Ultimate Spider-Man Episode Fifty: Sandman Returns

Sandman Returns

First Aired: October 27th, 2013

Synopsis: Spider-Man is in the helicarrier, where Doctor Connors' lab is getting modified. Awesome Andy tries disposing of some chemicals but all he does is create fires around the lab, which result in Sandman being freed. To Spider-Man's surprise, Sandman helps put out the fires. Later, Nick Fury explains that they've been trying to rehabilitate Sandman, which Spider-Man is fully on board with. He offers to take Sandman into the field. Sandman's given a suit which can restrict and stabilise his powers, and he and Spider-Man go out for a walk. News comes in of an attack on a SHIELD facility, and Spider-Man convinces Sandman that they should go and stop it. The attack turns out to be courtesy of Swarm, who Fury points out absorbs technology and could absorb Sandman's suit. Swarm starts to do so, so Spider-Man removes the suit from Sandman, but without it, Sandman soon starts getting erratic and unhinged as he defeats Swarm. He calms down as SHIELD approaches him but Spider-Man is shaken.

Iron Fist advises that Spider-Man focus less on Sandman's powers and training and more on Sandman as a person, which Spider-Man decides is a good idea. They hang out in Times Square and plan on going to see a baseball game, but Batroc appears and taunts Sandman. Although Spider-Man stops Batroc J. Jonah Jameson assumes that Sandman is up to no good since he's with Spider-Man, and his aggression causes Sandman to snap. He grows to gigantic size and goes on a rampage, making Spider-Man feel like a fool for trusting him. Spider-Man's team show up, ready to take out Sandman as per Fury's orders, but Spider-Man suggests an alternative plan. Spider-Man tries talking Sandman out of it, but Sandman admits that he wants to be a villain since being good is too hard. In response Spider-Man uses Awesome Andy, who he got Nova to retrieve, to absorb Sandman until he can be expelled back into his containment suit. In the aftermath Spider-Man still feels bad, but Fury tells him that he's proud of Spider-Man for trying and believing in Sandman.

Sam Alexander is Actually the Worst:

• When Spider-Man's team show up to stop Sandman, they ask him various questions along the lines of, "What were you thinking?". It's understandable - they're exasperated at what's happened and need to vent a bit at the mess they've been caught in. Nova, of course, doesn't react like this, and instead bluntly says, "Glad it's not me!", because why wouldn't he give Spider-Man shit when he's down?

Miscellaneous Notes:

• Sandman's containment suit is based on the outfit Jack Kirby designed for him once Sandman became a member of the Frightful Four in the comics. I hate saying this about a Kirby design, but it really doesn't work that well; the green striped shirt is the original and the best.

Review: I feel like I'd probably like this episode a bit more if we hadn't literally just done a redemption story, and one which ended in a much more interesting place. Sandman turning into a good guy does have its roots in the comics, and Spider-Man having a mixture of faith and doubts towards Sandman makes him more reasonable here, but Second Chance Hero really was the better story. The ending put the characters in a more interesting place, there was more ambiguity as to how genuine Norman was being, and most importantly, we didn't have to deal with a giant sand monster during the climax, one that belongs in a different genre.

Thinking about it more, I don't think I have issues with the concept of this episode so much as I do its execution. Sandman turning good is a cool idea. Sandman fighting Swarm, AKA a cloud of tiny nanobots, is not. Spider-Man working on being friends with Sandman is a good idea. Sandman rushing off after Batroc to fight him and then snapping when J. Jonah Jameson is aggressive towards him (wait, but I thought his suit stabilised him? He definitely didn't snap against Swarm until it was removed) is less of a good idea. Awesome Andy from the comics is cool, Awesome Andy in this show is not.

I'm trying to think about what could be done to fix this episode, and I think the problem is ultimately with the climax. As mentioned, Sandman as a giant sand monster isn't a good fit for Spider-Man, so don't have him do that. If more leaning in was done towards Sandman's thoughts about how being good is hard, I think that would work, too - he gets yelled at by Jonah, which is completely unrelated to issues he mentioned earlier with anger. If Sandman instead kept trying to be good, but got frustrated with having to be cautious around civilians, with not being able to use lethal force, and decided, "No, this lifestyle isn't for me," I think that would work for me better. What do you think?