Marvel's Spider-Man: After Watching

If I had to sum up Marvel's Spider-Man with three words, it'd be "Dan Slott's Spider-Man". Much of the series' DNA very much feels like his writing, even ignoring the arcs that are directly based on his own comics like Spider-Island or Superior Spider-Man. It's the little details, like the occasional references to wheatcakes, or Harry Osborn's Hobgoblin using a flaming sword, that really stick out as his fingerprint. Unfortunately, while I mostly like Dan Slott's run on Amazing Spider-Man, there wasn't as much here that I felt really worked brilliantly. Most of it was adequate, but when Dan Slott's at his best he's coming up with clever concepts, like Sandman merging with the Sahara Desert, or Cloak and Dagger working with Mr. Negative, or a prison where they shrink down the prisoners using Pym Particles.

This show, by comparison, frequently feels underwhelming. It doesn't quite hit the level of Ultimate Spider-Man's logic, where the characters would shout out that doing something inane would randomly defeat the villain, but at the same time it's hard to feel that there were many clever solutions to problems in the show. Some of the arcs drag on quite a bit, and it felt like we didn't really get to see many of Spider-Man's most iconic villains in the show - we never even get a decent Green Goblin! Instead we get underwhelming antagonists like the Wake Riders and Regent, who never show any potential to be interesting villains.

That's not to say that this was a bad show, though. I always love a good, conflicted Harry Osborn, and this show had that - and a good character arc for Harry - in spades. Peter's friends were all really likeable, and I'm pleased that they all ended up getting powers, even if it did take Gwen and Anya far too long to learn that Peter was Spider-Man. Peter's mind getting trapped inside the neuro-cortex when Doctor Octopus took over his body worked a lot better than what ended up happening in the original comics, and speaking of Doctor Octopus, he worked well as a redeemed villain and new ally of Peter's after the Superior Spider-Man arc was done.

The takeaway that I'd say that other Spider-Man shows should get from this series is that Peter having a solid supporting cast is always a recipe for success, whether or not they're super-powered. Some of the other show's ideas, like its heavy focus on science, don't exactly hurt it, but I didn't feel like they were all that necessary, even if they did help to give the show an identity of its own. Beyond that, maybe don't reinvent the wheel when it comes to villains - of the classic Spider-Man villains, the only one that I felt really had a good reinterpretation was the Lizard, and that was moreso owing to his Curt Connors side being a jerk.

A few final notes on the series:

• This show really doesn't like to decisively deal with villains, does it? Swarm and the Lizard are brought up in the final episode but nothing ever really comes of them, so I guess they're both just out there roaming somewhere. Alistair and Spencer Smythe both sort of quietly fade out of the show, with nothing ever being done with Alistair attending Horizon (although I guess he could be in jail?). And I guess Eddie Brock is just floating in a tank at the space research place for the rest of his life?
• So...why the hell was Norman Osborn trying to unleash a chemical attack on Manhattan at the start of Spider-Island, anyway?
  
• I didn't mention it in any of my episode synopses, but there's a recurring gag about Miles doing the robot that starts out mildly amusing, but continues to get better whenever it's brought up.
• While I'm glad that the show didn't rush into Peter taking photos for J. Jonah Jameson as a job, it never really went anywhere before Jonah just sort of disappeared from the show. I don't need Peter to be working at the Daily Bugle, but it's such a solid set-up that if you're not doing it, you'd sure as hell better be replacing it with something interesting.
• Between this show and Ultimate Spider-Man, I'm sort of getting sick of big symbiote invasions (which never really work that well for Spider-Man stories, anyway). I had my gripes with Spectacular Spider-Man's Venom stuff, but at least that show knew what works for Venom and what's silly monster stuff.
• I never thought that I needed sporty Mary Jane in my life, but she worked really well here and was consistently fantastic in the final season. I'd hesitate to call her the best animated Mary Jane without rewatching some other Spider-Man shows to refresh my memory, but she's definitely up there.
  

Anyway, those are some of my overall thoughts on Marvel's Spider-Man. I'm going to finish off my thoughts on this series with a list of the top ten and the worst ten episodes, so that you, the intelligent reader, know what to look forwards to and what to avoid if you decide to check out this series.

 

Top Ten Best Episodes

1. The Road to Goblin War: This episode's plot basically boils down to "Spider-Man goes after Slyde, who wants to get revenge on his former employer", but it manages to weave several layers of nuance, character development, and story twists into that plot magnificently. It's the sort of story that I could picture being a one-off comic issue from the 1980s, and I reckon I'd enjoy it just as much there.
   
2. Bring on the Bad Guys, Part Three: Okay, so the first half of this plot is pretty abysmal, but once things get going and Prowler is introduced it becomes a really fun redemption story. Prowler's got cool gadgets, and the story effectively sells that he's out of his depth throughout it while still keeping him competent.
   
3. The Hobgoblin, Part One: Minus a bit of padding and some weak actions by Doctor Octopus, this episode is great. It's all about Harry and what he wants to do with the knowledge that his best friend is Spider-Man, and the moment that he decides to side with Peter is absolutely phenomenal.
   
4. Amazing Friends: Ironheart and Amadeus Cho are great supporting characters in this episode who manage to have a bit of nuance and character development, and they're integrated into the plot well. The story overall manages to integrate a range of different characters into it and have them all work well together - and on top of that, Mary Jane is introduced here, and she's great.
   
5. Stark Expo: Ghost is a solid villain - no pun intended - and the episode manages to get some good conflict in between Spider-Man and Iron Man. The episode also foreshadows and sets up some future plots quite well, and to top it all off, has a fantastic gag that involves Flash Thompson winning the expo prize.
   
6. Dead Man's Party: Eddie Brock's hatred for Spider-Man is done excellently here, as is him sneaking into Peter's room and accusing him of having everything that he never had. The fight with Venom is a little lacklustre, but the episode opens on a fight against Beetle that makes up for it.
   
7. The Rise of Doc Ock, Part One: This episode is really just Otto Octavius getting injured in an explosion then taking up Spider-Man's advice to fight crime, but it works well. Everyone's actions here make sense, even though we can see that it's setting Otto up to become a villain.
   
8. A Troubled Mind: This episode manages to balance a few plot threads well - the Avengers investigating to see why Spider-Man's acting so differently, a fight between the Avengers, Spider-Man, and MODOK, and Peter viewing Otto's memories and realising their similarities. It sets itself up for the end of the Superior Spider-Man arc well while also taking the time to tell its own story.
   
9. Goblin War, Part One: Peter acts like a moron by refusing to tell Gwen and Anya that he's Spider-Man here, which would solve a lot of unnecessary conflict, but otherwise this episode is pretty good, successfully setting up the threat of the Goblin Nation while still finding the time for some humour.
   
10. The Hobgoblin, Part Two: There's some clunky attempts to make it look as though Harry is attacking Spider-Man as the Hobgoblin without realising it which don't really work that well, but the good parts of this episode are the same as this arc's first part - Harry having heartwarming moments with Peter are simply lovely to watch.
    

Top Ten Worst Episodes

1. The Cellar: Regent is an incredibly boring villain who the show tries to play up as this powerful threat, but never comes close to the danger level that he should possess. His motivation is also very weak, and too much of the episode is spent fighting him.
   
2. Brand New Day: How much does Regent suck? Literally the worst two episodes of this show are about him, that's how much. Most of this episode is spent building up to him as a mysterious threat, but even if you don't know anything about the character it's obvious that something fishy is going on. The payoff ultimately is unsatisfying as a result, and the episode feels like the wrong tone after the lengthy Superior Spider-Man arc.
   
3. Goblin War, Part Four: Doctor Octopus sacrificing himself to stop the Vulture is about the only positive thing that I can say about this episode, as the rest is either everyone running away from the Vulture's mech, or everyone gushing about how amazing Doctor Octopus was and why he was totally the coolest person ever, you guys.
   
4. Superior: The ending to the Superior Spider-Man arc ultimately doesn't give us that much catharsis when Ock admits that Peter was superior to him all along, which is what the entire thing should ideally build up to. It's also got a very blobby Venom, which in retrospect was foreshadowing for the increasingly frustrating portrayal of symbiotes in the remaining episodes of the season.
   
5. Maximum Venom: In case it isn't obvious by now, I'm not really a big fan of the symbiotes being portrayed as drooling monsters, and prefer instead when they're used as a dark reflection of Spider-Man. This episode, then, with its alien invasion and giant symbiote dragon, really doesn't do much for me, and on top of all that, the episode also very clumsily drops some plot points it sets up at the start.
   
6. Rise Above It All: Spider-Man working with an extreme sports team?? And they're working to try and replicate the Vulture's technology and using stunts as a way to cover up robberies in an inane plot?? How can I resist?!
   
7. The Rise of Doc Ock, Part Three: The episode uses weird logic when Peter tries explaining to Harry that Norman is evil, solely to justify Harry still hating Spider-Man, and also makes some very dubious justifications for why Peter can't reveal that he's Spider-Man. Beyond that, there's some nonsense with the Jackal and some genetically-engineered rhinos that I just don't care about.
   
8. The Day Without Spider-Man: Firstly, there's a giant Scorpion, and that never ends well. Secondly, there's a lot of nonsense about a blood gem that exists solely to give Gwen her powers back, and it doesn't really gel that well with the general tone of the show. Add in some inconsistent character motivations and you've got a real dud of an episode.
   
9. Spider-Island, Part Three: Spider-Island as a whole was pretty mediocre, but this episode was where I really started to get over it. Not a lot happens, and Kraven the Hunter appears in the episode solely to cause conflict and generally pad out the episode.
10. Spider-Man on Ice: Blizzard is a pretty lame villain, and his ability to magically create ice to do whatever he wants gets old pretty quickly. Add in some incomprehensible motivations and you've got a pretty bad episode overall.
    

Honourable Mention: The first half of Web of Venom, which was split into its own episode in some places, is acceptable enough, but the second half is completely stupid. Venom's magic seed that lets him shoot lasers and summon more symbiotes is stupid, and the fact that he miraculously survives the events of this episode before going on to control Max Modell just makes it worse.

Next time: The future.