Raphael writes...

4. I was looking at the TV Tropes 'What Could Have Been' page after someone on Ask Greg mentioned it and I stumbled across this snippet about The Spectacular Spider-Man (SPOILERS for the end of second season pretty much go without saying after all of these years but whatever): "It was planned for a five-season run (ending with Peter's graduation from High School) - the timing of the Disney/Marvel buyout would have limited it to only three seasons, but because the show also switched networks, it only got two. And because of that, we wind up ending with the revelation that all of Peter's friends save Mary Jane are alienated from him, Harry hates Spider-Man, Gwen remains his girfriend after some emotional blackmail from Harry, and Peter didn't even stop the bad guy." Now I'm not interested if a longer run would have resulted in a happier ending because that seems like the kind of thing that you would interpret as SPOILERS. I know this is just a fan run site with no sources and It seems it makes a couple of assumptions right off the bat because it wasn't so much planned for a five-season run as much as there was a long term plan that could have spanned five seasons ideally. But I'm interested in if what it was saying about the switching of the networks limiting the show's run from three to two seasons holds any shred of truth.

Raphael writes...

Hi Greg, I wrote many months ago about the correct episode order for Gargoyles. I actually live in Australia so getting Gargoyles Season 2 Vol. 2 is hard and because I know I won't be able to finish it, I haven't watched all of what I have of Gargoyles yet. That information wasn't really needed but I figured I would put it there as a precursor to saying I'm practically obsessive about The Spectacular Spider-Man, (as a Spider-Man fan like yourself, albeit a much narrower breadth of knowledge as I am only a teenager) love Young Justice, particularly the second season, and am enjoying Gargoyles (I think I'm only just past City of Stone, which was epic in the literal sense) and Star Wars Rebels, that twist in 'Rise of the Old Masters' in particular was really well crafted, which as I write this is six episodes or seven episodes in, I'm slightly behind.
Before I get started, I want to make it clear that whatever I say in my first question, I have no intention to argue with you about what you put in the show as others have been about Wally West at the time I write this. I actually have a few different questions on Young Justice, one on The Spectacular Spider-Man and one about you which are split up and these two paragraphs sort of serve as an introduction to all of it.
1. I'm fairly certain there's an undeniable change of pacing and generally a slight tinkering in the type of storytelling from the first season of Young Justice to the second. In the first season the episodes were relatively self contained episodes that contributed to larger character arcs but in the second season almost every episode, if not every episode, contributed to a constant driving narrative. I've noticed something like this in all of your shows, between their first and second seasons before they all were sadly cancelled. Gargoyles felt like its first season set up the character dynamics and world before the second season expanded its universe, probably due to such a large episode order. And The Spectacular Spider-Man felt like it just grew more confident and ambitious. If you don't think these assessments are correct I'd be very different to hear why your shows evolved. I believe Young Justice evolved the most though. Was that planned from the start or was the show readjusted due to what direction you and the rest thought the show could best move in? Or was it some external factor like a change in writing staff, or a smaller amount of episode? In conclusion, why was the show's overall pacing changed? And if you think I've answered my own question can you elaborate?
2. Was there any break in production? I know there wasn't much space between the airing of Young Justice's first season and its second, but did you have any break between seasons?
3. I'm not sure if this has been asked before, and it seems like a fairly obvious question so I apologize if it has been, but how far into production of season 2 of Young Justice, if at all, did you know it was your last season and how sure were you? When I say you I mean everyone who worked on the show.

Spectacular Spider-Man writes...

1. Why did Liz and Flash break up, and who broke up with whom?
2. How does Peter stick to walls through his costume? Wouldn't the hairs on his fingers be blocked? And how do his feet stick to walls, especially if he's wearing boots in his costume?
3. What is Hammerhead's real name (first and last)?
4. Were you allowed to use Marvel objects not related to Spider-Man? For example, could you mention Adamantium or Latveria?
5. How did Vulture, Sandman, Rhino, and the Mysterio robot escape from prison in Reinforcement? And why did they bother breaking the robot out?

Spectacular Spider-Fan writes...

1. Where was Master Planner's lair? What was the building Spider-Man was looking at, how did he know he could enter underwater, how was it built, and how did the villains get in?
2. What did Black Cat do with the stolen jewel from the end of Persona?
3. How did Vulture fire the lasers from the back of his wings in Shear Strength?
4. Why did nobody at the racetrack notice the Green Goblin? It wasn't a very good disguise.
5. What experiment was Dr. Octavius working on that caused the arms to fuse to him? Was it a normal experiment or a supervillain one?

Spectacular Spider-Fan writes...

1. Are the symbiote's webs living pieces of the symbiote, dead symbiote matter, or just waste produced by the symbiote?
2. Peter's costume gets ripped or torn in many episodes. How does he repair it?
3. In the Big Sky Billiard Room, there is a sign in the background that says "No gambling". Was this a joke, or does Montana not approve of or know about Blackie Gaxton being a bookie?
4. In Group Therapy, there is a sign that says "Jazzy Gianni: The Musical". In Gangland, the restaurant where the M^3 kids are eating is also called Jazzy Gianni's. Who is Jazzy Gianni, and why are a restaurant and a musical named after him?
5. What are those metal things Hammerhead wears on his hands? Do they enhance his strength?

Spectacular Spider-Fan writes...

Since Sony still has the film rights to Spider-Man, could they make a direct to video Spectacular Spider-Man movie? Or would it have to be theatrical? Or could it only be a live-action movie still set in the same universe? Or are they not allowed to do any of this?

Christopher Rosa writes...

Hello Greg this is Christopher Rosa I have some questions for you,

1. I remember reading you saying that there are no original characters in Spectacular Spider-Man, that got me thinking, I remember in episode Reaction there other cheerleaders appear with Liz and Sally, one with light brown hair, another with black hair who was black, and finally one I think with brown or black hair, are these background characters base on canon characters, or are they nameless characters you just made, and if there are not nameless I like to hear there names?

2. I was wondering if you have a change to continued Spectacular Spider-Man, would you change any plans you had in 2009, like there are new supporting characters, villains, and allis Spider-Man has now that did exist, example L. Thompson Lincoln now has a daughter, Im not looking for a spoiler answer and I hope this is not a spoiler question but if you do start up Spectacular Spider-Man again would you consider using a character that did not exist in 2009?

SpiderManFan writes...

I have a couple questions about Spectacular Spider-man so here goes
1) How is Ox, an ordinary human able to hold spidey in a bear hug without him breaking free? (spider-man is able to escape but only by pulling on Ox's moustache and forcing him to let go)

2)Why is it that sometimes spider-man's webs come out in streams and other times they come out like a net?

3) How was Eddie Brock able to make his own web-shooters?

5) How did Peter make the original web shooters? Is it like the ultimate comics where it was a formula his father had been working on and Peter finished it, or is it more like the original comics where he just came up with the idea on his own?

Thank you for taking the time to read all these questions . I recently tried to watch ultimate spider-man and I only made it through a couple of episodes before I gave up on it. Ultimate isn't bad only because they changed things, I understand that some changes are necessary and even enjoyed the changes that were made in spectacular. The reason I enjoyed your show so much is that despite the changes spectacular spider-man stayed true to the spirit of the characters, while ultimate spider-man has not. So thank you once again for making a show that was able to capture the spirit of the original spider-man stories while updating them to a modern setting.

Spectacular Spider-Fan writes...

1. Was the man with Donald Menken and Chameleon disguised as Norman when the glider was stolen Dr. Stromm?
2. How did Chameleon manage to get Stan Carter tied up, take his uniform, put it on, and get a Stan Carter mask so quickly? And did he have that mask the whole ime, just in case? Also, does he use a voice changer or just imitate people's voices?
3. Does Black Cat have any superpowers? It seems really unlikely that she could have navigated the Oscorp laser maze perfectly, but she might just be that awesome. Were these her probability affecting powers? If so, how did she get them?
4. Where did Dr. Connors get the Colonel Jupiter suit, and how did he know it would fit John after he grew?
5. Does Peter realize the Curt Connors that came into the lab when he was there in Persona was Chameleon? Does the general public think the Spider-Man who broke into the lab was Chameleon?