Ultimate Spider-Man Episode Forty-Eight: The Howling Commandos

The Howling Commandos

First Aired: October 5th, 2013

Synopsis: Spider-Man meets the Howling Commandos, consisting of the Living Mummy, Werewolf by Night, and Frankenstein's Monster, as well as a yet-unseen fourth member. Spider-Man explains the events of the previous episode right before Dracula and Spider-Man's mesmerised team show up via a portal. After a brief fight Dracula is able to get away with both halves of the ankh, but Werewolf by Night reveals that he can't use them to become immortal until dawn. He also warns that Spider-Man's loved ones may be in jeopardy from Dracula, so Spider-Man and the Howling Commandos go to Aunt May's. They set up a combination of mystical and technological wards to protect the house, and run into Blade there, who joins them. Using the Howling Commandos' transport, the Monster Truck, the group go to Transylvania. A horde of shadow vampires attacks them outside Dracula's castle but are stopped by the fourth member of the commandos - the Man-Thing.

After fighting some more vampires inside the castle Spider-Man goes to rescue his team while the others go after Dracula, and Spider-Man finds that his team apparently aren't mesmerised any more. They join the fight against Dracula, who's able to connect the two halves of the ankh as dawn breaks, but Spider-Man steals it from him and Dracula has to flee from the sunlight. The Living Mummy then steals the ankh, grows to a gigantic size, and reveals that he's been wanting its power for centuries. He uses a portal to go to New York which the others follow him through, but the Howling Commandos think that he's invincible now, between the ankh and him knowing all of their tactics. Spider-Man gives them a pep talk, and Man-Thing absorbs mass from the sewers to become giant-sized, able to match the Living Mummy. After everyone works together Spider-Man's able to cut the ankh from the mummy using one of Blade's swords. The mummy returns to his normal self, and in the aftermath the Howling Commandos say that they'll go after Dracula.

Miscellaneous Notes:

• The Living Mummy mentions that he was a pharoah - I believe that in the comics, he was a chieftain of a tribe, but never a pharoah.
• When Spider-Man and the Howling Commandos enter Dracula's castle, he tells them to, "Enter if you wish, but do not dare to hope! Hope has no place in these halls!" It's no, "Enter freely and of your own will," but I guess I'll give it points for channelling Junko Enoshima.
• In New York, after the Living Mummy becomes giant-sized, there's an unexpected shout-out when Luke says, "So now it's a completely different kind of monster movie," followed by Iron Fist adding, "One that requires a giant turtle or butterfly to fight for humanity." It's kinda neat!
• The whole thing with Man-Thing growing to a gigantic size to fight the Living Mummy is a reference to Giant-Size Man-Thing, a comic series that people took notice of due to its kind of phallic name. I see where the meme comes from but to be honest it's always felt a bit forced to me; has anyone ever actually referred to a dick as being a "man-thing"?

Review: Last episode set this one up pretty well, but does this one deliver? Not as well as I'd like, but it has its moments. While I don't mind the Howling Commandos (although I prefer the name be used by Nick Fury's wartime buddies; the SHIELD team made of monsters feels a little like they're trying to force it), there's not really a lot going on for most of this episode. A boring fight on the helicarrier, a brief fight at Aunt May's, more fights both in and outside of Dracula's castle...there's nothing really unique here. Sure, we also get some character stuff with Werewolf by Night and Blade clashing a bit, and if you want to be charitable you could call the Howling Commandos meeting Aunt May a comedy moment, but it's nothing to write home about.

What I did like about this episode is the twist that the Living Mummy is after the ankh for himself. It's a good bait-and-switch with Dracula, and his earlier mention of knowing about the ankh does sort of set it up. Ideally we'd see a bit more of his motives around this, though - has he always been after the ankh, or did he see an opportunity and take it? Has he been working with SHIELD to protect humanity out of genuine altruism, or has it always been a cover? There's a lot to dissect here, but the show doesn't even try to address any of it. The Living Mummy powered by the ankh is also a bit disappointing - a giant dude with some new gear, but who goes down pretty easily at the end of the day (or, well, I guess it's the start of the day in this case).

Another big disappointment is Spider-Man's team - after they were mesmerised last episode, and even shown to still be working with Dracula in this one, there's not really an explanation for how they're freed. We see them in weird translucent coffins, Spider-Man frees them, then apparently that's it. No mention of the mesmerism wearing off, or Dracula needing to free up his energy to deal with the Commandos, it's just over because the plot wants it to be. It's a prime example of the show's lazy logic and writing. Overall, then, I'd say that while this episode has a good third-act twist and I don't mind the characters, the bad's outweighed the good enough that it's ended up being pretty bland overall.