and because the version in Foreverlasting was planned from well before Omniverse's version premiered.
• Much of Omniverse beyond the Season 3 finale did not transpire. Specific distinctions are mentioned throughout the series.
  • Rook Blonko's partnership with Ben was much shorter, as is partially explained in Maximum Slumber.
  • (Obviously) So Long And Thanks for All the Smoothies and Rules of Engagement, and the flashbacks where Julie and Ben broke up, never happened.
  • No Skurd. No Slimebiotes. No Contumelia. No Annihilargh. No Maltruant. Just no.
  • No Atomix.
  • Though he will not appear and the events with Albedo becoming younger did not occur, Ultimate Grey Matter would have the same MODOK-inspired design, but probably with more powers.
• Where Omniverse erroneously continued with Ben still 16, in spite of too much time passing during Ultimate Alien, Back in Action proceeds with Ben instantly turning 17.
• No Billy Billions.
• Some of Ben's transformations have different appearances. Gwen's Anodite form also reprises its Alien Force/Ultimate Alien appearance.
  • Grey Matter appears with his Omnitrix on his chest, as it would have had he appeared in Ultimate Alien. As of Hit and Miss, he has donned his Omniverse attire.
  • Articguana, Buzzshock, and Stinkfly have their original series appearances.
• Gwen's school is instead called Dwayne University, in honor of Dwayne McDuffie.
  • Hex is not a Professor at Gwen's school.
• Ben did not overuse Feedback as a child, nor did he ever lose the transformation.
• Neither Albedo nor Malware ever met Ben at the age of 11.
• Albedo was a part of the Faction, alongside Khyber, Malware, and Dr. Psychobos. He also had a hand in building the Nemetrix instead of Malware, since Malware never met Ben earlier to receive the blueprints of the Omnitrix.
• Ben has not unlocked Toepick (and his Toepick is not the same power- or appearance-wise).
• Magister Patelliday is stationed at Pisciss, though he does sometimes venture towards Max's sector to visit his old friend.

Other differences from canon

This section does not include technical retcons that just explore parts of the universe that had not been explored yet.

• Ben named his Talpaedan transformation Forge instead of Armodrillo.
• Carl Nesmith's Captain Nemesis was only a TV hero in this timeline, akin to Kangaroo Kommando.
  • He did still become a very high-profile arms manufacturer and later super villain.
• While Primus and the Codon Stream act as backups, the Hidden Universe acts as a local hub for transformations, housing all available transformations. In this timeline, the Hidden Universe was available in the original Omnitrix and Assault Omnitrix but not the Ultimatrix.
• All canon "mutant" characters are alien hybrids, including Darkstar and Cooper Daniels.

Second Run retcons

• Originally in Ten Plus Twenty, it was suggested a presidential election was forthcoming (lining up with the real world upcoming 2012 election). To align with some upcoming content in Season 2, it was changed to reference the incumbent president and a forthcoming midterm election.
• Originally, Malevolence's patterns were green. To distinguish from Julie/Ken and Upgrade, this was changed to purple befitting his former royalty.
• Originally in Revelation, Malevolence specified his successor was a Mechamorph. The line was changed to be a more generic "insurgents," to make way for the Chimera Sui Generis successor Vil, who Malevolence kills in Never Set in Stone.
• Originally in Why Am I Here?, Zennith's feelings regarding Azmuth were more overt. Director Herbos, her predecessor to-be, was also her father.
• Originally, Vertigo's powers were broad telekinesis. That later became momentum manipulation, though the original scene they were used in did not need any alteration to allow this.
• Originally, Cardstruct's powers were limited to simply transforming his body and paper. Starting with Escalation, his design is reminiscent of a magician, while also being able to randomly shift reality based on what tarot his opponent picks from a deck.

Trivia

• The show was originally supposed to premiere simultaneously with a redo of the previous series, known as Ben 10: Alien Universe Re-Animated.
• Until Plight of Pinocchio, every third episode is four parts. The premiere episode Infernosphere was first, followed by No Strings Attached. Maximum Slumber onward are 2-3 parts by default.
• Many of the second run's new concepts are borrowed from the scrapped reboot of canon These Befallen.
• Outside of the Ben 10 classic canon, inspirations for the series include the Disney movie Meet the Robinsons and the Danny Phantom movie Ultimate Enemy.
• If Galvan B ever appeared in the series, the Mechamorphs would probably be similar to the people of the Neutral Planet from 1999 TV series Futurama (with Mechamorphs like Baz-El, Malware, and Malevolence being considered "bad batch" beings that come with strong feelings).

Logo

• The original logo was created by NickFusi0n.
• The Season 2 logo's green to magenta gradient is based on the season's struggles against Dawn.

Created by COLOR
Alien Universe (BTAU - BiA - SiC) - Clad in Darkness - Benjection - DC's Hero of Heroes

Unique Aliens in Back in Action: Alien Universe
First used by Super Ben (Assault Omnitrix)	Obsorber - Nigester - Plastikitee - Anos - Streak - Bugbite - Muckslide - Autosassin - Ultimate Upchuck - Clinger - Healding - Alkamine - Brawnoceros - Combustiball - Cardstruct - Dreadsense - Frisbit - Koldiak - Plasmodic - Seismix - Wavelength - Warrock - Fetterwing - Suctionrupt
Majestic Forms	TBD
First used by Dawn (Alphaline Omnitrix)	Vertigo - Starhavoc - Slyt - Blankslate
First used by Future Ben	Atomhammer - Ultimate Brainstorm