Ultimate Spider-Man Episode One: Great Power

Great Power

First Aired: April 1st, 2012

Synopsis: Spider-Man is in the city and planning to pick up a cake for Aunt May, but runs into the Trapster. He manages to defeat the Trapster but Nick Fury and SHIELD show up to take the villain in. Nick Fury points out how much collateral damage Spider-Man caused, and asks Spider-Man to come work with SHIELD so that he can learn to be a better superhero. He also mentions that he knows that Spider-Man is Peter Parker. Spider-Man thanks Fury for the offer, but rejects it and heads to school for the day. Unbeknownst to him, Doctor Octopus and Norman Osborn spy on him, as Norman wants to recreate his powers so that he can weaponise it and profit. At school, Peter runs into Mary Jane, Harry Osborn, and Flash Thompson, then has lunch with the former two. The cafeteria is unexpectedly attacked by Wizard, Klaw, and Thundra, who with the still-captured Trapster form the Frightful Four. They've heard from Trapster that Spider-Man attends school here and want him to reveal his secret identity.

Ultimate Spider-Man: Before Watching

Oh, Ultimate Spider-Man. Seeing you again is certainly something that I have...feelings...about.

By the time I started identifying as a Spider-Man fan, it was the late 2000s, and whilst I wasn't aware of it at the time, we were in-between Spider-Man: The New Animated Series and Spectacular Spider-Man. I didn't watch the latter as it came out, as I was unaware of it - and I'm pretty sure it didn't air on any free-to-air channels where I was anyway - but the same can't be said of Ultimate Spider-Man. I remember hearing it announced and seeing a short trailer for the first episode that had Spider-Man fighting the Frightful Four. I knew that it wasn't based on the mostly pretty excellent comic series of the same name, but who cared? The animation was smooth, Peter having been Spider-Man for a year was a good setup, and hey, it's Spider-Man! I love Spider-Man!

Then I started watching it actively, as the episodes came out, and I soon felt very, very childish for choosing to watch such a show.

I don't have a problem with the fourth-wall breaking moments, with cartoony, exaggerated proportions that I recall being a sticking point with some people - Spider-Man is known for his humour, and while it's not what I'd go with, it's certainly a way to showcase it and also gives the show a style that helps it stand on its own compared to other Spider-Man cartoons. No, what I have a problem with is that all of the characters are absolute fucking morons, and their potential is completely wasted. My memory is that the majority of the conflict comes from the characters arguing and failing to communicate when they're not acting like immature little shits.

Worse, I actually like most of the characters. Luke Cage and Iron Fist are great characters, White Tiger has potential, and Nova is...okay, I actually kind of do hate Sam Alexander regardless of medium. (Hey Marvel, if you ever want to hire someone to cover all of the absolutely moronic plot holes created by Jeph Loeb writing Nova's first comic book arc, I'll do it for free). But still, four out of five of the main characters isn't too bad. I'll be keeping an eye out for whether any of them live up to their potential, but I'm not going to be holding my breath.

I quit watching after the first season finale, as I couldn't take it any more, but I am tentatively hopeful that I jumped off too early and that it gets better later. I do know that Miles Morales shows up in the later seasons, and one of the final episodes has Moon Knight in it, which is fucking awesome. I love Moon Knight to pieces. There's always hope that the writing could get better, and with over one hundred episodes to cover, some of them have to be decent...right?

Spectacular Spider-Man: After Watching

What can I say about Spectacular Spider-Man that hasn't been said already? It's a fantastic adaptation. It reinvents characters in interesting and unique ways. The supporting cast are all interesting and have their own plots going on. The fights are interesting, and the show always keeps the momentum moving forwards. And, of course, it was cancelled far, far too early.

Probably the strongest aspect of the show is the way that it weaves together all of the different characters to form connections that are strong, but don't feel unnatural. Randy Robertson, Hobie Brown, Harry Osborn, and Gwen Stacy all being classmates of Peter's, in addition to the traditional Flash, Sally, and Liz? It works. Sandman and Rhino being thugs working for Tombstone before they get their powers? It works. How about making Eddie Brock a childhood friend of Peter's, who works with Curt Connors? Again, while on paper you might think, "Wow, are there any characters in this show that didn't originate in the comics?", in practice it's a lot more interesting than giving the roles to new characters that would otherwise need to earn our love (which is not to say that these characters are only interesting by virtue of where they originated).

The show also continually managed to keep things moving and setting up future stories and conflicts, which makes things so damn interesting. There's Peter's love triangle with Gwen and Liz - and trying to keep the latter's attention from Flash while he's at it, Flash's attempts to win over Sha Shan, Harry's issues with globulin green, the school play...and that's not even getting into the supervillain subplots and arcs, which are just as interesting. There's always something going on here, and the show rarely slows down or cuts down on the threads it's weaving.

I could keep going on, but honestly, I don't think I need to. If you've seen the show, odds are that you also love it, and if not, what's keeping you? This is a perfect interpretation of Spider-Man and his supporting cast, and I don't hesitate it to put its quality on the same level as Roger Stern's comics run, the Ultimate Spider-Man comics, or the PS4 Spider-Man game. It takes us in new direction and reinvents things in interesting ways, while still managing to feel familiar the entire time.

A few final dot points to sum up some other miscellaneous thoughts, then we'll get to the best and worst episodes of the series so that you, the intelligent reader, know what to look forwards to and what to avoid if you decide to check out this series.

• This is easily the most interesting, coolest version of Tombstone that we've ever gotten, and I don't think we'll ever see him surpassed. He's cool, collected, and competent, and there's no way that they'll ever make another version like him - he's less of a thug here, which is part of the appeal, but if you made him a Kingpin-esque figure in another series, he'd come off as trying too hard to be this show's version.
• Hammerhead's a bit of an awkward Spider-Man villain - he shouldn't be that much of a threat, and his powers don't make for that interesting a fight - so having him here as the guy who goes around delivering messages for Tombstone and having meetings is an excellent use of him - clearly villainous, but less reason for him to get involved in a fight.
• We never found out who Patch's backer was in Accomplices; if the show ever does miraculously get renewed, I hope they address it.
• This version of Harry Osborn may have basically been Milhouse, but he also knows how to fly a helicopter, and you can bet I'll be comparing all future versions of him against that.
• The only exception I can think of to the "hot damn does this show do some great reinterpretations of characters" rule is Electro - his origin isn't that great, and his aesthetic is pretty awful. I understand that the classic costume hasn't aged well, but I've yet to see anything that surpasses it.
  

Spectacular Spider-Man Episode Twenty-Six: Final Curtain

Final Curtain

First Aired: November 18th, 2009

Synopsis: Spider-Man is fighting the Green Goblin's gang in an attempt to find out where he is, but they don't know. After returning home he gets a call from Gwen, asking him to come over to hers, where he finds Harry. Although Peter initially assumes that Harry is the Green Goblin, Harry says that although he's been tempted, he hasn't taken any Globulin Green for a while, and that he was recently captured by the Goblin. Peter starts to wonder whether maybe his original suspicions were correct, and Norman Osborn is the Green Goblin. After Harry leaves, Peter admits the truth to Gwen - he's not sure how he got together with Liz, and he actually likes her. She admits that the feeling's mutual, but that they should break up with their current partners before anything else. Peter then heads to the Osborns' as Spider-Man, and on confronting Norman about the secret passage he saw the latter exit, it's explained that it's just a wine cellar. Norman also points out that he was seen at Oscorp at the same time that Green Goblin attacked it. A moment later bombs explode on the balcony, and Spider-Man's attacked by the Green Goblin, who leaves after a brief fight. Norman realises that whoever the Green Goblin is, it must be someone with access to Globulin Green, and as it was a secret project, that only leave Donald Menken as a suspect. Unfortunately, Menken's disappeared.

Spectacular Spider-Man Episode Twenty-Five: Opening Night

Opening Night

First Aired: November 18th, 2009

Synopsis: Norman Osborn is showing off the Vault - a high-security prison - to J. Jonah Jameson, where Spider-Man is being led into a cell. As a favour to Norman, Spider-Man's agreed to be locked up and to try to escape so as to test its security, but unbeknownst to either of them, Black Cat is breaking into the prison at the same time for unknown reasons. Short after Spider-Man's locked up, Norman Osborn has to leave due to a phone call. Elsewhere, the school's play is doing its opening night, and there's no sign of Harry Osborn, whose role as Puck gets filled in by Hobie Brown. Spider-Man manages to escape from the cell he's in when guards show up, hiding behind webbing and jumping out when they open the door. The prison starts to enter lockdown but outside it the Green Goblin shows up and remotely controls the prison, keeping guards away from Spider-Man. When Spider-Man passes by cells full of some former foes of his, the Goblin opens them up, and Spider-Man has to fight them. While he's doing so, Black Cat breaks into the cell of a prisoner who turns out to be her father, who she's planning on breaking out. Seeing Spider-Man in trouble, she opts to assist him.

Spectacular Spider-Man Episode Twenty-Four: Subtext

Subtext

First Aired: November 4th, 2009

Synopsis: Spider-Man is fighting the Molten Man, a flaming humanoid with golden skin, in Blackie Gaxton's billiard room basement, and the whole place is on fire. Liz Allan and Mary Jane are trapped by the fire, and Liz thinks back to how she and Mary Jane were doing a poor job rehearsing for the school play earlier that day, while the director wondered where her brother Mark was. Peter met with Liz shortly afterwards and tried to make up for neglecting her, but she told him that she was worried about Mark, thinking that he was gambling again. Blackie Gaxton thinks back to how Mark showed up and had a debt he owed, but Blackie agreed to forget it if he participated in an experiment of the Green Goblin's, overseen by Norman Osborn and Miles Warren. The experiment turned Mark's skin golden, which he was told he could reverse by concentrating, but unbeknownst to him was secretly turned off via a remote control of Miles'. Pleased with how things had worked out, Mark headed to the races to place a bet on a horse, but when it lost the Green Goblin, hidden in the crowd, turned his armour back on, making Mark think that he'd lost control of it. Spider-Man, who had shown up to see whether Mark was still gambling, saw and briefly fought Mark in his new form, but Mark managed to get away.

Spectacular Spider-Man Episode Twenty-Three: Gangland

Gangland

First Aired: October 21st, 2009

Synopsis: Peter Parker meets with Harry and Gwen at a fancy restaurant, as the three of them, with Liz, Mark, and Mary Jane, are having a triple date for Valentine's Day. Shortly afterwards, Flash and the gang show up, and Flash asks Peter for help in impressing Sha Shan. Elsewhere, J. Jonah Jameson is taking his wife to the opera, mostly against his will, and at the same opera, Tombstone, Doctor Octopus, and Silvermane are meeting in a private box. When negotiations start breaking down, they each accuse the other of calling the meeting. Hammerhead grabs a gun from some flowers, which a mysterious note told him to check, and tosses it to Tombstone, shouting out loudly that Tombstone's plan worked as a fight erupts. The three villains start fighting, not listening to Tombstone's claims that Hammerhead was working independently, and Hammerhead thinks to himself that he can take over as the Big Man if the three of them take each other out. Frederick Foswell, who is in his Patch disguise as a waiter, calls Robbie, who in turn calls Peter. Peter leaves the restaurant, but apologises to Gwen, not Liz, for doing so. 

Spectacular Spider-Man Episode Twenty-Two: Probable Cause

Probable Cause

First Aired: October 14th, 2009

Synopsis: Shocker is fighting two costumed people, who are soon revealed to be his partners in the Enforcers with suits that enhance their abilities. Tombstone is impressed with them, but his working with the Enforcers irks Hammerhead, only for Tombstone to point out that Hammerhead screwed up the oil tanker job and getting the Rhino suit specs. At school, students get randomly assigned partners for a police ridealong, and Peter ends up getting Sally Avril as his partner. Before the ridealong, Peter goes out as Spider-Man and encounters the Enforcers in their new suits, robbing a bank. They manage to defeat Spider-Man but leave as they're on a timetable. Spider-Man quickly shows up to the ridealong, and George Stacy takes he and Sally to the bank, where it's discovered that the Enforcers broke through a wall into a dry cleaners from the bank. Meanwhile, Flash tells Harry, who is his partner on the ridealong, that he's annoyed at Harry for dropping out of the football team before the finals, and Harry admits that he was recovering from the Globulin Green he was taking at the time. This only enrages Flash further, as if it's discovered that Harry was on drugs, it could disqualify the team from the games they played.

Slayers NEXT Episode Nine: Hidden Ambitions! The Shocking Confession?

Hidden Ambitions! The Shocking Confession?

First Aired: May 31st, 1996

Synopsis: The team return to Seyruun, where Phil is greeted warmly by the population once they find out he's alive. He declares that he'll find out who's behind the plot to kill him, and that until then the team can be his bodyguards, receiving whatever reward they want when they're done. His brother, Christopher, arrives and is hurt that Phil didn't tell him about faking his death. Lina is suspicious of Christopher, since she still thinks he's the mostly likely person behind the plot, and when Christopher introduces his court sorcerors, Kanzel and Magenta, Lina guesses that they might be monsters in disguise. While the others agree with her, they have no proof as of yet. Lina gets a letter promising to give information about the assassination plot, and requests that she goes to a certain location. She and Amelia go there, and are shocked to discover that Alfred, Christopher's son, is the person who sent the letter.