Pete writes...

back again, just want to rephrase some of my questions and ask a few more, hope its not to much...

1.) If you could use any one else in the marvel universe for his or her own show who would it be?

2.) Same as question 1 but DC?

3.) Have you ever read Amazing Spiderman To Die a Hero, when F. Fosswell dies? I just want to know what you think of it, I personally think it's one of the better comics from the Lee/Romita stories right next to Spiderman No More.

4.) Which issue was the Kraven mutation I've read a few Ultimate comics. I just ordered Issues 3, 4, 5, 7, and 8. I already have 1,2 and 6.

Big Boy writes...

Who's idea was to use the flashbacks with Uncle Ben and all that in "Intervention"? THAT EPISODE WAS PURE GENIUS!!!!!! I LOVED IT!!! BEST EPISODE EVER MADE!! That episode alone blows the whole Spider-Man: TAS right out of the water. Congratulations! I can't believe they didn't use that idea in Spider-Man 3 and in TAS.

Jim writes...

Is your version of Eddie Brock named for his father? Both the movie and Ultimate editions of the character were juniors, and yours obviously borrows a lot from the Ultimate line. I don't think his full name has ever been stated on the show, which of course doesn't confirm it either way.

Chris Krause writes...

Hey Greg.

First off, Kudos for finally making a media incarnation of Spider-man that really captures the essence of the character. I haven't enjoyed any of the other cartoons, nor the movies as much as your show.

Moving on, I had a question concerning both the Stacy's. I've really enjoyed the relationship you've set up with Peter and Captain Stacy. It reminds me very much of a Gordon/Batman-esque relationship, with Stacy all but saying he knows who Spidey is (much like Gordon has done throughout the years with Bats.) Now, I think we all know the future of Captain Stacy in the comics, but I was wondering if you were toying around with the idea of sparing this particular Stacy that fate.

Being a comic fan, I naturally shy away from changing big events like that, but I can't imagine Batman without Gordon, and after seeing the relationship you've established between Stacy and Pete, I'm not sure I want to see a Spider-man without a Captain Stacy.

Leading into that, we all also know the fate of Gwen in the comics. I've read that you were toying around with doing this in a direct to dvd format, after you get to do a full run of the series, which I think would be a great idea, because I personally think The Death of Gwen Stacy story could be great material to rival other great animated superhero movies like "Mask Of The Phantasm."

Going off the first question, I was wondering, if you do decide to do a Gwen's Death movie, if you've considered leaving Captain Stacy alive for that as well. Watching how Stacy has (apparently) deduced Spidey's identity, it made me wonder how he would react to Peter since Peter's involvement in his daughter's life lead to her death.

Any who, thanks again! I really hope you get picked up for a third season. Watching Spectacular Spidey makes me wish they had picked up you to write the movies. When they reboot the Spidey series (probably 20 years down the road) you should jump on that!

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.