Spider-Man: The Animated Series Episode Seventeen: Neogenic Nightmare, Chapter 4 - The Mutant Agenda

The Mutant Agenda

First Aired: September 30th, 1995

Synopsis: Spider-Man goes to visit Professor X, as he's an expert in mutations and might be able to deal with the problem of Spider-Man continuing to mutate. He gets into a fight with the X-Men before Professor X breaks them all up, and explains to Spider-Man that he doesn't cure mutants - he helps them. Spider-Man is annoyed and leaves, but a sympathetic Beast follows him. Elsewhere, scientist Herbert Landon meets with the Hobgoblin. He gives Hobgoblin a scientific device, but then attempts to blow up Hobgoblin and fails. He's then contacted by Kingpin, who's funding Landon's research into mutants with the hopes that Landon will be able to create genetically altered mutants to use as super soldiers. Landon's got a conference on the next day to present his work. Meanwhile, Beast catches up to Spider-Man and suggests that Spider-Man go to the conference, since the research could be relevant to him. Spider-Man isn't ready to listen, and leaves, but after he's gone some soldiers attack and capture Beast.

Peter angsts about his mutation, but when thinking of his Uncle Ben remembers being told to never give up, and decides to go to the conference. The next day, Wolverine notices that Beast is missing, and looks for him. He finds the spot where he ran into Spider-Man and gets Spider-Man's scent, thinking that Spider-Man captured Beast. At the conference, Landon has just started his speech when Hobgoblin attacks. Peter changes to Spider-Man and fights him, but Hobgoblin gets away when Spider-Man has to hold up the ceiling from collapsing. Afterwards, Spider-Man heads in the direction of the Brand Corporation, where Landon works, anticipating Hobgoblin attacking him there. Inside the Brand Corporation, Landon meets with the captured Beast, revealing that they used to work together and that Beast was once trying to cure his own mutation. Landon intends to use Beast's old research to destroy all mutants. Spider-Man, meanwhile, ambushes Hobgoblin and finds out about Landon's plans, but he's then attacked by Wolverine. While they fight, Hobgoblin prepares to throw a pumpkin bomb and take both of them out.

Subplots:

• When Spider-Man's holding up the conference center, he thinks that he can't do it, when there's a strange white flashing. He's then able to get away before the ceiling collapses. Afterwards, Spider-Man thinks that something intentionally held up the ceiling for him to escape.
  

Miscellaneous Notes:

• The history behind this episode is convoluted. In a nutshell, it's based on a comic which was intended to tie into the Spider-Man newspaper strip, but which ended up adapting an arc of it instead. Jay and Miles explain it better than me.
• I have no idea whether this is consistent with the X-Men animated series that was airing at the same time as this, but Gambit has red-on-white eyes in this episode, whereas in the comics they're red-on-black.
• When in the Danger Room, fighting against Sentinels, Storm brings down lightning from...the sky? Okay then.
• This is a kids show, so obviously Wolverine can't use his claws against Spider-Man (and let's face it, the big softy wouldn't use them even if that wasn't the case). Instead, we get the hilarious shot of him unsheathing his claws, then immediately being tossed aside by Spider-Man. When he gets up, he switches to his next most deadly weapon: a bin!

Review: Given the history behind this episode, I was expecting it to be a bit clunky in terms of writing, but it actually ended up being pretty decent. Spider-Man not having heard of the X-Men is probably a continuity snarl for all sorts of reasons, but him going to visit Professor X and then having to fight them works well enough, especially since it's gotten out of the way at the start of the episode. The reveal that Beast once worked with Landon and wanted to get rid of his mutation is a good one, and as Landon himself points out, it's ironic that Hank's own research is going to be what kills him.

You'd think that the weakest link would be the X-Men, but I'd actually say that it ends up being Spider-Man. After getting a pretty happy ending last episode, he's suddenly angsting all over the place about mutating, even though this is something he's known about for a little while now. He's also shockingly hostile to the X-Men even after the fight's over, and I don't think I can entirely blame stress as the reason for this.

Still, while this isn't a shining standout of an episode, I can't say that I didn't enjoy it overall. The real reason this episode exists is, of course, so that X-Men fans will check out the Spider-Man cartoon, and I think that it does succeed on that part. There's enough Beast and Wolverine here that I think an X-Men fan would be satisfied, and the plot never really takes away more time from Spider-Man than is necessary. I wouldn't want this to be more than a two-parter, but it succeeds well enough at what it sets out to do.