Rtkat3 writes...

When it comes to Iron Man's enemies, Spider-Man has fought Blacklash, Dreadknight, and Grey Gargoyle. Imagine if there was an issue where Spider-Man encountered the Mandarin.

Arthur Jr. writes...

To follow up on a question received on this site on Sat, August 02, 2008 05:50:34 PM, I forgot to list Hydro-Man for a possible appearance.

As a supporter of your work on The Spectacular Spider-Man, a possible season featuring him meeting other heroes should feature him working with them to fight other bad guys with examples being Fantastic Four villains Doctor Doom and Wizard (Sandman used to work for Wizard's Frightful Four), X-Men villain Magneto (a reimaging for the show could result in a crossover with the upcoming X-Men series), Captain America villain Red Skull, Daredevil villain Owl (of course you can also establish a Daredevil series with Cam Clarke reprising the title role and attempt to obtain Kingpin for that), Thor villain Loki, and Namor villain Tiger Shark. I don't recall which enemies of the Hulk that Spider-Man had fought.

Of course, you can always establish a Marvel Team-Up series.

When it comes to Sally Avril, I found info that she was Spider-Man's would-be partner Bluebird who was killed in a wreck caused by Spider-Man's battle with the Black Knight.

Kyle Tonarella writes...

Hi greg i just Watched The Batman :Strange Minds and that is your strongest joker episode Yet.
Here is my question will there be a strong green goblin episode in season 2 that you wrote ?

Rupert writes...

Dear Greg,

I am a major fan of your work (espescially The Spectacular Spider-man). Unfortunately I have never been able to watch Gargoyles, but I have been trying to get the first season. I loved The Rubberface of Comedy and Meltdown in the Batman. That is my favourite version of clayface. I think you did those episodes.
Anyway, questions on the spectacular spider-man, great show.

Firstly I LOVE Dr.Octopus! He is my favourite spider-man foe in comics, movies and your show. However I love all the villains, from the cowboy shocker to the nightmare on elm street vulture. My first question is that in season two I know that the master Planner will appear early in the second season but wil his other persona be Dock Ock. I'm not to sure because of that surprising, yet brilliant Tombstone/Big Man change from the Foswell/Big man.

My second question is that because the Master Planner is appearing, will the famous story in Amazing Spider-man 33# appear?

My final question. I discovered that you will not be on CN any more. What network will you be on then?

I can't wait for season two.

Thank you very much!

mike p. writes...

related to my previous question: Will the episode involving Molten Man (assuming they are related as in the comics) provide more insight into Liz such as why her last name is Alan (not a hispanic name)?

mike p. writes...

I have a question regarding Liz Alan. Is she Puerto Rican? I am Puerto Rican myself and judging from the shows setting (New York) I've made the assumption that she is buecause of the large population of immigrants from the island, but wanted to make sure.

anonymous writes...

Hi there:

1.) I didn't know if you knew, but your show currently holds the record for the most episodes to feature Sandman on any Spider-Man animated series, as he's never appeared in more than one episode of a Spider-Man cartoon. I've noticed some villains that have appeared on the various cartoon shows have been used surprisingly little. Mysterio's had no more than four episodes (as shown on the Fox Kids, 1990s "Spider-Man" show), Electro's had three (from the 1960s animated series), and Kraven's had three or four appearances at the most, I think (also from the Fox Kids TV show). Do you have any plans for future seasons to try and break these villains' current records and let the villains appear in more episodes?

2.) Is there any chance we will see Doctor Octopus meet with Mysterio in season two, or maybe in another season?

3.) When season two is a huge hit (which I'm sure it will be), will you guys get started animating season three or does it usually take a few months of planning before you can get right back to work on another season?

Stuart writes...

Hello, Mr. Weisman,
I had a few questions about the future of "The Spectacular Spider-Man" animated series, if you don't mind:
1.) I didn't see this in the archives, but if you answered it and I missed it, sorry. Anyway, I know you've said you're not able to use Kingpin because of the "Daredevil" license and legal issues. However, does this mean you can use the Rose or not? Even if it's not Kingpin's son Richard Fisk as Rose, can you use the ex-Daily Bugle employee Jacob Conover version of the Rose?
2.) For the first season, certain episodes were broken into storyarcs and put together on DVDs, like how the first three episodes of season one will be on one DVD and the next three episodes will be on another. Is there any chance we'll see storyarcs like this that share a same theme, like, for example, how one storyarc could be about men who turn into monsters (like how Michael Morbius becomes Morbius the Living Vampire, John Jameson transforms into Man-Wolf, and Dr. Curt Connors reverts back to the Lizard)?
3.) Doctor Octopus is my favorite villain and there are so many good stories with him in in them that would make for great episodes. I mentioned before I'd love to see the Doc Ock/Aunt May story as a storyline one day on either "Spectacular" or another Spider-Man animated series if there's no room for the story on "Spectacular", but which Doc Ock story is your favorite?

Thanks for reading. I can't wait to see what's in store for season two!

Anonymous writes...

Will Ben Riley ever make an appearance?

Arthur Jr. writes...

Hey Greg, recent Comics Continuum mentioned the appearance of Master Planner in Season Two of "The Spectacular Spider-Man." Master Planner is an alias of Doctor Octopus in the comics. Could this be a coincidence or is there going to be a different Master Planner?

I know Xander Berkeley voiced Quentin Beck in Season One and I think he might reprise him as Mysterio. There was already comments that Thom Adcox will voice Phineas Mason when he takes on the Tinkerer (Phineas had no dialogue in "Persona"). As for Kraven the Hunter, Molten Man, Calypso, Richard Kingsley, and Silver Sable, do you have any knowledge on who will be voicing them. I was just wondering as I am a top contributor at VoiceChasers.com where I added your voice role in an episode of "Gargoyles."

If the show becomes successful after Season Two and a proposed Season Three, will there be any plans for appearances of villains like Beetle, Ben Reilly, Big Wheel, Boomerang, Carlyle (if featured, I recommend Neil Ross for the reprisal from the Spider-Man 3 video game), Carnage, Cyclone, Gibbon, Grizzly, Jackal, any of the two Kangaroos, the Lobo Brothers, Prowler (Hobie Brown already made an appearance), Puma, Ringer, Ringmaster and his Circus of Crime, Rocket Racer, Scorpia, Spot, Stegron, Swarm, Walrus, and White Rabbit. Any one of them ought to appear in this series.

I still think a proposed season where it reaches the point of Spider-Man meeting other superheroes would still be good.

Chimmy Char writes...

Are there plans to include Lance Banyon or the Daily Globe in the second season of SSSM?

anonymous writes...

which comics were your season three ideas based on?

richard writes...

mr. weisman
why is the new spiderman series's season two getting released next year?
i mean are you insane???

Jim Grue writes...

I have no questions to ask. I just wanted to tell you I think the "Spectacular Spiderman" is amazing. Here's my blog post of what I think. http://jimgrue.blogspot.com/2008/06/saturday-morning-spidey.html

kyle tonarella writes...

sorry for my punctuation errors before i just get excitded when talking to famous people. Anyway sorry for my errors and here are some questions about Spectacular Spider-Man

1.Will Venom be more ruthless when he fights spidey in season 2?
2.any plans to use hydroman in later seasons ?
3.will Roderick Kingsly play a major role in the second season ?

anonymous writes...

Hi, I'd had a few "The Spectacular Spider-Man" questions:

1. Will we see more of Joe "Robbie" Robertson in Season Two?
2. You said the Sinister Six returns in Season Two. Would you like to include other bad guy teams on the show later on, like the Sinister Syndicate or the Legion of Losers?
3. You said the Scorpion is planned for Season Three. Do you think we will see him as Mac Gargan in an episode or two before he becomes Scorpion, like how we saw Flint Marko and Alex O'Hirn before we saw them as Sandman and Rhino?

Thanks.

Landon Thomas writes...

I notice that you like people to do Gathering journals so I thought I'd write some Greg-related highlights from CONvergence.

Thursday, July 3, 2008:

'Spectacular Spider-Man'

The SS-M panel's audience was a little sparse to start out with (it being 5pm on Thursday), but thankfully the room soon filled out nicely. The audience had good questions, so they were definitely fans. I learned that Greg wants to do a straight-to-DVD movie with a spring break story idea by Vic Cook, but it probably won't be approved by Sony until the sales for the first DVD come back. I also learned that Greg is interested in doing a feature at some point in the future. Greg said that in three weeks he'll have to fire his crew if season 3 isn't picked up. Only four people would stay on: himself, Cook, another producer and a production assistant. At an unspecified time after that he'll have no choice but to look for more work. I would learn why Sony is so timid in approving these sure-fire hits in the animation panel tomorrow.

I introduced myself to Greg after the panel with the usual 'I'm a huge fan' spiel. I decided to keep my real gushing to a minimum until the signing on Sunday. I asked about Ben 10. Ben 10 was one the great, recent animated series, in my opinion. Greg's season 3 opener 'Ben 10,000' really brought the series to a whole new level. The same with 'Ken 10'. Both episodes were the best of the entire run. I loved seeing the shades of Gargoyles in there with Greg's fearlessness in shaking things up, adding drama, introducing new characters, and playing with the time line. This is part of the plethora of evidence that Greg is the Pixar of televised animation. Most people think Pixar is all about technology, but what makes them really special is their placement of story-telling above all other considerations. That's why I think Greg is Pixar's analogue for the small screen. And it's not the 'writing on multiple levels' thing that makes Greg special in my mind. That's very important but what makes him one-of-a-kind is the complexity, plotting, and risk-taking he puts into all his work. Animation is my favorite method of story-telling and I always love when the Americans get it right, because it's my culture. But regardless of the intended audience, most TV animation stories are just too simple. Even more so than Gargoyles, Spectacular Spider-Man showcases Greg's persistent will to fully exploit every minute of airtime and make every character, plot, and setting blossom to its full potential. The complexity of every episode is amazing to behold. Only the Dini/Timm DCAU teams have come anywhere close. With Greg's help, I think it's inevitable that TV animation will someday graduate from "kid's stuff" to "everyone's stuff" in the same way Pixar has revolutionized animated films.

Anyway, this was all stuff I wanted to articulate to Greg after the panel since it sort of related to TSS-M, but I knew I'd forget most of it, so I've put it here. I asked Greg if the 'Ben 10,000' and 'Ken 10' stories were his idea or if he wrote off an outline. He said he did create the stories and that 'Ken 10' was Man of Action's entry for Emmy consideration. Greg wouldn't have received credit if they'd won, but hopefully this will reflect back positively anyway. In fact, I'm glad someone has finally noticed his talent and given him a high-profile project again. I hope Spectacular Spider-Man's run will be long and fruitful so that Greg will have some weight to throw around and get us an original series again. Even if it's not Gargoyles, I can't wait to see some of Greg's original characters onscreen again.

Opening Ceremonies had a nice little bit on Greg when showcasing the guests of honor and there were obviously some fans in the audience when his name came up.

Friday:

'Animation All-Stars'

I attended the Animation All-Stars panel, which had Greg, Mark Evanier, Wally Wingert, and Matt Waterhouse. I was wearing my Hot Topic shirt today, which Greg noticed. w00t!

The animation panel was more gloomy and revealed why TSS-M was being treated so poorly despite Spider-Man's massive success and name recognition: the industry is full of yes-men committees. This is Sony's only animation project when they used to run 7-8 at a time. That's the reason it took all of 2006 to hire Greg. It's not because they weren't sure he was the guy; it was because it took that long to approve the show through the ranks of timid bureaucracy. They're all terrified of being the guy that promoted a losing product, even though Spider-Man is the most sure-fire brand in fiction right now. It's the same reason season 3 and the made-for-DVD movie weren't approved months ago.

'Gargoyles: The Continuing Saga':

I was thrilled to see the room packed and two other folks in Hot Topic shirts. Many ancient, late-90s-style Ask Greg questions were asked like "What's up with the gargoyle dogs?" and "What happened to the third season?" It made me realize that as a professional that regularly attends fan conventions, Greg must have to answer the exact same questions over and over again. It made me wonder if Greg ever starts to say "CHECK THE ARCHIVES!" before catching himself. ;)

I did learn a couple things, though. A lot of the fans weren't aware of the comics or just the Bad Guys spin-off, which was promising (new sales, right?) Greg also mentioned Blue Mug Productions, which I heard whispers about in the comment room but didn't understand. Greg spelled it out nice and clearly: "If you like Gargoyles and you like porn..."

Unfortunately, food poisoning from who-knows-where was catching up to me so I had to enjoy most of the panel writhing on the floor in the back. But I did get to hear the ENTIRE "Better than Barney" story, which made it all worth it. I really wanted to meet other Minnesota Gargoyles fans after the panel, but I was too ill and had to leave for the day, which was a bummer.

Saturday:

'Legion of the All-Stars'

This was the headlining comics panel and truly had an all-star panel of Terry Beatty, Chris Jones, Mark Evanier, Marv Wolfman, Len Wein and Greg smack in the middle. During the intros, people were enamored with Greg's mention of his upcoming Red Tornado mini-series. This reminded me of how little press there has been for it. I don't know why DC hasn't put out a press release or why DiDio hasn't mentioned it at any conventions or even the DCU panels going on at Comic-Con right now (at least from the articles I've read). RT has pretty much been the star through most of JLA's current run, which is kinda-sorta the flagship title.

Anyway, lots of good stories. Chris Jones brought up his "The Flashback of Notre Dame" work, and obviously had warm memories of that. A woman asked a really specific question about Bionicle on behalf of her son and Greg of course had to say that he hadn't worked on that show for very long. They had prominent English accents and soon left. I hope they didn't come all the way to Minnesota just because of the brief 'Bionicle: Mask of Light' blurb in Greg's guest-of-honor bio. After the panel, it was the perfect opportunity to get Greg and Chris to sign my Bad Guys #3. Chris was excited since he hadn't seen a final copy yet which means my copy was probably the first one he signed, which is pretty cool.
After the panel, I tried to rattle all the RT questions I could remember. I really wanted to know how Greg got the job, since the comics world seems so insular. Apparently DiDio did remember Greg from the Captain Atom days. I hope that question wasn't offensive. I also asked if Greg was writing from a DC outline (another foot-in-mouth question), since the character has been changing so much in the recent JLA run. Greg said it would be his own story.

Sunday:

'Material Adaptation'

This was a panel on adopting material from one format to another, like comic to film. It had Vincent Truitner, Marv Wolfman, and Greg. Vincent used his recent Golden Compass experience to provide the most concise explanation on how to adapt by studying the core of the characters and the themes of the story. Once you do that, you can take some liberties with the production without insulting the original work. Greg and Marv provided a spin on the old piracy debate. As content creators, they have to protect their work since it's their livelihood. But they also understand the concerns when rigid corporations don't adapt to new technologies or fan expectations. So they didn't have any easy answers or a decisive side of the debate.

Marv had some interesting thoughts on writer originality. He mused that writers can't expect their work to be 100% original. Every writer gets their ideas from the great ether that is the common experience. Two completely different writers could come up with similar ideas at the same time. Their thoughts could have been triggered by reading the same newspaper article or have been completely random. Marv's point was that there are a fixed number of story possibilities and you need to protect your copyrights. Greg agreed with an anecdote about someone who sued Disney in the mid-nineties for copying his Gargoyles idea. It was later proven that this was impossible given the writer's material was unavailable and developed after Gargoyles started production. But Greg learned that all professional content creators don't accept unsolicited writing for this reason.

I think the best story I heard at Con was Greg's Tarzan anecdote during this panel. When he was still at Disney, the features department was negotiating to secure rights for the Tarzan movie. There was big meeting with the Edgar Rice Burroughs estate coming up and it was discovered that Greg was the only exec around that had bothered read the original Tarzan books and comics. So Greg tagged along to the meeting even though he was a TV exec at the time and completely outside his purview. I won't get into details because Greg tells it so much better, but basically he was the only guy that the heir connected with since he actually knew the material. He single-handedly obtained the estate's blessing, yet never got a credit on the movie since he wasn't supposed to be there.

'Signing w/ Greg Weisman'

I had Greg sign all my firsts: the first DVD, Garg #1, the TPB, and BG #1. I had some notion that having Greg only sign my firsts would be more sentimental or something. I've since realized that's ridiculous and I'll be carting my entire collection to my first Gathering in 2009, which I signed up for as soon as I got home. I also had Greg sign my new cel right smack on the top in gaudy gold ink. It probably destroyed the resale value, but I don't care: it's never leaving my wall. That is, assuming I can find someone who has a clue on how to mat it...

I also waited until the signing to do most of my fan fawning since that was the prescribed one-on-one time. I thought beforehand about what I was going to say but all that came out was 'Gargoyles changed my life mumble mumble mumble' which probably made Greg reach for his mace. Anyway, I'll assume he enjoys wading through distended fan stories about his work's positive effects, so I'm going to spill it here.

I stopped watching cartoons around 1993 and my last memories were of Darkwing Duck and TaleSpin. I just missed out on Gargoyles even though I was a Disney afternoon fan. I was about 11 at the time: the age (for me) when cartoons became uncool. I only saw a few features after that. Fast forward to April 2002: I'm a freshman in college and lazily browsing the IMDb cast pages for Star Trek: TNG. I start to notice an inexplicable commonality among many of the actors listed...

I had a vague recollection of Gargoyles already: a brief image from a long-forgotten single viewing. I think it was of Taurus on the beach. But I somehow sensed there was something special about the show. I never figured out where that feeling came from. On a whim I decided to set a summer project for myself of recording every single episode to tape and importing it into my computer under the guise of learning how to use video capture/editing software. And I'm someone who never plans summer projects. I guess it was fate.

This was back when Toon Disney played it twice a day at 10 and 10:30pm. The very first episode I watched was 'The Edge'. Within the first minute, I was stupefied. This was like NOTHING else on TV, animated or otherwise. I kept recording and capturing studiously but resolved to not watch any more episodes until I started the series from the beginning.

That October I switched my major from computer engineering to theatre. I had spent the entire summer (besides capturing and editing video) studying Gargoyles and how I could get involved in creating such a piece of art. I settled on voice acting, not for any reason more practical than that job seemed like the most fun. My parents, to say the least, were surprised that I switched from computer engineering to acting even though I'd never been on stage.

Back to today, I've received my BA and tomorrow I'm beginning step 3 out of 8 or so to get my Pro Tools operator certification. I've since settled on audio post-production (with a focus on animation) as my career choice. It's a better fit for me based on my existing skill set.

Anyway, Gargoyles truly did change my life and certainly for the better. It rekindled my love of animation and catalyzed my latent desire to make it in entertainment. I now feel like I'm finally on a path to a career that I can truly love, which is a rare gift indeed. So, if you're reading this Mr. Weisman, thank you.

Stuart writes...

Hello Mr. Weisman,
I know that you're incredibly busy, but I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions about "The Spectacular Spider-Man" cartoon, if you don't mind:

#1.) I love the partnership of Sandman and Rhino on "The Spectacular Spider-Man". To me, it's like the Peter Parker/Doctor Octopus past relationship that they had on the Fox Kids "Spider-Man" animated series (and the two later had a similar student/mentor relationship in "Spider-Man 2"), where you wish Stan Lee had thought of it first because it's such a brilliant idea and is wonderful to watch. However, on the Fox Kids cartoon, the Peter/Ock past history was unfortunately forgotten about and Ock was reduced to one of Kingpin's henchmen later in the series, so we never got a chance to see any more fireworks between the two characters. I hope the Rhino/Sandman friendship doesn't go the same route and gets ignored in future episodes of "Spectacular". Will we see Sandman and Rhino interact in season two, or do you think maybe they could team up again in a future season?

#2.) I know you're going to have the Sinister Six in season two, and I'm very excited that the team will be back. But I was wondering if you were okay with the idea of having the Six's teammates appear solo in episodes after that? You see, I'm asking because the Fox Kids "Spider-Man" show had a great take on the team with the Insidious Six and after that, some villains like Doc Ock and Chameleon appeared in several episodes on that show in seasons three and four before the Insidious Six returned in season five. But in between the first Insidious Six line-up in season two and the second Six line-up in season five, some of the group's teammates, like Shocker and Mysterio (who was sadly killed off on the show), appeared solo for one episode each in-between that time and, unfortunately, the Rhino didn't even appear in a solo episode of his own during that time. I was just wondering if it's possible "Spectacular" will not repeat that mistake and that we could see solo episodes for some of the Six's members in the later seasons of the series, such as an Electro episode, a Rhino episode and a Mysterio episode (who many fans speculate will join as a member of the Sinister Six in season two)? I know it's way too early to ask this question, but it's always something to keep in mind, and there's no harm in asking, right?

#3.) Since a lot of animated series spin off into their own video games, I assume (and hope) there might be one for "The Spectacular Spider-Man" one day for the current video game systems (Nintendo DS and Wii, Playstation 2 and PS3, etc.). If there is such a game made/being made, would you like to be involved with the story for a "Spectacular Spider-Man" game, as a writer or story supervisor or something?

#4.) This one actually isn't a question. I just wanted to say thanks again for giving us such a brilliant first season of "The Spectacular Spider-Man". My favorite episode was "Group Therapy", and I loved how all of the Sinister Six villains were handled (especially my favorite Spider-Man villain Doctor Octopus). I can't wait to see what's in store for the show's second season next year and hope the series gets picked up for three more seasons like you guys are hoping for.

Thanks for your time and keep up the brilliant work.

mike p. writes...

Hey greg,
first off, i love everything about spectacular spider-man. I think it's like 10x better than the 90's cartoon and a good deal of shows (animated and not) on right now. My question is that from a good amout of the interviews that you've done it seems like you're planning on doing the series for a while (approx. 60-some episodes) and then after doing dvd movies about when Peter's in college. Do you ever worry that the amount of new characters you're going to be able to use will shrink over time leaving only more obscure villains to introduce in later seasons? Or do you already have the story arcs and everything planned out? Also, would a character like Morlun(and the Other storyline) be too bizarre for what you have planned even in the dvd movies?

Thanks for being too legit to quit.

? writes...

Mr. Wiseman (or may I call you Greg?), I have to say I enjoyed Season 1 of Spectacular Spider-Man, I especialy liked how Venom was saved as the season's final villian (great finale, by the way).Seeing as how Venom is my favorite Spider-Man villian (I also like the Goblins, Doc Ock and Lizard) I have a few questions conserning his future.
1. Is Venom the only Symbiote villian you plan to use? I ask because I never cared for "Scorpion Venom" (Mac Gargan was better off as Scorpion if you ask me), Carnage or those other ones; I liked it better when Venom was the only Symbiote villian (not to mention when Eddie Brock was his human half).
2. Assuming you get your wish of making 65 episodes, do you intend to give Venom a fair amount of apperances (not too much, not too little)? The 90s series only gave the character 4 episodes as Venom (Eddie Brock and the Symbiote fused together); I can understand if he isn't used alot if you only get 3 Seasons or so. I know he'll return in Season 2 though I'm not sure if he'll get 1 or 2 episodes. If you're not sure yet that's OK, I completly understand.
3. What are your own opinions about Venom? Just for curiosity reasons I guess (wondering if your influence gave him his (pardon the pun) spectacular performance in Season 1's finale.
Thanks in advance for your answers! I may ask about the other villans one of these days.

Mike B. writes...

I was wondering...is Season 2 of SSSM going to feature Lance Banyon and the Daily Globe? It would be interesting to see how they could have a tie-in to Eddie Brock, so Peter could use those clues in his search.

kyle tonarella writes...

hey greg i just want to say thank you once again for making Spectacular Spider-Man. It has become my second favorite cartoon after Batman The Animated Series becasue you handle the charcters just like bruce timm and paul dini did. I look forward to the second season. here is my question will we Doc Ock come back to lead the sinister six in the second group ?

cartoonlover writes...

Hi Greg,
I heard from Animation Magazine (or at least that's what I heard) that season two of Spectacular Spider-Man will indeed air on CW. Is that true?

klye tonarella writes...

what my question ment was will molten man have any connections to liz allen like he did in the comics and is there any chance the lizard might return