Spider-Man: The New Animated Series Episode Three: Law of the Jungle

Law of the Jungle

First Aired: July 18th, 2003

Synopsis: Peter is working for Professor Connors, who is a jerk, on a serum for regeneration using reptile DNA. Connors is pleased by the test result and shoos Peter out, then injects himself with the serum. Peter catches up with Harry and Mary Jane, who are planning to go through Norman Osborn's things on the anniversary of his death. Peter realises that he forgot to give Connors some test data so tracks him down, where Connors is witnessing a carjacking. Spider-Man stops the criminal and then goes to see Connors as Peter, but the cop questioning Connors about the carjacking is suspicious of Peter and tells him to come to the precinct the next day. As a result, Peter is only briefly able to help Harry and Mary Jane go through Norman's things. The cop is a jerk to Peter, but the power goes out and fighting noises are heard, leading to Peter changing to Spider-Man. He fights a mysterious figure who gets away, leaving behind only a shred of clothing, and the photos he takes of it show it to be something reptilian. Peter goes to see Connors, who has uncharacteristically cancelled his class, and Connors tells Peter that he lost his arm working on explosives for the military. Peter finds some strange scales on Connors' desk and takes them, along with a coat, on his way out.

Still going through Norman's stuff, Harry finds some notes that Oscorp had a government contract for some explosives, namely the same type that Connors said he was working on. Peter, meanwhile, compares the scrap of clothing from the police station, the scales, and some hair from the coat and finds that they all belong to the same individual, who is mutating. When he goes to see Connors again and finds him missing he realises that Connors has gone for revenge on Oscorp. As The Lizard, Connors breaks into Oscorp and goes after Harry, who he thinks is Norman Osborn. Spider-Man shows up and saves him, and their fight leads them to the roof. The Lizard loses and arm in a fan when Spider-Man dodges, and Spider-Man webs himself and The Lizard to a police helicopter that arrived when Harry placed a call. The Lizard struggles enough to break the webbing and falls to the ground, dying when he lands. Peter and Mary Jane later try talking to Harry, who jokingly asks them to get him a pizza to help him cope. When they're out, Mary Jane kisses Peter. Harry thinks about how Spider-Man saved him, and what his role in Norman's death really was.

Miscellaneous Notes:

• When Connors is talking to the cop about the carjacking he saw, of the criminal he says, "...he should be strung up until his eyeballs are pecked out by genus strigiformes." One, holy shit, you are a giant nerd. Two, I had to Google that to make sure that I was spelling it right, and strigiformes is the order that owls belong to, not the genus.
• Oh, yeah, Connors is voiced by Rob Zombie, which is a casting choice, I guess.

Review: Let's face it, this episode is basically a big horror movie. (Well, a small one since it's only twenty-odd minutes, but you know what I mean). There's a horrible transformation, a monster bent on revenge, a creepy professor, and we even have the villain die at the end. It's a nice change from the usual Spider-Man affair, and it builds up pretty well. The scenes of Harry Osborn running from the Lizard and trying to defend himself with a fire axe really feel like something we haven't seen before, and it's a pity that they're a bit too short and brief.

As with the past episodes, there are some bits that don't really make sense when you think about it. If Peter's running off to give Connors some experiment notes, why does he show up as Spider-Man (and subsequently stop the carjacker)? What purpose is there in the Lizard going to the police station, especially given that Connors appears to be in control of himself at this point? Why is Mary Jane kissing Peter if last episode she didn't care about him and went off with her fellow actor? They're small things, but they do feel like they need a proper explanation.

Still, I can't deny that this episode was pretty enjoyable. As mentioned the horror stuff is quite enjoyable, and unless you want to count the debate about Turbo-Jet from the first episode as being a mature discussion, this is the first one to really exploit the more lax morals it has, showing the Lizard both losing an arm and then killing him on-screen. This isn't my Lizard, and it's not the strongest story you could put him in, but it's pretty solid and enjoyable regardless.