adham writes...

When will the spectacular spider-man season 3 come?

Greg Bishansky writes...

You know, normally I don't do this, but this recent answer about Xanatos and Norman Osborn tickled me on a fanboy level:

"I think he would have been appalled at Norman's parental approach. He'd of course have to admire his business acumen and respect his machiavellian bent. But I find it hard to imagine the two has friends. "

The comparisons between Xanatos and Osborn are obviously easy. But comparing and contrasting Demona and Osborn seems to intrigue me a little more... especially on a parental level.

Now, I don't think it's a stretch to say that both of them love their children... albeit in a twisted, almost possessive way.

This is almost tough since we've gotten really only one episode of Demona and Angela ("The Reckoning") and several episodes of Norman and Harry... not to mention forty three years of comic books delving into them. But, for now, I think I'll stick to "Spectacular" in this topic.

Up front, one key difference is that Demona never got to be a parent. She met Angela for the first time when Angela was already an adult. Contrary to Norman, who raised Harry since birth but was never a good father to him.

Both Norman and Demona are willing to commit unspeakably horrible acts and rationalize them by saying they're in their children's best interests. In Demona's case, she cited protecting Angela in "Hunter's Moon Part Three" and Norman justified framing Harry because if he'd been sent to prison, who'd have made a man out of Harry.

Would Demona risk herself to protect Angela? We know she would. We've seen her do it. Would Norman risk his life to protect Harry? In the current comics, the answer is definitely no. In SSM, I'm... not sure. I'm really not.

I tend to think that both of them see their respective children as property. There are several instances of Norman treating Harry like property. And Demona did use the phrase "she belongs to me" when Thailog threatened Angela.

I definitely think Demona loves Angela more than Norman loves Harry (Hell, Norman doesn't even like his own kid). But even there, Demona was more than willing to risk Angela's life at the end of "Hunter's Moon Part Three" to escape... there was no guarantee Goliath would have been able to catch that vial.

Now, I realize I'm answering a lot of my own questions and I have my own interpretations here, but I'd be curious to read your thoughts here?

Aldrius writes...

Just to clear one thing up before writing my little ramble on Criminology.

You said in response to my ramble on Engineering 101:

"We were absolutely NOT going for the idea that his arms were the Master Planner. What we were going for was the idea that Otto was a big, fat faker in "Reinforcement". And I would think that his conversation with Electro in "Shear Strength" made that pretty clear."

Just to be clear, I was speaking about when the arms show up during Reinforcement. *Prior* to watching Shear Strength, I didn't believe that the arms themselves were responsible for what was going on, which is what other people I spoke to seemed to believe, I wasn't even sure what the show was trying to imply with that scene. It was just to confuse us, wasn't it? All I was saying was that, that didn't particularly confuse me. I mostly just thought it was a big red herring.

Anyway, hope that didn't sound harsh, not my intention. Trying to spread clarity not disparity!

Now, on to what is arguably my favourite arc of this season.

**Spider-man spoilers**

Criminology!

Love Captain George Stacy. Everything he says is cool, everything he does is cool. My only real complaint (and this is barely a complaint, it's certainly not legitimate) is that we're not seeing enough of Norman Osborn to see the contrast between Peter's two father figures, but I guess there just wasn't room.

Speaking of people not appearing, I personally thought Tombstone took a little too long to show up, and his limited role in his grand return, as well as his sudden disappearance an episode later were both a bit disappointing. I know that there's just so much stuff to cram into 13 episodes, but as someone who's only mildly interested in Peter's love life, and who's very interested in the shenanigans of the mob bosses, I didn't particularly appreciate this.

Anyway, now that I've got my very minor complaints out of the way! Time for the praise. I really did enjoy Tombstone's lines and demeanor as usual. And Jeff Bennett's Shocker is as always a real treat. (Josh Keaton's reaction and mockery of "Squash the Bug" had me howling with laughter.)

Also really liked Silvermane. Loved his voice, made me think of an old tough, street thug. Also really liked Silver Sable. Nothing in particular, but the design, voice and personality really added up to a pretty cool character. Also loved the history involved in the gangs. I wonder what Tombstone's story is. Probably something to explore in season 3.

All the fights were good, and I loved the opera music and the Black Cat cameo. Though when I originally watched this I wondered if that was all we were going to get of her this season. I figured we'd see her again, though.

George Stacy and Foswell made nice narrators for this arc. And I liked that we got to see a bit more into Foswell's history here too. Just as it's nice to see Stacy behaving like a real detective, it's nice to see Foswell as a real investigative reporter. And I love Stacy's 'something wrong, Son?' to Peter. Also the muscial theme that plays whenever Stacy implies he knows Spider-man's secret is unintentionally hilarious, but I love it anyway.

Oh, and though it's unlikely, I'd love to see an OST of the series. The Green Goblin's theme, the theme that played through out Accomplices and George Stacy's theme are all awesome.

Overall, by far my favourite arc so far (that I've reviewed) of this season, and nothing but good episodes therein.

Couple of questions this time.

1) Would you say that Venom is something of a bastard? I initially thought of him as more of a trickster (especially when he was posing as Spider-man) but then it struck me that maybe he was more of a failed trickster (i.e. attempting a tactic that somebody else has already tried, and doing a not very good job at it.) so I've come to the conclusion that he's actually just a bastard.

2) Why the fusion between Silvermane's daughter and Silver Sable? As I said I enjoyed the character, so this isn't a complaint. (Though I was a fan of the Silver Sable in the Ultimate Spider-man video game as well)And I'm not actually familiar with the 616 version of the character, so was this a large change for Sable? Was it a large change for for Silvermane's daughter? Was it a case of needing an identity for Silvermane's child, or was it a way to make Silver Sable more relevant to the events of the arc? (Or more likely, was it both?)

3)Was there a specific reason for Tombstone's absence during most of the season? Or was he just occupying his usual role of manipulating things from the shadows?

I had more questions, but I can't remember them right now, so look forward to those in future rambles!

Thanks a lot for taking the time to respond, Greg.

Paul writes...

1) Will the deal between Tombstone and Venom in "Nature vs. Nurture" be brought up again in future seasons? I was surprised that it wasn't referenced in season 2.

2) When the gang war arc for season 2 was being scripted, was it originally intended for the Fisks to be used as the crime family attempting to reclaim their power, instead of the Manfredis? The way Silvermane was written in season 2 strikes me as though his role was originally intended for Kingpin, just as Tombstone's role was originally intended for Kingpin. So were you hoping to use Kingpin in the gang war arc, only to find that you couldn't? (I guess this is 2 questions, rather than 1.)

fred writes...

hey greg, huge spectacular spiderman fan, loved it since day one. although i have some questions...
1. are ratings the only thing this show needs to continue?

2. is it possible that spiderman could be commisioned for a season 4 and 5 at the same time as 3?

3. if someone approached you and asked will you come up with a story for a spectacular spiderman game would you accept?

4. if norman's body was found and everybody knows he's the goblin inside and outside the animated universe than there is really no possibilty he will come back is there?

5. would you like stan lee to have any more cameos?

6. how big of a fan are you of carnage, i know you like him but is he like goblin level or shocker level?

7. last question, the DVD things after this show is over, are they a for sure or just a maybe?

thanks!

Clark Cradic writes...

Typo in one of my previous question. Instead of typing "call Blackie" I typed "a simple Blackie". I was at first going to say a simple Bookie, but I just ended up changing the question without editing the line. Didn't want that to be misunderstood by anyone to mean something else.

Big Boy writes...

Hello, your highness (you deserve to be called that because you are AWESOME). I know you plan on continuing Spectacular Spider-Man with DVD movies once the show is over but have you also considered continuing the show with a comic book just like you've continued Gargoyles with a comic book?

Big Boy writes...

Have you watched The Goliath Chronicles (season 3 Gargoyles)? If yes, what did you think of it?

P.S. The Manhattan Clan is the best super hero TEAM ever made. It's better than the Justice League, better than Teen Titans, better than the Avengers, better than the Autobots, better than the ninja turtles, BETTER THAN ANY SUPERHERO TEAM EVER!!!! Also, your version of Spider-Man is the best super hero ever!!!

Timothy Fackler writes...

Hello again,

you asked "But -- and this is the key question -- are you public domain?"

I'm not really sure what you mean by that, but I'm definitely not copyrighted.
So, I guess, sure, I'm public domain.
If you feel so inclined you could email me at: fackler.timothy@gmail.com

I'd love to hear from you and see if there is any possibility.
Thank your time again.

MARVEL-FAN writes...

Greg, if you could do this, would you make a video game of The Spectacular Spider-Man. And if you do what would it be about?