SPIDER-MAN - Episode 22 - Spider-Island Pt.4
Peter Parker begins this episode by dealing with the fact that the population of Manhattan has just mutated into giant spider monsters. He webs up a couple of the creatures as Harry appears and tells him that they're going about this all wrong. There's too many spider monsters to handle so they need to change up the plan. He's worried because Peter will change soon (of course he won't as he's Spider-Man) so they need to act fast. Harry theorizes that Spider-Man must have mutated first as he was most likely the first exposed. This leads Peter to think about the second person exposed, Miles. He, like the audience, wonders just exactly where he is. Peter decides he needs to check on his Aunt May and heads off hoping the virus hasn't hit Queens yet. Harry won't let his buddy go alone and heads with him. The boys find Aunt May and are amazed when she shows that she indeed loves her newly acquired spider powers! She can clean in places that haven't been cleaned in years! Things take a turn for the worse though when suddenly she changes, into a giant spider monster!
Peter avoids his Aunt May spider monster as she attacks him without mercy! Peter manages to toss her and webs a doorway closed in an attempt to contain her. May busts right through so Harry hilariously pokes her with a broomstick. Peter manages to web up her arms but she breaks free yet again. She throws some china dish ware at Peter and knowing she would hate herself if it broke he webs up the dishes and saves them. May violently crashes herself and Peter through the window to the outside. Harry swoops in on his glider and attempts to rescue Peter. The extra weight is too much and they crash. The spider transformed neighbors see them and begin to menacingly close in. Suddenly all the spider monsters leave and take off in the same direction. They all seem to be heading to the same place.
Harry and Peter follow all the spiders back to Oscorp and even with tons of evidence Harry still can't believe his father is the mastermind behind the spider plague. Spider Norman Osborn sees the boys and directs the spider monsters to attack the two. A spider lands on Harry's glider and another wraps up Peter and throws him off the roof! Anya swings in just in time and saves his hide. Her cure stopped the spider mutation but left her with her spider powers intact. She only has one vial of the cure left and Harry instantly wants to take it and save his father. Harry and Peter argue on if they should or not use it with Peter eventually giving in and listening to Harry. They attempt to get the cure to Norman by having Harry distract some of the spider monsters and having Peter pull down a water tower to wash away a bunch of them as well. Anya web slings and draws some away too. Peter and Harry go after Norman but the spider monster runs away and orders his spider bodyguards to attack the duo. They give chase through the Oscorp hallways until they all end up tussling and Norman throws Harry's glider. Peter distracts spider Norman as Anya webs up his face. Harry jumps on his Dad's back and sticks him with the cure. He becomes sedated but he doesn't change at all. Peter takes the syringe as the spiders continue to attack. Great line here for the fans when Spidey says "I don't like to use this word, but these spiders are a Menace!" Nice J. Jonah shout out!
The pair battle the spiders but have to fall back. Even then they get beaten down as Norman is still out cold and they have to care for him. The actual leader of the spider army makes his triumphant appearance and it is none other than The Jackal! Harry demands to know if ruining his life was all part of his plan but it turns out it wasn't, merely a happy side effect of his lab at Midtown High being blown up. Norman was exposed and is now under his control oh and he has an 8 million member NY spider army under his control as well. The spider monsters web up Peter and Harry. Suddenly Norman shows up! He's transformed a little bit with his face sort of resorting back to something that kind of resembles a human. Along with his change comes his freedom in that he no longer has to obey the Jackal. He attacks and it's a brute fight! Peter and Harry break free and fight the spider monsters. Harry tries to call his glider but it won't come. Norman battles and gets the best of the Jackal. Harry helps Norman walk and the senior Osborn still can't help himself but be a jerkface to Anya by calling her cure crafting "not good enough". Peter gets Norman to admit he was after Spider-Man and they reason that with Spider-Man's DNA they could cure everyone in Manhattan of the spider disease. But where oh where could he be though?
The Jackal has regained consciousness and attacks! Peter rushes in but gets smacked back by the mutated Raymond Warren. Norman attacks! The two fight into a lab and have a nice little tussle that would make Philo Beddoe proud. The combatants brawl out a window and brawl their way back inside too. The Jackal gets the upper hand and is about to make the final blow on Norman but just in time Peter swings in and kicks the Jackal away! He falls down, down, down, down......
Harry's concerned about his ailing father. Without Spider-Man's blood he won't make it! In what is the most Anime-looking scene in the whole series, Peter has a brief montage flashback about his and Harry's friendship. In a move that I thought was NOT going to happen Peter Parker reveals to his best friend Harry Osborn that he is indeed Spider-Man. Harry is of course super shocked and mad. Even when he suspected as much, Peter still lied to him. Peter puts on his Spidey mask and takes off his street clothes, revealing his costume underneath. He tells Harry he thought he was doing the right thing as he draws some of his own blood into Anya's cure syringe and then injects Norman Osborn with it. Norman heals and reverts back to his human self!
A voice rings out and the Jackal appears from outside! He lives and returns riding in on the back of a group of spider monsters. He uses them to quickly web up Spider-Man. Spidey tells the Osborns and Anya to escape and they do using Harry's glider. The Jackal drags Spider-Man along and tells him how he must destroy him as only his blood, Spider-Man being the first spider warrior and all, can cure everyone in the city. Oh and just for good measure he's going to eradicate the second spider warrior as well. Miles! Hanging upside down, webbed up and unconscious is the missing Miles! Now we know where he's been the whole time. He won't be coming to the aid of Spider-Man any time soon.
One last episode to go in the exciting Spider-Island saga! This chapter really focused on the main threat of the spider monsters, adding a little extra rub to Peter by having his Aunt May morph out and him being forced to battle her. The Jackal showing up as the main villain instead of Norman is really no surprise as this is his season of Spider-Man but they write him well and its fun watching the genius mutant battle Spidey. I'm still not a fan of making the Jackal the reason Peter got his powers, as I always enjoyed the more random singular radioactive field trip angle more, but I must say I do like how they have woven the Spider-Island saga from the comics into that story to try something new, and give it a little more bite.
