Contents |
| # | Title | Written by | Original air date | Prod. code[1] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Night of the Lizard" | Gerry Conway, Stan Berkowitz & John Semper | November 19, 1994 | 101 |
| 2 | "The Sting of the Scorpion" | John Semper, Marty Isenbereg & Robert N. Skir | March 11, 1995 | 102 |
| 3 | "The Spider Slayer" | Stan Berkowitz (Story: John Semper) | February 4, 1995 | 103 |
| 4 | "Return of the Spider Slayers" | Mark Hoffmeier (Story: John Semper) | February 11, 1995 | 104 |
| 5 | "Doctor Octopus: Armed and Dangerous" | Brooks Wachtel & Cynthia Harrison (Story: John Semper & Brooks Wachtel) | February 18, 1995 | 106 |
| 6 | "The Menace of Mysterio" | John Semper, Marv Wolfman & Stan Berkowitz | February 25, 1995 | 105 |
| 7 | "Kraven the Hunter" | Mark Hoffmeier (Story: John Semper & Jan Strnad) | April 1, 1995 | 110 |
| 8 | "The Alien Costume, Part One" | Len Wein, Stan Berkowitz, Meg McLaughlin & John Semper (Story: Avi Arad & Stan Lee) | April 29, 1995 | 107 |
| 9 | "The Alien Costume, Part Two" | Brynne Stephens (Story: John Semper & Brynne Stephens) | May 6, 1995 | 108 |
| 10 | "The Alien Costume, Part Three" | Mark Hoffmeier (Story: John Semper & Mark Hoffmeier).[1] | May 13, 1995 | 109 |
| 11 | "The Hobgoblin, Part One" | Larry Brody & John Semper | May 20, 1995 | 111 |
| 12 | "The Hobgoblin, Part Two" | Stan Berkowitz | May 27, 1995 | 112 |
| 13 | "Day of the Chameleon[a]" | John Semper | June 12, 1995 | 113 |
{
| "Doctor Octopus: Armed and Dangerous" | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Spider-Man (1994 TV series) episode | |||
Doctor Octopus |
|||
| Episode no. | Season 1 Episode 6 |
||
| Written by | Brooks Wachtel Cynthia Harrison |
||
| Production code | 106 | ||
| Original air date | February 18, 1995 | ||
| Episode chronology | |||
|
|||
| List of Spider-Man episodes | |||
Doctor Octopus: Armed and Dangerous is the sixth episode from the animated series Spider-Man.[2] It was the fourth episode to air and was originally broadcast by Fox Kids in the United States on February 18, 1995.[3] It is loosely based on The Amazing Spider-Man #3.[4][5][6] When ABC Family and Toon Disney re-run the episode various scenes were cut.[7] The episode was released on DVD as part of Spider-Man Vs Doc Ock.[8][9]
When Peter arrives for a date with Felicia, she is kidnapped by corrupt scientist Doctor Octopus, in order to force her mother to provide him with ransom money in which she promised to fund his experiments. Peter then recalls meeting Octavius when his Uncle Ben took him to science camp when he was ten-years-old. When offended by J. Jonah Jameson, Doc Ock insists that he deliver the ransom money, however double crosses him and holds Jonah as a second hostage, demanding twice the ransom. Furthermore, Peter is unable to persuade the scientist to release them even after delivering the money. Spider-Man, however, defeats him and he is imprisoned.
The episode introduces the character Doctor Octopus, and it has been reviewed to be his most likable appearance, that his characteristics became poor towards the end of the show. It has been described that the episode is a rare occasion that the animation is of high-quality standards, as well as being well-written.[8][9] Viewers consider Peter Parker's character to play a better role in the episode.[10]
| Voice actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Christopher Daniel Barnes | Spider-Man/Peter Parker Additional Voice |
| Edward Asner | J. Jonah Jameson |
| Rodney Saulsberry | Joseph 'Robbie' Robertson Additional Voice |
| Jennifer Hale | Felicia Hardy |
| Rue McClanahan | Anastasia Hardy |
| Efrem Zimbalist Jr. | Dr. Octopus/Dr. Otto Octavius |
"The Alien Costume" is the only three-part episode of the animated series Spider-Man. Venom was Spider-Man's most popular villain at the time this episode aired.[11] Originally this was going to be a two part episode, however, the fans wanted to see more of the black costume, so a new part 2 was added into the middle of the episodes.[12]
John Jameson and fellow astronaut Paul Stevens discover a rock known as "Promethium X", which is said to be more powerful than plutonium. Unknown to the astronaut though, Promethium X also contains a mysterious element which manages to break free and tries to consume the two Astronauts. The space shuttle crashes on Manhattan Bridge, near the Hudson river where Rhino is sent by The Kingpin to steal the Promethium X. Spider-Man arrives on the scene and manages to save Jameson and his fellow astronaut, yet unknown to Spider Man, Eddie Brock is on the bridge too, and takes photos of him (and Rhino as well). However, when Jonah arrives on the scene, Eddie uses propaganda and frames Spider-Man for stealing something from the shuttle, which leads to a $1 Million dollar bounty on Spider Man's head. However, Eddie fails to mention to have seen Rhino at the scene also. Meanwhile, at home, Peter throws his costume in the garbage, as it is now useless to him. However, when he returned from the crash site, his suit carried what appeared to be "rich, thick, and creamy" Hudson River pollution. When Peter went to bed, the substance oozed over him and began to give him a nightmare...and when he woke up, he found himself hanging from a building in a costume he had never seen before! This costume enhances Spider-Man's abilities. Meanwhile, Kingpin needed to gain some materials to test the power of Promethium X, he sent the Rhino to gain the necessary materials for his machine. Spider-Man managed to stop him, but almost lost himself to the power and tries to kill the Rhino. He eventually had to retreat back to the city, and ponder how the suit is changing him.
The story continues where it last left off, with the whole city hunting Spider-Man for Jonah's $1 million bounty. Spider-Man manages to fight them off until he is shot with a Sonic Blaster device, which weakens him. Despite this, Spider-Man manages to escape, and focuses his attention on Eddie Brock and Jonah Jameson and warns him to call off his reward, also mentioning Rhino and how Brock neglected to mention him. After Jonah visits his hospitalized son, Jameson finds out from him that Brock was lying and fires him. He also calls off the manhunt for Spider-Man.
Noticing another disturbing change in his behavior, Spider-Man seeks the assistance of Doctor Curt Connors, who studies the suit and realizes that it is a Symbiote. Spider-Man then uses the symbiote's powers to find a clue in Eddie's apartment, only to run into the Shocker, sent by The Kingpin to destroy the evidence Brock has of the crash site. The two fight, and Shocker gains the advantage, and flees, but Spider-Man follows him. Following Shocker leads him to Alistair Smythe and the Promethium X, which Spider-Man steals. Kingpin and Shocker form a plan to kidnap John Jameson in an attempt to gain the Promethium X back. Using John as bait, they manage to lure Spider-Man, to an old church. There the Shocker attacks Spider-Man, but is defeated. Eddie Brock tries to intervene, but is webbed up for his efforts. With Shocker at the mercy of Spider-Man, he begs for his life as Spider-Man is about to push him to his death. Spider-Man's conscience gets to him and he relents, only to have the symbiote push Shocker off the belltower, but Spider-Man uses two web lines to save him. Spider-Man, remembering how the symbiote was unusually weakened when he was earlier attacked with a Sonic Blaster, realizes that it is particularly sensitive to loud noises. Spider-Man then uses the church bells and the noise weakens the symbiote, and it sloughs off Peter and slinks weakly away. Peter Parker leaves, relieved to be away from the symbiote. Back at the Kingpin's headquarters, Smythe discovers why Spider-Man was so willing to trade the dangerous Promethium X back to them: as it turns out, Promethium X has an extremely short half-life, and in a matter of days it has already decayed into a harmless lump of lead.
At end of the episode, the symbiote finds a new host - Eddie Brock.
Spider-Man had returned to his old costume. He soon came across The Rhino and The Shocker. While Spider-Man was able to easily defeat The Rhino, The Shocker managed to get the upper hand. However, an unknown 'ally' arrived and defeated the two villains himself. The new 'ally' proved to be Eddie Brock, who revealed himself as 'Venom'.
Spider-Man attempted to reason with Brock, but Venom rendered Peter helpless with stronger webbing and removes the hero's mask high over a crowded street. Venom allowed Spider-Man to live, haunting his every step. Venom ruined a date with Mary Jane and menaced Spider-Man's aunt, so Spider-Man decided to fight back. He put some archives newspaper pages, featuring Brock's firing of Daily Bugle. He set a trap for the villain near the launch of a space shuttle. The noise from the rocket's afterburners forced the symbiote off of Brock, and Spider-Man webbed the creature to the rocket. The symbiote was blasted into space, and Eddie Brock was imprisoned at Ravencroft Asylum.
At the episode's conclusion, Spider-Man (as Peter Parker) and Mary Jane regard the night sky and wonder what else might be up there. Venom's menacing face appears on the moon.
There were many difficulties with bringing Venom to television because everyone had different ideas for the Venom story.[11] Len Wein wrote the first draft, which was rejected.[12] In a later meeting the creative team came up with a scene by scene plot for the show.[11] The show took a different approach to bringing the alien costume to earth from the comic books. In this episode the alien costume is brought by a space shuttle, while in the comics, Spider-Man first wore the symbiote during the Secret Wars storyline on an alien planet called Battleworld,[11][13] and later brought back to Earth.[14][15] The ending of part 2 is loosely based on Web of Spider-Man #1,[16] in which, Spider-Man removes the symbiote costume using the loud noise created by a church bell.[17] The symbiote flees and merges with Eddie Brock, transforming him into Venom. This is a direct adaptation of the comics storyline.[18]
John Semper took the idea of Eddie Brock following Spider-Man on a train in part 3 from Alfred Hitchcock's "Strangers on a Train" like Robert Walker did in that movie.[12] Promethium is an actual element.[19]
Part 1 introduces John Jameson and The Rhino and also introduces Spider-Man's black costume, which is later shown to be a living alien symbiote which attaches itself to Peter Parker. This is the first time Dr. Curt Connors is used as a supporting character rather than an antagonist (in his Lizard persona).[14] In part 2, the Shocker also makes his first appearance into the show.[20] This storyline was Eddie Brock's official first appearance as Venom in the Animated Series.[1]
The scene where Spider-Man is sleeping and the symbiote bonds with him and when he wakes up, looks in the reflection of a window at a skyscraper and sees his black alien costume for the first time was also later adapted for the film Spider-Man 3.[21] In the comics, Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four is the one who discovered that the black and white Spider-Man costume is an alien symbiote. However, because of Marvel's policy of not having their characters crossover in the movies, it was changed to Dr. Curt Connors making the discovery. This is also later used in Spider-Man 3.[21][22][23]
The Alien Costume story was adapted into book format by Paul Cockburn and published later in 1996 by Sapling.[24] The story was also adapted in the comic book "Spider-Man Adventures #8-10", in which the story of this episode was retold.[25][26][27]
| "The Hobgoblin" | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Spider-Man (1994 TV series) episode | |||
The Hobgoblin |
|||
| Episode no. | Season 1 Episode 11-12 |
||
| Directed by | Bob Richardson | ||
| Written by | Larry Brody Stan Berkowitz Stan Lee (creator) John Semper (story) |
||
| Production code | 110-111 | ||
| Original air date | Part 1: May 20, 1995 Part 2: May 27, 1995 |
||
| Episode chronology | |||
|
|||
| List of Spider-Man episodes | |||
"The Hobgoblin" is a two part episode from the first season of the Spider-Man animated series, also marking the eleventh and twelfth episodes. They originally aired on May 20 and May 27, 1995. Part one notably introduces the Hobgoblin to the series, who would later be revealed to be Jason Macendale. The episode also marks the Hobgoblin's first appearance in a Spider-Man cartoon.[28][29] Following the episodes debut on television, it was expanded into various comic books.[30] It was then reprinted into Giant-Sized Reprint comics.[31][32][33]
Norman Osborn hires the Hobgoblin to assassinate Wilson Fisk, also known as the Kingpin, because of the crime lord's continuous threats against him. Peter Parker saves Fisk just as the Hobgoblin attempts an attack on him. After eluding Spider-Man, the goblin is fired by Norman as of his unsuccessful assassination on the Kingpin. The Kingpin, upon discovering Norman's attempt on his life, respectively hires the goblin to attack him. Meanwhile, Peter manages to convince his Aunt May to stop worrying about him after he moves in with Norman's son Harry. In order to torment Norman, Hobgoblin kidnaps Harry and delivers him to the Kingpin, as well as rendering Aunt May unconscious. Upon Fisk's refusal to pay him, Hobgoblin resigns. Norman, upon discovering this, reassigns the Hobgoblin, after realising there is no alternative if the Kingpin is to be defeated. After he is eluded by Spider-Man once again, the Hobgoblin causes Oscorp to explode.
Hobgoblin defeats the Kingpin and declares himself the new Kingpin of Crime. Fisk, having managed to escape the goblin, asks Norman Osborn to assist him in reclaiming his position. Norman manages to persuade Spider-Man to help them by claiming that he needs to rescue his son, Harry, who remains held captive at Crime Central by the Hobgoblin. Once they confront the goblin, Spider-Man defeats the goblin with vengeance for his aunt having been rendered unconscious, and Harry's kidnap. Following the Hobgoblin's defeat, Peter is relieved upon discovering Aunt May has made a full recovery.
Mark Hamill, who voices the Hobgoblin in the episodes, also provides the voice of the Joker in Batman: The Animated Series, which was produced around the same time.[34] The voice Hamill uses while voicing the two characters is quite similar. Whilst the Hobgoblin is introduced in this episode, the Green Goblin, does not appear until a later season. In the original comic books, however, the Green Goblin was introduced almost twenty years before the Hobgoblin: the Hobgoblin in fact created his identity by modifying a cache of costumes and weaponry left by his (presumed) deceased predecessor. Scriptwriters later reconsidered and concluded that they made a mistake by showing the Hobgoblin as the main villain, as opposed to the Green Goblin, though they couldn't change this as the character was already notably introduced.[35][36]
The fact that the Hobgoblin appears two seasons prior to the Green Goblin has been described as an extremely likeable option in at least one viewers eye, although many have questioned as to why this is. Some believe that this gives the Green Goblin time to develop as Norman Osborn.[36] Scriptwriters, however, believe that they made a mistake in the debut of the Hobgoblin being before that of the Green Goblin.[35] Following the episodes' debut, the Hobgoblin was noted a particular favorite of viewers, especially because of the characters appearance and portrayal. As of these episodes, Aunt May is described as being poorly developed. Also, the fact that she suffers a coma after witnessing Peter's room in a mess after evidently seeing him attacked by a goblin, has been criticized. The animation of the two episodes has been highly praised by viewers.[36][37]
| Voice actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Christopher Daniel Barnes | Spider-Man/Peter Parker Additional Voice |
| Sara Ballantine | Mary Jane Watson |
| Edward Asner | J. Jonah Jameson |
| Rodney Saulsberry | Joseph "Robbie" Robertson Additional Voice |
| Roscoe Lee Browne | Kingpin/Wilson Fisk |
| Maxwell Caulfield | Alistair Smythe |
| Linda Gary | Aunt May Parker |
| Mark Hamill | Hobgoblin |
| Gary Imhoff | Harry Osborn |
| Patrick Labyorteaux | Flash Thompson |
| Neil Ross | Norman Osborn |
"Day of the Chameleon" is the first season finale for the animated series Spider-Man. The episode aired on June 6, 1995. It introduces the Chameleon to the series.[28]
The Chameleon, an international spy, attempts assassination on two diplomats in order to sign the derailing of a peace proposal. J. Jonah Jameson assists S.H.I.E.L.D. in an effort to prevent the Chameleon's derailing of the signing. Spider-Man also helps S.H.I.E.L.D. leader Nick Fury stop the criminal.
The scene in which Peter Parker is hanging below the helicarrier is similar to a scene in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back where Luke Skywalker is hanging below Cloud City.[28][38]
When the Chameleon appeared as Spider-Man's first main villain in The Amazing Spider-Man, he used costumes and makeup in order to impersonate people. Whilst in this series, the character never speaks using his own voice. The episode was later adaptated into comic book format and was reprinted several times.[28][39][40][41]
Following the September 11 attacks, the episode was highly edited when it aired on networks such as ABC Family, which notably removed the World Trade Center from the episode, as well as the New York skyline, also, scenes which included helicopters crashing into buildings and exploding were removed.[28] The version currently available for live streaming on Netflix has the unedited scenes left intact. It says "died" at the scene with Jameson and Fury looking up obits.
At least one viewer has commented that the episode introduced Nick Fury well, even though his character had better use in Iron Man: The Animated Series. The fact that the Chameleon also shape-shifted to impersonate another person before he spoke has been described as an extremely likeable option. As of this episode, J. Jonah Jameson's character was praised to be a notably humorous, and that actor Ed Asner was a good choice to voice the character. In viewers eyes, the episode seemed to introduce the majority of the shows supporting characters, whilst scenes which included Aunt May and Mary Jane Watson, were criticized.[42]
The episode was nominated to receive an Annie Award for Best Individual Achievement for Writing in the Field of Animation.[28][43]
| Voice actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Christopher Daniel Barnes | Spider-Man/Peter Parker Additional Voice |
| Sara Ballantine | Mary Jane Watson |
| Edward Asner | J. Jonah Jameson |
| Rodney Saulsberry | Joseph "Robbie" Robertson Additional Voice |
| Philip Abbott | Nick Fury |
| Nell Carter | Glory Grant |
| Rachel Davies | Agent One |
| Lois Nettleton | Nora |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||