The End

The End

When I first started this blog, I gave a list of Spider-Man shows that I was planning to watch, and said that I wanted to work my way through all of them. Well, I've now done that, and you know what? I'm done. This has been a fun project, but it's also gradually become something of a time sink. I've achieved what I've set out to do, and I feel satisfied that I've now caught up on every current Spider-Man cartoon. While it's true that there's the upcoming Spider-Man: Freshman Year for Disney+, it's not coming out for ages. Maybe I'll change my mind by then and end up covering each episode here as they come out, but I doubt it - it's much more likely that I'll just wait for the entire season to come out then watch it all over the course of a few days.

There are a few other series I could have covered, but I ultimately didn't consider them to be within the scope of this series, and with one exception, I'm not really curious about seeing any of them, as I was with the numerous cartoon episodes I've watched over the years. Going through them:

• Spidey and His Amazing Friends: This show has a younger demographic than any show I've covered here. While I've covered plenty of stuff here out of my demographic, the implication was that it always aspired to appeal to all ages, at least. I can't judge a show like Spidey and His Amazing Friends fairly because what denotes a good episode is so far out of my wheelhouse, it wouldn't be fair.
• The Amazing Spider-Man (1977): The scope of this blog has always been aimed at cartoons, and I don't have high hopes for the execution of this show. While I think it's probably got some fun stuff and would tap into the zeitgeist of the late 70s well, I don't care about it enough to write up a post for each episode.
• Spider-Man Japan: Everyone loves Spider-Man Japan and Leopardon, that's true, but the general vibe I get from it is that it's nothing like Spider-Man at all. See also my comments above about this blog always aiming at covering cartoons, too.
• Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse: Well, it's animated, but it's also a movie. I'm not sure how I would cover it, unless I split it up into multiple posts covering around twenty minutes each? Nah, I'm good. Anyway, what do you need to hear my opinion on Into the Spider-Verse for? You should already know how damn good it is.

I've had fun doing this blog, and I hope you've had fun reading it, too. If you've enjoyed reading my rambling, incoherent thoughts, then I'd encourage you to check me out at Too Many Teeth, my game development site where I occasionally post blogs musing on video games. I'm also working on a visual novel at the moment, so if horror's your jam, please come and check that out!

Of course, even with this being my final post, I can't just leave it like this - I will, naturally, finish things off with one, final top ten list. Thank you for reading.

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.

Marvel's Spider-Man Episode Fifty-Seven: Maximum Venom

Maximum Venom

First Aired: October 25th, 2020

Synopsis: Spider-Man and the Avengers are in a Quinjet which falls from the sky. When they crash MODOK emerges, but they stop him with Spider-Man's help. Iron Man is impressed and says that he might have a place on the Avengers for Spider-Man. Later, a school dance is getting organised to welcome Max back at Horizon, and to Peter's surprise he's asked to it by Mary Jane. Back at school, Peter, Anya, and Gwen find out that while Grady was setting things up for the dance he saw a shadowy figure that he thinks was the Lizard, so they investigate as their alter egos. They encounter not the Lizard, but Venom, who manages to escape. When the school dance happens the next day, Max shows everyone a teleporter that he created thanks to Peter fixing an equation for him. He then opens a portal to a planet of symbiotes and reveals that he's Venom. The portal is shut down by Anya and Miles as students flee, but Venom soon goes to the generator and turns it back on, revealing as he does so that some of the symbiote survived and hid inside the symbiote's seed, which then got inside Max and slowly started influencing him. Venom successfully opens the portal and symbiotes come through, revealing that they're going to destroy Earth.

Marvel's Spider-Man Episode Fifty-Six: Generations

Generations

  

First Aired: September 27th, 2020

 

Synopsis: Under Curt Connors' iron fist Horizon students are being made to do science experiments without being told why. Drones are coming in and out of the school to deliver mysterious packages, and Peter and his friends find that they're delivering Jackal serum. While Anya and Miles try to investigate the faculty lounge, Spider-Gwen and Spider-Man go to the warehouse it originated from. They find a secret lab in it which responds to Gwen's DNA, and then are attacked by shark monsters and the Jackal. They manage to stop them, but the Jackal floods his base, leading to the heroes having to make a hasty retreat. They return to Horizon where Miles and Anya have been captured for trying to break into the faculty lounge by Connors and Anya's sister Maria, a faculty member. Connors reveals that they've been trying to combine the Jackal serum with the symbiote, all to cure his boss - a weakened and near-dead Norman Osborn. Norman receives the hybrid and becomes the Dark Goblin.

Marvel's Spider-Man Episode Fifty-Five: Spider-Man Unmasked

Spider-Man Unmasked

First Aired: August 15th, 2020

 

Synopsis: Max Modell is on trial at Horizon to determine whether or not he should still be allowed to be principal, and Spider-Man brings a recording of Doctor Octopus talking about what a good person Max is as evidence. Curt Connors dismisses it, but Peter finds out that if he can get his classmate Alexei to testify about how Max helped cure him from being the Rhino, he'll probably win the case. Alexei is missing so Spider-Man tracks him to the East Side docks, where he finds he's Rhino once more. Spider-Man follows Rhino into the sewers where he's attacked by Swarm, a man made of bees. He manages to get away from Swarm with Rhino and the serum that transformed him, but when he and his friends cure him at Horizon they find out that it isn't Alexei. Spider-Man gives testimony in Max's defence but Connors says that his testimony doesn't count since he's Peter Parker, Max's lab assistant. Spider-Man is urged to unmask and he does, and as such Max is removed as principal. The Rhino then appears again and runs off, and Grady Scraps explains that he was stung by something that mutated him.

Marvel's Spider-Man Episode Fifty-Four: Vengeance of Venom

Vengeance of Venom

First Aired: June 21st, 2020

Synopsis: Peter warns Aunt May that aliens might be invading soon and gives her a device to protect herself, then heads to Avengers Tower as Spider-Man. The Avengers arrive from space but they've been infected with symbiotes, and to make matters worse, a larger ship is coming. More and more heroes get infected by the symbiotes but when a possessed Dagger mentions a seed Spider-Man realises that the seed Venom used is calling the symbiotes to Earth. Spider-Man heads to Horizon and manages to pump the seed full of electricity, destroying it, but moments later a symbiote-infected Doctor Strange arrives. He forces Spider-Man to flee then reassembles the seed. The larger ship of symbiotes arrives and infects civilians and heroes. Spider-Man returns home to find Aunt May but is attacked by symbiotes, only to be saved by a stranger. The stranger gets Spider-Man into the sewers then reveals his name: Marc Spector.

Marvel's Spider-Man Episode Fifty-Three: Amazing Friends

Amazing Friends

First Aired: May 17th, 2020

Synopsis: Miles and Spider-Man stop some bank robbers before Spider-Man realises that he's late for something with Aunt May. He heads home and finds baby Groot in his bag and a recording from Star-Lord, but when he tries to play the recording it breaks. Peter then meets Mary Jane, whom Aunt May wanted him to meet, but quickly makes his excuses and leaves with Groot. After he and Miles fail to translate Groot's language in the hopes of finding out what the message from Star-Lord was they go to Avengers Tower, where they meet Ironheart. AIM show up shortly afterwards, and during the fight Groot escapes. The AI of Tony Stark in Ironheart's armour says that they'll need Doctor Strange to translate Groot, so Miles goes off to find him while Ironheart and Spider-Man look for Groot. They find him getting captured by AIM but as they fight the villains Baron Mordo, who is working with them, appears. He fights an arriving Doctor Strange but manages to send Strange and Miles to another dimension before teleporting away with Groot.

Marvel's Spider-Man Episode Fifty-Two: Web of Venom

Web of Venom

First Aired: April 19th, 2020

Synopsis: At Horizon Peter discovers that Max Modell has made a synthetic symbiote which he claims is safer than Venom, but Peter's sceptical. Grady Scraps, who Peter met previously, enrols at Horizon and Peter shows him around. Curt Connors is also at Horizon, now a teacher. That evening Peter gets a call from Grady at Horizon and finds a robot, an old project of another student's, attacking him. They discover that it can eat technology to grow, and it's dubbed the technovore. Max suggests that they stop it with the synthetic symbiote, as it has no technology in it, and reveals that he knows that Peter is Spider-Man. Spider-Man puts on the synthetic symbiote and is able to stop technovore. Afterwards he agrees to work with Max to keep testing the symbiote. Unbeknownst to anyone, Connors secretly released the technovore, and is working with a mysterious person.

Marvel's Spider-Man Episode Fifty-One: Goblin War, Part Four

Goblin War, Part Four

First Aired: December 1st, 2019

Synopsis: Within the Oscorp building debris falls, which damages the structure of the foam Harry and Spider-Man are trapped in. They're able to escape as Doctor Octopus tells them that the mech Vulture is in can control other technology, and that he's heading towards a military base. Harry comes up with the idea of locking Toomes out of some of the systems before they all load, and is successful in shutting him out of the mental interface. However, he gets knocked out and Spider-Man has to carry him away. Miles, Ghost Spider, and Spider-Girl all show up and assist Spider-Man in fighting Vulture's mech, but they're all eventually defeated and Toomes destroys the encryption device locking down the systems, giving him access to everything. He starts controlling technology, and a recovered Harry says that the only way to lock him out of the mech now is using another machine that uses a neural interface, which he doesn't have. Thankfully, Spider-Man knows where one can be found: the neuro-cortex at Horizon.

Marvel's Spider-Man Episode Fifty: Goblin War, Part Three

Goblin War, Part Three

First Aired: November 24th, 2019

Synopsis: Spider-Girl and Ghost Spider fight Electro and some goblins using her technology before Spider-Man shows up to help them. They escape the subway tunnel they're in when Crossbones, also a member of the Goblin Nation, shows up and blows it up. Spider-Man then takes the others and Miles to the lair that Doctor Octopus works out of. Harry is also there, and he explains that Vulture will now know of the mech he built, which has three keys needed to activate it. Spider-Girl and Miles go for one of the keys but are attacked by Electro, while Ghost Spider goes for another and is attacked by the Wake Riders. Harry and Spider-Man, meanwhile, are attacked by Silvermane and his cyber-goblins when they go for their part. At the same time, Anna Maria comes in to help Doctor Octopus discover why the spider-bots can't see the goblins.

Marvel's Spider-Man Episode Forty-Nine: Goblin War, Part Two

Goblin War, Part Two

First Aired: November 17th, 2019

Synopsis: Harry takes Peter to his family tomb, where he's found footprints matching Norman's and some hidden stairs. They go in as Spider-Man and the Hobgoblin. Meanwhile, Spider-Girl and Ghost Spider are looking for goblins when they're approached by Doctor Octopus in a spider-bot. Although he tries talking to them about how he's looking for Spider-Man since he thinks he's being led into a trap, they don't listen to him and they destroy all of the bots. They soon find a goblin who they beat up, and the equipment they find on them lets them find a nearby lair of goblins. Unbeknownst to them, Ock follows them in another spider-bot. At the same time, Spider-Man explains to Harry what happened with him and Doctor Octopus, but as they continue going through the secret passage Spider-Man realises that Harry's been here before. Harry denies it but admits that he never actually left New York after his father's death.

Marvel's Spider-Man Episode Forty-Eight: Goblin War, Part One

Goblin War, Part One

First Aired: November 10th, 2019

Synopsis: Doctor Octopus insists to Spider-Man that the Goblin Nation doesn't exist and is a smokescreen, but Spider-Man soon runs into a person dressed in goblin gear, who Ock can't detect through his gear. After the goblin gets away Peter calls Harry, and they work out that the specs for the gear could have been taken from Harry's old work at Horizon. Peter sneaks in with Miles' help and finds that Alistair Smythe, who's gotten Peter's place at Horizon and his old lab, has accessed the files on the server. Peter later follows Alistair, but is led into a building full of spider-slayers. Spider-Girl and Ghost Spider show up and help fight them, but afterwards tell Spider-Man that they think that Peter Parker is the new goblin, since he snuck into Horizon and has been acting weird lately. The next day Peter meets with Harry, who's flown back to America, but Harry's disgusted that Peter is working with Doctor Octopus and storms off. Peter then gets a call from Ghost Spider and Spider-Girl, who have found the new goblin.

Marvel's Spider-Man Episode Forty-Seven: The Road to Goblin War

The Road to Goblin War

First Aired: November 3rd, 2019

Synopsis: Peter tries talking to Max Modell about re-enrolling at Horizon High but is rejected, and then fights the villain Slyde. Slyde gets away, but shortly afterwards Spider-Man notices the reclusive scientist Allan Beemont, who runs a chemicals company. Peter soon ends up going to Uncle Ben's grave for guidance, as he feels lost, and to his surprise finds Doctor Octopus there too. Peter's annoyed at Ock saying that Uncle Ben is like an uncle to him too, before Ock says that Slyde is still out there doing crimes. Spider-Man fails to defeat him again, but afterwards goes to Doctor Octopus and gets him to identify some of the chemicals that Slyde uses. Ock identifies that they're made by Beemont Chemicals, but when Spider-Man goes to confront Allan Beemont he gets told there's no connection between him and Slyde. On the way out Spider-Man is confronted by a scientist there, Doctor Joseph Rockwell, who explains that Slyde is Jelome Beecher, a scientist who worked for the company. Beemont wanted to take credit for Beecher's work and fired him when he objected, so Beecher is now trying to ruin Beemont's reputation.

Marvel's Spider-Man Episode Forty-Six: The Cellar

The Cellar

First Aired: October 27th, 2019

Synopsis: Anna Maria is visiting Doctor Octopus in hospital when she sees a news report about Spider-Man fighting Regent. Doctor Octopus wakes up from his coma and says that Spider-Man needs help. Spider-Man himself is in a pocket dimension opened by Regent, and uses his ion displacer powered by Iron Man's armour to open a portal back. He tries bringing the Avengers with him, but the portal closes before he can do so. When he goes to see Captain Watanabe she agrees that something fishy is going on with the villains of the Cellar, so takes Spider-Man there. Spider-Man looks through the files there and finds plans for Regent's armour, with Augustus Roman's assistant appearing to be responsible. While she's taken away Spider-Man goes to question some of the prisoners, and he hears from Cloak that his powers are being drained. Spider-Man works out that Roman is draining them to power the Regent suit, which is his. Roman activates it and fights Spider-Man.

Marvel's Spider-Man Episode Forty-Five: Brand New Day

Brand New Day

First Aired: October 20th, 2019

Synopsis: Peter is happy to be back in his own body, and hears about a clash between the supervillains Mr. Negative and Molten Man. He goes out and defeats them as Spider-Man and hears from Chief Watanabe that they'll be sent to the Cellar, a prison for supervillains. Peter then heads to school but discovers that Doctor Octopus made him quit Horizon and that everyone hates him. Midtown High is closed for repairs so Peter goes to see Doctor Octopus' comatose body. Anna Maria is also there and she thinks that Ock was ultimately a good person, and suggests Peter talk to someone else in the superhero community about what happened. Peter tries calling Ms. Marvel and gets no reply, so he heads to Avengers Tower, where he finds evidence of several supervillains having attacked it. Spider-Man tries calling Ms. Marvel again and this time she answers in the middle of a fight, but when Spider-Man goes to try and help her he finds her missing.

Marvel's Spider-Man Episode Forty-Four: Superior

Superior

First Aired: October 13th, 2019

Synopsis: As Miles carries Peter's mind in his robotic body away from Doctor Octopus in Peter's body, he passes by the facility where Venom is being held. The symbiote senses that Spider-Man is nearby and awakens. The next day at Midtown High Doctor Octopus finds himself surprised by how much he enjoys talking to Anna Maria, and when Flash Thompson tells him that Spider-Man's been too brutal recently, he starts to realise that he's got a point. The Venom symbiote escapes its holding and arrives at Horizon High, looking for Spider-Man. When Max Modell doesn't tell it where Spider-Man is, it bonds with him to read his memories and sees Doctor Octopus as Peter quit the school. Over there, Doctor Octopus is bonding with Anna Maria over being outsiders when he gets a call from Peter, warning him about Venom. Ock is dismissive, but when the symbiote arrives it grabs Flash and Anna Maria. It detects that Ock isn't really Peter, and threatens to kill its hostages.

Marvel's Spider-Man Episode Forty-Three: Cloak and Dagger

Cloak and Dagger

First Aired: October 6th, 2019

 

Synopsis: Miles modifies Doctor Octopus' arms so that he can communicate with Peter's mind inside them, and notes that Peter's mind will get damaged if it's transferred to any more machines. Meanwhile, Spider-Man fights Cloak and Dagger, but they escape. While Doctor Octopus reviews footage of them Aunt May insists that he has to go to school, as she's re-enrolled him at Midtown High. There, Ock meets Flash and then runs into Anna Maria Marconi, a teaching assistant with dwarfism. She wants assistance with a sponsorship proposal for the company Alchemax, as she thinks that Midtown can compete with Horizon if it's given the opportunity. While talking to her Ock spots Cloak and Dagger attending the school. He later goes out after them and finds them robbing a lab, but they get away again. Meanwhile, Miles and Peter start planning how to switch Peter's mind back with Ock's, with Peter thinking that he can convince Ock to do it voluntarily.

Marvel's Spider-Man Episode Forty-Two: A Troubled Mind

A Troubled Mind

First Aired: September 29th, 2019

Synopsis: Miles goes to Ms. Marvel about how Spider-Man's been acting differently recently. At the same time, Spider-Man fights an AIM agent and tags him with a spider-tracer, hoping to discover why AIM is currently gathering mento-projectors. At the same time, within Horizon's network, Peter tries to find a way to contact the outside world and discovers a backup of Doctor Octopus' brain with his memories. Later, Spider-Man is approached by the Avengers, who want to scan him and find out the reason for his change in behaviour. He objects and fights them, but they manage to defeat him. When he wakes up they've scanned him and found that he's who he should be, but they're still suspicious. Doctor Octopus, the person inside Spider-Man's body, points out that rather than fighting him they should help him fight AIM, and they agree. When they find AIM, however, they discover that they've created a mental organism designed only for chaos, or MODOC. Peter, meanwhile, sees a memory of Ock's of his father abusing him. 

Marvel's Spider-Man Episode Forty-One: Critical Update

Critical Update

First Aired: September 22nd, 2019

Synopsis: Peter awakens within the Living Brain and sees it all as digital data; as he realises what's happened he wonders where his body is. Meanwhile, some gangsters discuss how Spider-Man's more ruthless than before. He then appears and beats them up, then discovers that Sandman's daughter, Keemia, is organising a meeting of them. The next day Aunt May notices that Peter's acting differently before Otto heads to school, ready to impersonate Peter. His friends notice that he's acting differently, but don't work out anything conclusive. During lunch he investigates Keemia, while Max Modell starts clearing the neuro-cortex of viruses when he finds some unrecognised components. Peter manages to stop the antivirus software using its kill code, but Max starts a hard reset when he sees what's happened, forcing Peter to hide in the flash memory.

Marvel's Spider-Man Episode Forty: My Own Worst Enemy

My Own Worst Enemy

First Aired: September 15th, 2019

Synopsis: After taking over Spider-Man's body from within the Living Brain, Doctor Octopus unmasks in his lair and discovers that he's Peter Parker. He gets a memory of Uncle Ben talking to Peter as he heads out, confusing him momentarily, then heads to the prison where Silver Sable is imprisoned. He tells her to continue Doctor Octopus' plan to steal from AIM and arm henchmen, and while she's sceptical at first that Spider-Man is really working for Ock, he eventually convinces her and breaks her out. Hammerhead also escapes in the process, and Ock is surprised at the guilt he feels as he gets another memory. Doctor Octopus then heads to an AIM base to steal from them and discovers some of Peter's powers in the process. As the fight continues he feels compelled to save some nearby civilians, but is angry at himself for doing so. Back at his lair, he starts to continue planning his scheme before realising that civilians will be injured in the process.