Spider-man: The Animated Series, 110 (May 13, 1995) - āThe Alien Costume, Part Threeā
Teleplay by: Mark Hoffmeier Story by: John Semper & Mark Hoffmeier Directed by: Bob Richardson
The Breakdown
Peter Parker/Spider-man is back in his classic duds, and heās feeling pretty great about not being possessed by an evil alien goop-suit anymore.Ā Unfortunately, Rhino and Shocker are both still feeling decidedly uncongenial about the ass-whooping they took from the olā web-head over the past couple episodes, and take it upon themselves to team up for some payback.Ā However, just as itās looking like their alliance might bear fruit, a third party enters the fray andā¦ webs them both up?Ā Wait, isnāt that Spideyās schtick?Ā Normally it would be, but thereās a new player in town whoās out for blood, and unfortunately Rhino and Shocker are just the appetizers.
Thatās right, Eddie Brock has joined with the Symbiote as itās new host, and theyāre both equally PISSED at one Peter Parker. While Eddie blames Spider-man for ruining his life (even though his woes stem almost entirely from being a liar and fraud), the symbiote hates Peter for not consenting to bond with it permanently.Ā Combined, they not only share a mutual hatred for Pete/Spidey, but Eddie also consequently inherits all of Spider-manās powers and knowledge (including his secret identiy), courtesy of the symbiote.Ā Having fully embraced their union, they now call themselves āVenomā since theyāre like poison to Spider-man, you see, [itās a bit melodramatic, but theyāre in a mood so you just have to go with it] and now they want to destroy him.
Their first confrontation amounts to little more than a brief skirmish, with threats of more to come, but Venom does effectively dominate overall.Ā Over the course of the episode Peter is forced to play defense as Venom comes at Peter through the various facets of his life.Ā At one point he unmasks Peter on the rooftop of the daily Bugle in front of gawking pedestrians (Pete escapes before the cameras can zoom in on his face), another time he cock blocks Peterās date with MJ, and most gallingly, he even knocks over the tree in Aunt Mayās front yard.Ā For those concerned readers, I feel obligated to reassure you that Peter does put the tree back into place, but Venomās flagrant disregard for mother nature is the final push that our hero needs to take on the offensive.
In an earlier scene itās established that a new space shuttle is about to launch from the New York area, which is unbelievably good timing, and since our hero is not one to pass up a perfect narrative opportunity he hops straight into action.Ā The wall crawler starts by vandalizing Eddie/Venomās apartment, posting news clippings of his recent public humiliation (from the time he was caught doing that fraud I mentioned earlier), and Venom LOSES it.Ā But this is all going a part of Spideyās arguably tenuous plan, who pops out of hiding to taunt him further.Ā A chase ensues as Spider-man barely manages to keep one step ahead of Venom until they finally arrive at the rocket launch.
So what is the plan, exactly? Well, as we learned from the last episode, the symbiote is especially susceptible to loud noises, to the point where it canāt even hold itās form if it comes across something that generates enough noise.Ā Since a church bell did the trick last time, Spider-man figures that a shuttle rocket blast should more than do the job, and heās not wrong.Ā The rockets start to fire up, and the symbiote melts away from Eddie, giving Spider-man the chance he needs to collect it into a web sack, and stick it to the side of the shuttle promptly before it launches into space.Ā With the Symbiote officially out of his hair, the web-head leaves Brock to be arrested by the authorities who donāt take kindly to trespassers, especially not ones wearing nothing but their underwear.Ā And that takes care of that.
Oh! and Pete even gets to go on a date with MJ while he silently represses this most recent trauma, so Iād say that makes it all worth it!
The Verdict
This was easily one of my favourite episodes as a kid, because (as Iāve discussed recently) it would have been statistically unlikely for it not to be. Watching this episode now I can see why it would have totally rocked my world at the time, but in retrospect Iād say this is my least favourite chapter in the alien costume saga.Ā Obviously the showdown between Venom and Spidey was always going to be the big climactic finish to this story arch, and by-and-large it successfully delivers on that front, but thatās also probably why I find the first two chapters more compelling.Ā
In Parts 1-2 the threat to Spider-man is in losing himself TO the symbiote in a battle for what is essentially his soul, whereas here the threat is largely physical.Ā There is still the psychological component of Venom knowing Peterās secret, but I think we needed another episode to let that threat ruminate properly.Ā Before there was even time for the existential dread of the situation to sink in, the two opponents are neck deep in the final fight, which ends the conflict on a fairly definitive note.Ā Obviously, Venom does eventually return, but only once (and not for a while), and to me the appeal of the character was the dread of knowing that he/they could return at any time without warning.
Thatās not to say I didnāt enjoy this episode for what it is.Ā Once again we have another entry thatās consistent with what the show has been so far, in acting as a faithful introduction for children into Spider-manās world.Ā All-in-all, this episode is still more good than bad, which is a great deal more that I could say for the any of Venomās depictions on the big screen.
3 stars (out of 5)
Additional Observations
Upon meeting Brock-as-Venom for the first time, Spider-man wonders how Eddie got the symbiote.Ā Gee I dunno, Pete. maybe it happened around the same time you left an incredibly dangerous alien life form to slither away without checking first to make sure it was dead, in VERY SAME BUILDING that you left Eddie hanging by a web, where (I feel the need to reiterate) he would have surely perished when your webbing inevitably dissolved if the symbiote hadnāt intervened.Ā But I guess weāll never really know for sure, PETE.
Thereās an unintentionally-amusing sequence where Venom gets knocked off a train while chasing Spider-man.Ā In order to catch up with his intended prey, Venom hijacks a semi-truck Ā (which are famous for their speed an maneuverability) to continue his pursuit.Ā The way itās set up I was fully expecting Venom to use it towards derailing the train, which would have been pretty rad, but instead he just politely pulls up to an over pass and hops back on the train as it passes by. Itās just so quaintly anti-climactic, and while I canāt find anything to support this, I feel like original plan probably involved something more epic or catastrophic that was cut during production.Ā It would be perfectly in line for this show to change something like that due to censorship or budget constraints, but weāll probably never know for sure.
Overall, Venomās design on this show is pretty iconic, but (as many others before me have pointed out) I do his Venomās lips a littleā¦ off-putting? Or maybe just, ānot quite rightā.Ā I always preferred the more toothy/skeletal look from the comics, which looks more ghoulish and terrifying, and just suits the character a bit better, in my opinion.Ā That being said, Iām sure this version is a better kisser, if demonic steroid junkies what gets you hot and bothered.
Venom Lore: This episode establishes that the symbiote has existed since the dawn of time, just traversing the universe and seeing the sights (including countless other alien civilizations).Ā In the comics, the symbioteās origins were kept a mystery for quite some time before eventually revealing that it belonged to an invasive species that travel from one planet to the next, bonding-with-and-consuming the indigenous lifeforms until they run out of compatible hosts/victims.Ā Personally Iāve always found the second option to be conceptually more horrifying, but Iāve never seen it played out in a way that I found even remotely interesting.Ā As much as Iām intrigued by the lore itself, I kind of prefer the idea that the symbiote is possibly the last of its kind (at least until it spawns Carnage), as it maintains some mystery.Ā With that said, this version is less complicated, and probably serves this showās purposes better.
On a Non-Venom related note: This episode technically marks the first team up of the show (albeit one thatās short-lived) between two fully fledged super-villains, featuring Rhino and Shocker. These occurrences would become increasingly more frequent starting with season 2, which quickly became rife with team-ups, guest appearances, and crossover episodes.
