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Anonymous writes...

You said before that there isn't any recorded, on camera footage of the voice actors for Young Justice. Why did you record behind the scenes stuff for The Spectacular Spider-Man but not for Young Justice?

Greg responds...

The Sony folks recorded stuff and encouraged us to record stuff on Spidey. Then they didn't use any of it.

No one at Warners ever claimed they were going to use that kind of footage, and none was recorded or requested.

I'll leave it to you to decide which scenario is most frustrating.

Response recorded on September 04, 2012

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Michael writes...

Hi Greg!

Like many fans, I was deeply saddened to see Spectacular Spider-Man get cancelled after only two seasons. The show had so many good stories left to tell and really left a lot of open plot threads (Peter and Gwen's relationship, Norman Osborn's future plans, the Venom symboiote's whereabouts etc.) that were just begging to be explored.

With that in mind, have you given any thought to proposing a Spectacular Spider-Man comic book that would continue the storylines you and your creative team had planned? I know that you've gone this route with Gargoyles, and I think a Spectacular Spider-Man comic would really excite and satisfy fans who wanted to see where the series would have gone without incurring the expense of continuing the show (since I realize a lot of your talent has moved on to other projects -- incidentally love Lacey Chabert as Zatanna in Young Justice!). Marvel is already producing an Ultimate Spider-Man comic based on the new animated show -- would it really be out of the realm of possibility for them to produce a Spectacular Spider-Man comic and/or miniseries? After all, DC produced new issues of the Batman The Animated Series comic book, The Batman comic, and Batman the Brave and the Bold long after the cartoons were cancelled.

Best wishes

Michael

Greg responds...

I did propose a Spectacular Spider-Man comic book, but Marvel didn't bite.

Response recorded on August 28, 2012

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6f6ea3 writes...

Hey again, Greg. Hopefully this question will catch you while you're at your office or Beverly Hills office, but I'm just dropping by a follow up inquiry about posting the SpecSpidey bible.

Sorry if I'm being a pest, I know by the time you read this you'll have slogged through a couple hundred questions about Red Tornado's shoe-size or the like since you answered my last question. Keep the faith, you're made of sterner stuff then I.

Greg responds...

Sorry, I'm at Warner Bros. today. And I'm still not sure if I WANT to post the SpecSpidey bible.

Response recorded on August 28, 2012

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Miten writes...

Hey Greg it's me again and I was wondering
how did you get the role of spectacular spiderman.

Greg responds...

You mean the job producing it?

I interviewed for it - like five times - and they chose me, I assume, based on the ideas I pitched them for it, all of which wound up in the show.

Or did you mean how did I get the role of Menken in SpecSpidey?

I cast myself.

Response recorded on August 23, 2012

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Eagle-Owl writes...

YJ questions:

1) Clancy Brown as Agent Faraday, and Faraday looks A LOT like George Stacy. Spectacular Spider-Man reference?

2) Parasite was working for Intergang. Does this say anything about the current whereabouts of Bruno Mannheim or Whisper A'Daire?

Greg responds...

1. Not particularly. Again, keep in mind that the designs are done by Phil Bourassa under Brandon Vietti's art direction, and neither worked on SpecSpidey.

2. Not particularly.

Response recorded on August 23, 2012

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Codeman1992 writes...

Hi Mr. Weisman, I just wanted to give you props on developing one of the most interesting and creative superhero series on television. Young Justice is one of the greatest superhero series I've watched. I put it up there with the great Batman The Animated Series and all the Timmverse Shows. So, like I said before, I give you props and you are a extremely well versed writer and it's proof in your work. With the new Spider Man movie coming out soon, I've noticed it's very reminiscent of The Spectacular Spider man. At least in the case of turning Gwen into a potential love interest in High School, who both her and Pete intern somewhere. That's my first question, have you noticed that? My second question is regarding The Spectacular Spider Man. I'm in my Spidey Obsession phase and always turn to your show whenever I'm in that phase. Since there's not gonna be a Season 3 of the show, can you drop any potential storylines or where the show was gonna go after the finale of Season 2? I know this is really long, but I'm a huge fan and hope I can be as great of a writer as you are one day. Thank You Mr. Weisman for your time.

Greg responds...

1. I did notice similarities, but we're all working off the same source material, so there are bound to be similarities.

2. ASKED AND ANSWERED.

Response recorded on August 23, 2012

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ILikeSpiderMan writes...

Hi Greg!

Obviously I'm a huge fan of your work, since I'm, y'know, posting on your site. I've just been sitting and listening to your Spectacular Spider-Man podcast interviews, which are offering some "spectacular" insight (haha, ha).

You talk about Gwen Stacy being the first (one?) true love of Peter's life, and her incredible importance to him. You've also discussed your desire to adapt the feel and general story of the original comics as faithfully as possible. Given that Gwen is most famous for being killed by the Green Goblin, what does that mean for Gwen's future in the series? I'm not asking what your plans for the show were (I don't want spoilers, as some small part of me still hopes that somehow this show will have a future), but I'm wondering if you and the other writers were even considering including Gwen's death in the series. Would it warp the show's tone irreparably? Would it still be possible to write a fun-loving, wise-cracking Spider-Man after this? Would the CW/Disney allow this on a children's program?

Or did you and the other writers/producers decide upfront to veto the idea?

I understand how this could easily be seen as a spoiler request. I'm less curious about the potential plotline of future SSM episodes, and more wondering about the considerations you and your writing team take when adapting material from the comics, especially grittier, less-child-friendly stuff.

Thanks profusely!

Greg responds...

All I can say - or rather all I FEEL like saying - is that we had (pipe-dream) plans to do five 13-episode seasons that would have taken us through Peter's graduation from High School. After that, our hope was to do a series of Direct to DVD movies that would continue the story into Peter's college years and beyond.

Response recorded on August 23, 2012

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Justin F. writes...

Hey Greg. I wanted to let you know that I, and a large portion of the internet community, absolutely loved Spectacular Spider-Man. The show accurately portrayed who Peter Parker was, his troubles, his difficult choices, and his life as Spider-Man. Me, being a teen in high school, thought Peter was someone I could relate to, even though he had these extraordinary powers. Being able to relate to Peter Parker is something that should be constant (and for the most part, has been constant) in every Spider-Man story. I know I'm not the only one who thinks that the series should have went on for much longer. However, I know that the series' ending had to do with Disney/Marvel purchasing the animated series rights from Sony. Since this was pretty much out of your hands, I'm here to propose an idea.
Since the rights to the theme song, character designs, etc. for The Spectacular Spider-Man are locked by Sony, and you couldn't possibly resume the show even if you wanted to at Disney/Marvel, I suggest making, if you'd be fine with doing so, an INDEPENDENT episode (about 45 min. or an hour long)of The Spectacular Spider-Man and release it online. Sean Galloway could come back to do the designs, and you could get the voice actors who would agree to it back if the scheduling works in the favor of both parties. This is more than a scheduling thing than anything, when you're not busy with Young Justice and they're not busy with anything, but it may be able to work. And since it wouldn't be
released under the Sony or Marvel banner, and if you make it perfectly clear that it's a "fan film", no breach-in-contract would occur at all.
I'm sorry if I'm sounding selfish, but the show had a HUGE, HUGE fan base, and most of this HUGE fan base, when tuned in to watch Ultimate Spider-Man on Sunday, all cringed in unison (no offense to Marvel or anyone who likes the show). It just doesn't match the charm that your interpretation of Spider-Man had. So I would definitely like for you to take this into consideration. Would you be able to make an independent "final" episode of Spectacular Spider-Man exclusively for online, one that is a "fan film" of sorts? Thank you for your time.

-Justin

Greg responds...

Justin, it's just not up to me. I can't create a "fan film" with someone else's property.

For starters, who would pay for it? Even if I and everyone else involved were willing to donate services for free - which honestly I'm not - who would pay for the materials? None of us have the hundreds of thousands of dollars that it would take to do even one episode at the quality level you'd expect. And why would we want to produce something at a lower quality level? Why would you want to watch it at a lower quality level?

And that's aside from the fact, that I'd never be allowed to work for Marvel, Disney, Sony or probably any other studio again ever. I'm a pro. They know that. I can't make a fan film, stealing someone else's characters, and just get away with it.

For this to happen, Sony would have to make a deal with Marvel/Disney to do this - and then they'd have to reassemble the key players from the original cast and crew. I'd LOVE for this to happen, but I don't see that as realistic.

I mean, don't get me wrong. I'd love to do more SpecSpideys. But it's less likely than me doing more Gargoyles, even.

Response recorded on August 16, 2012

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Laura 'ad astra' Sack writes...

Wow! Is it hard to keep up with even the questions to post new ones. Thanks for reopening the queue!

Condolences on the lose of your Grandmother. I remember the months before my grandmother died how she had retreated into herself and was all but unrecognizable, than all of a sudden came back to herself for a week or two at the end. I still treasure it as a great gift that we were reminded who she was before the end. She was a good deal younger than 100 so we were not quite expecting the end, but I can understand what you mean by feeling that the person you love is already on the way somewhere else. I am glad you have so many years and so many wonderful memories to look back on.

1- I see someone already asked if you can explain some of the terms you used when you broke down the stages the of episodes in progress. He mentioned ‘online’ in particular. If you didn’t already do so, can you also define ‘slug’?

2- I know you prefer to record the voice actors together in conversation, unlike many other cartoons that record the voices in isolation. In live action tv and movies are recorded out of order, that’s the most efficient way to use the sets and actors. Since there aren’t sets for cartoons, and you prefer to have all the actors together anyway, are the scenes more or less recorded in order?

3- You mentioned in the past moments when stories just come together and surprise you- when the next event seems to announce herself, unplanned but seemingly totally organic to the story. Like when “Owen is Puck!” announced itself. Or when you kept hearing “Thailog” when the video was being rewound. Did you have any such moments for Spectacular Spiderman and the other shows you worked on? Have you had any with Young Justice yet? Can you share any if they’ve already happened?

4-One last question for this catch-all batch... what do you think of the new DC Nation shorts? I’m not crazy about loosing the opening credits, but I love shorts and think it is an easy trade. I love that they are all different and playful and yet often also a series. My favorite so far is the one with Batgirl and Supergirl trying to convince Wonder Girl to ‘borrow’ Wonder Woman’s invisible jet. (Oddly I have become used to (and approve) on Dianna being portrayed as someone from another country, with a light to strong intonation of something foreign, but it never occurred to me the same would apply to Donna.)

Begin pontification: I’ve never loved the Teen Titan cartoon, (plenty to like, but never loved), but I love the fact it is turning up in the shorts. Back when Disney XD was Toon Disney I wondered why they didn’t run shorts. (To be fair I didn’t have a TiVO at the time and it was possible they were already running the “Have a Laugh” abridged classic shorts as well as Shaun the Sheep. But they weren’t running any new material.) It seemed odd to me they were trying to compete with the Cartoon Network’s reach into the older demographic and didn’t, for instance, declare one night a week the 10 o’clock older folks movie night, (say a Miyazaki flik), and intersperse it with shorts- gorgeous, varied, counter expectation shorts like they gleefully did for Fantasia 2000. (I had the idea a long time ago.) If some of those shorts were back door pilots...great. It worked for the Simpsons They could have led to another late evening night of new programming of new shows. They couldn’t compete with cheap nostalgic cartoons or crude adult ones because that just isn’t Disney. Disney can never put out a Family Guy type show under the Disney label. Maybe they could do it on ABC, but not something with Disney in the name. (Even Miyazaki’s Princess Monenoke had to be released in the US under the Miramax label because a PG-13 cartoon would be problematic under the Disney label.) It a rather obvious route for a high end cartoon station to go and might have netted a few Oscars away from Pixar. Or perhaps more for Pixar. End pontification.

Of course it would have been an ideal place to run a little Gargoyle related short. :)

Greg responds...

1. A "slug" is the section of action BETWEEN lines of dialogue. A "slugged board" is a board that's been timed, i.e. the time for each action has been calculated - and since each line of dialogue has also been timed - you have an exact length, and you know whether or not your episode is going to be long, short or right on the money. If it's long or short, we need to cut or pad to get it to time.

2. Generally, yes. But for example, I poked my head in at a recording on Monday for "Beware the Batman". And there was one actress at the record who was only in one scene, and it happened to be the last scene. So after the rehearsal, they recorded that last scene first, so that the actress wouldn't have to sit through the entire record. It's a courtesy thing. Other times, it may be a scheduling thing. But, again, generally, we record the whole episode from start to finish.

3. It happens all the time. I wish I could remember a specific example from Spidey, but nothing immediately comes to mind. And it's too soon to discuss this stuff on YJ.

4. I love DC NATION. Sincerely. I think some of the shorts have been great, and some have fallen a little flat, but in general, I LOVE the FACT that they're doing the shorts. I just wish they'd expand DC Nation to two hours or something.

5. I'm game for ANYTHING that brings me back to Gargoyles.

Response recorded on August 16, 2012

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JayBe writes...

Hi Greg, first off I just wanted to say you're awesome. Spectacular Spider-man was THE best Spider-man cartoon/interpretation of all time and IMO the best superhero cartoon of all time (although YJ is now a close second for me). It still pains my heart that it didn't reach past a 2nd season. And despite not being interested when I originally heard about Young Justice, it's quickly become one of my favorites due to the awesome character development/continuity that seems to be your trademark. Having just seen the new Ultimate Spider-man (which I read you won't be watching), I can safely tell you that although it's not the complete crap-fest I thought it would be, it's nowhere near the level of greatness of Spectacular Spider-man.

So anyway, my question is actually about SpecSpider-man (and sorry if it was asked already, I went through as much of the 600+ search results as I could). Could you possibly go into the general idea of what we were going to get out of the next few seasons if it hadn't been cancelled? I know there's probably a thousand details you could give (which would be awesome), but was there any overall story concepts you had that were going to blow our minds? For instance, were we actually going to see Gwen Stacy die?

Thanks for reading even if you can't/don't want to answer.

Greg responds...

ASKED AND ANSWERED. But thanks for the kind words.

Response recorded on August 16, 2012

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SpideyFan writes...

I've just gotten a chance to sit down and watch Spectacular Spidey, and it was absolutely mind-blowing. Between it and YJ, I am totally sold on your work. I love the way you structure your stories (on an episode-by-episode basis, and the way you build up longer arcs), and how you manage to present only the most pertinent/interesting information, and trim the narrative fat. It makes your shows a total joy to watch; the stories have such a deliberate sense of movement, everything seems to have purpose. Watching your work inspires me!

Here's the "Ask" part:
In the series finale (S2E13 "The Final Curtain"), Spidey's big confrontation sees him fighting pumpkin-headed grunts in little flying goop-shooting ships. Was this something the creative team was gung-ho about putting in the series, or was it more related to pressures from the powers-that-be about opportunities to sell toys?
Also, how often is marketing, or promoting the DC/Marvel/what-have-you brand a consideration for you when you're creating a show?
Finally: how did you start writing? I don't mean on the level of occupation (i.e. what jobs got you started), but how did you establish for yourself the discipline and confidence in your skills necessary to write professionally?

And I'm sorry to hear about your grandmother. It sounds like it was her time. My own great-grandmother just passed on, and I can tell you she was as ready for it as we were resistant to it. It certainly made the mourning process a lot harder to initiate, since there was this enormous sense of relief that she wasn't in any more pain, or so lonely anymore. I think a sort of hollow initial response is natural. Hope this is some condolences.

Thank you and adieu,

SpideyFan

Greg responds...

1. These were our creations, and as far as I know Hasbro never made any toys based on them. Which is too bad, don't you think?

2. I don't know how to answer this. It doesn't go into the development of our series at all. But I'm hired to do these shows, and whether or not this was a factor in what shows the studios and networks and comic book companies choose to do, is not something I'm privy to.

3. In sixth grade, I started writing my first (of many) unfinished novels. Most of the time I need a real deadline to get work done. By nature, I'm both lazy and a procrastinator. But with a deadline, I get the job done.

Thank you for the condolences.

Response recorded on August 15, 2012

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akif writes...

the new spider man show isn't that good i wish that you can continue the show anf young justice at the same time

Greg responds...

I haven't seen "Ultimate Spider-Man", but it's got some real great people working on it, so I'd suggest giving it a chance.

Response recorded on August 15, 2012

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The Greenman writes...

Hi Mr. Greg Weisman,

I have been a fan of yours since Gargoyles. One of the things that interest me is the basic structure of the themes and world building in the series. One of the styles I see continue to pop up in your series is the relationship between science and sorcery. This is something I have been a fan of in comics like Iron Man and Fantastic Four (specifically Dr. Doom versus Reed Richards). I love the simple explanation that energy is energy.

1. Now I didn't see much of this argument come up in your Spectacular Spider-Man series, because Peter debunked Mysterio, but can you say that you ever planned to and who you would've used to explore that science versus mystic aspect?

2. I am upset that directors such as Jon Favreau and Shane Black have knocked down the very idea of Mandarin showing up as not to approach the so-called mystic aspect. Though, it could be be alien in origin or something, as they claim and prove that even super-science isn't allowed in the MCU. Have you read and understand the Iron Man comics specific to Mandarin and Tony's relationship to science versus sorcery? Was it influential at all in your writing?

Greg responds...

1. Well, we had Calypso. I'm not going to get into much beyond the fact that we would have explored her character more.

2. I'm not sure specifically to what you're referring. I've read comics from the 60s, 70s and 80s with Iron Man and Mandarin. Probably nothing more recent than that. In any case, I don't think it influenced me much if at all.

Response recorded on August 15, 2012

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Mike writes...

1. How did the Rhino overcome his hydration problem?
2. What are the names of Tombstone's bodyguards?
3. Is Tombstone the Big Man or is it someone else entirely?

Greg responds...

1. I don't recall, I'm afraid.

2. I don't think we ever gave them names.

3. Tombstone is the Big Man. (Wasn't that obvious?)

Response recorded on July 26, 2012

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FanMan writes...

Being that the Spectacular Spider-Man was cancelled almost two years ago now, are you yet able to reveal details of what you had planned for season 3? Or do you still intend to keep that information back in order to use it on a later show or if Spec-Spidey gets (against all odds) renewed at a later time?

An Ask Greg Helper responds...

Greg Weisman says:

"I had many specific ideas, some of which would undoubtedly have changed over the course of production. But I'm just not too inclined to reveal them. It's not that I'm trying to torture you, it's just that there's no way I can do them justice in this format. I write 'X' would have happened, and that one statement will get dissected across the internet. And any idea is only as good as its execution - which you'll now never get to see. It may sound stupid here, but I might have been able (with the help of Vic Cook and all my other many collaborators) to pull it off on the series and have everyone think I'm a genius. Or not. But at least it would have had a shot. I just don't feel like opening myself up to potential second-guessing based on raw notions as opposed to executed episodes."

[Response recorded on August 5, 2010.]

Response recorded on July 03, 2012

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Derek writes...

I'm a big fan of continuity as I gather you are too based on your use of dates, your shows in general and an interview you did years ago critizing the X-Men for not evolving and moving forward. I think DC has some fantastic characters and concepts, which is one of the reasons I like Young Justice. However, I've found that without fail whenever I start reading their books and enjoying them, they erase characters and storylines I've become fond of from existence in a big reset or reboot in an effort to become “new reader friendly” e.g Linda Danvers, Helena Bertinelli, Stephanie Brown, Cassandra Cain, Team Titans, Infinity Inc etc.

In the end, this practice alienated me as a reader and I no longer buy DC books because as a reader I find this extremely irritating. So first of all, I'm glad that your not doing that with Young Justice. The characters in show have already greatly progressed through season 1 and I'm very optimistic about the Season 2 based on the first episode.

I'm curious though as a comic book reader what do you make of DC comics and their practice of the "reset"?

An Ask Greg Helper responds...

Greg Weisman says:

"As you noted, I have NOT had the time to read the New 52, so I will not comment on that specifically. Whether or not it works creatively depends more than anything else on execution. Since I haven't seen the execution, I can't respond to how it works creatively. But I KNOW that commercially it's been a HUGE hit. I like to believe that it wouldn't have done quite so well, if it wasn't executed well too.

But generally, on the idea of reboots, I do have a handful of thoughts:

1. I don't want to be a hypocrite. When we started Spectacular Spider-Man and again on Young Justice, we were effectively doing a continuity reboot. I feel when adapting something to a new media, that's essential, but it doesn't change the fact that (a) we did it and (b) I was relieved to be able to do it. Relieved to be able to jettison elements that I felt didn't work or were redundant or confusing, etc. Our goal, particularly on Spider-Man, was to come up with something Classic, Cohesive, Coherent, Contemporary and Iconic. So how can I object if the comics themselves want to do this?

2. In the end, whether or not either SpecSpidey or YJ was/is successful depends on our execution of our ideas, additions and cullings. I like to think both shows are successful, but that's a judgement each individual viewer would have to make for him or herself.

3. I was working on staff at DC Comics during the publication of the original Crisis on Infinite Earths. In fact, during my very first editorial meeting, I raised the question as to why we weren't starting ALL our books over (with the numerical exceptions of Detective and Action Comics) with issue #1. I remember very clearly a collective groan rising up from the conference room table. (They had dealt with this question for months before my arrival.) On the one hand, they wanted Crisis to be a real sea-change, a true reboot (before we knew that term). On the other hand, if you truly reboot Batman, then Robin doesn't exist yet. No Robin, no other sidekicks either. So no Teen Titans. And at the time, the New Teen Titans was the company's best selling book.

4. So the end result was that some things got rebooted and some did not.

5. This was complicated by the fact that certain creators came late to the party, and certain characters got reboots too long AFTER Crisis.

6. And so, as a READER, I couldn't help feeling that - rather than simplifying the continuity - Crisis made it more complicated. This will happen in general, naturally, as time passes and more and more comics are produced by a variety of creators and editors, but Crisis seemed to exacerbate the problem for me personally.

7. In part this was because, I really liked the DC Multiverse. I agree that it was abused to the point of confusion. (And I think it was nuts that Earth TWO had the forties heroes and Earth ONE had the sixties heroes. Just the odd backwards numbering itself created additional unnecessary confusion.) But if limits had been placed on the number of parallel earth stories and crossovers, I think it could have been fine.

8. ESPECIALLY, if they had created a new Earth-THREE, starting over with heroes of the eighties, with Superman and Batman (being new to the hero thing but) remaining relatively constant. But with a new Green Lantern (for example) as different from Hal Jordan as Jordan was from Alan Scott.

9. But that didn't happen. And in fact, though I've read very few comics since 1996, my understanding is that reboots have hit over and over at both DC and Marvel. That negates reader trust in the worth and weight of the stories they're reading. It's more insidious than obvious. And you risk alienating old readers, even as you may or may not attract new ones. You'll always get a short term gain off of a reboot, because everyone wants to check it out. But long term...

10. And going back to my first point - which is that most everything depends on execution - I personally didn't love the execution of some of the post-Crisis rebooting. Some people may have loved it. And that's totally legit. But some of the rethinking on certain individual characters didn't work too well for me.

11. Though personally I think the Bates-Weisman-Broderick reboot on Captain Atom from his Charlton incarnation was brilliant. ;)

12. So, personally, my feeling on reboots in general is that you either do them or you don't. You've got to be thorough and ruthless about it, or don't bother, because otherwise - long term - you're creating more problems than you're solving.

13. And still and all, ultimately, it all depends on execution."

[Response recorded on February 15, 2012.]

Response recorded on July 03, 2012

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Miten Dama writes...

Hey Greg I'm a huge fan of your work and
I'm a huge fan of the spectacular spiderman
out of curiousity could you tell me what would have happens in season 3
if the show had continued I'd really appriciated
from your biggest fan Miten Dama

An Ask Greg Helper responds...

Greg Weisman says:

"As I've stated MANY times before, I don't see any advantage TO ME in vomiting out what my plans would have been absent the execution of said plans. All that accomplishes is to hold the ideas out for all sorts of second guessing."

[Response recorded May 5, 2011.]

Response recorded on May 16, 2012

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Anonymous writes...

If spectacular spider-man continued would you have mention any other Marvel heroes like the fantastic four?

An Ask Greg Helper responds...

Greg Weisman says:

"I would like to do the occasional team-up. I think I've mentioned Spidey/Human Torch and Spidey/Hulk in the past, just to start with. But one or two per season is plenty for me. I've got more than enough to explore in Spidey's corner of the Marvel Universe."

[Response recorded on April 7, 2009.]

"All answered before, but now rendered moot."

[Response recorded on April 26, 2010.]

Response recorded on May 15, 2012

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Spen writes...

Hi Greg! First off, I'd like to thank you for posting all those old production memos from "Gargoyles". I love reading 'behind the scenes' stuff, and seeing the way the story develops over time. It kind of reminds me of Christopher Tolkien's "History of Middle-Earth" series, albeit on a smaller scale.

Now, I have a few questions that I hope can be considered to all fall under the general category of "series development". A couple of them might be stretching it a bit, but I think it'll be okay (and if not, you'll tell me).

1. You started posting production memos for your "Re-Awakening" ramble. Are there any surviving memos from "Thrill" to "Her Brother's Keeper"?

2. When you wrote "The Journey", did Scott Thomas send you a prod. memo?

3. Are there any memos from "Spectacular Spider-Man"?

4. One thing that really struck me when reading some of the notes from early '92 was just how early the Pack came along in the development. Which got me to thinking about another early villian. Was Tony Dracon's involvement planned all along, and he just happened to first appear in "Deadly Force", or was he created specifically because "Deadly Force" needed a new villian? (Awkward sentance, I know, but I can't seem to get this phrased quite right. Do you get what I'm saying?)

Thanks for taking the time to answer these. We will now return to our regularly scheduled "Young Justice" questions.

Greg responds...

1. I'm sure there are. But there are difficulties in posting them, including but not limited too: (a) not enough hours in the day (b) most of those memos were only preserved as documents - not electronically, so that it's not as simple as cutting and pasting (c) most of those documents are at my private office in Beverly Hills, and I'm almost never there, since producing YJ here in Burbank keeps me pretty busy.

2. No.

3. Very few. Those were mostly done via e-mail, and I didn't keep a record of that. Also, I was personally story editing SpecSpidey, so I wasn't writing memos to my story editors, as I was on Gargoyles.

4. I get what you're saying, but I honestly can't remember. My vague guess is that we always knew we'd need a "crime boss" of some kind, but that we probably didn't develop Tony until we got to his episodic premiere.

Response recorded on May 04, 2012

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DmarvelC writes...

If you could, would you have put your Spectacular Spider man on the team?

Greg responds...

I'm afraid that kind of hypothetical just has no meaning to me.

Response recorded on May 03, 2012

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Zach Baker writes...

Hey Greg!

I recently saw this line from an interview with Steven Bochco in the early 80's, talking about Hill Street Blues (which currently has its first two-and-a-half seasons on Hulu Plus, by the way):

"Maybe the biggest problem with Hill Street, in terms of popular success, is that it is a show that demands to be watched. And most people do not watch television. They simply are in its presence."

I love that quote. What an insightful way to encapsulate about what was essential and great about Hill Street Blues, without going into all the details of what made it so outstanding. Just leave at this: unlike nearly anything before it, in many ways it was a show that demanded to be watched. I think that characteristic also applies to Gargoyles as well, no doubt due to the major influence Hill Street Blues had on the show (as you've often mentioned).

Nowadays, that quality, of being a show that "demands to be watched," is characteristic of so many excellent shows that appear on HBO, Showtime or AMC (before hitting DVD boxsets and iTunes), places where popular success isn't the one and only yardstick. And again and again, we've seen how this kind of series can flourish in the atmosphere of creative freedom offered by these outlets.

Can viewers hope that someday soon, that kind of environment will produce an animated serial drama that has the same level of quality, complexity and acclaim as these channels' current headline series? If so, what might it take for that to happen?

Greg responds...

Hey, Zach. Long time no see. I'd heard that quotation about Hill Street before, and couldn't agree more.

I appreciate you think Gargoyles falls in the same category. It's flattering and certainly what we strived for. I don't pretend that we were as good as Hill Street Blues, but no one can accuse us of not going for it.

As to your question, I like to think that W.I.T.C.H., Spectacular Spider-Man, Young Justice and Young Justice: Invasion also qualify. At least at Gargoyles' level. So I think it's already possible. But that's just my - apparently not so - humble opinion.

Response recorded on May 03, 2012

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SIGNING ON FCBD

SIGNING ON FCBD

This Saturday, May 5th, 2012 is FREE COMIC BOOK DAY. (It's also the premiere of YOUNG JUSTICE: INVASION's second episode, "Earthlings", on Cartoon Network.) Victor Cook and I will be signing copies of issue #1 of MECHA-NATION (and whatever else gets stuck in front of us) at MELTDOWN COMICS from 12 noon to 2 pm.

Meltdown Comics
7522 Sunset Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA. 90046
http://www.meltcomics.com/blog/

So if you're in the neighborhood of Los Angeles, come on down. Check out the Mecha-Nation. We've completely finished the final issues of the mini-series, which will see print in time for ComicCon this summer in San Diego. (Mecha-Nation was created by Vic, developed by Vic, Greg Guler and myself, written by me, illustrated by Antonio Campo and published by Ape/Kizoic.) We're very excited to finally get this great project out to everyone. So stop by and take a peek. You can harass me about the time-skip (but please keep the language clean). Or you can just say hi. Plus, hey, Vic Cook!! The SpecSpidey partners together again!

Hope to see you there!


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Fluttershy writes...

Hey greg what's up I would love to ask you a questions regarding your story telling techniques

You have said in the past that you could go be telling stories forever if you wanted and in fact sometimes not even the tv show is enough for them hence the comics.

But have you ever considered in giving your characters and stories a Grand finale?.

I think something that has made me a bit sad is that in your past shows you have been cut short due to executive decitions out of your control and we have been unable to get anything resembling an ending that actually gives closure (w.i.t.c.h,Spectacular spiderman, gargoyles etc)

However it is always nice when a tv show character directly says goodbye to te audience(like batman the brave and the bold) or when every major plot point is solved at the end.

A big trait of western media in it's majority like tv shows and specially comics is that the characters "are frozen in time".

Spiderman for instance will always be a young man that fights crime and the story won't go beyond that,same for superman and batman. When the story gets after a certain point we as fans tend to get reboots reapeaing the smae story.

I would like to ask you if given the chance will you give us a finale to your works like gargoyles.

Will we ever see the closure of them?
Do you believe in "grand finales"?

Or do you want simply to never give them a real ending o your shows and simply give the idea that the story will be around forever?

Greg responds...

Yeah, I'm not so much into Grand Finales. Probably why I'm more of a television or comic book guy than a movie or graphic novel guy. I believe (whole-heartedly) in the on-going story. That's what LIFE feels like to me.

Gargoyles is a perfect example. Characters come; characters go and some even die, but the world goes on. I even know (but don't ask) how Goliath dies, but I don't see it as the end of that world. It's only A FINALE, because there is no THE FINALE.

I suppose if one was writing a story with a single lead, a la Spider-Man, and either (a) one killed him off or (b) one really ran out of stories to tell, then I could see staging that big Grand F before you waved goodbye forever. But that assumes there isn't a new Spider-Man waiting in the wings and/or that a guy like me would actually run out of stories. And that hasn't happened to me, at least not yet.

Response recorded on May 01, 2012

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Sam writes...

You've said before that you like to partake in mental casting for characters that you never got to animate in Gargoyles. Did you do this as well for Spectacular Spider-Man's unmade third season, and if so, any chance you could tell me what voice actors you had in mind for the new characters?

Greg responds...

Well, Marina Sirtis for Emily Osborn. I can't think of any others off the top of my head. And mostly, I don't do that 'mental casting' until after I've written (or edited) a script, so that I have a character's 'voice' in my head. Since we never wrote any scripts, I probably didn't pre-cast much.

Response recorded on May 01, 2012

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Lavariel writes...

Dear Mr. Weisman,

Thank you for all the wonderful work you've done from Gargoyles, to Spiderman, to Young Justice. Been a fan for years.

1) From your experience, what was more enjoyable to work with? Working on a show that was completely yours to control - Gargoyles - from character development, plot, and storyline? Or Spiderman and Young Justice where the basics has already laid out?

2) Was there more pressure to succeed working on Gargoyles because it was original and the creativity was your to control? Or was there more pressure to work on an adaption on Spiderman and Young Justice because the bar has already been set?

Greg responds...

1. They're different. Gargoyles is my baby. But in terms of the actual work, I don't think I had any more or less fun working on SpecSpidey, W.I.T.C.H. or YJ.

2. I think the pressure rises with each series, but I blame the internet more than anything inherent in the series. (I blame the internet for a lot, which is not to say I could go back to living without it.)

Response recorded on April 24, 2012

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Peter Parker writes...

Is spiderman the mole ??

Greg responds...

Really? You thought this was funny enough to clog the queue?

Response recorded on April 13, 2012

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Greg Bishansky writes...

One of Tombstone's first lines of dialogue was "In my life I've been known by many names, my favorite is Tombstone." So... would his least favorite be "Lonnie?" ;)

In all seriousness, I have to agree that Lonnie is a pretty undignified first name for a character of the stature that you reinvented Tombstone into. But I did enjoy that his middle name was "Thompson" making one of Spidey's biggest enemies and Peter's nemesis at school both Thompsons.

Greg responds...

Well, it's my least favorite, anyway.

Response recorded on April 12, 2012

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Akeem M. writes...

Hello Greg,
A couple questions about Emily Osborn's inclusion in the series (don't worry, nothing having to do with un executed plans)

Anyway, when asked about keeping Emily Osborn alive, aside from having plans for her later down the road, you also decided out of the three friends who had single parent households (Peter, Gwen, and Harry) Harry would be the one where it wasn't fundamental to his character compared to the others. One of Harry's biggest traits is his messed up relationship with his father. It was also said that Noman's disdain of Harry came from losing his wife in exchange for Harry. Would you say that in Spectacular Spider-Man that Harry's problems came from his messed up family life in general with Emily being alive? Basically Harry's issues aren't solely on Norman, but Emily as well (whether directly or indirectly).

Also, it's of course a given why Peter has a single parent household, however, when choosing out of the other two when it comes to who HAD to be in a single parent household, what stopped you from letting Gwen's mother still be alive? Does it mainly have to do with the fact that Capt. Stacy was going to live throughout the series run, but Norman was going to 'die'?

Also, would you say that Emily Osborn loves herself an extemely tough steak?

Greg responds...

1. Yes.

2. Gwen being her daddy's girl seemed fundamental to who she was.

3. I'm not getting this reference at the moment. Wasn't she cutting a carrot or something on screen?

Response recorded on April 12, 2012

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Roy writes...

What is the name of Hammerhead's chauffeur?

Greg responds...

SPOILER REQUEST. NO COMMENT.

Response recorded on April 11, 2012

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Anonymous writes...

You have said in the past that if you were ever allowed to use guest appearances in spec spidey(if it had continued) there was a particular Hulk story you wanted to adapt. Was it the story from Amazing spider-man annual 3? If not which story was it?

Greg responds...

Did I say that? A particular story?

I don't recall saying that. I definitely wanted to adapt that era when Hulk was practically a force of nature - and a bit of a Bigfoot-style legend, with very few people absolutely knowing for certain that he existed.

Response recorded on April 11, 2012

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Algernon writes...

Hey again, hopefully the queue hasn't become to full by now. Anyway, I remember asking you once if you'd ever be willing to post the TSSM series bible online. As I recall, you said you'd think about it.

Just wondering if you've given the idea any further thought?

Greg responds...

Well, Algernon, as I respond to this, there's over 800 questions in the queue. EIGHT HUNDRED!!!

And I haven't even gotten to the airing of YJ episode 119 yet.

Anyway, I'm open to posting the SpecSpidey Bible, but the problem is I don't have it here at Warner Bros (for obvious reasons). So I need to be reminded either when I'm home or at my office in Beverly Hills.

Response recorded on April 11, 2012

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Anonymous writes...

When Miss Martian defeats Psimon, we see his "pupil" crack into a web-shapped crack that resembles a black web. Was this an intentional nod to SSM?

Greg responds...

No.

Response recorded on March 08, 2012

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Finister2 writes...

In the final shot of The Spectacular Spiderman, we see what appears to be Norman Osborn boarding a plane.

My question is: Was that really Norman Osborn or the Chameleon in disguise?

Greg responds...

It was Mr. Roman.

Response recorded on March 06, 2012

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Laura 'ad astra' Sack writes...

I was wondering your opinion on the New 52. Not the execution, I have a hunch you don't have the time to read much of any of it, but the idea of it.

Although I have found a few books I really like, in general I object to heaving aside continuity and trying to rejam the history back into a too short time frame while wiping out character development. The idea of accessibility is a red herring because if they were capable of sticking to self contain arc inviting to new readers they wouldn't need a reboot to do so. Then again, I came into comics after Crisis on Infinite Earths and am conditioned into thinking it was necessary.

Greg responds...

As you noted, I have NOT had the time to read the New 52, so I will not comment on that specifically. Whether or not it works creatively depends more than anything else on execution. Since I haven't seen the execution, I can't respond to how it works creatively. But I KNOW that commercially it's been a HUGE hit. I like to believe that it wouldn't have done quite so well, if it wasn't executed well too.

But generally, on the idea of reboots, I do have a handful of thoughts:

1. I don't want to be a hypocrite. When we started Spectacular Spider-Man and again on Young Justice, we were effectively doing a continuity reboot. I feel when adapting something to a new media, that's essential, but it doesn't change the fact that (a) we did it and (b) I was relieved to be able to do it. Relieved to be able to jettison elements that I felt didn't work or were redundant or confusing, etc. Our goal, particularly on Spider-Man, was to come up with something Classic, Cohesive, Coherent, Contemporary and Iconic. So how can I object if the comics themselves want to do this?

2. In the end, whether or not either SpecSpidey or YJ was/is successful depends on our execution of our ideas, additions and cullings. I like to think both shows are successful, but that's a judgement each individual viewer would have to make for him or herself.

3. I was working on staff at DC Comics during the publication of the original Crisis on Infinite Earths. In fact, during my very first editorial meeting, I raised the question as to why we weren't starting ALL our books over (with the numerical exceptions of Detective and Action Comics) with issue #1. I remember very clearly a collective groan rising up from the conference room table. (They had dealt with this question for months before my arrival.) On the one hand, they wanted Crisis to be a real sea-change, a true reboot (before we knew that term). On the other hand, if you truly reboot Batman, then Robin doesn't exist yet. No Robin, no other sidekicks either. So no Teen Titans. And at the time, the New Teen Titans was the company's best selling book.

4. So the end result was that some things got rebooted and some did not.

5. This was complicated by the fact that certain creators came late to the party, and certain characters got reboots too long AFTER Crisis.

6. And so, as a READER, I couldn't help feeling that - rather than simplifying the continuity - Crisis made it more complicated. This will happen in general, naturally, as time passes and more and more comics are produced by a variety of creators and editors, but Crisis seemed to exacerbate the problem for me personally.

7. In part this was because, I really liked the DC Multiverse. I agree that it was abused to the point of confusion. (And I think it was nuts that Earth TWO had the forties heroes and Earth ONE had the sixties heroes. Just the odd backwards numbering itself created additional unnecessary confusion.) But if limits had been placed on the number of parallel earth stories and crossovers, I think it could have been fine.

8. ESPECIALLY, if they had created a new Earth-THREE, starting over with heroes of the eighties, with Superman and Batman (being new to the hero thing but) remaining relatively constant. But with a new Green Lantern (for example) as different from Hal Jordan as Jordan was from Alan Scott.

9. But that didn't happen. And in fact, though I've read very few comics since 1996, my understanding is that reboots have hit over and over at both DC and Marvel. That negates reader trust in the worth and weight of the stories they're reading. It's more insidious than obvious. And you risk alienating old readers, even as you may or may not attract new ones. You'll always get a short term gain off of a reboot, because everyone wants to check it out. But long term...

10. And going back to my first point - which is that most everything depends on execution - I personally didn't love the execution of some of the post-Crisis rebooting. Some people may have loved it. And that's totally legit. But some of the rethinking on certain individual characters didn't work too well for me.

11. Though personally I think the Bates-Weisman-Broderick reboot on Captain Atom from his Charlton incarnation was brilliant. ;)

12. So, personally, my feeling on reboots in general is that you either do them or you don't. You've got to be thorough and ruthless about it, or don't bother, because otherwise - long term - you're creating more problems than you're solving.

13. And still and all, ultimately, it all depends on execution.

Response recorded on February 15, 2012

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Anonymous writes...

Did mutants exist in the spider-man show?

Greg responds...

If you're talking Spectacular Spider-Man, then they might have if we had had more episodes and permission...

I definitely had plans for Cyclops, Beast and Professor X, at least. Iceman too. Heck, maybe Firestar, eventually.

Response recorded on February 14, 2012

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Ronnie L. writes...

Have you considered pitching Religious Studies 101 as a one-shot, now that Disney and Marvel are one and the same?

Greg responds...

No. It would be impossible, even if I liked the idea (which I'm not sure I do).

See my recent post on why SpecSpidey went away for an explanation why Marvel/Disney couldn't use SpecSpidey materials.

Response recorded on February 09, 2012

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PEJ writes...

Hey, Gregory,
I really REALLY want the Spectacular Spiderman series to continue. I want to see what happens next. Is there anything you can do to help it come back?

Greg responds...

Nope. Wish I could, but I can't. See my previous response.

Response recorded on February 09, 2012

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Michael J. Eilen writes...

Hey greg, my name is Michael. I was a huge fan of your spectacular spiderman series. And I'm not sure if you're gonna know the answer to my question or not, but I'm just gonna shoot for it. Question: Do you have any idea why Marvel canceled it? I mean, both season 1 and 2 had decent reviews and many fans liked it. So, I gotta ask,Do you have any idea why Marvel made that decision.

Greg responds...

Marvel DIDN'T cancel it.

It's all very complicated, and we were certainly the recipients of bad corporate luck, but no single company cancelled the series. We just wound up with a situation where no single company could proceed with it.

I'll try to break it all down:

1. Sony had originally produced SpecSpidey as part of their overall entertainment license of the Spidey property (which of course included the extremely lucrative live action films).

2. But in order to win some concession on those live action feature films, Sony returned the animation rights to the character back to Marvel.

3. So now only Marvel could produce a Spider-Man cartoon. Sony no longer could, which meant SpecSpidey couldn't continue at Sony.

4. I have no idea whether Marvel was interested in continuing Spectacular Spider-Man or not. But let's assume for the sake of argument that they would have liked to.

5. They couldn't.

6. Why? Because Sony owned all the specific elements (designs, storyline, etc.) to the SpecSpidey VERSION of Spider-Man. So Marvel would have had to license all that BACK from Sony.

7. You can imagine how unlikely THAT scenario was. Marvel finally gets the rights back to do an animated version of their marquee character, and then they have to pay Sony to do it instead of just starting from scratch. That was never going to happen.

8. Of course, all this was complicated by the fact that Disney purchased Marvel, and Disney and Sony are direct competitors.

9. And I'm sure Marvel was excited to put their own stamp on an animated Spider-Man. Who could blame them?

10. So that was it. We were toast through no fault of our own. The folks at Marvel, Sony and even Disney all seemed to like our show, but the corporate mess made it impossible for us to continue.

11. And, yes, it is a bummer. (For me, at least.) But it's no single person or single company's fault. It's just how things shook out.

12. And finally, though I have no involvement with the upcoming Ultimate Spider-Man, you can't deny that a lot of great people have worked on it. There's no reason to think it won't be as good or better than SpecSpidey. To a certain generation, SpecSpidey will always be THEIR Spider-Man cartoon. But to a new batch o' viewers, I'm sure their Spidey of choice will be the Ultimate.

Response recorded on February 09, 2012

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Eagle-Owl writes...

Have you seen the trailer for Ultimate Spider-Man? I'm asking because it looks horrible. I mean seriously, a Spider-toaster?!? I miss Spectacular Spider-Man. You know better than to give us Spider-toasters.

Greg responds...

I haven't seen it. So I don't know what you're talking about.

But I'm not opposed to Spider-Toasters on principle.

I miss Spectacular Spider-Man too, but I wouldn't count Ultimate out. There are some great people working on it.

Response recorded on January 20, 2012

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Greg Bishansky writes...

Thank you for your informative reply on my Betty Brant post. Now, and this is a question I've been pondering for a while, how did you go about your approach to Aunt May?

I love Stan Lee's run on Spidey, but this is one of the few cases where I have to admit that I greatly preferred other writers' takes on the character. Stan's Aunt May was constantly in and out of the hospital... and constantly, dimwitted. I preferred Roger Stern, Tom DeFalco, J.M. DeMatteis, and J. Michael Straczynski's takes on the character.

I can forgive and understand her being overprotective. It's been mentioned later that she had lost a child, and Ben's death was just as traumatic for her as it was for Peter. But what always seemed unreasonable for me was how she thought Dr. Octopus was a good and nice man. She didn't realize that she was being held hostage, that he was a dangerous supervillain, or even that he had these giant metal arms attached to him. And then there was the story where she took him on as a border. I'm not even going to get into that weird story where she almost married him... but that wasn't Stan, that was Gerry Conway.

Your Aunt May, while being protective of Peter, wasn't overprotective to the point of absurdity. And one of my favorite Aunt May scenes was in "Group Therapy" where she stood up to the entire Sinister Six to prevent them from attacking Spidey. And Ock's almost gentlemanly approach insisting that she step aside was, I think, a nice nod to Ock liking her in the comics. I also loved that she never referred to Spidey as "that awful Spider-Man!"

So, what did you think was the core truth of Aunt May? How did you go about interpreting her in your show?

Greg responds...

Our May Parker was a single parent due to a couple of horrible tragedies. That informed how she behaved both in her own life and toward Peter.

We leaned toward making her a little more savvy... but also somewhat unprepared. Uncle Ben did not leave her in a great financial position. (Because if he did, why would Peter constantly need money?) We kept a bit of her naivete, but tossed in some inner strength and acuity, especially when it came to Peter's love life. She could take action (or give solid advice) - not just relative to the Sinister SIx, but more relevantly when it came to some of the ladies in Peter's life: Betty Brant, Mary Jane Watson, Liz Allen and Gwen Stacy.

She wasn't a young woman - certainly older than the parents of most of Pete's friends - but we didn't want to make her ancient. And we figured one trip to the hospital was plenty, i.e. once she had one heart attack, she would begin to take better care of herself.

And since she was always a great cook, we figured she'd build on that when she needed money, which gave us the cookbook that she authored.

Her life did revolve around Peter but wasn't exclusively his. So she had her friend and her theater and her cooking and her work, etc. We just tried to make her a fully realized character.

And... I should give a TON of credit to DEBORAH STRANG (as directed by Jamie Thomason), for truly bringing May to life. Couldn't have done it without her.

Response recorded on December 13, 2011

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Eagle-Owl writes...

I don't know if this would count as spoiler request (please tell me if it is), but had The Spectacular Spider-Man continued and had Pete looking at different colleges, what other colleges (aside from ESU) would he have looked at?

Greg responds...

I don't know. He'd have wound up at ESU though.

Response recorded on December 12, 2011

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Patrick writes...

Hello, Mr. Weisman! I'd first like to say that I'm a big fan, and I'm thankful that you take the time to answer all of these questions despite how frustrating it must get at times.

Since I can't think of a non-spoilerific YJ question, here's a Spectacular Spider-man related one: In "Reactions," why did Green Goblin try to kill Otto? Did he know that he was creating another supervillain?

Greg responds...

No, he thought he was getting rid of a witness and weak link.

Response recorded on December 12, 2011

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Greg Bishansky writes...

Out of curiosity, how old was Silver Sable in season two of "Spectacular Spider-Man." She doesn't seem older than thirty... I'm just curious, because if Hammerhead worked for her dad before he went to prison, twelve years prior was she above the age of consent when they had a relationship?

Greg responds...

I don't think so. Which is part of the reason Hammerhead (1) now has a new skull and (2) why he no longer is working for Silvermane.

Response recorded on November 17, 2011

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MasterGandalf writes...

Quick Spec Spidey question- is Silver Sable an albino? I was just wondering because in addition to her white hair, her skin's notably paler than anybody else's (except for Tombstone, who of course *is* albino) and her eyes are an odd pale violet. Not a huge question, I know, but I was just curious.

Greg responds...

I don't think so. And is her hair truly white or platinum blonde?

Response recorded on November 17, 2011

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Antiyonder writes...

Rewatched The Spectacular Spider-Man Season 2 this year, and I have to say that Growing Pains after several more viewings has really grown on me, especially having read many "Spider-Man has been framed" stories.

Now of course whenever said frame up occurs, Peter tends to recall them. But New Yorkers (whether they are civilains or fellow heroes) barely seem to recall that someone like the Chameleon or Mysterio posed as Spider-Man before.

Growing Pains on the other hand takes the more plausible route of having someone question whether Spidey's gone bad. Captain Stacy's comment towards Jonah sums it up: "This isn't the first time that the Bugle got it wrong when a copycat dressed up as the webslinger. Now do you really want to embarrass yourself and your paper! Again?"

Greg responds...

Thanks. We tried as much as possible to play the world consistently and let the many points of view there be voiced.

Response recorded on November 15, 2011

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Harlan Phoenix writes...

Though I know your mind isn't the kind to play favorites, but given how you acknowledge The Mirror as your favorite/the best episode of Gargoyles, I think this might be able to fly.

Do you have any particular episodes of WITCH or The Spectacular Spider-Man that, if it wasn't your favorite necessarily, you felt was the best of those shows? And for what reasons, if so?

Greg responds...

At the moment, I can't think of just one for either series. But it's been a while since I've watched them.

Response recorded on October 31, 2011

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Greg Bishansky writes...

I realize you're still not keen on revealing future plot points for what would have been season three and beyond of "Spectacular Spider-Man." But this question is about the first two seasons, although if the answer ever came, it would have been later. Which I guess places this in a murky gray area. Anyway, because I've been dying to know...

During the two seasons of the show, did Mary Jane Watson know Peter Parker is Spider-Man? In the comics, she knew since the night Uncle Ben died, so I ask if this was the case in "Spectacular Spider-Man" as well. A lot of her behavior towards Peter seems to point towards this.

Greg responds...

NO COMMENT.

Response recorded on October 27, 2011

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Matthew writes...

This is about pretty much all the series you've worked on. I've noticed that most of your series has a large cast of recurring characters (and that despite this characters tend to be very well delineated.) Now for Young Justice, WITCH, and Spectacular Spiderman that may be just because they were pre-existing properties and already have large casts. However, Gargoyles also had a large cast.

Was this a because of conscious choice?

Do you perfer working with a large cast of characters?

Greg responds...

I do. I like creating worlds that feel real and populated.

Response recorded on October 12, 2011

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Greg Bishansky writes...

Another Spidey question. This one is both Spectacular related, and about your Amazing Spider-Man back-up story.

When you wrote and produced "Spectacular Spider-Man," you tried to get to the core truths of who each and every character was. Well, I need to ask you about who Betty Brant was in your series. We've never seen much of her besides Peter trying to ask her to the Fall Formal, and Ned asking her out on a date. She didn't even have a single line of dialogue in the entire second season.

I ask, because in the comics, and this is something that often seems forgotten by most people, Betty Brant is a pretty horrible human being. It's not something I was even really conscious of until my friend, Josh Bertone, started writing a series of articles documenting the history of this character.

She was pretty bipolar when she dated Peter. Constantly flipping out at him if he so much as glanced at Liz Allan, or another human being who lacked a penis. And then, turning around and playing around with both him and Ned Leeds.

She later married Ned and then abandoned him on their honeymoon. Had a one-night stand with Peter, and was later on having an affair with Flash Thompson that lasted for months and months. Which was driving Ned nuts, although, his brainwashing at the hands of the Hobgoblin arguably made things worse. But the affair started well before this Hobgoblin business. Hell, she had the nerve to ask him if their marriage meant anything to him as he was walking out on her, and he replied with "more than it means to you" and he was right.

Of course, Betty now blames the Hobgoblin for all of her marriage's problems and never once really acknowledged any wrongdoing on her part. It's almost Demona-esque how neatly she's able to deflect any feelings of guilt.

And finally, there was Betty's appearance in the back-up story for Flash Thompson that you wrote (loved that story), and when Betty first sees Sha Shan, she is mad. I think I'll quote my friend Bertone, who said it better than I could:

"The icicle speech balloons are a cool callback to the Ditko days but take a look at that scene again. Betty isn’t responding to Sha Shan…Betty starts it! Betty doesn’t greet Sha Shan with an apology or any remorse. No! She’s mad at Sha Shan! Why? What did Sha Shan do to her? It’s not like they had a Betty/Veronica relationship. Betty stole Sha Shan’s man! Sha Shan has a right to be mad! Betty doesn’t!

"Betty Brant is the only woman who will have an affair with your boyfriend and then somehow be mad at you as if she was the victim. What a horrible person."

The above isn't a criticism of the story, or how you used Betty. It's a criticism of Betty as a person.

So, I have to ask. Would your interpretation of Betty, had the series gotten more in depth with her have been this terrible, awful individual? In the comics, she makes Sally Avril look as cool and fun to be with as Mary Jane by comparison! If so, I'd say Peter dodged a major bullet there, when Aunt May put a stop to this in "The Invisible Hand." Come to think of it, May never liked Betty in the Lee/Ditko run either. Betty is definitely not the girl you bring home to meet mom.

Greg responds...

I think the thing to keep in mind about ANY character in a shared corporate universe is that multiple writers, editors and artists have had at him or her, with different agendas - often agendas that had little to do with the character him or herself - and more to do with how that character plays with, in this case, Spider-Man/Peter Parker.

Me, I'm fond of Betty. Probably originates with her being THE girl in the 1960s Spider-Man cartoon. I clearly like her more than either you or Bertone, but I haven't tracked each and every appearance. I just try to get to the heart of who I think she is. To me, in the Lee/Ditko era, she was a high school age girl who dropped out to work, because she had to. So she wasn't mature, but she was extremely competent. One of the few human beings who could handle J. Jonah Jameson. That to me is the fundamental TRUTH of her character. Anyone who can hold her own with Jameson and put up with his... crap, has to have something solid in her. The fact that Lee/Ditko occasionally played her as a jealous harridan ... seems more indicative of the tropes of romance comics of the day than with anything inherent in who she was. And what other writers did with her in the post Lee/Romita era (after she had already been reduced to the fourth or fifth most important non-Aunt May girl in Peter's life) carries even less weight with me.

Is that selective on my part? Damn straight! But we were always selective on SpecSpidey. Had to be. Too much inconsistencies in the canon for us to do otherwise.

So, what did we decide?

Well, first of all, we wanted a sixteen year old Peter, as he was in the early days of Lee/Ditko. But no one's going to buy - in a modern context - a sixteen year old Betty working full-time for Jonah. So we made her nineteen or twenty (can't remember, but something like that). So we gave a nod to the original Betty/Pete relationship, but as you saw made it awkward because of an age gap that would be insignificant in ten years (at age 26 and 29) but is just too wide at 16 and 19. We had fun with that. But we also started to build the Betty/Ned relationship too. We did have a couple Betty/Ned scenes written and recorded for Season Two, but they wound up getting cut for time before being animated... mostly because (a) we were long and (b) they were scenes we could sacrifice. Ned and Ned's relationship to Betty would have been important in season three, and we wanted to set it up, lay some pipe, etc. But there were always things we needed for Season TWO that were more important. So we figured we'd worry about Season Three if and when we got there. And of course we never did.

As for that one Betty and Sha Shan scene in the comic, I think you're overthinking it. The two are both cold to each other. They have an unpleasant history. No one's apologizing. No one's asking for an apology at this point. Neither "started it". Looks must have come before words. And looks said it all. The words were simply the "icing" (pun intended) on the cake.

Personally, I can't see Betty with Flash long term... though I guess that's the longest relationship she's ever had - mostly by default. Now, I see them as good friends. Maybe occasionally friends with benefits, but these two are never going to be much more than that in my mind.

Of course, to me the perfect girl for Flash was always Sha Shan. (Someone who could kick his ass - at least figuratively, if not literally.) So what do I know...

Response recorded on September 29, 2011

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Zeke Hero writes...

Greg,

First of all, I'd like to say I'm a huge fan of your work since Gargoyles made my young mind snap from "short attention span" to "give me more character-driven serial fiction!" during the Disney Afternoon days (jeez, I'm old...). When I heard you were doing Spectacular Spider-Man, I knew I was going to be in for a treat and while the show only got two seasons, DAMN were they exactly what I needed out of a Spider-Man show.

I've read the questions posted and have sat here making sure I won't ask an *eye-roll*-worthy one or something that will inspire the "no comment"-of doom, so here goes:

Gargoyles and Young Justice both have a family quality to the teams of characters that are our protagonists. We're introduced to a small band of 6-7 heroes by the writers and over the course of adventure after adventure we the viewer comes to feel as much as a part of that "family" as they do with each other. My question is (and I am in NO WAY fishing for spoilers or hints or what have you) what are your feelings on shows that expand these bases down the line? I remember, for example, that when Avatar added Toph her initial episodes didn't seem to gel with the audience I was viewing the show with and it felt like (to us) that the character didn't fit into a narrative we'd become accustomed to, yet by the end of the season (and this was our fault for not trusting the writers), Toph was a great piece of a larger cast that grew organically. Do you feel that adding, say, Angela as a new member of the Gargoyle family can hurt the narrative established with an audience burned time after time by artificial 90's cartoon storylines or does the idea of getting to add, say, the Wonder Twins (again, not fishing hence why I use these guys) offer up an opportunity to you as a writer for a left turn in the plot that you get to have a "trust us, we know what we're doing" stance with your audience?

(man that was a huge run-on senence...)

second question

When you and Brandon were mapping out the season (I saw the great behind the scenes video from SDCC), what was the best ah-ha moment (related to something we've already seen, not a spoiler or fishing trip) that you as a team came up with? Mostly I'm just looking for an anecdote about working as a team, you could even be vague and pronouny.

Third and final quesiton

You've now gotten to work on Marvel's Spider-verse, and the entire DC universe. I've noticed that in both cases you've gotten to go your own way on certain characters you've gotten to use (e.g. Silver Sable was a villain on Spider-Man with a relationship to Silvermane). Which comes first in cases where this occurs? Do you riff on story ideas and go, "we need a psychic badass" and then go, "let's use Psimon, but let's tweak him a little" or do you (or someone on the team) say, "Man, we REALLY need to use Abra Kadabra and I think I know how we could do that!" Since both shows have shown you dipping into a huge pool of characters, what about a character makes them a "semi-blank canvas" character that you can take as an opportunity to fit within your storybeats versus a character that you feel is fully-formed and just needs an artistic tweak to fit your plot?

Again, thank you so much for this board, your time, and this show. You've contributed so much to quality animation and, I hope you see the compliment here, but when I and my friends push Gargoyles on to newbies, we usually describe it as, "It's like the Wire, but with Shakespere, monsters, and the NYPD"

Greg responds...

1. I don't see how expanding the cast ORGANICALLY hurts the narrative.

2. I don't know that we had a single "Ah ha!" moment on YJ. But when things are working, they just begin to come together.

3. We've worked it from both directions. Ultimately, we ALWAYS try to be true to the spirit of the character - though sometimes we are intentionally introducing the character at a pre-classic stage. Silver Sable is a perfect example. We had long term plans for her that would have eventually brought her closer to the Sable from the comics. But we liked this backstory for her - and connecting her to Silvermane helped preserve the coherence of our universe.

Response recorded on August 09, 2011

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SO WHERE HAVE I BEEN? Updates & Debunks

Hello everyone,

Haven't posted here in a while, and since I did a bit of message board lurking this morning, it seems to have led people to believe all sorts of odd things, so...

Where have I been?

Well, in early June, my family and I went to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, Oregon.
We saw seven plays in four days. Six of them (Henry IV, Part Two, The Language Archive, To Kill a Mockingbird, Julius Caesar, Love's Labours Lost and Measure for Measure) were just stellar productions. Everyone was great, but I'd like to particularly single out Susannah Flood in both Language Archive and Mockingbird, Dee Maaske in Mockingbird and Michael Winters as Falstaff in 2HenryIV.

Coming back from that, I was understandably swamped and didn't have time to post.

Next, I went to Minneapolis for the always great ConVergence convention. I did about thirteen panels. Some of which, like Gargoyles and Spider-Man and Young Justice, I felt qualified to be on. And some, like Dexter and Galaxy Quest, my only qualification was being a fan of whatever we were talking about. This was my third ConVergence, and it continues to be the best run convention I've ever attended. And now that the Gathering of the Gargoyles is no more, it has become my FAVORITE convention to attend.

Returning from ConVergence, I then got quite ill. In fact, I'm still home sick today. (Home sick as opposed to homesick, clear?)

So THOSE are the reasons I haven't posted. Nothing nefarious.

Next topic: YOUNG JUSTICE UPDATE.

We have aired episodes 101-109 (i.e. Season One, episodes 1-9).

(Yes, episode 110 accidentally was posted on Cartoon Network's website, but I'm going to pretend that never happened.)

Episodes 110-115 are in the can, i.e. they are completed and ready to air.

Episode 116 awaits only the final on-line, i.e. the final review of the episode. This has been delayed ONLY because I've been out sick this week.

Episode 117 will have it's sound mix on Friday. (I hope to be back at work by then.)

Episode 118 has been edited and work progresses on scoring and sound effects.

Episode 119 is ready to begin post-production.

Episodes 120-123 are being animated in Korea.

Episodes 124-126 are in layout in Korea, while we finish the final color models here in the States.

Episodes 201-202 (i.e. Season Two, Episodes one and two) - Are fully recorded and are in storyboard. (201 was written by me. 202 by Nicole Dubuc.)

Episode 203, written by Kevin Hopps, is almost fully recorded. We have one actor left to pick up, who has been out of town. It is also in storyboard.

Episode 204, written by me, will record this week. It is also in storyboard.

Episode 205 - Brandon Vietti, has turned in his draft of the script. I have to read and edit it.

Episode 206 - The outline, written by Peter David and edited by me, went out Monday for notes, which are due tomorrow.

Episode 207 - Kevin Hopps turned in his outline, which I need to read and edit.

Episode 208 - I'm writing this one. I'll start the outline, after I've edited the outline to 207.

Episode 209 - Jon Weisman turned in his outline, which I need to read and edit.

Episode 210 - Kevin Hopps is working on his outline.

We do NOT yet have a pick-up beyond episode 210, but our bosses have told us to start blocking out episodes 211-220 in anticipation of one.

Episode 211 - We've broken this story. I still need to find time to write up the Beat Outline, though I have it all on index cards.

Episode 212 - We've got the basics of this one down, but we (i.e. myself, Brandon and Kevin) still need to finish breaking the story.

Episodes 213-220 - We've got a very clear sense of the arc and what things need to happen, but we haven't started on these yet.

NEXT TOPIC: DEBUNKING YJ RUMORS

False Rumor #1: YJ IS A GREG WEISMAN PRODUCTION
Everywhere on the Internet, all I see is that YJ is Greg Weisman's show. That's just blatantly false. This is a VIETTI/WEISMAN production. Just as Spectacular Spider-Man was a COOK/WEISMAN production and Gargoyles was a PAUR/WEISMAN production. I am not, nor have I ever been, a one-man show on ANY project I've EVER worked on. EVER. And in particular, on YJ, it's extremely unfair to Brandon to leave him out of consideration. Brandon is heavily involved in every aspect of production, INCLUDING SERIES DEVELOPMENT AND STORY. He's been right there with myself and Kevin Hopps breaking every single episode. It's been a team effort from day one. Many of the series' best ideas came/come from Brandon. And this is aside from the fact, that of course, Brandon can write - but I cannot draw, which arguably makes him MORE important to the production than I. I am exceedingly proud of this series and my own work on it - though certain very vocal fans seem to think I shouldn't be - but that doesn't change the fact that Brandon and I are a team.

False Rumor #2: YJ WAS RUSHED INTO PRODUCTION
Another blatant misconception. Look, Brandon and I are both perfectionists. Neither of us would deny that we'd LOVE to have more time on each and every episode. But that's not the same as being rushed. Let's make a comparison: on Spectacular Spider-Man, I basically had one week to develop both the series and the entire first season. Then Vic Cook came aboard, and we raced to get into production in less than two months. Brandon and I had seven months to develop the series, break the first season (which granted had twice as many episodes as the first season of Spidey) and head into production. The show isn't and never has been rushed. That's not to say the schedule isn't tight. But we haven't aired a single episode that wasn't ready to air. And we won't.

False Rumor #3: YJ ISN'T AIRING NOW BECAUSE WE'RE REWORKING EPISODES BASED ON INTERNET CRITICISM
This is my favorite. I love it the most because the first person I saw who posted this rumor also said that I'd deny it. So here I am denying it, which of course serves to PROVE that he or she was correct, see? Let's be clear: for better or worse, this series is COMPLETELY unaffected by internet criticism BECAUSE of schedule. Everything of any significance was set and DONE before even the pilot movie aired last November, so we couldn't address fan concerns even if we wanted to. And, honestly, we don't want to. We don't in part because there is way less consensus than some people seem to think. For example, for every post I see expressing hatred for "Hello, Megan!", I see a post that likes it. And personally, I like it. Brandon likes it. So why would we change it, even if we could? In fact, even Season Two is moving forward more or less disregarding "fan" criticism. Brandon and I always had very clear ideas for what we wanted to do in Season Two (and even Season Three, should we get one) and those ideas haven't changed. As with every series I've co-helmed, all we can ever do is write and produce to OUR OWN passions - and then just cross our fingers and hope enough people share our passions to make it a success. Anything else is doomed to failure, because if we're not passionate about it, it'll show in the work, and then no one will like it. And just to make it clear: WE LIKE OUR SHOW!! Doesn't mean you have to - but don't try to tell me I don't.

So why aren't we airing new episodes now? That's a fair question that I don't have an answer for. After all, we have six unaired episodes in the can, with four more on the verge of completion. It's a Cartoon Network decision. Some fans have argued that they shouldn't have started airing ANY episodes until ALL episodes were in the can. But that too is a decision above my pay grade.

My best guess - and that's all it is - is that CN will air new episodes - starting with 110 ("Targets") - in September. The good news is that the later they wait, the more weeks they can go uninterrupted by reruns. I do know that Season Two (i.e. "Young Justice: Invasion") will begin airing as part of DC NATION in March of 2012. And by then ALL of Season One will have aired. So do the math.

People have asked me if I'm bummed about losing momentum by this delay. But the thing is we've ALREADY lost all momentum. So as long as they PROMOTE us whenever they finally do start airing us again, then pragmatically I'm good. Yes, I'll admit to a certain level of frustration in that I want our stuff to get out there, but if CN has a plan to make the most of the episodes, then more power to them.

Anyway, I think that's it for now. I'll get back to answering questions on ASK GREG as soon as I can find the time. (But keep in mind that San Diego Comic-Con is fast approaching. Note: Young Justice has a panel scheduled for Sunday, July 24th at 10am, with a signing to follow. I'll also be signing Gargoyles comics (and whatever else anyone might want) at the SLG Booth from 11:30am to 12:30pm on Thursday, Friday and Saturday (July 21, 22, 23).


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Matthew writes...

Not a question, but I thought you might want to read a very positive review of Spectacular Spider-man:

http://www.intergalacticmedicineshow.com/cgi-bin/mag.cgi?do=columns&vol=spencer_ellsworth&article=042

Greg responds...

THanks!! That really was a great review!!

(I'm on a roll today!)

Response recorded on June 08, 2011

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Laura 'ad astra' Sack writes...

Silly little question- Do you ever feel the urge, (or give into the urge), to slip something into a script purely because you know something about the actor? Like writing a song into a scene because you know the actor sings, (but maybe not telling them that they're going to be doing Sondheim or Gilbert & Sullivan till after they agree to sing 'some ditty'), or make them speak a foreign language because someone is fluent (but perhaps has a horrid accent)? Someone has a great cackle? Find a reason to have it come up. Someone is afraid of canaries? Put on on the character's shoulder for the whole episode. etc The only example I can think of now would be to have M'gan spout a long series of made up equations to see if Danica McKellar's head explodes in the face of nonsensical math. (Or replace of a series of made up equations with her own theorem at the last moment and wait for her to notice.)

Or does "Jalapeno!" qualify as such evil?

Greg responds...

Jalapena definitely qualifies.

Thailog qualifies in general. (How can I write for Keith David and never give him the chance to laugh?!)

I would have loved to do musical episodes of Gargoyles and/or Spectacular Spider-Man, but in the former I couldn't think of a smart way to make it work (pre-Joss Whedon's "Once More With Feeling") and in the latter, we didn't get enough episodes...

But it was fun doing the two musical episodes of W.I.T.C.H.

Response recorded on May 16, 2011

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The Spectacular Spider-Man Season 3 writes...

Can't you just talk to Sony, so that they would let you supervise the Spectacular Spider-Man, Season 3? So that they could change their mind to let Marvel use Spider-Man for the Super Hero Squad Show season 2 finale, Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes season 1 finale, and main character for season 2 of Avengers and season 3 of Super Hero Squad, i'm tired of him being in just comics and video games, please bring back The Spectacular Spider-Man!

Greg responds...

There's no one left at Sony for me to talk to. They closed the entire television animation division there.

You'll just have to talk to Marvel about all of the above. I've got ZERO pull, believe me.

(I mean, really, if I did, don't you think I would have done a third season of SpecSpidey?)

Response recorded on May 16, 2011

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Jeff writes...

First of all, many thanks for bringing us a great Spidey series. Just a few questions to put my mind at rest, as it bothers me to have my favorite stories left unfinished. Since the show is unfortunately canceled, I wanted to ask how would it have ended for the following characters.

1. Eddie/Venom (Would he have made peace with Peter: brothers again? Anything else?)
2. Gwen or MJ
3. Norman
4. Harry
5. Carnage: was he planned for an appearance?

Please I'd really appreciate if you can go into detail with these, especially first 3.

Greg responds...

As I've stated MANY times before, I don't see any advantage TO ME in vomiting out what my plans would have been absent the execution of said plans. All that accomplishes is to hold the ideas out for all sorts of second guessing.

Response recorded on May 05, 2011

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Jamie writes...

Hey greg,first of all, you're awesome, i remember when i was only 5 and i would re enact your gargoyles haha good times.

If you were to compare Young Justice and your other works, would young justice be in the top 5?

How many views are you having on Young justice ?

Greg responds...

Wow, did you just make me feel old...

Yes, YJ would be in my top five, along with Gargoyles (of course) and in no particular order, Spectacular Spider-Man, W.I.T.C.H. and Captain Atom.

Response recorded on April 21, 2011

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Edward writes...

Is the Green Arrow short in continuity with Young Justice since you were/are involved with both?

Greg responds...

I was also involved with W.I.T.C.H., Starship Troopers, Gargoyles and the Spectacular Spider-Man, and none of those are in continuity with Young Justice.

Response recorded on April 07, 2011

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nacnud writes...

Dear Greg,

In a question long back by a different poster, you said that in Season 2 of The private Spectacular Spider-Man, Charles Xavier was just a professor of a private school. If the X-Men portion of your "Spectacular" universe are as well dedicated to the comics as Spider-Man's show was, does this mean the X-Men in your universe are currently:
Cyclops
Beast
Marvel Girl
Angel
and Ice Man?
Or would there be a different line-up?

Greg responds...

At this stage, only Cyclops and Beast. The others had not joined the school yet. Of course, these are all MOOT notions that were only in my head.

Response recorded on April 06, 2011

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Anonymous writes...

I really like Robin's jokes, I've always been a fan of wordplay.

Oh Young Justice is the first of your show's that I've watched, but it was so good that it made me want to look into Spectacular Spiderman, and WoW it's really good I'm only a couple episode in but I love the way you have all the villains kinda developing into villains instead of just villain of the week type of set up.
Haha and the theme song is pretty entertaining.

Greg responds...

Thanks!

Response recorded on March 17, 2011

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tomi writes...

I really enjoyed these first preview episodes of Young Justice. And perhaps even moreso than that i enjoyed to hear Crispin Freeman to return back to your services: i think he made fantastic work as both Speedy and Guardian, and eventhough you can still hear a bit that it is the same actor, he made it possible for those two characters to be divided and personified from one and another.

He was excellent as Electro, and i was fan of him before that(i came hooked sometimes around i first saw first few episodes of Wolf,s Rain).

From what i,ve been able to gather, he seems to be not only true professional, but also smart, intelligent guy with great thoughts, coupled with sharp and delightful sense of humor. I have seem him to appear in many of Gatherings(often paired with good old Thom Lexington Adcox), and i,ve heard that he was fan long before your paths crossed, often discussing with his fans about serie,s themes.

If it isnt too much trouble, could you give little bit of greenlight how you two met, and how your cooperation began?

Hopes for better to your work from fan from far-off-land Finland: maybe there arent too many Finnish Gargfans, but i am one of them.

Pidä lippu korkealla!/Keep your spirits high!

Greg responds...

I met him through the Gathering, actually. 2001 in Los Angeles, I believe. He was a guest of the convention, giving his mythology seminar. We first worked together on a pitch for Mecha-Nation, i.e. he did us a favor and recorded a bit of dialogue for us. The first paying job I could offer him was on the very last episode of W.I.T.C.H.

Response recorded on March 17, 2011

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Chris writes...

Please forgive me if the following questions were asked.
1. What was your comment on the video game Spider-Man Shattered Dimensions? How did you like that they used some of the actors from Spectacular which were Josh Keaton, Thomas F. Wilson, Jim Cummings, Steven Blum, and John Dimaggio (not sure if I spelled that right)?
2. I know you don't like to answer questions about future plans for Spectacular, but did you pick any actors for Scorpion and Hobgoblin?
3. Did you know that a few of your ideas were taken from the 1994 Spider-Man cartoon? Such as the symbiote coming from John Jameson's space shuttle. Although TAS used a space shuttle crash instead. Another example is Vulture going after Norman Osborn in his first appearance. Another is Spidey hanging upside down and looking at the black suit at a tall building.
4. When you look at the Spectacular Spider-Man, do you believe that you have done a good job for the show?
5. What is your view on the Scarlet Spider? Would he have been worthy of being in the Spectacular Spider-Man if given the chance?
That's all I have for you. Please make the DVD company that makes the DVDs for Spectacular Spidey make a complete season 2 DVD. That would be greatly appreciated.
Your fan,
Chris

Greg responds...

1. I'm all for those guys getting work, since they're fantastic. But I haven't seen the game.

2. No comment.

3. Well, those ideas weren't "TAKEN" from the 90s cartoon, cuz I never saw it. Now anything from that cartoon that seeped back into the comics or the movies may have influenced me -- and/or great minds think alike, especially when similarly influenced by the same source material.

4. I do, actually. I'm very proud of the finished product.

5. No comment.

Response recorded on March 11, 2011

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Alan writes...

Dear Greg,
When is season 2 of the Spectacular Spider-Man coming out on DVD? I've been patient for like a month after the volume 8 DVD was released. Now I can't wait any longer! Please try to make the company that makes the DVDs make them make season 2 of TSSM. Please?
From,
Alan

Greg responds...

I have no control or influence over this. Believe me, no one's more frustrated than myself.

Response recorded on March 11, 2011

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Anonymous writes...

Hey Mr. Weisman, love your work! First and foremost, thanks a ton for taking the time to answer the many questions of us crazed fans, I haven't heard of many who care enough to do this. Secondly, congrats and best of luck on Young Justice, it looks like it has just tons of potential, and I look forward to seeing more.

My quick question is a pretty insignificant one I suppose, but for some reason it's always bugged me (I apologize if it's been asked already, I checked the archives and searched). In the Spectacular Spider-Man episode 'Catalysts', there's a bit where Spidey's web-shooters run out, and he reloads one of them during free-fall. After this, t first it seems like he's going to be, understandably, shooting webbing only from the one he reloaded, but then he can be clearly seen firing web from both web-shooters, even when he has only reloaded one. Was this merely an animation goof, or was there a specific reason?

Greg responds...

I feel pretty confident that you're either remembering or interpreting this wrong, but I can't check it at the moment.

Response recorded on March 11, 2011

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Craig F writes...

Hey Greg,

I'm a huge fan of Spectacular Spider-man and I was heartbroken when it was cancelled. On the flip-side, I'm loving Young Justice, so I have to ask... If it weren't for Spidey getting cancelled, would you still be working on YJ?

Greg responds...

Probably not.

Response recorded on February 25, 2011

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BonnieB21:-) writes...

Long time lurker, first time poster!

I've been trying to think of some questions I know no one else has thought of before. It's taken me a while, but I finally got them.

I've been a fan of Spiderman all my life and have watched EVERY cartoon version either in syndication, on cable, or when they originally aired. I was rewatching "Along Came Spidey" the origin of Spiderman from Spiderman And His Amazing Friends last night (a gorgeous episode, one of the best of the series and the BEST of his various origin stories (present company excluded)). But I believe this was the last time his full story was told. As in before Spiderman became a crime fighter, he was a "plain, old, SUPERSTAR!!!!!". I saw your Spectacular Spiderman origin and I had to ask you this:

I know you had to/wanted to keep towards Spiderman's live action movie origin which rushes through all the pre-crime fighting stuff. But if you could've, would you have explored Spidey's fame-whoring past? Cause I've always wondered why no one else in New York City, no other fans, or no one else remembers Spidey's pro-wrestling, personal appearance making, TV show guest starring past. If J. Jonah Jamision had a reason for hating Spiderman, I would think that would be it.

I used to watch '60s Spiderman every morning in syndication before going to school. But I hadn't seen it in a very long time until ABC Family/Disney reran a bunch of old Spidey episodes, but only one of '60s Spidey. The interesting thing about Peter Parker/Spiderman is that Peter talks in a mild mannered, soft spoken voice in his real life but once he dons the mask, his voice got deeper and more authoritative. That was the only series that had such a huge differnce between Peter and Spidey.

On Spectacular Spidey, there doesn't seem to be a huge difference between the way Peter sounds and the way Spidey sounds. Was there a reason for that? For the most part, Peter's and Spidey's lives don't connect too much (as in Spidey doesn't have to have long conversations with Peter's friends). But I would think at least of one person be it Aunt May, Gwen, or M.J. would be able to tell Peter's voice over a cell phone and Spiderman sound an awful lot alike.

Thanks for taking the time to answer fan questions!

Greg responds...

1. I'm more than happy with the origin we used.

2. Josh Keaton DID change his voice to differentiate between Pete & Spidey. It's just (intentionally) very subtle.

Response recorded on February 09, 2011

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Anonymous writes...

Was Carnage and Shikata to appear on "The Spetacular Spider-Man" before it was canceled.

Greg responds...

No comment.

Response recorded on February 07, 2011

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Dan writes...

In the theme song of the Spectacular Spider-man under one of the photos there is a headline reading " the final, fateful photo by Peter Parker". Was this hinting at something?

Greg responds...

I don't recall that, so I'll say... no.

Response recorded on February 07, 2011

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Sree writes...

1.When coming up with the theme song for spectacular spiderman, how many bands and how many versions of the song did you have to go through? Did you n Victor Cook have much input into selecting the ulimate song?

2.Do you know what Victor Cook is currently working on?

Greg responds...

1. We listened to about seven or eight submissions. Four of those, including the Tender Box song you're all familiar with, we liked a lot and wanted to use on the DVDs, but couldn't afford to. And, yes, Vic & I picked the song, though of course we needed approval from a whole bunch of folks at Sony, Marvel and KidsWB. Fortunately, everyone agreed with our choice without reservation.

2. Yes. Scooby-Doo, plus he's guest directing episode 20 of Young Justice.

Response recorded on January 28, 2011

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Akeem M. writes...

Hello again, another spec spidey question here.

In comics Tombstone had a connection to Robbie Robertson, making him more of one of Robbie's personal enemies. Is there a reason you decided to disregard that when making Tombstone the "Big Man". OR was it not omitted, and you just didn't have enough time to show anything concerning Robbie's relationship with Tombstone (or it didn't have enough impact on Peter/Spidey's life...yet)?

Also, we all know why you decided to get rid of Herman Schultz, but of all the people to be Shocker, why Montana of The Enforcers? Was there something that you saw in Montana that would plant him as a great match for the Shocker suit?

Also...if there is ANYTHING you want to give me for your discontinued plans for the future like "you would have liked this to happen" just spill it out... Just kidding...

Thanks

Greg responds...

Tombstone/Robbie would fall under the category of discontinued future plans, which I've pretty much decided there's no upside in me revealing.

As for Montana becoming Shocker, it just seemed to fit. Montana got away at the end of "Survival of the Fittest" and would be at loose ends without his Enforcer buddies. And he had a fun personality to inhabit the Shocker suit and gear. It worked for us.

Response recorded on January 28, 2011

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Baron Ultron writes...

Few thing have bugged me since cancelation of Spectacular Spider-Man.

1)Does Marvel hate Spectacular Spider-Man cartoon or not.I ask this because they are making new Ultimate Spider-Man Cartoon and Spectacular Spider-Man was canceled and there was lack of promotion in Marvel.Com(While Avengers or Super Hero Squad have many promotions).Also in one of your answers you said that Marvel are not planning to make comic book based on your show or something like that.So does Marvel hate your show or not?

2)This might be stupid question but worth a shot.Will you ever work for Marvel or Disney again due to cancelation of your show and Disney retooling Gargoyles into Gargoyles Goliath Chronicles.

3)What do you think about Avengers:Earth's Mightiest Heroes Cartoon.Do you think it is as great as Spectacular Spider-Man or bad.Also in your opinion which show is better:Young Justice or Avengers Earth's Mightiest Heroes.

4)Will you watch Ultimate Spider-Man Cartoon?And also is there a chance that you will work on Avengers Earth's Mightiest Heroes or some Marvel Comic Book?

Good Luck

Greg responds...

1. I hope not. Ask Marvel.

2. I'm perfectly willing.

3. I haven't seen Avengers, but Frank Paur is producing it, so I take it for granted that it's great. But in any case, I don't see YJ as being in competition with Avengers. There's room for both.

4a. No. There's no upside in me watching Ultimate. If it's great, I'll be jealous. If it sucks, I'll be frustrated.

4b. No. I'm plenty busy on YJ.

4c. I hope so. Ask Marvel.

Response recorded on January 21, 2011

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Ian Whitcombe writes...

I'm curious about the philosophy behind recieving episode premise approval for a show from DC (and I'm assuming Marvel too for SSM?). I wonder which would describe it better:

1. You submit the episode premise as a checks and balances procedure working in good faith that the episode will be approved provided there aren't any legal or logistical oversights that would make the episode impossible to produce. What I think I'm asking is if they recognize your desire as producer to make the episode, and they would only veto a premise if there was some sort of hassle.

2. You submit the episode premise in the hope that DC likes it and sees value in the episode's production. This would imply that the episode could be approved or vetoed based on the creative "whims" of DC.

Greg responds...

It's both or neither. The main concern for both companies (not including the legal ramifications, which separate LAWYER-TYPES deal with) is to make sure we are being true to the characters. Some DC and Marvel people focus on specifics. Some focus on the bigger picture. Some both.

But basically, they don't reject premises out of hand. Just the way we are dealing with their characters. And even that is fairly rare. Both Marvel on SpecSpidey and DC on YJ have been great partners in the process.

Response recorded on January 18, 2011

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Algernon writes...

Hey Greg, how's it hanging.

Not a question so much as a request but I was wondering if you'd ever considered posting the "Spectacular Spider-Man" series bible online like you did for "Gargoyles"? I've always been impressed by the amount of thought you put into your shows, and it'd be a great insight into the creative process behind such a fantastic toon.

Greg responds...

Hmmm...

I don't have it here at Warner Bros to look through it and see if it's post-worthy. But I'll think about it.

Response recorded on December 30, 2010

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John Derrick writes...

I hate to say it, but I was extremely disappointed in the Young Justice premiere. Don't get me wrong--the animation was gorgeous, the dialogue entertaining, the story intriguing. But the gender imbalance was a huge turn-off for me.

Why was it that the women of the Justice League were only shown in the last five minutes of a two-part pilot? Why did the male sidekicks get to go on a rebellious adventure and force the League to accept them as a team of their own, while the first girl is only added to "Young Justice" at the very end, introduced by her uncle and guardian like some sort of token?

I expect that the women will have a lot more to do in the episodes to come, but I still find it profoundly problematic to introduce the characters in such an unequal manner. I believe there are too many men in the world as it is who see women as mere supporting players in their stories. Why reinforce this stereotype for a whole new generation of superhero cartoon fans?

Greg responds...

It's a legitimate gripe. And I doubt my answer will satisfy you, but it came down to a couple factors that we at least found important: (1) practicality and to a lesser extent - but intertwined with - (2) tradition.

Let's start with practicality.

You asked why there were no female Leaguers until the end. But where would they have fit? There are no female Leaguers with traditional first generation sidekicks. So Batman, Green Arrow, Aquaman and Flash could not be replaced by Wonder Woman, Black Canary or Hawkwoman. That leaves the four Leaguers introduced at the Hall of Justice. I needed Martian Manhunter to be there to set up Miss Martian. I needed Red Tornado there to set up his interest in the teens. I needed Superman there to set up Superboy. That leaves only Zatara. He was certainly replaceable. But then I would have had to hire another voice actress to read ONE LINE. I couldn't afford to do that. We have budgets. (And you'll notice that Red Tornado never speaks in the episode. Couldn't afford giving him a line either. None of which had anything to do with gender.)

There was NEVER any intent to introduce Artemis this early in the season for story reasons. Wouldn't make sense for her character. And I think the reasons why will become clear as the season progresses.

As for Miss Martian, yes, in theory, we could have introduced her sooner. Manhunter COULD have brought her along at the beginning. But then I'd have had FOUR characters running around the first half hour and FIVE in the second. That steals screen time and characterization from everyone. I think the entire production would have been weaker for adding another character -- ANY other character (gender notwithstanding).

Of course, that begs the obvious question - why not ditch one of the boys in favor of her to create a little balance.

But it seemed to us that would create balance at a cost.

There are FOUR TRADITIONAL sidekicks: Robin, Speedy, Aqualad and Kid Flash. To leave one out seemed wrong to us. Which brings in the Tradition argument, which I'll admit is somewhat feeble, but as an old comic book geek, I'll also admit it matters to me and to everyone else here.

The very first Teen Titans story ever in Brave and the Bold featured only THREE heroes: Robin, Aqualad and Kid Flash. Wonder Girl did not join until their second adventure. So we felt there was a precedent for beginning with Robin, Aqualad and Kid Flash and saving the real introduction of Miss Martian (beyond hellos) for OUR second adventure.

For what it's worth, if you give the series another chance, starting with episode three (i.e. the one immediately following the pilot "movie"), I think you'll see that female characters including Miss Martian, Black Canary, Artemis, Wonder Woman and MANY others will be playing ESSENTIAL roles in the show as we progress. I think the balance - and then some - is absolutely present in the first season when viewed in its entirety.

Yes, the pilot was very boy-centric, but that's not the rubric for the series. Personally, I love writing female characters, and if you're at all familiar with my past work, you'll know I have a history of doing them justice. (At least, I think so.) Gargoyles, for example, is FULL of strong female characters, including Elisa, Demona, Angela, Fox, etc. WITCH was nearly ALL female leads. Even Spider-Man had a strong female supporting cast, in my opinion at least.

If we did "reinforce a stereotype" (which I think is overstating it) then perhaps we've lured in kids that we will reeducate over the course of the season - organically without forcing it.

So I'd beg a little patience, a little indulgence... maybe even a little trust that we'll do right by this issue.

But judge for yourself.

Response recorded on December 21, 2010

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SoundForSound writes...

Any reason for Disney to not just do a digital only release of Gargoyles via iTunes? Would not that be cheaper to release than DVD, or who knows? Any word on if YJ will be available on iTunes? Keep up the great work. Spidey was amazing, so am looking forward to YJ.

Greg responds...

I just have no idea on either front.

Response recorded on December 17, 2010

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SLG writes...

Hey Greg,

Really liked the Young Justice pilot, very solid stuff. I especially like the line Robin had about how Batman would "have his head" for taking so long to get out of those shackles. Robin seemed pretty capable, and I'm sure he'll get closer to Batman's level as time goes on, but I do hope we'll get to see the master at work every once in a while.

I also really have to say that I loved the action sequences (and the writing, of course). They had a great flow to them and a great sense of pace. I was also a bit surprised at how hard hitting some of the fights were, by which I mean they seemed to be fairly violent, even compared to something as recent as SpecSpidey, though that's just my take on it.

So anyway, you say that your brother, Jon Weisman, is writing for Young Justice, which got me thinking about how that was also the case during your time on WITCH. Since someone was nice enough to upload the entire series onto YouTube it has been easy enough to go back to. One of my favorites of that show was "S for Self", mainly because of the songs "Demon in Me" and "Will to Love" that played during it, for which you and Jon wrote the lyrics.

So this is a bit out there, but do you suppose that original songs, like those produced for WITCH, are something that would ever have a place in Young Justice?

How about an entire episode in the form of a musical? Buffy style, you know you want to.

Greg responds...

I do want to. But I'm not sure I'm smart enough to come up with an original reason for it to happen -- that WORKS with the tone of this show. Way back when, I wanted to do a musical episode of Gargoyles, but could never come up with a justification. Then Joss Whedon did "Once More With Feeling". And of course, the answer was obvious. I could have used Puck to force everyone to sing. Trouble is... I wasn't smart enough to figure that out first. Yes, that's right. Joss Whedon is smarter than I am. Now, taking that approach would REALLY look like I was ripping off his idea. I'm not 100% sure I'm above that. But I'm about 87% sure, so...

Even on Spidey, which was a show with a way less realistic and grounded tone than YJ is, I struggled to find an original reason to do a musical episode. And I couldn't figure one out. So the odds of me figuring one out on Young Justice seem slim, I'm afraid.

Response recorded on December 17, 2010

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Akeem M. writes...

Hello again sir,
Once again I have a few Spec Spidey questions
Now, as you know, in Spectacular Spider-Man, the extra arms that Doc Ock has are detachable. The harness itself is stuck to Octavius, yet the arms can be removed. My question is, what was your reasoning for doing this? From my knowledge this was never done in the comics. Was it so Ock could be feasibly locked up without those tenticles having to be locked up as well?

Now, we all know what people thought of Mr. Lincoln in the show, but what would you say the public's opinion on Hammerhead? Obviously criminals know who he is (much like every crook knows who the Big Man is (which is how the rumor surfaced up multiple times), but what about the public. Is Hammerhead a well known criminal?

Also, when choosing minority races for minor characters what factors made you choose that specific race. For example, you wanted Rhino to be South African (I suppose to go with the whole "Rhino" thing. Ned Leeds and Kenny "Kong" McFarlane had names that could easily be changed to more Asian sounding without changing too much (Leeds to Lee and the nickname Kong as a literal last name.)So what influenced you to pick certain races for certain minor characters? For example did Roderick Kingsley's love for the carribean influence you to making him black? Did Gwen's Debra Whitman look influence you to make Debra Whitman black because of her extreme similarities to Gwen look wise. If Belladonna were to appear would she have been Latina since she already is a Carmen Sandiego homage?

Greg responds...

1. Basically, yes. We figured the authorities wouldn't allow him to have the arms in lock-up.

2. Yes. But he's got no official ties to Lincoln.

3. There weren't any rules, though I think you hit on the name thing influencing me. Same with making DeWolff Native American. The name suggested it a bit. Other times it was just us trying to diversify the cast. So Liz became 1/2 Puerto Rican and Kingsley and Whitman became African-American. Etc.

Response recorded on December 03, 2010

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Anonymous writes...

is there going to be a spectacular spiderman season 3

Greg responds...

Nope.

Response recorded on December 01, 2010

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Anonymous writes...

Who would you rather be trapped in an eight hour car ride with; Demona; Nerissa; or Green Goblin?

Greg responds...

Nerissa, I guess. She'd have less reason to kill me at random. She might even appreciate the company.

Response recorded on November 23, 2010

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Anonymous writes...

In Young Justice, are we going to see police and some villians use real guns like in Batman: Brave and the Bold?

If yes, do you actually take your time and effort to draw them in great detail similar to the ones from Batman: Gotham Knight?

Greg responds...

I guess it depends on your definition of "great detail". They are as detailed as anything else in the series, based on our design style. They're not photo-realistic, but that's not the style of the series. But the style's more realistic than, say, SpecSpidey was. (Which is not a VALUE judgment, as I'm a huge fan of BOTH Sean and Phil.)

Response recorded on November 23, 2010

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Jackson writes...

Hello Mr. Weisman,

my name is Jackson, and I am an avid fan of The Spectacular Spider-Man. So the first thing I would like to say, even though you've probably heard it heaps of times over, is that The Spectacular Spider-Man was the best adaptation of Spider-Man to date, and in my opinion the best cartoon I've ever seen (and I've seen a fair few). I could go to great lengths to describe just how amazing a thing it was. I was devastated beyond belief when I heard that TSSM was cancelled. It truly was masterpiece.

And now that I've said that, my question. It concerns a character I believe you should be quite familiar with; Donald Menken. Being the fan that I am, I have watched the episodes many times, and Mr Menken interested me. My main question about him is, in the episodes that he appears, is he meant to be a character who really just does what he's told, or does he have any sort of initiative? I mean, for Norman to trust him enough to show him globulin green AND host the rhino specs auction (which are both pretty dangerous things to share), there'd have to be something about him that Norman recognised as making him a trustworthy confidant. What was this quality?

Thanks so much for your time. Maybe more questions in the future.

Greg responds...

Well, I'll mostly leave this for your interpretation, but I think Menken demonstrated various qualities to Norman Osborn (not all of which may have been visible in the limited screen time we could afford the character), including loyalty, intelligence, steadfastness, initiative, unperterbability, etc.

Response recorded on November 18, 2010

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Javier writes...

Hi Greg, first of all i want to say that Spectacular Spiderman was the best incarnation of the character i have seen outside of the comic books, and its a shame that it lasted only two seasons. i have a couple of questions if you dont mind, hopefully you will be able to answer them, if not i understand, you are a very busy man after all.

1) I was really amazed by the quality of the animation and the character designs, it looks even better than the other DC movies that i have seen. How do you maintain that standard of quality in a weekly series? All tha animation is done in the US?

2) Is Josh Keaton voicing Barry Allen? It sounded like him but maybe im wrong, he did an outstanding job as Peter Parker, hopefully he will have a role in the series

Thank you for your time, as a fellow animator im really glad that we can still have some classic 2D animation to look foward to, Best of luck Mr Weisman

Greg responds...

I'm a little confused if we're discussing Spider-Man or Young Justice here...

1. For both series, all the animation was done/is being done in Seoul, Korea. The pre-production was/is all done in Los Angeles. (Though on YJ, some storyboards are being done in Korea.) Final word on quality control was with myself and Vic Cook on Spidey; myself and Brandon Vietti on YJ.

2. No. George Eads is our Barry Allen, though I'm a huge fan of Josh's, of course, and hope to use him on YJ.

Response recorded on November 18, 2010

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Clark Cradic writes...

Does Felicia Hardy in your series wear a wig or die her hair? I'm guessing the white hair isn't natural in your world.

Greg responds...

It's a cartoon TV version of platinum blonde in my mind. Others might disagree. Like, say, Storm of the X-Men.

Response recorded on November 12, 2010

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Mo writes...

Forgive me for being dated, but I have a Spidey question. In rereading some of my collected editions of the Lee/Ditko era, I realized that Peter Parker was established as a high school senior. In Spec. Spidey, he is an underclassmen (I forget if he's a freshman or sophomore). Why the change?

Greg responds...

He's a junior actually. As for the reason, it's fairly simple. Stan and Steve kept Pete a high school senior for a LONG time. Years. Since we wanted to play the passage of time as an element in the series, but still wanted the opportunity to tell many of those stories (and more) while Pete was still in high school, we started him as a junior to give us some breathing room.

Response recorded on November 12, 2010

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Neil writes...

Do you still listen to that Spectacular Spiderman theme song (full version)? It's so catchy!

Greg responds...

Uh... I've heard it. And it is very catchy.

Response recorded on November 10, 2010

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Anonymous writes...

i know this is gonna be a "im not inclined to tell" or "no comment" but this really has been bugging me. Emily Osborn literally did nothing on the show so what exactly were your plans for her. my only guess would be that she takes over oscorp since harry is too young. if im right PLEASE tell me.

Greg responds...

I'm not going to tell you. But we did have plans.

Response recorded on November 06, 2010

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nygma619 writes...

Hey Greg, a couple Spectacular Spidey ?'s that I hope you'll be able to answer:
1.) Someone asked a question on whether you had plans for S.H.I.E.L.D., and you said "No", not "No comment". So I'm curious, where do you see Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. at this point in time? Have the government approved the group, or has there not been a reason to create the group yet?

2.) The Lizard in his first appearance was not seen as talking, but was seen as a mute, savage beast. I'm curious, what was the thought process behind making him that way?

3.) What happened with MOI animation in the second season? Blueprints, Shear Strength, Growing Pains, & Gangland are in my opinion the weakest animated episodes of the series. Their season 2 work just felt alot less fluid than their season 1 work, and compared to Dong Woo and Hanho their animation from season 2 was alot more fluid looking than what MOI was doing. I know there's a camp of people who complained about Hanho going off model, but I always accepted the squash and stretch being used alot more, since that's how Victor Cook intended the animation to be.

These next 2 questions are tricky to ask since I'm not sure if they break the "won't spoil because their better off being revealed in execution" code you've gone by, but I'll give it a shot anyways:
4.) You said that Roderick Kingsley owning a perfume company would be brought up in his next appearance. Does that mean you had plans to introduce Belladonna?

5.) You said you know who the main villains of each arc would be in season 3, but you didn't have everything planned out beyond that. Hobgoblin sounds obvious, Scorpion, Maybe. So are the main villains of each season 3 arc, something you'd be willing to reveal(at the very least), or not?

6.) About the radio play, when Cleatus says to Demona, "I'll have what he's having.", how come Eddie wasn't saying "YES, YES, OH GOD YES" when he became Venom again before that?

Looking forward to Young Justice!

Greg responds...

1. I don't have my Spec Spidey research notes with me here at Warner Bros. But as I recall, Nick has not yet been recruited to run SHIELD yet. But in any case, at the time I'm sure I didn't have access to Nick or the SHIELD characters. Spidey Universe only.

2. It seemed right. He seemed more dangerous that way. More Lizardy.

3. I really don't remember.

4. No comment.

5. Not really.

6. For whatever reason, I didn't have quite as firm a grasp on "When Harry Met Sally" as you seem to. I was in a rush.

Response recorded on October 15, 2010

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Jim writes...

You may or may not have followed the hubbub earlier in the summer when Donald Glover (young and very charismatic black comedian/actor) was campaigning on Twitter for a chance to audition for the role of Peter Parker in the new Spidey movies. Nothing ever came of it, but it sparked a huge internet debate over whether a black Parker was true to the character.

I myself was very open to the idea. After all, nothing about Peter's character or circumstances dictates that he has to be white. Heck, May isn't even related to him by blood; the only characters that would need to be adjusted are his parents, Uncle Ben, and Ben Reilly-- assuming any of those even make it into the new film.

Given that SpecSpidey is my very favorite version of the mythos, and given that the show was notable for, among other things, mixing up the races of various (mostly minor) characters, I was curious as to your thoughts on the subject. Not to the point of any conclusion, but just a reasoned opinion. Are there some things about Spidey that are just TOO traditional, too sacred, that changing them dilutes people's perception of the character? Is his race one of them? You went with the classic white-with-brown-hair interpretation, and I don't think there are many arguments that you succeeded quite well at adapting Parker.

I'll admit I'm wary of making this post, as I don't mean for you to look like you're choosing sides or giving some definitive answer. After all, I've already made up my mind on the issue; I'm sure most people have. Or they sure seemed to have when this controversy was still fresh. But being that you are something of an expert at adapting this specific property, as well as someone who was willing to add diversity where it was appropriate, I'd really like to pick your brain and hear any thoughts you might have regarding this issue.

Greg responds...

I think of Peter Parker as Everyman, so I can see why Mr. Glover and others would identify with him and have no trouble changing his ethnicity.

I myself KNOW that Pete is (whether practicing or not) of the Christian persuasion, because I've seen him celebrate Christmas over and over, but it always struck me as window-dressing to make the character appeal to the widest possible American audience. Because he's ALWAYS seemed Jewish to me. Perhaps that's because Stan Lee was/is Jewish and wrote him that way. Or maybe it's just me, being Jewish, reading it in. I toyed with the idea of having Pete's late mother being Jewish on Spec Spidey. But really, what would be the point? (And that was without asking Marvel if they'd have an issue with it.)

So I don't in a theoretical sense have any problem with an African-American Peter Parker. If Nick Fury can look like Samuel L. Jackson, etc., etc., etc.

The question of course is one of ICONOGRAPHY. Is the caucasian, brunette Peter to iconic to change. I certainly felt that M.J.'s red hair and Gwen's blonde hair were too iconic too change (which at least suggests that they needed to both stay Caucasian). But what about Peter?

As you guessed, I don't have a definitive answer for you. Stan and Steve (and maybe Jack) designed the costume so that it would hide race and ethnicity completely. Then WROTE Spidey's dialogue as if he were a Borsht Belt comic. (See why I thought he was a Jew from Queens?) So maybe all that matters is the nebbish -- not the color of it.

But maybe not...

Response recorded on October 14, 2010

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Alan Gavinchki writes...

Hey Greg
When you look at the Spectacular Spider-Man, you realize there are a lot of important villains. Which do you consider the main villain of the whole show. I thought of some possibilities.
1. Tombstone because he is a crimelord and was the first to want to kill Spidey.
2. Hammerhead because he is Tombstone's assistant and made the most appearances out of any villain.
3. Green Goblin because he is Harry's dad and he made supervillains for Tombstone and wanted to take over his enterprise. He did once and he made Spidey's life turn upside down.
4. Doc Ock because he was a victim of the Goblin and was the leader of the first Sinister Six and organized the second one. Him alone during the Master Planner and Gang War saga would make him the main bad guy.
5. Venom because he was once Pete's best friend and he possessed the same suit Spidey had. Afterall he was the one who pointed out that Peter loved Gwen. He also revealed his identity to Jameson!
I hope one of these villains I chosed are correct for their major role.

R.I.P. Spectacular Spidey

Greg responds...

I'm not sure I understand why I'd need to pick just one?

Response recorded on September 29, 2010

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Emily writes...

I imagine that you had to read alot of comics when making shows like Young Justice or Spiderman. So did you get those comics for free from the Marvel and DC saying you needed them to help with the shows or did you have to go out and buy?

Greg responds...

Mostly, I went out and bought. Alan Burnette had a backlog of Young Justice comics he lent me, i.e. a bunch of individual issues, not always consecutive. Maybe a couple other things here and there. But mostly, I'm outlaying on my dime to do the research.

Response recorded on September 29, 2010

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ALL CAUGHT UP

Hey gang,

I'm finally all caught up on the ASK GREG queue. Gonna take a short break, but we'll open the queue again on September 27th, 2010 in preparation for the release of Superman/Batman: Apocalypse which also contains the DC Showcase Green Arrow short that I wrote.

As always, I urge you guys NOT to flood ASK GREG with questions. Check the archives. Check the FAQs. Ask questions of the loyal fans in the Station 8 comment room.

AND, please, THINK BEFORE YOU POST. I am NOT, for example, going to SPOIL "Young Justice" before it airs. I'm not going to SPOIL "Gargoyles" either since I still have hopes of bringing that back. I'm not even going to "SPOIL" Spectacular Spider-Man, because I don't see any real point in revealing future plans and ideas independent of their execution.

Happy to talk process. Happy to talk about what's ALREADY aired or been published. Happy to talk about Mecha-Nation and many other things. But. NOT. GONNA. SPOIL.

Thanks,

gdw


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Clark Cradic writes...

What comic universe would you say you're more knowledgeable about: DC or Marvel?

Greg responds...

I'm pretty equal on both companies.

Fairly knowledgeable (all things considered) on pre-1970s stuff.

More knowledgeable on the 70s.

Extremely knowledgeable on the 80s.

Less knowledgeable on the early and mid 90s.

Almost completely ignorant of the mid 90s through 2006.

Somewhat knowledgeable but with huge gaps on 2006 through the present...

Of course, I worked at DC as a freelancer from 1983-1991, and on staff from 1985-1987, so I have more INSIDE knowledge of that company, but during that period I was reading ALL the Marvel books too, so if we're talking CONTINUITY and CHARACTERS, I know both companies pretty darn well. I certainly grew up reading both. And when I was a little kid, I didn't even get that there were different companies that made comics. I'd see Green Lantern team up with Superman in one book. And Spider-Man team up with the Fantastic Four in another. And I didn't know that next month I might not see Captain America team with Batman. It took me a while to get the whole competing companies idea.

Response recorded on September 21, 2010

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Laura 'ad astra' Sack writes...

I'm sorry to hear you are feeling some vitriol coming your way for the differences between the Young Justice comic book and coming cartoon. As a huge fan of YJ I was hoping for a Spec Spidey type treatment of the original source material and I bet others were too. That said, I just keep repeating to myself that that is not to be so I should just look forward to a different great cartoon.

I did have the thought of, 'then why not use a different name?' If I can come up with a couple more ridiculously bad ones to balance the numerous "Blah" ones I may post some names that came to mind...

Greg responds...

It IS a very Spec Spidey treatment of the source material. It's just that our definition of the source material is BIGGER and more EXPANSIVE than yours seem to be. Just as on Spec Spidey, we developed YJ to combine characters from different eras to create a cohesive, coherent yet contemporary whole, without losing what's classic and iconic about these teen characters. That meant borrowing from classic Teen Titans as well as Young Justice and other arenas as well. Just as we borrowed from Spidey's high school years, his college years and more recent arenas as well. On Spec Spidey, we said it was early days in the Marvel Universe (recast as 2008). On YJ, it's early days in the DC Universe (recast as 2010).

It's the exact same thing -- from my point of view at least. It's adaptation with a starting point. Where it goes from that starting point...? Time will tell.

Response recorded on September 21, 2010

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Oscar writes...

Hi i am a big fan of spider-man and i have a few questions

1)Will the new show for spider-man be starting all over or continue where you left off on the spectacular spider-man?

2)Do you think the new spider man show will better?

3)Are y'all going to use the same characters?

4)Why did the Spectacular spider-man show get canceled?

5)Do you think y'all could have gone far with the spectacular spider-man more than the 1994 series?

6)Last question Do you think there will be ever a chance that they could bring back the Spectacular spider-man if the the new one won't receive good ratings or it crashes like other shows that lasted 13 episodes or less?

Thank you for your time

Greg responds...

1. Ask the new creators. I have no idea, but I can't imagine they'll be picking up where we left off.

2. Not for me to say.

3. I did Spectacular. Ask the new guys about the new show.

4. See the archives.

5. If given the opportunity, we could have kept SpecSpidey going pretty much indefiinitely. But I'm not in competition with any other series.

6. It seems highly unlikely.

Response recorded on September 13, 2010

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Algernon writes...

Hey again Greg,
I've recently started rewatching "The Spectacular Spider-Man", and I thought I'd test the waters with a question you probably would never have answered while the show was on the air. If every character from the show was taken from the comics, then who was Hammerhead's female chauffeur?

Greg responds...

We did have some thoughts on that subject, but I'm not too inclined to go into them...

Response recorded on September 13, 2010

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Alan Gavinchki writes...

Dear Greg,

I forgot to ask, when will season 2 of TSSM be released on DVD? I am not patient as you can see. Would the DVD feature any plans you had for a possible season 3? Sorry I forgot to ask you that question in my previous question.

Your fan,
Alan

Greg responds...

I have no idea about the release schedule, but I don't see how it could have any "plans for a possible season 3" since I wasn't involved in the extras (if any) at all.

Response recorded on September 08, 2010

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Alan Gavinchki writes...

Dear Greg,
I was really looking forward to a season 3 of TSSM, but due to recent news, I am a little disappointed that we won't see that show again. I have a few things I want to say. Firstly, I want to thank you for this great show. The two year run was my favorite two years yet. I have a few questions.

1. Would we have seen the Punisher? I'm a huge Punisher fan and I would've loved to see him.

2. I already know Scorpion and Hobgoblin would appear, but what other villains would we have seen?

3. Would Sandman become a good guy?

4. In the episode "Accomplices", Roderick Kingsley got away from the fight with Spidey, Silver Sable, and Hammerhead and ended up running away without a coat. But at the parking garage, Kingsley is seen in a different car (his limo was destroyed and appeared to have no other form of transportation) and had his coat back. When he saw Rhino, he seemed less surpirsed rather when he was attacked by Silver Sable. Was this Roderick's identical twin brother Daniel?

5. Speaking of Rhino, I loved seeing him and Spidey team-up. Would Spidey team-up with any other villains?

6. When the symbiote went into the sewer, was it possible that it reproduced and would create the Carnage symbiote?

7. Final question, would Miles Warren become the Jackal? If so, would he do something like the clone saga and make Ben Reilly? I'm a huge Scarlet Spider fan and I was really hoping we'd see him.

That's all I have, thanks again for a great 26 episodes.

Your fan,
Alan Gavinchki

Greg responds...

Alan, I appreciate your obvious enjoyment of the series. But I've pretty much made the decision that there's nothing in it for me to just spit out ideas I had for future seasons. Absent the execution of said ideas, they just become fodder for debate on whether or not they were good ideas. A debate that has little to do with whether they MIGHT have been good ideas if we had had the chance to execute them. So...

1. As I've stated MANY times before, we weren't given access to characters like Punisher. And at this point, it's a little moot to theorize what we might have done had Punisher become available. It was never considered.

2. Some are obvious, given the fact that we had already introduced them in their civilian identities or other hints we dropped. Beyond that, I'm not saying.

3. Things aren't black and white.

4. Again, I'll leave that to everyone's interpretation.

5. I wouldn't rule it out, but that's so specific. We never got into detail breaking down Season Three.

6. And STILL, I'm not interested in using this forum to reveal unexecuted ideas.

7. Ditto.

Response recorded on September 08, 2010

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GEOGNE writes...

WHY DID YOU GUYS CANCEL SPECTUALR SPIDERMAN PLEASE BRING IT BACK ITS SUCH A CLEAN SHOW WHY DID YOU i HAVE A LOVE FOR THAT SHOW SIGNED GEOGNE

Greg responds...

It wasn't my choice to not renew the series. I would have loved to do more. The combined forces of Disney, Sony and Marvel chose to discontinue it.

Response recorded on August 31, 2010

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Clark Cradic writes...

If the series had continued long enough for you to include the Scorpion, would you have made the source of his powers like the Rhino or like Kraven?

Greg responds...

No comment.

Response recorded on August 31, 2010

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Tyler writes...

Hey Greg ,

I have another question about the episode storytelling in the Young Justice cartoon. Is the cartoon's episodes going to be told similar to The Spectacular Spiderman and Gargoyles with one long story arc, that ends each season with a big bang, But in each season the characters still recall what happened in the first season or will the show be told similar to Teen Titans and JLU where each episode has its own story?

Greg responds...

Like all my shows - including SpecSpidey - Young Justice is both episodic and sequential, with building arcs.

Response recorded on August 30, 2010

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Anonymous writes...

Man, every Spidey question you answer that ends with some form of "it's moot now" or "we'll never see it" is depressing. I miss the show so much, miss anticipating what great new direction you guys were going to take it in, miss the awesome surprise of each new design by Cheeks, the great voice acting and sharp writing, the structure of the seasons and the way you were organically growing Spidey's world, etc. I'm really excited for Young Justice and think it looks great, but at heart, I'm mostly a Marvel, and specifically Spider-Man, fan. So basically, just thanks for the show. I loved it, it's a credit to your great talent in the field, and it was unquestionably the best animated Marvel adaptation ever made, series, movie, or otherwise.

Greg responds...

Thank you.

Response recorded on August 30, 2010


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