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Paul writes...
Hi Greg, I know that one of your goals on The Spectacular Spider-Man was to increase the ethnic diversity in Spidey's cast of characters.
With that in mind, why did you change Rhino from (presumably) eastern-European (since his name in the comics was Aleksei Sytsevich) to American (or Irish-American, since his surname became O'Hirn)?
I felt like it went against what you were trying to accomplish by mixing things up with characters like Liz Allen and Ned Lee(ds).
Greg responds...
We felt we had enough Russian villains without adding Rhino. At some point you gotta wonder why all these Russian natives hate Spidey. It made sense in the Cold War context that Spidey - and much of his rogue's gallery - was created in. Made less sense in a modern context.
The O'Hirn name came from the comics; we didn't create it. I seem to recall it was an alias Rhino used at some point.
For good or ill, it had nothing to do with my desire to add diversity. Again for good or ill, all I did was trade one caucasian male for another. A wash.
Anonymous writes...
First of all, I'd like to thank you for two great seasons of Spectacular Spiderman. I haven't loved an animation this much since BTAS; the character development, story and animation were all of a high standard.
Now onto the questions.
1. In regards to Spectacular Spiderman's cancellations due to complications, did you or anyone part of the creative team attempt to ask Sony or Marvel to reconsider their decision?
2. With the upcoming Bluray release of all 26 episodes of Spectacular Spiderman, do you think sales and new reception may be able to persuade Sony or Marvel to continue production for a Season 3, and perhaps more?
3. Did the ratings and/or toy sales for Spectacular Spiderman impact its eventual cancellation or was it purely based on specific ownership rights?
I really appreciate you and your partner's work on Spectacular Spiderman, and your contribution and willingness to interact withe community.
Thank you.
Greg responds...
1. Yes. But at the time, it was almost corporately impossible.
2. I think it's unlikely. But I hope I'm wrong. And certainly if it sell poorly, that'll doom it for sure.
3. Mostly the latter. Our ratings were stellar during Season One on Kids WB. Less stellar during Season Two on Disney XD, though I believe there were extenuating circumstances to explain that. Toy sales were okay but not great, which didn't help either. But mostly it had to do with Marvel having the rights back to make an animated Spidey series, but Sony still holding the rights to the specific Spectacular version.
Jordan writes...
1. In the spectular spider-man what would've been the legal status/civil rights of mutants?
2. Did you have any idea for magneto backstory in the spider-man story?
Greg responds...
1. Early days in the Spectacular version of the Marvel Universe. First someone would have had to have heard of mutants.
2. Nothing specific. There were no plans to bring him in back in the day. Did have plans for Professor X, Cyclops and Beast.
SBluemonkey writes...
Hi Mr Weisman
Out of curiosity, given your response about handling Spectacular Spider-Man's school term timeline here: http://s8.org/gargoyles/askgreg/search.php?qid=19596
One of my favorite things about Spectacular was the approach to episode names (along with everything about the show), each individual episode serving as the "Lesson Plan" for a "Subject". Biology 101, Economics 101, Psych 101 etc.
Since you were planning on factoring M³'s scheduled breaks and other holidays into the show, if more episodes had been possible would they have factored into the name scheme as well as other or "Advanced subjects"? As an example if the movie hadn't gone through would season 3 have started with "Spring Break" before moving onto the next subject? And later on would there have been "Winter Break" or "Fathers Day" episodes in between Peter's senior year subjects?
Greg responds...
The short answer is yes. I like title schemes. I wouldn't have abandoned this one.
Presto writes...
So I asked Jeph's assistant about what went down. Would Sony have been able to negotiate Spider-Man's animation rights had they shown evidence to Disney that the show had a viable audience and keep the show on the road? I mean did Sony even try to appeal on that matter or did they just outright give them up.
Greg responds...
I don't pretend to know what went on behind closed doors at a level WAY above my paygrade. All I know is that Sony gave the animation rights to Spider-Man back to Marvel. Sony, however, retains the rights to the specific version of Spidey that we did on the show (those stories, those designs, etc.). Marvel was never likely to pay Sony to do a show with MARVEL's signature character, when Marvel had the resources (and desire) to do their own version. Add in the fact that Marvel was purchased by Sony's competitor Disney, and the problem is exacerbated.
Avi writes...
Hi Greg, How are you? You may know me from twitter as I tend to have converstations with you at times.
1. Spectacular Spider-man has gotten me into Spider-man. Other than Stan Lee's run, what Spider-man stories do you recommend? I have Kraven's Last Hunt, Death of Gwen Stacy, and all of Lee/Ditko, and will get the rest of Lee's run with Romita soon. Just wanted to get your thoughts on which Spidey stories to buy as you are a big Spidey fan.
2. Did you like the Peter/MJ relationship from the comics? I ask because some writers accuse that relationship as causing sales and quality of Spidey titles to drop, so I wanted to hear your opinion.
3. Since you said you are now working on the third book in the Rain series, did you get the green light for the third book or are you just working on it, in hopes it will be greenlit?
Thanks and hope everything is well!
Greg responds...
1. I can't pinpoint things for you. Might have been able to when I was in the thick of writing/producing SpecSpidey, but that was years ago. I always start at the beginning and work my way forward.
2. I like how some writers/artists/editors handled it. Didn't like how others did. It's all about execution.
3. I have not gotten a green light from St. Martin's Press on Masque of Bones (i.e. Rain of the Ghosts, Book Three). And I have NOT started writing it. I have begun doing some of the research.
Presto writes...
I am meeting with Kaitlin Dahill Jeph Loeb's assistant. Anything I can say which would help the Spectacular Spidey cause in any way?
Greg responds...
I doubt it.
Marvel Entertainment has its own Spidey show now, which is doing VERY well. They don't need Spectacular. Plus they couldn't do Spectacular without paying Sony for the rights to it. And you can imagine how enthusiastic they'd be to pay Sony to do Spidey.
Matt writes...
Hi Greg, I am a huge fan of spectacular spider-man. I'm not sure if you've ever heard of a companies called telltale games, if you haven't maybe take a few seconds to check out their work. I think a game developed by them would be the perfect way to continue the series, seeing as this is a little to none possibility, hypothetically would you ever consider continuing the show in that way?
Greg responds...
I'd be interested, but you have to understand that it's not up to me. I own neither Spider-Man (obviously) or the rights to The Spectacular Spider-Man series.
Presto writes...
Spider mans usually 5'9"/5'10" yet in your series he's around 5'6". Was your intention to have him eventually get to this height as the years progressed?
Greg responds...
I'd question the premise of your question to begin with.
In any case, he'd have gotten a bit taller, but I personally think it's a mistake to make Pete a big guy. That seems to miss the point.
GAvillain writes...
This has been bothering me for a while, but, in regards to Rhino in SSM, how does he use the bathroom with that suit grafted to his body?
Greg responds...
I've answered this before. (Checking the archives gets your question answered faster.) Plumbing is built into the suit. The results are voided through the bottom of his feet.
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