World "The Spectacular Spider-Man" Appreciation Thread (possible spoilers) - Part 1

I listened to the podcast. Pretty cool episode. I always enjoy listening to Cook and his back and forth with Weisman, it's easy to see how they make a good team.

So this podcast was recorded awhile ago. Just after Ditko's death and so they spent the first several minutes paying respects to him and making aware of the Ditko inspired elements of the show, i.e. the web pits and the half Spidey mask that would appear at times.

For the rest, there were a couple of interesting tidbits. When Spidey shoves the gene cleanser down Venom's throat, the symbiote leaves Eddie not because the gene cleanser hurt it but rather cause the symbiote was afraid of what it might do. It only knew what Eddie knew, that it would rob Spider-Man of his powers and so it was fearful the same would happen to it. But as Weisman pointed out, it wouldn't have actually hurt the symbiote.

Another cool bit was that the fight between Spidey and Venom was unedited. Cook explained that for most episodes the would go over the time limit and had to make cuts and so a lot of the time they'd trim small amounts of the action scenes. But for this episode they made cuts elsewhere and left this particular action intact.

Cook also talked about how he liked to incorporate Spider-Man using his webs more in creative ways, i.e. webbing something behind an enemy and then pulling it into the back of him.

And speaking about cuts, they talked about how the most frequently cut thing was scenes showing a romantic development between Ned and Betty.
 
Is it wrong that, even though I already have all the episodes on disk, that I consider getting the Blu-Ray + digital every time I see it? I know it's a waste of money, but...digital is nice when you want to watch something and don't feel like rummaging through the Disks to find the one you want to watch...
 
Is it wrong that, even though I already have all the episodes on disk, that I consider getting the Blu-Ray + digital every time I see it? I know it's a waste of money, but...digital is nice when you want to watch something and don't feel like rummaging through the Disks to find the one you want to watch...

I'll admit the Blu Ray doesn't add anything to the show in terms of content so yes in that regard one might say it's a waste of money. But it does improve the PQ and AQ by a substantial amount and for me that's enough to buy the series over again.

If you're looking just for portability then digital makes sense. If you don't want to buy the series again you could look into purchasing a downloadable mp4 conversion tool for your DVDs. I don't know which is cheaper, the converter or the digital episodes.

Either way my man, I follow the 'if you like something, support it with your wallet' philosophy. So, imo it was an easy decision to purchase TSSM again on blu ray. After all, it is the best Spidey media ever ;)
 
I'll admit the Blu Ray doesn't add anything to the show in terms of content so yes in that regard one might say it's a waste of money. But it does improve the PQ and AQ by a substantial amount and for me that's enough to buy the series over again.

If you're looking just for portability then digital makes sense. If you don't want to buy the series again you could look into purchasing a downloadable mp4 conversion tool for your DVDs. I don't know which is cheaper, the converter or the digital episodes.

Either way my man, I follow the 'if you like something, support it with your wallet' philosophy. So, imo it was an easy decision to purchase TSSM again on blu ray. After all, it is the best Spidey media ever ;)

I think I'm just going o keep an eye out for it. I'd personally love to just be able to carry the whole series on vacation. You know, just in case. I just keep hoping that Sony will say "screw it", and start it up again. Each version of Spidey since has gotten significantly worse. It's weird.
90's Spidey was good, but then we had Unlimited and the MTV series, which kind of sucked. Then we got Spectacular, which was awesome, then we got Ultimate and Spider-Man, which sucked (and Ultimate had a few decent episodes, to be fair). Now, I'm just hoping this means the next one will be good.
 
Yeah if you're mostly concerned about travel then digital is the way to go. I have the show on all 3 platforms.

Whenever we take road trips though I have these portable DVD players that attach to the rear of the headrests. Amongst the DVDs we bring I usually will have Spectacular in there. My oldest daughter loves the show. But should I be worried that her favorites are the black suit episodes?
 
Yeah if you're mostly concerned about travel then digital is the way to go. I have the show on all 3 platforms.

Whenever we take road trips though I have these portable DVD players that attach to the rear of the headrests. Amongst the DVDs we bring I usually will have Spectacular in there. My oldest daughter loves the show. But should I be worried that her favorites are the black suit episodes?
Worried about her being AWESOME, maybe!
 
I'm rewatching Batman Beyond, and the episode 'Heroes' has one moment that made me watch 'Shear Strength', or that one scene in it that Batman Beyond paid homage to.
Yeah if you're mostly concerned about travel then digital is the way to go. I have the show on all 3 platforms.

Whenever we take road trips though I have these portable DVD players that attach to the rear of the headrests. Amongst the DVDs we bring I usually will have Spectacular in there. My oldest daughter loves the show. But should I be worried that her favorites are the black suit episodes?
I don't know. The episodes are memorably awesome, especially episode 12.
 
Has anyone noticed that in this series, despite being on the lower end of the high school social cliques, Peter has a bit of a mouth on him in comparison to other “downtrodden nerd” archetypes? I’ve seen him say something back to Flash quite a few times in this series. Even saying stuff under his breath when it comes to Jonah...
 
Has anyone noticed that in this series, despite being on the lower end of the high school social cliques, Peter has a bit of a mouth on him in comparison to other “downtrodden nerd” archetypes? I’ve seen him say something back to Flash quite a few times in this series. Even saying stuff under his breath when it comes to Jonah...
I've been saying that for years. The old comics, Ultimate, this series, and even the 67 cartoon... he always talks back, Raimi refused to adapt that and made him too soft. I understand wanting to toning down him feeling like a jerk, but he overdid it.
 
I'd love to listen to the podcast, but recording is not in good quality and I have difficulty hearing a lot of the words.

I was thinking of the episodes Intervention and Nature vs Nurture in the relationship between Peter and Flash, and then thought of how it is handled in other episodes, and I just adore this version of Flash Thompson. Though I feel bad for Kenny (and even Hobie) being underused as they are, I love Kenny in the comics cause he has enough differences to separate him from Flash that make him worth further exploring in adaption, while still being the true Flash Thompson of Ultimate comics.
 
I'd love to listen to the podcast, but recording is not in good quality and I have difficulty hearing a lot of the words.

I was thinking of the episodes Intervention and Nature vs Nurture in the relationship between Peter and Flash, and then thought of how it is handled in other episodes, and I just adore this version of Flash Thompson. Though I feel bad for Kenny (and even Hobie) being underused as they are, I love Kenny in the comics cause he has enough differences to separate him from Flash that make him worth further exploring in adaption, while still being the true Flash Thompson of Ultimate comics.

Taking the time to develop the supporting cast of characters is part of the reason this show shines.
 
I don't know if this was mentioned here before, but I just read the first twelve issues of Marvel Knights: Spider-Man by Mark Millar. It seems to me that most of the inspiration for this show's Green Goblin came from here. Even moreso than from Lee/Ditko and Ultimate.

I mean, it's not just the fact the Green Goblin looks similar and has the same backstory. Norman's lines and personality felt almost identical to SpecSpidey's Norman as I was reading it.

I suspect this show's version of The Death of Gwen Stacy would have been some mix of ASM #121-122 and this story.
 
I don't know if this was mentioned here before, but I just read the first twelve issues of Marvel Knights: Spider-Man by Mark Millar. It seems to me that most of the inspiration for this show's Green Goblin came from here. Even moreso than from Lee/Ditko and Ultimate.

I mean, it's not just the fact the Green Goblin looks similar and has the same backstory. Norman's lines and personality felt almost identical to SpecSpidey's Norman as I was reading it.

I suspect this show's version of The Death of Gwen Stacy would have been some mix of ASM #121-122 and this story.
Yeah, even the (cool) idea of shady businesses helping create supervillains comes from the MK run. I always wondered if they may have been going for the angle they took in the early 2000s where Norman started to see Peter as his true heir. The way their relationship was being set up between him and Peter makes me think that would have been the case because he was always impressed with Peter more than Harry, and I think Norman would put two and two together and realize he's Spidey and be doubly impressed with how worthy an adversary he is.

Spectacular and TNAS were streaming on Sony Crackle forever but both were removed over the weekend. Not sure what that means for the future of both Spidey Sony shows on streaming. I remember Sony sold off Crackle a year ago but I think they still had a stake in it, so I'm not sure if they'll go to Netflix now or something has been worked out to get them on Disney Plus. I've seen lots of people asking Disney Plus about Spectacular and TNAS on social media ever since launch so we'll see, I guess.
 
Yeah, even the (cool) idea of shady businesses helping create supervillains comes from the MK run. I always wondered if they may have been going for the angle they took in the early 2000s where Norman started to see Peter as his true heir. The way their relationship was being set up between him and Peter makes me think that would have been the case because he was always impressed with Peter more than Harry, and I think Norman would put two and two together and realize he's Spidey and be doubly impressed with how worthy an adversary he is.

Right.

I know I'm a broken record, but I'm even more curious to see Greg Weisman's Hobgoblin now. I mean, as much as I like the Hobgoblin, I think he's a bit redundant in hindsight. He was arguably Green Goblin's first reintroduction into the Modern Age of Comics. It would be like if Denny O'Neil created a second Joker to replace the first, instead of returning the first Joker to his roots. And Ditko's GG started out similar to Hobgoblin/Modern Norman by being a cold calculative criminal and not insane.

They were in the perfect position to show how the Hobgoblin could be different, being in their own continuity and having just done their GG. I would love to hear Greg's opinion on how Hobgoblin is different even if we never see his version.
 
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I'm curious on how Weisman would have introduced Scorpion. Would JJJ have been responsible for his creations like in the comics and in the 90s cartoon or would he have been introduced a different way?
 
Right.

I know I'm a broken record, but I'm even more curious to see Greg Weisman's Hobgoblin now. I mean, as much as I like the Hobgoblin, I think he's a bit redundant in hindsight. He was arguably Green Goblin's first reintroduction into the Modern Age of Comics. It would be like if Denny O'Neil created a second Joker to replace the first, instead of returning the first Joker to his roots. And Ditko's GG started out similar to Hobgoblin/Modern Norman by being a cold calculative criminal and not insane.

They were in the perfect position to show how the Hobgoblin could be different, being in their own continuity and having just done their GG. I would love to hear Greg's opinion on how Hobgoblin is different even if we never see his version.

I've always liked Hobgoblin. Imo he's the last great villain introduced into the Spider-Man mythos in the modern Era. True, a sort of copy cat villain to GG but the mystery surrounding his identity was great and Imo was shown to be a more menacing than GG.

As much as I would love to see or even hear about Weisman's version of Hobs, I don't think we ever will. Weisman is very tight lipped about his plans for Spectacular. He believes in no spoilers even if the show is canceled. His idea is that in the event the show does return, he'd want fans to know as little as possible.
 
I just finished listening to the Probable Cause episode...this show does such a good job with the character work. The supporting cast has a life of its own. Even Sally shows dimension.
 
Sarcastic Fan, I want to thank you for doing these podcasts. I always love seeing the crew’s insights on these episodes

The gang war was my favorite arc on the show, and the fact that Gangland was only the beginning of the gang wars in New York as all it did was knock the three biggest crime lords down a notch. Spider-Man has dealt with a LOT of mobsters, and most adaptations barely scratch the surface for how involved organized crime was in Spidey’s life. With all the power struggles and what not and the fact that even big guns like Gobby and Ock tried to muscle their way into it. I’m often surprised at how little of a presence mob based crime many adaptations have.

With characters like the Fisks and the Owl unavailable I’m curious what other people involved in organized crime they would have pulled out of the woodwork. Crime Master? Lucky Lobo? Lobo brothers? Even pulling The Big Man as a title was a bit obscure.
 

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