Ultimate Spider-Man Episode One Hundred: The Spider-Slayers, Part Two

The Spider-Slayers, Part Two

First Aired: October 15th, 2016

Synopsis: Spider-Man is now in Doctor Octopus' submarine, travelling with Scarlet Spider and Ock to HYDRA Island. As they make their way inside HYDRA Island they're approached by spider-synthezoids named Bone Spider, Goliath Spider, and Ghost Spider, whom Ock should be able to control, but their controls have been disabled by Arnim Zola. Meanwhile, Mary Jane meets with Flash, Amadeus, and Miles and tells them that they need to get to HYDRA Island. Back on said island Doctor Octopus reveals that the synthezoids - named the spider-slayers - were designed to be led by Scarlet and the Scarlet himself is a synthezoid. Scarlet has an existential crisis but eventually gets it together and helps beat them up. While that happens Doctor Octopus leaves to find his nanotech research, and upon using it on himself, is physically changed, including having a yellow-and-green outfit. To Spider-Man and Scarlet Spider's surprise, he returns and helps them stop the spider-slayers, trapping them in cages using nanotechnology.

Doctor Octopus then activates Arnim Zola, who is trapped in HYDRA Island, and boasts to him before leaving HYDRA Island, telling Spider-Man and Scarlet Spider that their work together is done. Zola starts reactivating HYDRA Island, and it rises from the water. The spider-slayers are freed and start fighting Spider-Man and Scarlet. The latter thinks that since he was designed to be their leader he might be able to control them, but while he's successful in doing so, he's overwhelmed by rage and can't control himself. The spider-slayers prepare to attack Spider-Man but Mary Jane and her team burst in and fight them. Scarlet manages to get a hold of himself and orders the slayers to stop. Everyone destroys the computers that are around, stopping Arnim Zola, but the slayers start disintegrating. The team get them into stasis tubes then fly away in the Spider-Jet as the island starts falling apart. Zola reveals that he's escaped into Spider-Man's communicator, but Spider-Man throws it out of the window and declares that HYDRA is defeated for good.

Miscellaneous Notes:

• It's hard to tell whether it's intentional or not, but Ghost Spider's outfit looks remarkably similar to the one Spider-Man used in the comics when a member of the Future Foundation. It's a very cool design.
• Ghost Spider is the name that Spider-Gwen ends up going by in the comics. I'm not certain when she started using the name but I believe it was a few years after this episode.
• Ghost spiders are a real species of spider. I couldn't find anything on a species specifically called Goliath spider, but there are Goliath birdeaters, which is close enough. There doesn't appear to be a spider species known as bone spiders, but there are wishbone spiders, which again is close enough.
• When Scarlet Spider prepares to try and control the spider-slayers, Spider-Man warns him against it, saying, "Scarlet! You're not one of them! Stay away from your evil side!" Dramatic much?

Review: One thing I will give this episode credit for: it's got some really nice designs going on. Each of the spider-slayers looks as though effort was put into their designs, and they instantly tell you what you need to know about them - Goliath Spider is all brute strength, Bone Spider is a quick and vicious physical fighter, and Ghost Spider is a bit more mysterious and otherworldly. I love all three of these characters, and I'd love to see them get a miniseries or something. Doctor Octopus also gets a redesign courtesy of nanomachines (which again change his hair!) and it's a pretty good modernisation of his classic look.

Outside of all that, the episode's fine enough. The majority of it is the main characters fighting the spider-slayers, so it looks nice enough if nothing else. There's this whole thing going on about how Scarlet Spider starts getting his rage on when he's near them, and when he overcomes it at the end I guess it's supposed to be symbolic of him being human or having morals or something, but as you can probably tell, it didn't really do a lot for me. There's also this stuff where Spider-Man and Scarlet Spider keep being surprised that Doctor Octopus isn't immediately stabbing them in the back, and you know what? They've got a point. Ock says that he's got more honour than they credit him but he really hasn't shown any throughout the series, so it's kind of coming out of nowhere.

Overall then, it's an alright enough episode, if nothing spectacular. Weirdly enough, just like The Symbiote Saga, Part Two, it ends on what appears to be a conclusive note, but I can see that next episode is the third part of the arc, so god knows what we'll get there. I can't imagine it'll be as terrible as the third part of that arc was, but hey, this show's always happy to surprise me.