Ultimate Spider-Man Episode Eighty-Eight: The New Sinister Six, Part One

The New Sinister Six, Part One

First Aired: June 12th, 2016

Synopsis: Spider-Man is helping Doctor Connors set up an anti-HYDRA weapon, and is given the key to look after so that it can't be used by any villains. He then gets a call from Scarlet Spider, reminding him that there's a party for Aunt May. He heads there with a cake but encounters the villain Shriek on the way, robbing a bank. Spider-Man defeats her but when he gets to Aunt May's discovers that he mixed up his cake with one of the bags of money Shriek stole. Peter's other spider-themed allies are there too, but they all get a distress call from SHIELD, which they have to go answer. Before leaving, Peter gives Aunt May the key to the anti-HYDRA weapon to keep it safe. At the Triskelion they find Doctor Octopus there with Electro, Rhino, Kraven the Hunter, Miles' Green Goblin, and Hydro-Man, forming a new Sinister Six. Spider-Man wants the team to retreat for safety's sake, but in doing so runs into Squirrel Girl, Cloak, and Dagger. Scarlet Spider points out that this is their home, and Spider-Man is convinced to keep everyone back to fight the villains.

 

Everyone fights the Sinister Six, and Electro and the Green Goblin are taken out easily. Cloak teleports Hydro-Man away into the ocean, but soon falls prey to one of Kraven's traps which stops him from controlling his teleporting, leading to him teleporting himself and Dagger away. Spider-Man tries reasoning with Rhino, who reveals that he was never the spy, just a means for Doctor Octopus to break out. Rhino and Kraven are defeated but Spider-Man realises that Ock is missing, and finds him at the anti-HYDRA weapon. Hydro-Man reappears, having merged himself with the ocean, and he overwhelms the Triskelion. Doctor Octopus laughs about how he expected Spider-Man to flee. It's then revealed that Scarlet Spider is Ock's spy, and he attacks Spider-Man. Unmasking him in front of Doctor Octopus, he reveals that Spider-Man's name is Peter Parker.

Miscellaneous Notes:

• As a result of injuries he suffered in Anti-Venom, Flash Thompson is temporarily in a wheelchair. The status quo of the comics character around this time was that he'd had to have his legs amputated, and outside of when he was Venom, also needed to use a wheelchair.
• When Spider-Man is fighting Rhino, he tries getting through to him, only for Rhino to reveal that he's had some sort of brainwashing done to him by Doctor Octopus. Squirrel Girl, for some reason, says, "I'll take care of this!", jumps onto Rhino's back, and speaks in squirrel. A bunch of squirrels then appear, and this somehow lets Rhino communicate normally, seemingly freeing him of some of the brainwashing effects. Huh?
  

Review: I think that a lot of the quality of this episode ultimately hinges on how you feel about the twist that Scarlet is the traitor, and honestly? I don't think it works that well. For one thing, Scarlet's been developed enough that I imagine he'll end up switching back to the heroes' side in the end. For another, parts of it don't make sense. Why hasn't he stabbed Peter in the back - either metaphorically or literally - before now? Why hasn't he given Ock Peter's identity before now? Why has Ock been gathering the Sinister Six to defeat Spider-Man if he's had someone who could do the job prior to now? That being said, I will give the twist this - it is a good, shocking moment, and it is a logical decision for the spy's identity.

Other parts of the episode are kind of clunky too. For Aunt May's birthday, all of the spider-themed heroes are there and acting as though she's their best friend, even though the majority of them have never met her before. Scarlet insists that Peter get a cake for May, but when Peter realises he mixed it up with Shriek's bag of money, Scarlet reveals that he bought a backup cake too, which kind of defeats the purpose of Spidey getting one. The new Sinister Six is also a bit random - most of the characters have been set up to be in it in previous episodes, but Electro comes out of nowhere, and part of the reason Kraven has appeared in recent episodes was to prove himself for the Sinister Six, a test he technically failed.

I guess one of the positives I'll give the episode is that it's nice to see the non-spider SHIELD Academy characters getting to do stuff, since the show seems to have mostly forgotten about them this season. It doesn't explain where half the characters are (hey, remember when Ka-Zar got an entire episode to set him up joining SHIELD?) but it's something I guess. Ock learning Peter's identity is also something that could potentially lead to some interesting plots, and he didn't even need to look at a gravestone to magically work it out. So let's call this one not great overall, but with some alright ideas and decent setup.