green goblin

Movie Night [Spidey Month]: The Amazing Spider-Man 2

Dr. K7 Comments

Easily Marvel Comics’ most recognisable superhero, unsuspecting teenage nerd Peter Parker was bitten by a radioactive spider and learned the meaning of power and responsibility in August 1962. Since then, the Amazing Spider-Man has featured in cartoons, movies, videogames, and countless comic books. To coincide with his day of celebration, I’m dedicating every Monday of August to everyone’s favourite web-head!

Released: 2 May 2014
Director: Marc Webb
Distributor: Sony Pictures Releasing
Budget: $200 to 293 million
Stars: Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Jamie Foxx, Dane DeHaan, and Sally Field

The Plot:
Already struggling to keep his love Gwen Stacy (Stone) safe from his double life, Peter Parker/Spider-Man’s (Garfield) troubles are compounded when downtrodden electrical engineer Maxwell “Max” Dillon (Foxx) is transformed into pure electricity!

The Background:
Following his debut issue becoming a best selling title for Marvel Comics, Spider-Man became their flagship character and appeared in numerous videogames, cartoons, and even a live-action series. Despite script and legal issues infamously delaying Spidey’s big-screen debut, Sam Raimi’s one-two punch of Spider-Man (Raimi, 2002) and Spider-Man 2 (ibid, 2004) gave us not only critical and commercial hits but also one of the greatest superhero movies ever made, and even the divisive Spider-Man 3 (ibid, 2007) was a huge commercial success. Although Raimi’s plans for a sequel were scrapped in favour of a reboot, The Amazing Spider-Man (Webb, 2012) somewhat reinvented Spider-Man to tell an exciting, if familiar, new story. Its $758.7 million worldwide gross also meant it did well enough for Marc Webb to return for a sequel. The cast also returned, Spidey got a revamped costume, and Sony Pictures Imageworks outdid themselves with an impressive and complex action sequence in Times Square. Yet, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was plagued by a troubled production that saw an entire character excised and a bloated script. As part of their ongoing plan for multiple Spider-Man spin-offs, Sony insisted on shoe-horning in as many Easter Eggs and as much sequel bait as possible, ignoring Marvel Cinematic Universe head honcho Kevin Feige’s notes and alienating many fans. The film grossed the least of any Spider-Man movie to date and has been ridiculed by critics for years. They tore apart the questionable reimagining of classic Spidey villain Electro, decried the nonsensical side plots, and lamented the overstuffed narrative. Still, Garfield continued to be praised in the lead role, the tragic ending was seen as a highlight, and both Garfield and co-star Jamie Foxx reprised and redeemed their roles about ten years later for the multiversal adventure Spider-Man: No Way Home (Watts, 2021).

The Review:
In a first for Spider-Man’s big-screen outings, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 skips the usual title sequence and jumps straight into expanding upon the fate of Peter’s parents, Doctor Richard Parker (Campbell Scott) and his wife, Mary (Embeth Davidtz). It’s revealed that Richard packed himself and his wife up and dropped young Peter (Max Charles) with his doting aunt, May Parker (Field), after being threatened by his former financial backer and partner, Norman Osborn (Chris Cooper). Although Doctor Curtis “Curt” Connors (Rhys Ifans) is briefly mentioned a few times, he’s missing from these extended flashbacks, which instead focus on Richard and Norman splicing human DNA with spiders so their incredible ability to “self-heal” will not only cure Norman of his terminal, genetic illness (“Retroviral Hyperplasia”), but also help those suffering from life-threatening diseases. Unfortunately, the illness not only deformed and agonised Norman, it also drove him to desperation, leading to him making shady deals with military backers. When Richard discovered how corrupt Norman and Oscorp had become, he sought to expose his wrongdoings and went on the run for Peter’s safety. It’s not clear why Oscorp wouldn’t (and apparently never thought to) target Peter at May’s and the film spends more time focusing on a tense and horrific mid-air confrontation between Richard and an Oscorp assassin (Demián Bichir) that leaves both Parkers dead. Still, Richard and Mary’s shady past and their connection to Oscorp is fed to us (and Peter) through breadcrumbs, revealing that Richard deeply regretted his work being perverted and secretly sought to keep Norman from using his research by infusing the genetically engineered spiders with his DNA, somewhat attributing Peter’s spider powers to his father. The loss of his parents still weighs heavily on Peter, who laments their absence at his graduation as much as his beloved Uncle Ben’s (Martin Sheen) and who confesses to old friend Harry Osborn (DeHaan) that he actively avoids thinking about his parents. When his curiosity leads him to investigate his father’s satchel, Peter seeks to discover more about his late father, leading to a sweet moment between him and May where she chastises his father and vehemently asserts her place as Peter’s mother. Indeed, Peter and May’s relationship continues to be a highlight, with her despairing of her nephew’s strange behaviour and absences but still showing him nothing but love and affection.

Peter’s haunted by the previous film and forced to keep Gwen at arm’s length to protect her.

Unfortunately, despite still revelling in his abilities as Spider-Man and enjoying his spark-filled relationship with the gorgeous Gwen Stacy, Peter is haunted by Gwen’s father, Captain George Stacy (Denis Leary), whose grim visage serves as a reminder of his promise to keep Gwen safe. Though he loves Gwen dearly and the two still have amazing screen chemistry, Peter’s burdened by guilt, agonised at the thought that he could endanger her. Although Gwen loves Peter and is willing to take the risk, she ultimately ends their relationship when she becomes sick of his flip-flopping. Heartbroken, Peter throws himself into his antics as Spider-Man, dividing public opinion as the Daily Bugle’s smear campaign paints Spider-Man as a menace despite many praising him. Still, try as he might, Peter can’t keep himself away from Gwen and watches over her in a way that could be creepy but comes across as sad and sweet. While Spider-Man saves lives, Gwen faces a dilemma when she’s offered a prestigious scholarship in London, one she’s excited to take despite her unresolved feelings for Peter. Peter’s stunned and equally torn between his love for her and wanting the best for her, meaning he doesn’t react well upon learning of her news and embarrasses Gwen prior to her interview for the scholarship. Ultimately, Gwen chooses to go, believing that’s better for them both, compelling Peter to finally confess (in elaborate fashion) his true feelings, and even his willingness to go to London with her. As much as I love Andrew and Emma’s onscreen banter and chemistry (their escape from Oscorp was a particular highlight), I do think the film suffers a bit from Peter immediately reneging on his promise at the end of the last film. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 may have benefitted from Peter and Gwen’s relationship being frosty and unresolved from the start to focus more on how Peter has to choose a difficult path since he doesn’t want to risk endangering or losing someone he loves, though this would make the first half of the film too similar to Spider-Man 2.

When Peter and Spidey refuse to help him, a desperate Harry turns to Electro.

Following Norman Osborn’s death, Peter’s compelled to reconnect with Harry Osborn, a hitherto-unknown childhood friend who was sent to boarding school at eleven and spent most of the intervening years travelling the world and resenting his father for sending him away. Thus, Harry is spiteful and dismissive of his father, and rightfully so as Norman spends his final hours spitting insults at his son and effectively cursing him with the same degenerative illness. In the aftermath, Harry (…somehow…) assumes control of Oscorp, riling up Vice President Donald Menken (Colm Feore) and revelling in flaunting his newfound power, appointing Norman’s secretary, Felicia Hardy (Felicity Jones), as his second-in-command. Though delighted to reunite with Peter, Harry’s clearly maladjusted and his erratic behaviour only spirals as his disease takes greater hold, giving him the shakes and strange lesions (despite Norman living many years with the illness). Desperate for a cure, Harry accesses Oscorp’s secure files and believes the answer lies in Spider-Man’s blood, begging and even offering to pay the web-slinger for a sample, only to be incensed when Spidey refuses out of fear for Harry’s safety. This, and Menken’s machinations, sends Harry over the edge and leads to him making a deal with Electro to access Oscorp’s secret basement of origins special projects laboratory, where he finds the means to first cure himself and then avenge himself against those who’ve wronged him. Overall, I liked DeHann’s depiction of Harry. He was a bit sullener and more vindictive and flaunted his authority compared to James Franco, and he presented an interesting dilemma for Peter, who wanted to help his friend but was worried about killing him or turning him into a monster like the Lizard. Harry’s vendetta against Spider-Man is a touch rushed and I think it would’ve been better for him to put two and two together when he first approached Peter for help, just to put a further spin on their relationship. It also would’ve benefited to save Harry’s descent into manic Green Goblin mode for a third film.

Spidey super fan Max is driven to rage and insanity upon becoming powerful enough to be noticed.

Rather than being a simple electrical engineer who turns to a crime after being zapped by lightning, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 recasts Electro as a hopeless outcast who’s socially awkward and bumbling. Pushed around and ignored by everyone, from pedestrians to his boss, Alistair Smythe (B. J. Novak), Max is a sad, worthless nobody who becomes enamoured by Spider-Man after Spidey saves his life and offers him encouragement. This leads to Max imagining  conversations between the two and describing the webslinger as his best friend since he was the first person to “see” and “need” him. This later extends to Gwen, who also shows kindness to Max where everyone else treats him like shit, with Smythe forcing him to fix a maintenance issue (on his birthday, no less!) and leading to Max falling into a vat of genetically engineered eels. These not only fix Max’s crooked teeth but also transform him into Electro, a man of first partial and then almost pure electricity, allowing him to see, sense, and control electrical currents. The experience leaves him disoriented, confused, and enraged, leading to him first accidentally and then purposely endangering others when cops fire at him, Spidey hesitates to remember him, and the newfound voices in his head compel him to lash out. Although subdued, Electro is tortured by the sadistic and overly theatrical Doctor Ashley Kafka (Marton Csokas), though Max invites the experience to test his power and is fuelled by the pain to accept Harry’s offer for a partnership and avenge himself on his captors. Once freed, Electro assumes a more menacing form and demeanour, having now mastered his powers to ensnare and kill with a flick of his hands and desperate not only to destroy Spider-Man after he “betrayed” him, but also to plunge the city into darkness so they can feel his pain. Although somewhat similar to the sympathetic angle applied to some of his predecessors in Raimi’s films (and a far more well-rounded character than the comic Electro, who was just a crook with powers who rarely reached his full potential), I do have an issue with depicted Max as the stereotypical outcast “geek”. It rarely works well and seems a waste of Jamie Foxx’s acting prowess, though I did like Electro’s obsession with being “seen” and his turn towards a crueller and more malicious demeanour after aligning with Harry.

The Nitty-Gritty:
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 benefits from a much more distinctive score, which is less a rehash of Danny Elfman’s work and more a stirring overture for the titular hero. Electro’s theme was particularly memorable; I loved how it incorporated the voices in Max’s head fuelling his rage. However, while the film treads less of the same ground as Raimi’s films compared to its predecessor, it does rehash some of the same beats concerning Richard and Mary from The Amazing Spider-Man. Sure, we learn a bit more about Richard’s relationship with Norman and that he had a weird subway lab that somehow still works after nearly fifteen years, but it still feels like the filmmakers are unsure of the endgame to this sub-plot (though, thankfully, they excised the nonsensical reveal that Richard was still alive, which would’ve tipped this already bloated plot into overdrive). The Amazing Spider-Man 2 touches upon themes of choices, not letting the past define you, and living each day rather than taking things for granted. Although Peter struggles with all of this, Gwen is all for it; her valedictorian speech is all about it and she urges Peter to stop letting her father’s death hold him back. Gwen’s adamant that they should embrace what they have, regardless of her father or the risk, and insists that she makes her own choices, even if it means she’s in danger. While there is a lot happening in the Amazing Spider-Man 2, I don’t think it’s not as badly paced as some would say. As much as I hate to say it, they made the right choice to cut Shailene Woodley as I’m not sure how she would’ve factored into the plot, though it was weird to include Felicia when she was just a secretary rather than a cat burglar. I also think it might’ve been better to end the story on a cliffhanger concerning Harry, not just because the finale with his Green Goblin is a bit rushed but also because we’d seen the Green Goblin done to death and I could’ve done without retreading that narrative (even if it was a little different here).

Despite some great effects and sequences, the film is bloated with characters and sub-plots.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2’s costume is, for my money, the best and most comic accurate depiction we’ve ever seen (though I miss the distinctiveness of the one from the last film). Harry’s final Green Goblin form is also more monstrous and closer to the comics, though still a bit lacking (and rushed) and we were denied a truly gruesome transformation sequence. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 ups the focus on action thanks to not having to waste an hour of its runtime redoing Spidey’s origin, giving us a handful of montages and fun action sequences that continue to showcase why Andrew Garfield is the best Spider-Man. There’s more emphasis on slow-mo sequences to show how Spider-Man reacts to danger and thinks about saving people. It’s used to great effect in the Times Square sequence, giving us a fantastic depiction of Spidey’s speed and strength alongside his compassionate nature as he first tries to appeal to Max’s reason. Electro is depicted as an unpredictable threat, especially when he first emerges since his powers are unstable. While it’s disappointing that he doesn’t resemble his mainstream comic counterpart, and that Max didn’t take on aspects of this design after being freed by Harry, Electro is very to his Ultimate comics counterpart and is depicted as both incredibly powerful and emotionally unstable. Electro can fly, dissolve bullets, and absorb and emit electricity, so Peter has to science up solutions to counteract and ultimately overload Electro’s powers. Although the first-person sequences are gone, Spider-Man’s web-slinging and Electro’s bolts all popped off the screen when viewed in 3D and I enjoyed the opening sequence where Spidey toys with the crazed Aleksei Sytsevich (Paul Giamatti). While Spidey maybe mocks the brutish mafia thug a bit too much and endangers a few lives, this was a great showcase of how Peter’s embraced his role as Spider-Man, something reinforced in the finale when Aleksei returns in a mechanised rhino suit…only for the film to end right before we get to see the fight! I really wish we’d gotten at least an animated rendition of Spidey’s battle with the Rhino in the credits as I loved the lumbering mech and its many weapons, and Giamatti’s scenery-chewing performance as Aleksei, though his return probably should’ve been left for a third film.

Harry’s revenge leaves Peter heartbroken, though sadly immune from future threats…

Desperate to avoid his father’s fate, Harry begs first Peter and then Spider-Man for help and is enraged when he’s denied, believing Spidey is a fraud despite him reasonably worrying about the effect his blood would have on the emotional Osborn. After being double-crossed by Menken, Harry begs Max to help him access Oscorp’s hidden bunker, where he forces Menken to inject him with a serum derived from Richard’s spiders, believing it to be a “cure”, only to be horrifically mutated as it both accelerates his condition and further alters him. Luckily, a convenient “healing” battlesuit keeps Harry from dying but the whole ordeal drives him as batty as Max, whose reward for helping is the freedom to absorb power from the electrical grid he created and was denied credit for to plunge the city into darkness and strike back at everyone who ignored him and idolised Spider-Man. Peter and Gwen’s reconciliation is interrupted by Electro’s revenge and Gwen insists on helping Spider-Man, putting herself in danger despite his protests. Spidey holds off Electro, done trying to reason with him, and risks his life grounding the misguided villain so Gwen can overload and seemingly destroy Electro. Their victory is short-lived, however, as the now demonic Harry swoops in on an Oscorp glider looking for revenge, figures out that Peter is Spider-Man, and spitefully threatens Gwen. This leads to a short and sadly rushed (but also brutal fight) between Spider-Man and the cackling Green Goblin that ultimately ends with Harry being knocked out and Gwen plummeting down a bell tower. Despite Peter’s best efforts and a heart wrenching image of him (and his webbing) reaching for her in freefall, Gwen suffers a similar (but far more horrific) fatal fall and Peter is left devastated. So much so that he spends five months so stricken by grief than he constantly visits Gwen’s graves and denounces Spide-Man. However, Peter suits up once more after a pep talk from Aunt May, reviewing Gwen’s speech about embracing life, and to confront the Rhino. Oh, and that mysterious gentleman (Michael Massee) also colludes with the incarcerated Harry to recruit a few individuals to use Oscorp’s secret projects to destroy Spider-Man.

The Summary:
I’ve always quite liked The Amazing Spider-Man 2. I remember liking it more than the first film when I first saw it and was glad to see it mostly leaning into new territory, though I could’ve done without the retread of the Osborn/Green Goblin plot. Still, the suit was fantastic and Andrew Garfield cemented his status as the best live-action Spider-Man in this film, still showcasing the wit, brains, and charisma I associate with the character. His chemistry with Emma Stone remains a highlight, though it does feel like the filmmakers walked back the ending of the last film after rushing to the rekindling of their romance. While I’m not a fan of the changes made to Electro’s personality, he grew on me as the film progressed, and I liked how he was desperate to be acknowledged and became obsessed with proving his worth and power. Dane DeHaan was a great Harry Osborn, though it’s weird that his illness is so advanced when it took decades for Norman to die, and his characterisation is a bit all over the place at times. While it’s utterly heartbreaking to witness Gwen’s death and Andrew sells it so well, I do think the Green Goblin, Rhino, and Gwen’s death should’ve been saved for a third film to devote the proper amount of screentime to those plots rather than rushing through them right at the end. There’s a lot happening in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 thanks to Sony’s obsession with bringing the Sinister Six to life and it definitely would’ve benefitted from a few more sub-plots being trimmed, but I still think it’s better than most people think. The exploration of guilt and grief is great, the effects and action are exhilarating, and it delivers a hell of a gut punch at the end, ultimately resulting in a film that’s still pretty decent despite some flaws.

My Rating:

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Pretty Good

Do you agree that The Amazing Spider-Man 2 isn’t as bad as its reputation? What did you think to Electro’s depiction and were you disappointed he didn’t resemble his classic look? Were you happy to see Peter don a more familiar suit? What did you think to the drama between him and Gwen and Harry’s depiction? Do you agree that there’s too much happening in the film? Would you have liked to see a third entry for these characters? How are you celebrating the wall-crawler this month? Whatever you think about The Amazing Spider-Man 2, leave a comment below, support me on Ko-Fi, and go check out my other Spider-Man reviews.

Back Issues [Spidey Month]: The Amazing Spider-Man #121/122

Dr. K2 Comments

Easily Marvel Comic’s most recognisable superhero, unsuspecting teenage nerd Peter Parker was bitten by a radioactive spider and learned the meaning of power and responsibility in August 1962. Since then, the Amazing Spider-Man has featured in cartoons, movies, videogames, and countless comic books. To coincide with his day of celebration, I’m dedicating every Monday of August to everyone’s favourite web-head!

Writer: Gerry Conway – Artist: Gill Kane

Story Title: “The Night Gwen Stacy Died”
Published: 13 March 1973 (cover-dated: June 1973)

Story Title: “The Goblin’s Last Stand!”
Published: 10 April 1973 (cover-dated: July 1973)

The Background:
In 1962, Marvel Comics editor and head writer Stan Lee followed up his success with the Fantastic Four with Spider-Man. The wall-crawler’s debut in Amazing Fantasy #15 proved one of Marvel’s best selling titles and Spider-Man’s popularity led to him getting his own solo title within a year. Very quickly, Spider-Man amassed one of the most colourful and memorable rogues galleries, though Norman Osborn/Green Goblin proved to be one of his most dangerous foes. A central figure in many prominent Spider-Man stories, the Green Goblin cemented his status as Spidey’s archenemy with these two issues, where Osborn contributed to the death of Peter’s long-time love interest, Gwendolyne “Gwen” Stacy. Created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko and debuting in The Amazing Spider-Man #31, Gwen was the daughter of police captain George Stacy and first met Peter when they were students at Empire State University. Designed to be Peter’s one true love, Gwen and Peter had a rocky relationship, especially after she blamed Spider-Man for her father’s death and Lee was said to be adamantly against killing her off. Writer Gerry Conway and editor Roy Thomas disagreed, however, and wished to do away with the beautiful blonde in favour of the more rambunctious Mary Jane Watson/M.J. Said to have marked the end of the more innocent “Silver Age” of comics, Gwen’s death haunted Spider-Man for decades both literally (thanks to her clones and some abysmal retcons) and figuratively, as seen in his subsequent relationship with M.J. and his guilt over sharing the blame for Gwen’s death. This dramatic moment also came to be adapted into live-action, being echoed in the 1990’s cartoon and Spider-Man (Raimi, 2002), with M.J. (Saratoga Ballantine/Kirsten Dunst) as a substitute, and served as a heart-wrenching finale to The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (Webb, 2014) that Peter (Andrew Garfield) atoned for some ten years later. While alternative versions of Gwen have since gained popularity, “The Night Gwen Stacy Died” remains one of the most pivotal and iconic stories in Spider-Man’s long history.

The Review:
This classic two-part tale begins with Peter’s best friend, Norman’s son, Harry Osborn, suffering from an LSD-infused fever. By Norman’s request, Harry is cared for by his family doctor in his own home, with his friends Gwen and M.J. by his side, though the doctor grimly states that Harry’s repeated drug abuse has caused the onset of schizophrenia! Peering from the window, Spider-Man laments not being there for his friend and changes to Peter, slipping in through the rooftop to pay a visit. However, Peter’s intercepted by Norman, who angrily demands that he leave, blaming him for Harry’s condition and barking in his face. This exchange sees Peter reflect on Norman’s former dual life as the Green Goblin and their shared knowledge of each other’s identity, knowledge that Norman has forgotten thanks to a bout of amnesia but which apparently still lingers and informs his hatred of Peter. Norman then extends this to Gwen and M.J. and tosses the three out, leaving them dejected and concerned for Harry’s welfare. As if that wasn’t bad enough, Peter finds himself suffering from the flu; since he can barely bring his latest photos of Spider-Man to the Daily Bugle, the worse for wear hero heads home to rest. Things continue to get worse for Norman, who receives a phone call informing him that his company stock is continuing to plummet and, when Harry collapses in his arms, finds his thoughts descending into angry paranoia at his son’s “friends” and his perceived enemies. The stress culminates in Norman being attacked by a vision of Spider-Man and bombarded by memories, compelling him to race to an abandoned brownstone that contains his long-forgotten equipment and, with manic glee, the Green Goblin lives once more! Immediately recalling his hatred of Peter Parker and Spider-Man, the Green Goblin hops on his goblin glider and races to Peter’s apartment, where Gwen is waiting for Peter to discuss their friend and what they can do to help him.

When the Green Goblin resurfaces and kills Gwen, Spider-Man flies into a rage.

Spider-Man’s journey home is delayed by his illness, meaning he arrives too late to help and finds only Gwen’s handbag and one of the Green Goblin’s pumpkin bombs. Intuiting that Osborn’s returned to his violent alter ego and concerned for Gwen’s safety, Spider-Man follows his spider-sense to the George Washington Bridge. There, he finds the Green Goblin perched an archway with Gwen’s presumably unconscious body at his feet. The Green Goblin threatens to kill Gwen unless Spider-Man indulges in a final confrontation, to the death (naturally), and, angered at his girlfriend being targeted, Spidey readily agrees. Thrown by his flu, Spidey barely dodges a pumpkin bomb and is bashed by the raving Green Goblin’s glider. Luckily, Spider-Man snags his foe with his webbing and lands a huge left hook that sends the Green Goblin plummeting. Confident that his enemy is subdued for the time being, Spidey races to his unconscious lover, assuming she’s in shock, and is horrified when the Green Goblin makes a sudden recovery and spitefully knocks Gwen from the bridge! Desperate to save her, Spider-Man shoots a web line and is so elated when it snags on Gwen’s ankle that he misses the small Snap! at her neck… Congratulating himself, Spidey pulls Gwen up and embraces her, still clinging to denial, only to find Gwen doesn’t respond and is, in fact, dead despite his best efforts. Spotting the Green Goblin hovering nearby, Spidey sets Gwen safely on the ground and vows to make Osborn pay with his life for crossing the line. Attacking with a self-righteous fury, Spider-Man violently beats his foe, doubling down when the Green Goblin seemingly begs for mercy.

Despite his rage, Spidey’s left hollow by Norman’s death and to grieve with his friends.

Unfortunately, Spider-Man’s anger gets the better of him and sees him knocked from the glider, allowing the Green Goblin to escape. When the police come to check on Gwen, Spidey leaps to her defence, unconcerned about his reputation. Thankfully, one cop sees the anguish in Spider-Man, who’s tormented by memories of happier times with Gwen, the guilt of letting down her father, and the inescapable knowledge that Spider-Man not only drove a wedge between them but also caused her death. When the ambulance arrives, Spider-Man mournfully hands over Gwen’s body and takes responsibility for her death, lashing out when the cops try to arrest him and fleeing. Swinging to the Osborn house, Spidey switches back to Peter to talk to the paranoid and feverish Harry. However, seeing his delusional friend’s no state help, Peter decides settling the score with the Green Goblin trumps caring for his friend. Seeking a lead on the Green Goblin, Spidey heads to the Daily Bugle to talk to editor Joseph “Robbie” Robertson, who’s also reeling from Gwen’s death and points him to one of Osborn’s warehouses. Norman gleefully leaps to engage with Spider-Man, keeping the vengeful wall-crawler at bay with his finger blasts. The Green Goblin further enrages Spidey by insulting Gwen, causing Spidey to brutally pummel his crazed foe. However, Spider-Man comes to his senses at the last minute, disgusted by how close he came to being just like Osborn. Of course, the Green Goblin refuses to go quietly and activates his glider, intending to skewer his foe through the back. However, Spidey’s spider-sense sees him deftly duck, causing Norman to be impaled by his own glider! Finding no comfort in his hated enemy’s end, just further emptiness and misery, Spider-Man stalks off, unaware that someone’s watching him from the shadows. When he gets home, Peter finds M.J. waiting for him and lashes out at her, chastising her for being a selfish, party-loving airhead who couldn’t understand his pain. Despite being hurt by Peter’s words, M.J. sees his heartache and chooses to stay and comfort her friend in his grief.

The Summary:
There’s a lot happening in these two issues, as is common for Spider-Man stories. The toxic influence of Norman Osborn stretches far, infecting not just Peter’s life but the mindset of his best friend, Harry. After years of feeling insignificant next to his powerhouse businessman father, Harry turned to LSD for some relief and, despite his best efforts, has relapsed into drug use once more. Since he has no memory of his past as the Green Goblin and refuses to take responsibility for his actions, Norman turns his anger at the situation to Harry’s friends, particularly Peter, and insists that Harry be treated at home in a desperate attempt to show he’s a caring father. Every time we see Norman, he’s as drenched with sweat as his son, though Norman’s stress is caused not just by his son’s state and his work issues, but also the resurfacing of his Green Goblin persona. When his memories return, Norman immediately  regresses to a raving lunatic, one whose soul purpose is to protect Norman and make his enemies pay. Despite Norman’s outburst, Peter, Gwen, and M.J. truly care for Harry but find themselves powerless to help him. They each carry guilt for missing the signs of Harry’s degeneration sooner and not intervening before he returned to drugs, and each feels powerless to help him. When he returns to Harry to get a lead on Norman, Peter uncharacteristically rejects his friend, deciding to focus on his enemy rather than his suffering friend and causing Harry to further question his sanity. However, there’s a reason these two stories (generally collectively referred to as “The Night Gwen Stacy Died”) are so iconic and pivotal. They changed not only Spider-Man’s status quo but dramatically changed the landscape of all comicdom. Suddenly, significant supporting characters could die and that death would not only change the title character, but be a permanent fixture.

Gwen’s tragic death is left ambiguous, burdening Spider-Man with guilt for years to come.

I’ve always been more a fan of Mary Jane since she was Peter’s love interest when I started reading comics and therefore have always found Gwen to be a very shallow and one-note character. She was pretty and nice enough, sure, but there wasn’t much to her, even after her father died and we got that dramatic dichotomy where she hated Spider-Man but loved Peter. While I would’ve preferred to see Aunt May die and for her death to be permanent, killing Gwen is totally out of left field and has so much more weight to it. Readers have seen Peter struggle with his dual identity, which drove a wedge between him and his many girlfriends, so it was very cathartic for him to finally find happiness with Gwen, a girl who accepted Peter for who he was and asked for nothing but his loyalty. When Peter realises that his actions as Spider-Man have led his most dangerous foe to target his girlfriend, Spider-Man wastes no time tracking down his foe and flies into a frenzy to make Osborn pay, incensed that the Green Goblin would make their rivalry even more personal. It’s so interesting reading their battle knowing how it’s going to end because it really makes you question whether Gwen was already dead to begin with. The Green Goblin claims that the “shock” of the fall would’ve instantly killed Gwen before she hit the ground, that little Snap! sound effect implies the sudden stop from Spidey’s web broke Gwen’s neck, and the fact she’s unconscious the entire time suggests Osborn might’ve killed her between panels. It’s fantastically ambiguous but, in the end, it’s inconsequential. The Green Goblin spitefully boasts of causing her death, which is true, and Spider-Man sees himself as responsible since Gwen was only put in danger because of him, which is also true. It’s heart-wrenching seeing Spidey clouded by denial, patting himself on the back for his innovation and heroics and desperately trying to wake Gwen up despite her clearly being dead. Spider-Man is then bombarded by memories and guilt and desperate to keep strangers from messing with her body but eventually comes to accept that his love is not only dead, but that he is to blame for it. This consumes him with a grief so powerful that he lashes out at cops and bystanders alike, no longer caring to try and defend his reputation.

Peter’s vendetta sees him shun his friends and come close to crossing the line into murder.

Peter’s grief causes him to fly into an uncharacteristic rage. It’s widely said that Spider-Man means business when he drops the inane quips and, indeed, Peter adopts a more violent approach when tracking down and confronting the maniacal Green Goblin. He shuns his best friend, shuts down the petulant J. Jonah Jameson’s, and races to the Green Goblin’s location with murder on his mind. The resulting rematch is an aggressive affair where Spidey eschews all sympathy for his crazed foe and berates his spiteful, vindictive nature. When Spider-Man damages the glider, the Green Goblin enrages the wall-crawler by showing more concern for his toys than a human life and, true to his word, Spider-Man seems ready to beat the Green Goblin to death. However, logic and reason hit Spider-Man like a brick wall and, disgusted by his actions, he pulls back at the last second. This hesitation is seen by the Green Goblin as a weakness but it’s the fundamental difference between the two rivals: one is a murderous lunatic who gleefully tortures and kills and the other is a righteous hero, who sacrifices his own personal needs to protect others. The Green Goblin’s stubborn and wicked nature ultimately prove his undoing as he’s impaled by his glider in a surprisingly harrowing death scene, especially for the time. The moment is framed as sudden and hollow, with Spider-Man getting no pleasure or closure in the deed and only being further convinced that “an eye for an eye” is the furthest thing from justice. For me, this was the perfect way to kill off Norman Osborn and I’ve been salty for decades that he inexplicably survived. It was thematically fitting for Harry to take up the Green Goblin mantle and be similarly undone, and we had plenty of look-a-likes and Hobgoblins running around so I could’ve done with leaving the Osborns in the grave. However, that doesn’t diminish the impact of his death as presented here, or of these two issues. Gwen’s death rocked Spider-Man and haunted him for years; it raised the stakes faced by all comic book characters and changed the industry forever. The ambiguity of the event and the way it weighs on Spider-Man’s conscience are disturbing and I do think the right decision as made since Gwen couldn’t compete with M.J. Subsequent stories have also constantly reinforced that Gwen was his first true love, ensuring a legacy that’s far more potent than if she’d been left alive.

My Rating:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Great Stuff

Where were you on the night Gwen Stacy died? Did you enjoy the story or were you annoyed that Gwen was killed off? What do you think killed Gwen, or do you believe she was dead to begin with? What did you think to Spider-Man assuming the blame and looking to kill the Green Goblin? Do you agree that Norman Osborn should’ve stayed dead or were you glad when he came back? What are some of your favourite Gwen Stacy stories? Whatever you thought to this classic Spider-Man story, share your thoughts below, support me on Ko-Fi, and be sure to check out my other Spider-Man content.

Back Issues [National Superhero Day]: Marvels

Dr. K1 Comment

In 1995, Marvel Comics created “National Superhero Day” and, in the process, provided comics and superhero fans the world over with a great excuse to celebrate their favourite characters and publications.

Story Titles: “A Time of Marvels”, “Monsters”, “Judgment Day”, and “The Day She Died”
Published: 9 November 1993 (cover-dated: January 1994) to 22 March 1994 (cover-dated: April 1994)
Writer: Kurt Busiek
Artist: Alex Ross

The Background:
In 1939, pulp-magazine publisher Martin Goodman created Timely Productions, expanding his reach into the increasingly popular medium of comic books. Timely’s first publication, Marvel Comics #1, was spearheaded by the first appearances of Jim Hammond/The Human Torch and Prince Namor McKenzie/The Sub-Mariner, and went on to sell over 900,000 copies. This success was followed by Captain America Comics #1 selling over a million copies just two years later, the same year that Goodman’s wife’s sixteen-year-old cousin, Stanley Lieber, was named interim editor under the pseudonym “Stan Lee”. Though superheroes declined in popularity after the Second World War, Goodman continued to publish Westerns, horror, and war comics under Atlas Comics before rebranding to Marvel Comics in 1961. Stan Lee and Jack Kirby then ushered in the “Marvel Age” of comics with the Fantastic Four, kick-starting a slew of costumed superheroes and Marvel’s distinct narrative style. These colourful heroes caught the eye of artist Alex Ross from an early age; known for his startlingly photorealistic artwork, Ross later cemented his position in the industry with Kingdom Come (Waid, et al, 1996). However, his big break came when he teamed with writer Kurt Busiek to produce this four-issue miniseries that reframed many of Marvel’s most iconic moments through the eyes of a common man. Marvels was an award-winning, widely praised miniseries that inspired a much grimmer counterpart story in 1995, a follow-up series in 2008 (though Alex Ross did not return), and a sister-series in 2021.

The Review:
Marvels followers budding photographer Phil Sheldon who, at the beginning of the story in 1939, is eager to go to Europe and make a name for himself as a war photographer. While his friend and fellow cub reporter, a youthful J. Jonah Jameson, scoffs at the futility of the war, he shares his own lofty aspirations of one day owning the Daily Bugle and making his own headlines. While Jameson heads off to cover a labour dispute, Sheldon attends a press conference hosted by noted scientist Phineas T. Horton, who unveils his revolutionary “synthetic man”, a robotic creation indistinguishable from the real thing except that it bursts into flame when exposed to oxygen. While the reporters initially mock the demonstration as an elaborate hoax, they react in horror when this “Human Torch” moves and appears sentient. Subsequent sensationalist headlines – the “power of the press”, as Sheldon puts it –   slander Professor Horton and see him bury his creation lest it prove to be a danger. While shopping for a gift for his betrothed, Doris Jacquet, Sheldon rushes to investigate a disturbance, hopeful for the big break that’ll get him shipped to Europe, only to the find the Human Torch running amok through the streets of New York City. While the ridiculously fickle New Yorkers brush the event off as an elaborate prank, Sheldon is shaken by his second sight of the flaming man and is therefore the only person to take reports of a “Sub-Mareener” seriously. Over the next few panels, both the Human Torch and the Sub-Mariner raise the ire of everyday folk with their antics, but they captivate Sheldon, who turns down the chance to cover to war to stay and follow these ever-prominent “Marvels”. As awe-struck as he is by such costumed super-men, Sheldon can’t help but question what their presence means for mankind, who suddenly seem secondary in the evolutionary chain. Thus, when the Human Torch and the Sub-Mariner inevitably come to blows in what’s likened to a battle between Gods, Sheldon shares the same fear as his fellow citizens, despite protests from the likes of officer Betty Dean, who vouches for Namor’s character.

Photographer Phil Sheldon witnesses the terrifying and awesome debut of the “Marvels”.

As the two titans battle, hijacking the airwaves and causing a great deal of property damage, Sheldon is angered at them for making humanity feel so helpless. The conflict is ultimately resolved by Officer Dean, who cools the differences between the two, though Sheldon echoes the same bitterness of his peers at both superhumans escaping any punishment for their actions. In the face of his helplessness, and intuiting that such occurrences will only escalate, Sheldon reluctantly suggests pushing back the wedding and, resenting him, Doris opts to call the whole thing off until he feels more like a “man”. By winter, the press was alive with reports of Captain Steve Rogers/Captain America’s colourful adventures; kids and adults alike revelled in his Axis-smashing antics. While at the cinema, Sheldon’s musings that Cap is so accepted because he’s not perceived as a threat are given further credence when the entire audience (him included) applaud news reports of the Human Torch and the Sub-Mariner teaming up to battle the Nazis. Just like that, the Marvels are celebrated, national heroes; the public debates which of them is better and stronger and Sheldon’s perspective has changed enough to rekindle his relationship with Doris. His elevation is short-lived, however, when it’s suddenly reported that Namor has turned on the Allies and waging his own war against America, a war that sees him flood New York with a catastrophic tidal wave! The Human Torch confronts him and Sheldon’s right there to snap some pix, now revelling in witnessing such a titanic clash, only to be injured by flying debris and lose an eye in the process. Surprisingly, he feels no ill will towards the Marvels and instead chooses to focus on the bigger picture – the war and his impending wedding, specifically. After the wedding, Sheldon finally gets to cover the war in Europe and is right there when Cap, the Human Torch, Namor, and the rest of their superpowered Invaders, storm a Nazi compound, noting in a letter to Doris that the Marvels aren’t some temporary fad; they’re here to stay.

While the Avengers and Fantastic Four are celebrated, even Sheldon hates and fears Mutants.

Some decades later, an older and more experienced Sheldon is convinced to cover a battle between the Avengers and the Masters of Evil. Cap has just returned from his icy sabbatical, inspiring the awe and admiration of Sheldon and the public. By this time, sights such as Anthony “Tony” Stark/Iron Man, Thor Odinson, and Doctor Hank Pym/Giant-Man cutting through the city skyline and dwarfing mere mortals are commonplace but no less impressive. Sheldon hopes to publish a book of his photos of their heroics, convincing his publisher to take a shot on the idea based on how inspirational Marvels like the Fantastic Four are. While mulling over his opening text, Sheldon’s swept up by an angry mob who descend upon the X-Men, convinced that the Mutant teenagers tried to kill an innocent construction worker. Sharing the sentiment that the Mutants are dangerous killers, Sheldon literally casts the first stone, left shaken by the words of Scott “Slim” Summers/Cyclops (“They’re not worth it”) and pondering why Mutants illicit such hatred and distrust compared to the other Marvels. He concludes it’s because Mutants are genetically predisposed to be the next step in human evolution, thereby conjuring fears of death and redundancy in everyday folk. Ruminating these matters at home with his kids (who idolise the Marvels), Sheldon is gifted a writing assignment covering an art exhibition hosted by blind sculptress Alicia Masters. He’s also right there for when Doctor Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic announces his engagement to Susan Storm/The Invisible Girl, landing Sheldon another book deal with Jameson for every photo he takes of the colourful couple and landing him on the guest list for the wedding. With major shake-ups occurring in the Avenger’s roster and the likes of Matt Murdock/Daredevil making a splash downtown, to say nothing of the wedding drama, Sheldon almost forgets about the Mutant problem…save for the abundance of anti-Mutant graffiti plastered around town.

Sheldon sees the worst of humanity when the Mutant problem escalates into all-out paranoia.

Sheldon’s stunned when he returns to his quiet suburb and finds an angry mob literally grabbing pitchforks to hunt down a Mutant in the area. His first thought is his family but Sheldon’s shocked to come home and find his children sheltering a Mutant child, Maggie, a frightened little girl who’s the anthesis of everything Sheldon had so firmly believed about her species. Suddenly likening the persecution of the Mutants to the horrors of Auschwitz, Sheldon resolves to protect the girl from their friends and neighbours, who wouldn’t think twice to burn their house down to get to her. While his family keep Maggie safe, Sheldon reads up on Mutants and tries to find some way to help her, only to be met with dead ends and realise that the government wants to lock them up, at best, and execute them, at worst. Sheldon realises that the X-Men could help but falters, worrying they would remember him as another angry human, and meanders through even Reed and Sue’s wedding, his thoughts so preoccupied by Maggie’s fate. His concerns are only exacerbated when a television debate between Professor Charles Xavier/Professor X and Bolivar Trask sees the unveiling of his Mutant-hunting Sentinel machines and the outing of Professor X as a Mutant. Driven into a frenzy by fear, hated, and paranoia, an all-out riot breaks out. Sheldon’s right there, recording evidence of man’s inhumanity to man, as the monstrous Sentinels fly overhead, and is distraught to return home and find Maggie left to keep them safe and unable to comfort his kids when they worry about her safety. Within a mere two months, the fickle public begin to turn on the Marvels, holding them accountable for their actions and questioning their methods. Their primary target is Tony Stark, who bankrolls the Avengers and pays Iron Man to be his personal bodyguard, and the Avengers, who had recently been framed by evil doppelgängers. Disturbed by how sordid the Marvels have become, Sheldon throws himself into his work, determined to keep his family fed and sheltered, but unwittingly drives a wedge between him and Doris and the girls.

Sheldon’s incensed when the public slanders the Marvels even after they defeat Galactus.

The Marvels’ bad press is only escalated by Jameson’s personal vendetta against Peter Parker/Spider-Man and Sheldon comes to question his perception of the Marvels once more. However, he and the entire city are horror-struck when the skies burst into flames, asteroids fill the horizon, and a mysterious “Silver Surfer” arrives, seemingly heralding the onset of judgement day. Once again, despite their distrust and slander, the people must put their faith in the Marvels and be mere spectators as the Fantastic Four raced to confront the Silver Surfer, only to be dwarfed by the might and terror of the titanic Galactus! To the stunned horror of the public, the Fantastic Four lose the battle and none of their other defenders appear to help, leaving them to contemplate their end and watch, helplessly, as Galactus constructs an elaborate device around the Baxter Building. The people celebrate as the Fantastic Four and the Silver Surfer attack Galactus in full force, but Sheldon decides to leave the scene and be with his family, realising that the Marvels could fail and that he would rather be with his loved ones at the end. Luckily for him, and everyone, the Fantastic Four fend Galactus off with the Ultimate Nullifier but, rather than being celebrated as heroes, the team – and all Marvels – are further slandered by Jameson’s derogatory headlines. Sheldon’s protests fall on deaf ears and even he’s disgusted to find teenage photographer Peter Parker gleefully selling incriminating photos of Spider-Man to Jameson. His contempt for the public reaches a boiling point as Sheldon heads to cover a battle between the X-Men and Count Luchino Nefaria, snapping at them for slandering the very people, even Mutants, who save their lives. Still, by the 1970s, the public turn to his book of photographs for comfort after the Avengers are stuck in another galaxy determining the fate of all reality, begrudgingly guilty for questioning their methods. Now feeling his age, Sheldon takes on an assistant, Marcia Hardesty, though even this can’t help lighten his increasingly sour mood as he repeatedly sees the Marvels questioned, persecuted, and smeared by the courts, the public, and Jameson.

Sheldon ultimately decides to leave the awe and drama of the Marvels behind.

After the Fantastic Four again fend off Galactus, Sheldon desperately tries to turn opinion in favour of the Marvels, only to be dismissed as an overworked old man. Sheldon resolves to use his skills as a reporter to clear Spider-Man of Captain George Stacy’s death, interviewing a bystander who unashamedly blames Stacy’s death on Spider-Man. Sheldon’s as sceptical as the cops he meets with; however, while they have evidence that suggests Doctor Otto Octavius/Doctor Octopus caused Stacy’s death, they can’t prove anything without questioning Spidey. Confident that the underappreciated Marvels will handle a crisis happening at the Sun, Sheldon interviews some more people, all of whom believe Spidey’s a menace, and even questions Jameson, revealing the cantankerous publisher feels inadequate against such Marvels and is therefore determined to besmirch them, guilty or not. Jameson’s attitude makes Sheldon seriously consider an offer to write for the Daily Globe and he takes the first boat to Ryker’s Island to talk with the captive Dr. Octopus, only to find the stubborn scientist unwilling to co-operate with his inquiries. With no roads left, Sheldon visits Stacy’s daughter, Gwen, finding that, while she did initially blame Spider-Man, she no longer does. Reinvigorated, Sheldon regularly meets with Gwen; she’s with him when Namor invades New York with an army of mechanical attack craft. Rather than being terrified, Gwen marvels at their beauty and Sheldon realises that lives like hers are what the Marvels are fighting for and resolves to rework his new book into championing the heroes, flaws and all. Sheldon’s conviction turns to dread when he goes to Gwen’s to pick up some of her father’s journals and witnesses her being kidnapped by Norman Osborn/The Green Goblin. Sheldon follows in a taxi and witnesses the brutal battle between Spidey and the Goblin, sure that good would triumph over evil, and is crushed when Gwen’s knocked from the bridge and dies when Spidey tries to save her. Angered that Gwen’s death is buried under Jameson’s anti-Spidey campaign and left disillusioned by the Marvel’s failure, Sheldon loses interest in his book and grows resentful of the world moving on without a care. However, he realises that Marcia still sees the good in the Marvels and ultimately hands the assignment to her, retiring to be with his family and leaving the Marvels behind.

The Summary:
I’ve long criticised the hypocrisy of Marvel Comics’ everyday citizens. The people, especially New Yorkers, are a fickle and judgemental bunch, easily swayed by a few headlines and news reports. They can literally be dodging Galactus’ footsteps one day and then will laugh it off as a hoax the next. They can witness Spider-Man saving people from a burning building and yet fully believe Jameson’s claims that the wall-crawler started the blaze. They’ll come out in droves to cheer the wedding of Reed and Sue and applaud the star-spangled heroics of Captain America, but hurl bricks at Mutants and accuse them of all sorts in the same breath. They are a terrible, unappreciative, unreliable bunch of ingrates who don’t appreciate that these heroes put their lives on the line to save not just them, but the entire world and even the whole universe! Marvels is a perfect examination of this phenomena, with our equally culpable main character witnessing first-hand as Joe Public fear the likes of the Human Torch and the Sub-Mariner because they’re “different” and then cheer them on when they fight to defend America’s interests. Much of the public’s fickle nature isn’t just because of Jameson’s outrageous headlines, either; people, even Sheldon, feared the Marvels in the 1930s simply because of the existential threat they presented. This evolved and escalated once Mutants came along, with the species inarguably representing the next step in humanity’s inevitable extinction and thus causing the public to hate and fear them out of paranoia of being replaced (or the simple fear of death). Yet, Marvel’s civilians can never be appeased; they even turn on celebrated heroes like the Avengers for “abandoning” them and treat many of the Marvels as disposable celebrities. Their everyday, awesome feats lose their grandeur for many, who just become inconvenienced by their battles, and public opinion wildly fluctuates throughout the decades represented here as a result, even spilling over into paranoid violence when Mutants and shapeshifters become commonplace.

Flawed photographer Sheldon finds his awe of the Marvels tested over time.

At the heart of it all is flawed photographer Phil Sheldon. Phil’s a complex character, for sure, echoing the awe and fear of his peers at the sight of the Marvels and feeling small, insignificant, against these God-like figures. His opinion regarding the Marvels fluctuates throughout the story, with him praising and celebrating them during their “Golden Age” and profiting from their antics, never losing his faith in their good deeds even when it costs him an eye. Yet, like the public, Sheldon hates and fears Mutants. Unlike the average Joe, Sheldon contemplates why this is and realises he doesn’t really know, beyond that aforementioned existential dread. When he discovers Maggie hiding in his house, fully accepted by his well-meaning kids, he finally realises that he’s as guilty of persecution as the Nazis he once so heartily rallied against and privately defends Mutantkind. His perception changed for the better, Sheldon comes to see the worst in humanity: while they accuse Mutants of being dangerous, he sees only heroes trying to defend the innocent and angry mobs tearing their neighbourhoods apart out of sheer paranoia. Haunted my Maggie’s unresolved fate, time and weariness with the public’s everchanging opinions takes its toll on Sheldon. He remains in awe of the Marvels but focuses on them so much that he neglects his family, desperate to figure out what it is about them that distracts him so much. When Galactus arrives and the end of the world seems nigh, Sheldon realises that none of that matters; all that matters is being with the ones you love. This attitude leads into him becoming very short-tempered when people question or slander the Marvels, snapping at the unappreciative public for not realising that they owe their lives to the same people they’re dragging over the coals. Unfortunately, Sheldon lives long enough to see the best and worst of both humanity and the Marvels, realising with gut-wrenching finality that these “Gods” are as flawed as the everyday man. He comes to put all his faith in Gwen’s innocence and is thus heartbroken when Spider-Man fails to save her, but comes to see that his time with the Marvels has come to an end and that it’s time to let those concerns go to focus on what really matters.

Alex Ross’s beautiful artwork brings some of Marvel’s most epic moments to glorious life.

Of course, what really makes Marvels shine is Alex Ross’s frankly gorgeous artwork. Every panel is painstakingly hand-drawn and painted to bring these colourful, outlandish superheroes to life. Unlike many of his peers, especially later in life, Alex Ross doesn’t try to reinvent these characters or make them more “realistic”; he simply presents photorealistic interpretations of their classic costumes, with the sole exception that he depicts Namor as being completely naked. This can be hit and miss; Spider-Man, for example, looks phenomenal under Ross’s penmanship but Thor and Iron Man struggle somewhat with their more outlandish designs. Still, Ross delivers some gorgeous full-page spreads, recreating Reed and Sue’s wedding, showing the battles between Namor and the Human Torch, and bringing these incredible moments to life from a street level perspective. Nowhere is this represented better than in Galactus’s arrival. Despite being faithful to Jack Kirby’s original design, Galactus cuts an intimidating and awe-inspiring figure here, towering over skyscrapers and constantly framed as though a Titan has risen from the Earth. While the story primarily focuses on Sheldon’s family life during this bout, the glimpses of the Fantastic Four and the Silver Surfer’s battle against Galactus deliver a sense of scale and realism not often seen in comics. This is further echoed in the coming of the Sentinels and Spider-Man’s battle with the Green Goblin, events where Sheldon is merely a bystander amongst the faceless masses watching history unfold, powerless to intervene. Ross fills every panel with little cameos and an amazing attention to detail, basing many characters’ likenesses off real-world celebrities and figures, and his work really makes you appreciate the craft and effort put into every panel, no matter how small. Marvels is a dramatic and compelling distillation of the first thirty-years-or-so of Marvel Comics, linking major events on a realistic timeline and giving us a glimpse at how these heroes, Gods, and villains are perceived by the common man. It’s a startlingly bleak tale at times, criticising our hypocrisy and inclination towards hatred and violence, but also an uplifting story. Sheldon, and many characters, celebrate and are inspired by the Marvels, championing them even when a small, volatile minority try to slander them. It’s the perfect snapshot of what life in Marvel’s New York City can be like and a great way to witness such iconic moments from a street-level perspective.

My Rating:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Great Stuff

Have you ever read Marvels? If so, what did you think to it? Are you a fan of Alex Ross’s artwork? What did you think to the presentation of Marvel’s fickle public? Did you relate to Sheldon as a protagonist and enjoy his growth throughout the series? Which “Marvel” is your favourite? How are you celebrating National Superhero Day today? Whatever your thoughts, leave a comment below and be sure to check out my other superhero and comic book content.

Game Corner: Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order (Nintendo Switch)

Dr. K2 Comments

Released: 19 July 2019
Developer: Team Ninja

The Background:
For decades, few videogame publishers were as synonymous with Marvel Comics as Activision, who produced adaptations Marvel’s most popular properties. While some were better than others, Activision’s efforts were largely praised, especially after they partnered with Raven Software on the X-Men Legends games (2004; 2005). Activision and Raven Software expanded their scope to the rest of the Marvel universe with Marvel: Ultimate Alliance (2006), a largely successful team-based brawer praised for improving upon its predecessors. Though now delisted, it was followed by a sequel three years later, courtesy of Vicarious Visions, which tweaked the gameplay with team-based attacks to encourage experimentation. Though Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 (2009) was praised for its branching storyline, the stripped down roleplaying mechanics were criticised. While it was also delisted in 2020, fans were clamouring for a follow-up and, just ten years later, Team Ninja stepped in to work alongside Marvel in reviving the franchise. Seeking to place additional emphasis on combat, the developers explored the cosmic scope of the Marvel universe by including the Infinity Stones and lesser-known characters and chose to make the title a Nintendo Switch exclusive after developing a close relationship with Nintendo. Although Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order was the sixth best-selling game in its first week and was later bolstered by extensive downloadable content (DLC), it was met with mixed reviews that praised the colourful action but criticised its lack of innovation.

The Plot:
While battling Nebula and Ronan the Accuser, the Guardians of the Galaxy stumble upon a plot by the mad titan, Thanos, to collect the six Infinity Stones. Although they scatter the Stones, Thanos’s acolytes, the Black Order, pursue the gems, prompting an alliance of Earth’s mightiest heroes to retrieve them first.

Gameplay and Power-Ups:
Like its predecessors, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order is a team-based action role-playing game in which players assemble a squad of four heroes from across the Marvel universe to battle various nefarious baddies, primarily the titular Black Order, who are hunting the six all-powerful Infinity Stones on behalf of their master, Thanos. The game offers five save slots, two initial difficulty levels, and a base roster of thirty-six playable characters, with many being encountered as you play through the story and joining your alliance either after fighting alongside you or being freed from some kind of mind control. Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 3 offers three controller configurations, thankfully none of which involve motion controls, and allows you to toggle overlays, notifications, tips, and other onscreen elements from the “Settings” menu. These include altering the camera placement, which enables a lock-on feature by pressing in the right stick, though the camera generally remains more focused on whichever character you’re controlling rather than offering a bird’s eye view as in the last two games. Although you can fight alongside friends either locally or online, you switch between your teammates with the directional pad (D-pad) when playing alone and your computer-controlled partners are very useful in a fight, attacking, enabling team attacks, and reviving defeated characters without any input from you. Pressing A sees you interact with the environment to activate consoles, pick up or move certain objects, and talk to other characters. You jump with B, executing a double jump, swinging from webs, or flying depending on which character you’re playing as, and throw light attacks with X and heavy attacks with Y. These can be strung together to perform basic combos and you can also perform a mid-air attack and throw objects (like bombs and missiles) by pressing Y. You block incoming attacks by holding the Z trigger and tap it to dodge, and collect glowing red orbs from defeated enemies or smashed crates to restore health, blue orbs to refill your Energy Point (EP) gauge, and credits to spend on upgrades.

Combat is thick, fast, chaotic, and constant thanks to loads of enemies and character abilities.

As in the last two games, each character has specific abilities tied to their superpowers or superhero traits. You activate these by holding the Right trigger and selecting an icon using the D-pad; using Abilities drains your EP, however, and each Ability comes with a different cost. However, these attacks allow you to stun, stagger or deal elemental damage to enemies using Peter Parker/Spider-Man’s webs, Thor Odinson’s lightning, and Doctor Robert Bruce Banner/The Hulk’s incredible strength. Many characters have projectile attacks in their arsenal, such as Wade Wilson/Deadpool firing guns and Scott “Slim” Summers/Cyclops blasting his eye beams, while others cause splash damage or specific buffs, like Piotr Rasputin/Colossus being able to reflect projectiles and Wanda Maximoff/The Scarlet Witch healing her allies. Some, like James “Logan” Howlett/Wolverine, have passive abilities that allow them to automatically regenerate health as they walk around; others, like Johnny Blaze/Ghost Rider and Ororo Munroe/Storm, specifically deal in elemental damage. Character’s Abilities can also be mixed and matched by holding ZR and pressing one of the face buttons (or pressing A when prompted); this sees two characters attack in a combo for additional damage. As you dish out and take damage, you’ll also build the Extreme (EX) Gauge). Once full, you can press L and R up to three times to have two to four of your teammates perform a devastating combination attack that’s great against bosses. While the various cannon fodder you fight are easily dispatched, larger commanders and bosses need their “stun” meter drained before you can really put a beating on them and others (and certain treasure chests) require specific combination attacks to breach their shields. Defeating enemies sees your characters gain experience points (XP) to level-up, increasing their statistics (attack, defence, etc), though you can also use the various Orbs you find to manually level-up. Each character’s special Abilities can also be further enhanced using Ability Orbs and credits, reducing the EP cost and increasing their damage, among other benefits. You can also earn “Team Bonuses” depending on your team selection: pick a group of X-Men, for example, and your strength or resistance stat will increase, while picking characters of royalty ups your maximum energy stat.

Search for chests to gain currency and other expendables to upgrade and buff your alliance.

Although you can’t equip gear to your characters, the boss battle against the Destroyer armour sees you temporarily empowered by Asgardian magic and you can eventually equip your team with “ISO-8” crystals, coloured stones that enhance their attack power, resistance to elements, or critical hit ratio, among others. You can further upgrade these with credits and ISO-8 capsules, though some of the rarer ones will also debuff you (for example, your attack my increase but your defence will decrease accordingly). You’ll also inevitably gain access to the Strategic Hazard Intervention Espionage Logistics Directorate (S.H.I.E.L.D.) Lab, which acts as the game’s skill tree. By spending credits and Enhancement Points (EP), you can further increase your team’s overall attack, defence, resistance, vitality, and such and even unlock additional ISO-8 slots (with more being earned by levelling-up). You can also enter the S.H.I.E.L.D. Depot from the main menu to purchase additional costumes and social icons by spending S.H.I.E.L.D. Tokens. Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 3 is pretty forgiving (on the “Friendly” difficulty, at least), with multiple checkpoints in each area. When you activate a S.H.I.E.L.D. checkpoint, your team is fully healed, and you can swap or enhance them if you wish. If a teammate is defeated, you can hold A to revive them, but I wouldn’t recommend it unless you absolutely have to. Not only are revives limited, but downed characters will eventually return to full health even before you reach a checkpoint so it’s not worth risking another character taking damage by healing a partner. Exploration generally leads you to treasure chests or special walls that require a special combination attack to open, or to a “Rift” challenge that takes you away from the main game to tackle a special challenge (usually a boss rematch or enemy gauntlet) for extra rewards. Your path is incredibly linear most of the time, hence why there’s no map, and the game’s primary focus is on chaotic combat and visually manic team-based attacks. Unlike in the last two games, you can no longer grapple or throw enemies (though you can still send them flying off certain platforms) and there are no character-specific team-up moves, meaning the action can quickly get quite tiresome.

Sadly, puzzles are practically non-existent, with only Rifts offering additional challenges.

Because of its focus on hectic combat, there’s even less room for puzzles than there is for exploration in Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 3. Puzzles boil down to activating a console to open a door or making a platform move and that’s it. Sometimes, you’ll hold A to move a block and avoid lasers or cannons, but mostly you’ll be timing jumps between said lasers to progress and simply hurling missiles at those cannons. Sometimes, you’ll rotate statues or press switches to progress; others, you’ll be avoiding toxic ooze in Hel or solving door puzzles at the Raft or in Avengers Tower. After hopping across the rooftops of New York City, you’ll infiltrate the heavily fortified fortress of the Hand, dealing with ninjas that drop from the sky and hidden arrow hazards. When in Wakanda, Advanced Idea Mechanics (A.I.M.) corrupt T’Challa/The Black Panther’s defences, leading to an exasperating section where you must avoid snipers and being roasted by a giant panther statue’s energy blast. When transported to the Dark Dimension, you must use portals to reach new areas and defeat waves of demonic enemies to lower magical barriers and progress. Some attacks also screw up your controls or temporarily freeze you; some enemies are best defeated by tossing explosives at them; and many missions have an additional character fighting alongside you who’s often unlocked afterwards. However, a lot of the additional features of the previous games are missing; you can talk to other characters, but there are no dialogue options or character-specific interactions. There are no trivia quizzes, no optional side missions beyond the Rifts, and no character specific challenges to unlock extra stuff for each character. There aren’t even hub areas, in the traditional sense, with characters just appearing around S.H.I.E.L.D. checkpoints at times, though you can destroy a fair bit of the environment, and some encounters have you fleeing towards the camera as bosses chase you or present you with unwinnable battles.

Presentation:
Whereas the last two games primarily based their aesthetics on the comics books, especially the Ultimate comic line, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 3 adheres very closely to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), especially in the visuals of its locations. I was hard pressed, for example, to tell the difference between Asgard here and the Asgard to the MCU, with both the golden city and the rainbow bridge, the Bifrost, appearing almost exactly as they’re depicted in the films. The same is true for Wakanda, the Dark Dimension, and Knowhere, all of which are virtually indistinguishable from how they appear in the MCU. There are some differences, of course: Taneleer Tivan/The Collector’s museum, for example, uses coloured cube cages and Wakanda leans much more into traditional architecture than the pseudo-futuristic science of the films (likely because Black Panther (Coogler, 2018) released a year before this game was made). Xavier’s School for the Gifted is lifted almost exactly from the 20th Century Fox X-Men movies (Various, 2000 to 2020), however, including a hedge maze, 1:1 Cerebro room, and basketball court that doubles as a landing pad for the Blackbird. While the Dark Dimension and the cosmic mind trip that is Sanctuary also heavily borrow from the bizarre cosmic imagery of the MCU, the Raft and Avengers Tower are much more akin to their comic book counterparts, though they’re comparatively bland locations, lacking fun areas like the Danger Room or Wakanda’s Necropolis (though you do pass through Anthony “Tony” Stark/Iron Man’s Hall of Armours in the tower). Although you only make a brief stop in Attilan to try and get help from the Inhumans, the architecture is far more visually interesting than that awful television show, seemingly being comprised of Celestial technology, and I enjoyed the ominous gothic presentation of Hel, with its restless Viking warriors and damaging sludge. Unfortunately, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 3 continues the trend of having disappointingly bland and forgettable music, opting for generic themes for each location, event, and character that are lost amidst the constant fighting.

A visually impressive brawler that takes obvious inspiration from the MCU films.

The game also opts for an almost cel-shaded, action figure-like aesthetic for its colourful cast of characters. While many again both look and sound like their MCU counterparts, there are some exceptions: Peter Quill/Star-Lord, for example, looks nothing like Chris Pratt and the X-Men are far closer to the comic books than Fox’s films. Despite you assembling a custom team of heroes, cutscenes depict either everyone or characters specific to the location you’re in (the corrupted Doctor Stephen Strange in the Dark Dimension, for example) as they’re better suited to advance the plot against the local baddies. With the game shifting to a more third-person perspective, you’re closer than ever to the action and can see more of the environment than in the previous games. However, this comes with some drawbacks: mainly, there are far less opportunities or incentives to explore. Second, environments are painfully linear, with dead ends or locked doors barring your progress. Third, and most frustrating, is the camera, which easily loses track of your opponent/s and often lumbers you with wireframe representations when the foreground blocks the view. Thankfully, you won’t be falling down pits and rarely have to worry about onscreen hazards, but it can be aggravating trying to figure out which platforms and crates can be jumped on and which can’t. Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 3 offers a diverse cast of characters, each with their own idle poses and quips, though these do inevitably repeat. The game’s also surprisingly light on Easter Eggs: you’ll spot Deadpool singing away as he makes tacos in the X-Mansion, but not much else, and there are no optional missions or choices to encourage replaying missions. It’s a far cry from the first game, where there was always something to collect or an additional character to help out. Instead, it’s basically all combat, all the time in Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 3. Luckily, the game looks pretty good (everything’s very colourful and true to its inspirations) and performs really well, though there are some long load screens and it is annoying being forced to continue your game every time you challenge a Rift.

Enemies and Bosses:
All the usual suspects appear here as disposable cannon fodder for you to endlessly beat up, with many of the game’s goons sharing traits across the various locations. You’ll encounter Kree, Ultron Drones, agents of A.I.M., and Doombats who all pack various energy blasters. Ultron’s clones are the worst for this, relentlessly firing energy blasts and crashing through windows. The Raft’s unscrupulous prisoners attack in large groups, as do the restless Viking warriors who populate Hel, tossing axes from afar and luring you into toxic goop. Gargoyle-like Fire Demons also dwell here, offering a greater challenge with their swoop attack and fire breath, not unlike the monstrous Outriders and Mindless Ones who make up Thanos and the dread Dormammu’s forces, respectively. Alpha Primitives, Hydra goons, and towering Sentinels also appear, with the latter firing huge energy blasts from the palms and best attacked by throwing their explosive energy cores back at them. No matter where you are and what enemies you fight, more powerful commanders will also appear. Larger, tougher, and sporting a stun meter, these commanders should be your top priority as they’ll charge across the screen, cause shockwaves, and generally offer a far greater challenge even when you’re at a higher level. These minions often fight alongside their masters, generally so you can recover some health and EP to better damage the bosses, and will endlessly spawn in one of the additional modes unless you destroy their teleporters. Some of the game’s challenges or story-based missions charge you with defeating a certain number of enemies to progress. Other times, bosses appear in these waves, and you must occasionally flee or purposely lose some fights. This happens when Cain Marko/The Juggernaut comes tearing through the X-Mansion, for example, and in early encounters with the Black Order, who cannot be beaten or will chase you, raining lightning or other attacks from the sky and across the ground.

Few bosses require more than just hit-and-run tactics, even when augmented by an Infinity Stone.

There are loads of bosses to fight in Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 3, with some returning from the previous games, some teaming up, some having a couple of phases, and all boiling down to whittling down their stun bar, unleashing an EX attack and/or your most powerful Abilities, and avoiding damage until you can repeat this. The first ones you’ll face are Nebula and Ronan the Accuser, who often appear as a duo in optional challenges. Nebula is faster and more nimble, wielding blades where Ronan uses a massive warhammer. Both set a standard all bosses follow, which is that they’ll use either a jumping slam or an explosion of energy (or both) to send you flying. While quelling the riot in the Raft, you’ll encounter a version of the Sinister Six, with some unique variations to each battle. Flint Marko/The Sandman, for example, flings waves of sand and erupts his big sand fist from the ground as a large sand creature. You must use A to mount the nearby cannons and unload on him to chip away at his stun meter. Maxwell “Max” Dillon fights alongside Eddie Brock/Venom, raining lighting and electrocuting you with bursts of electricity, before he’s eaten by Venom and starts busting out electrically-enhanced symbiote powers. Venom joins the team after this fight and is tested against Quentin Beck, who first brainwashes Mile Morales/Spider-Man, Gwen Stacy/Spider-Woman, and Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel to fight you and then unleashes a poisonous mist, teleports about, and confuses you with duplicates, Doctor Otto Octavious/Dr. Octopus is fought in a two-stage fight where you must first avoid his tentacles and scurry charge and then attack each arm to stun him. Finally, you’ll battle Norman Osborn/The Green Goblin for the Time Stone. The Green Goblin swoops overhead and lingers slightly out of reach, peppering the arena with his pumpkin bombs, charging at you, and freezing time to bombard you. He’s noticeably weak to his pumpkin bombs, however, so try and toss them at him before they explode in your face! After battling into the Hand’s fortress, you must first free Elektra Natchios from the Hand’s influence and then face Lester/Bullseye and Wilson Fisk/The Kingpin in separate fights. You must take out the ninjas feeding Elektra power, avoid Bulleye’s spread of razor sharp and explosive cards, and dodge the furniture and massive energy beam thrown by the Power Stone-enhanced Kingpin. The Kingpin also charges like a rhino, leaps at you to cause shockwaves, and even rips up stone columns to use as melee weapons!

Gigantic bosses and the quirkier villains help mix-up the otherwise tedious combat.

Avengers Tower is then attacked by Ultron and his drones, who assist him in battle. Not that he needs it as the Mind Stone allows Ultron to mess up your controls, to say nothing of his signature face and palm beams. Ultron then grows to gigantic proportions, sweeping the area with his eyebeams before Clint Barton/Hawkeye intervenes and Ultron merges with Ultimo. This is the first giant boss battle in the game and sees you blasting Ultimo with cannons and avoiding his massive swipes. The Infinity Sentinel is comparatively smaller, but no less dangerous thanks to its own face beam and missiles. Though you can damage it with Sentinel cores, it’s finished in a cutscene by Erik “Magnus” Lehnsherr/Magneto, who then tosses debris and throws you off balance with magnetic pulses while Juggernaut pummels you and Raven Darkholme/Mystique tosses daggers. After surviving Mystique’s Danger Room trials, you face Magneto, now even tougher thanks to the Power Stone, before being chased away and banished to the Dark Dimension by the Black Order. There, you battle past Loki Laufeyson (who boasts elemental attacks and duplication tricks) to eventually face the dread Dormammu, who wields the Reality Stone and is the second giant boss. You must subdue his minions and avoid his flame bursts, whittling down his magical barrier either directly or be destroying three nearby orbs, all while dodging his giant fists and ground spikes. The brief fight with Maximus Boltagon is far easier, even though the mad Inhuman carries a massive energy cannon and you must take cover in Thane’s energy bubble to avoid Maximus’s barrage of lasers. Ulysses Klaue/Klaw awaits in Wakanda and his sound-based energy blasts and waves must be overcome to rescue and recruit James Buchanan “Bucky” Barnes/The Winter Soldier. You then fight past A.I.M. to confront their master, George Tarleton/Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing (MODOK), who uses the Soul Stone to turn the Dora Milaje against you and attacks with a slew of appendages, from buzzsaw arms, poison gas, failing tentacles, and his signature forehead blast.

Battles with the empowered Black Order, Thanos, and Thane offer some of the most enjoyable challenges.

Though your goal in Hel is to confront Hela, you’ll actually battle the fire demon, Surtur, in another giant boss battle. This was a bit of a difficulty spike for me as Surtur’s flaming sword has a long reach and he causes the ground to erupt in flames, to say nothing of stun locking you with repeat sword strikes! Best him and Hela sets Johann Schmidt/The Red Skull on you, with the Nazi madman firing a powerful revolver and sapping your health with his “Dust of Death”. Hela gives the Red Skull a boost, protecting him with a shield and allowing him to fire a Bifrost-like laser, before placing his consciousness into the Destroyer armour. Though bolstered by Hydra forces and boasting a sweeping face beam, you can get a power-up from glowing crystals to overcome this destructive force. Finally, you venture to Knowhere and must run the Black Order gauntlet to retrieve the Infinity Stones, with checkpoints between each fight. Ebony Maw is first, firing a spread of projectiles and rocks and using the Soul Stone to create portals to trip you up. Supergiant tosses dark spheres and a golden homing shot that messes up your controls, though you can toss explosive cores from her minions to deal big damage. Cull Obsidian infuses his battleaxe with the Power Stone, sending out waves of purple energy and massive purple shockwaves, though he’s far slower and also susceptible to the nearby bombs. Corvus Glaive is much faster, landing multiple hits with his lance and using the Reality Stone to spring spikes form the ground and conjure duplicates who fill the arena with energy waves that can stun lock you. Finally, Proxima Midnight takes her fellow’s teleportation trick to the next level with the Space Stone and fills the arena with lightning bolts and strikes. All these powers are then recycled when you face Thanos, who gathers the six Infinity Stones into the Infinity Gauntlet to rain meteors, teleport, mess up your controls, freeze time, and fire his signature eyebeams. Thanos then joins you to battle Thane, who usurps him and boasts similar powers, though also upgraded by the Infinity Armour. Thane exhibits superhuman speed, traps you in a cube, fills the arena with portals and flames, and explodes in fury, though both battles were fun challenges rather than impossible tasks.

Additional Features:
Unlike in the previous two games, you won’t be finding data logs, action figures, or meeting certain requirements to unlock new attacks or costumes. You just fight over and over, earning whatever you need to unlock, buy, or upgrade whatever you wish and finding some concept art in treasure chests. A far harder (but more rewarding) “Superior” difficulty unlocks upon clearing the game alongside an additional “Nightmare” mode, accessible via the “Curse of the Vampire” campaign. You also unlock Thanos and can freely replay any mission on any difficulty (though you must start a new save to play on “Superior”) to grind and enhance your characters and ISO-8. Dimensional Rifts transport you to special challenges (not unlike the S.H.I.E.L.D. Simulator discs from the first game) that are often rematches with bosses or gauntlet challenges, though far tougher and gifting better rewards if you succeed. There are also three additional modes; however, though you can play a taster of each, you must purchase the expansion pass to fully unlock them. “Curse of the Vampire” adds vampiric enemies to the main story in “Nightmare” mode and offers a “Gauntlet” mode where you battle waves of enemies and bosses against both a time limit and a range of debuffs (including limited health restoration and draining EP). You can also tackle an “Endless” mode that’s pretty self-explanatory, and unlock additional characters like Frank Castle/The Punisher and Eric Brooks/Blade…if you buy the DLC. “Rise of the Phoenix” sees you form a four-person team and go head-to-head with a friend or the computer in three-round Danger Room scenarios. These see you tackling bosses again or wiping out hordes of enemies, awarding additional buffs and effects if you meet certain criteria (such as using any Ability or Synergy attack four times). You can only tackle the first challenge without the DLC, so I didn’t get very far, but this could be a fun distraction for those looking to test their skills against a friend. “Shadow of Doom” adds an epilogue story campaign that sees you return to Wakanda to oppose Doctor Victor Von Doom’s invasion. Dr. Doom’s Doombots endlessly spawn unless you destroy their teleporters, and you even battle the arrogant dictator in the recycled Necropolis, with him teleporting, firing lasers form his palms, and having his health restored by his Doombots. You’ll add Marvel’s First Family to your roster (alongside an alternative Thanos and other characters) by buying the expansion pass and battle Annihilus, a gigantic Celestial, and even “God Emperor” Doom!

The Summary:
I quite enjoyed the first two Ultimate Alliance games. They were mindless and largely repetitive, but I liked the large cast of characters and all the different references and locations from the comic books. Still, I put off Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order for some time, mainly because I was annoyed by it being a Nintendo Switch exclusive; however it turned out to be a decent enough brawler. Despite the different development team, a few tweaks, and an apparent disconnection from the previous games, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 3 offers a lot of the same gameplay and enjoyment as its predecessors, which is great for long-time fans of the franchise. Unfortunately, it doesn’t improve on these elements in a meaningful way and actually removes some content that I found enjoyable from the last two. There are no optional missions, for example, no alternative endings, no choices, and no character-specific challenges beyond fighting and levelling-up. I found this made the tedious combat even more aggravating after a while as I wasn’t being rewarded with gear or costumes or anything other than stat boosts. Even the skill tree was limited since you must grind to acquire enough credits and expendables to enhance your team, and I found the ISO-8 mode to be more confusing than engaging. The game also does little to improve the boss battles. Very few were very innovative or required more of you than to strike fast, avoid shockwaves and projectiles, and unleash your Extreme attack. The giant bosses were more of a challenge and I liked the final fight against Thanos and Thane, but I was hoping for a bit more complexity, especially given the possibilities offered by the Infinity Stones. There is a fun selection of characters, but they don’t offer much more than what we saw in the last two games and actually offer less as there are no character-specific team-up moves. While I enjoyed the visual influence from the MCU and the variety, I feel like Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 3 played things a little too safe by relying so heavily on combat and not mixing up the gameplay with a few other puzzles and challenges. Overall, it’s a good enough game and a worthy entry in the series, but it’s a shame that the developers didn’t try to be a bit more innovative and offer some more incentive to keep slogging away in endless fights.

My Rating:

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Pretty Good

Did you enjoy Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order? How do you think it holds up against the previous two games? Which characters did you choose for your team? Were you disappointed that the combat was so similar to the last two games and the bosses so repetitive? Did you ever conquer all the Rift challenges? What did you think to the MCU influences and the final battle with Thanos and Thane? Did you ever play through the DLC? Would you like to see another Ultimate Alliance game? Whatever your thoughts, leave a comment below, support me on Ko-Fi, and go check out my other superhero content across the site.

Game Corner [Spidey Month]: Spider-Man 3 (Xbox 360)

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Easily Marvel Comics’ most recognisable and popular superhero, unsuspecting teenage nerd Peter Parker was first bitten by a radioactive spider and learned the true meaning of power and responsibility in Amazing Fantasy #15, which was first published in August 1962. Since then, the Amazing Spider-Man has featured in numerous cartoons, live-action movies, videogames, action figures, and countless comic book titles. To coincide with his debut and his very own day of celebration, I’ve been dedicating every Tuesday of August to talk about everyone’s favourite web-head!

Released: 4 May 2007
Developer: Treyarch
Also Available For: Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, Nintendo Wii, PC, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable (PSP)

The Background:
It seemed like every single cinema release was accompanied by a videogame adaptation back in the day, regardless of how necessary this was, and Peter Parker/Spider-Man is no exception to this. Considering his popularity, Spider-Man has a long and varied history with videogame adaptations across numerous platforms, but arguably hit an unexpected peak with developer Treyarch’s celebrated adaptation tie-in to Spider-Man 2 (Raimi, 2004). Widely regarded as one of Spider-Man’s greatest videogame outings, Spider-Man 2 (Treyarch, 2004) was followed by Ultimate Spider-Man (ibid, 2005), a cel-shaded reskin of sorts that acted as a companion piece to the Ultimate Spider-Man comics (2000 to 2011). This game expanded upon the web-slinging and combat of its predecessor while also offering two ways to play by including the hulking Eddie Brock/Venom as a playable character. Interestingly, though, this latter approach would not be included in Treyarch’s tie-in to Spider-Man 3 (Raimi, 2007), which instead simply reduced Venom’s inclusion to some new rage-empowered abilities for the titular wall-crawler. This time around, different villains featured in the different console versions of the game, but Spider-Man 3 ended up being almost as polarising as its source material. Reviews criticised the dull combat and repetitive gameplay, though the thrilling web-slinging and impressive size of the game world continued to be praised.

The Plot:
Peter Parker’s superhero life is turned upside down by a turf war in New York City that only escalates when his mentor transforms into a man-lizard, a crazed hunter comes to town, his former friend Harry Osborn seeks revenge, and a common crook is gifted extraordinary sand powers! Pushed to the edge, Peter is tempted by the power and allure of a mysterious black suit from space that greatly augments both his powers and his rage!

Gameplay:
If you’ve played the highly-regarded Spider-Man 2 before, then Spider-Man 3 will be very familiar to you. Having perfected the art of open-world web-slinging, developers Treyarch haven’t strayed too far from their game engine here and once again present an expansive map of New York City filled with skyscrapers to swing from, random crimes to stop, and landmarks to visit. Accordingly, the control scheme and gameplay mechanics aren’t much different from Spider-Man 2, but there are some noticeable differences: you can attack enemies with X and Y, holding each button to charge up for a strike to deal more damage and break their blocks and mixing up these button presses (in conjunction with others) to deliver some fun combos that see Spidey webbing foes to lampposts, pinballing about the place, and kicking the crap out of punks in a whirlwind. B sees you webbing enemies, either pulling them in for a strike or temporarily subduing them if you hold the button, and you can press it at the end of a combo to fire a flurry of web balls. B is also used to stick to walls and ceilings, with the camera continuing to go all janky and mess up your perspective every time you do this, while A lets you jump. You can hold the button to charge a big jump and press it again in mid-air for a double jump, and at the end of a swing to gain extra height and distance when web-slinging. Unfortunately, there’s no way to lock-on to enemies or objects here and the camera can be very erratic, meaning you can easily end up punching thin air or getting turned about during chases and combat. However, you can press in the right stick to activate Spidey’s spider sense for a short time, which puts a greyscale filter over the environment to highlight enemies and points of interest.

Spidey’s web-slinging and combat are augmented by the rage-inducing black suit!

The web-slinging mechanics are similar to those in Spider-Man 2. You can start web-slinging by holding the Right Trigger, but Spider-Man will only comply if there’s a building or other tall structure nearby, so once again you’ll see him snapping off webs in a way that more accurately replicates his web-slinging from the films. You can hold down the Left Trigger to speed up your swing (this also allows Spidey to run and crawl faster) and will eventually unlock upgrades that let you swing from two webs by pressing LT and RT at the same time or quickly zip along flat surfaces by tapping RT. Another upgrade lets you climb up a web by pressing up on the directional pad (D-pad) with a ceiling above you (which is great for avoiding laser tripwires). Holding the Left Bumper activates Spider-Man’s “spider reflexes”, which slows down the game for as long as your blue meter lasts, effectively acting as “bullet time” and allowing you to dodge incoming attacks by wiggling the left stick and unleash a counterattack with X or toss missiles back at helicopters with B. This meter automatically refills over time, just as the red super meter fills as you land attacks. Once full, you can press the Right Button and A, B, X, or Y to unleash a super move, such as webbing up and swinging multiple enemies or performing a ground pound for crowd control. Later in the game, Spider-Man will be consumed by the symbiote, and his speed, defence, and strength will be augmented by his black suit. When wearing the black suit, you can tap RB to build up a rage meter and then rapidly tap it to enter an enraged mode that greatly enhances your regular and super attacks for a short time. As you complete missions, stop random crimes, and defeat enemies, you’ll increase your “crime fighter” rating and unlock upgrades to all of Spidey’s repertoire. These extend his health, add new combos to his arsenal, and upgrade his swinging speed, amongst others, and you can view these at any time from the pause menu.

There are many side missions and challenges, from fighting crime to photographing UFOs!

While the game includes a helpful onscreen compass that highlights points of interest, crimes in progress, and enemy placements, you can also view an overheard map of the city by pressing the ‘Back’ button. This time around, you can filter to see story missions, tasks such as time trials and skydiving challenges, and areas where random crimes will catch your attention, and you can also set waypoints to guide you to specific areas, which is extremely helpful. Side missions in Spider-Man 3 involve stopping runaway cars or fleeing criminals by leaping on top of their vehicles, pounding away with X, and then mashing X and B to disable the vehicle, whereupon you’ll invariably need to beat up any remaining goons. You’ll also be stopping bank robberies, encountering various gangs as they fight each other in the streets, hold up armoured vans, rob cash machines and civilians, and generally cause chaos. Thankfully, there are no balloons to recover or civilians in peril from falls here, though you’re still given time trials to reach destinations or track down hoodlums. Gangs will steal stuff and then make a getaway, and you’ll need to use your handy-dandy radar to track them down and recover the items, and you’ll sometimes need to carry civilians to safety, again while racing a time limit. One of the most prominent times you’ll do this is in the Mary Jane/M. J. “thrill ride” missions, where you need to swing fast, high, or low depending on her instructions to earn hearts. You can also collect hearts dotted along the route and these missions get trickier as the game progresses, with short times between locations and gangs scaring your girl, but you’ll also be charged with scaring her later when you aggressively carry her while in the black suit. Occasionally, some missions will see you joined by allies. Generally, these are just regular cops or inadvertent assistance from other gangs as they injure each other, but you’ll team up with MacDonald “Mac” Gragan/The Scorpion for one mission and boss fight and also tentatively work with Detective Jean DeWolfe to bust crooked cops. These missions, like those handed out at the Daily Bugle, generally require you to stay out of sight and photograph some evidence. You can do this by pressing down on the D-pad and the Daily Bugle assignments will see you snapping photos of man-sized lizards (both real and fake), gang wars, and a fake Spider-Man who you have to save from a fatal fall!

Alongside numerous button-mashing sections, the game is crammed full of QTE sequences!

Perhaps the biggest new addition to the gameplay formula here is the inclusion of quick-time events (QTEs). Stopping a car? QTE! Finishing off a boss? QTE! Escaping a collapsing building? QTE! Disarming a bomb? Oh, you better believe that’s a QTE! For the most part, Spider-Man 3’s QTEs aren’t too bad but they definitely pop up at the worst possible times and the margin for error is basically zero. If you fail even once, you have to restart the entire sequence again. Failure also costs you some health so if you’re near death, the chances are that you’ll have to start an entire mission or boss battle over again since the game can be very stingy with checkpoints. Luckily, the button and stick movements required are the same every time so it’s easy to memorise them, but they get very tricky and much faster by the end of the game. You’ll also be using QTEs to stop a runaway subway chain, catch a crashing helicopter, mashing buttons to lift heavy debris off civilians (and even an enemy at one point), wrench open doors, or slingshoting great distances. One of the most prominent QTE sequences is the abundance of bombs you’ll be disarming throughout the course of the “Mad Bomber” missions. These include a little bit of everything, from rotating the right stick to unscrew panels, to re-routing currents, and even a bit of a rhythm mini game…as well as times when you just need to charge a kick to punt the bomb into the river! Other tasks are a little easier in execution but can still be aggravating, such as rescuing hostages (at one point you need to constantly ferry one to safety and even rescue J. Jonah Jameson from a fatal plunge!), activating levers and consoles, chasing helicopters and frantically webbing up their blades in mid-air with B, destroying generators, and defending antidote dispensers in the sewers. Missions can go awry very quickly, especially when there are lots of enemies about, and there’s no way to alter the game’s difficulty so you just need to keep at it until you succeed. There are a couple of fun moments where you take control of different characters, such as fighting off waves of enemies as the Scorpion or battling Flint Marko/The Sandman’s monstrous form as the New Goblin, which are a nice (if equally frustrating in their own way) change of pace.

Graphics and Sound:  
Beyond a pre-rendered opening cinematic, Spider-Man 3 relies wholesale on its in-game graphics and models for its cutscenes. It doesn’t even include any clips from the movie, which is very surprising for a tie-in videogame, and the game’s story barely even touches upon the events from the film since you’ll be spending more time helping Doctor Curtis “Curt” Connors with his Lizard problem than fighting the likes of the Sandman. This is good and bad in different ways; good in the sense that many sequences and plot threads from the film are actually executed far better here (Peter and M. J.’s argument and break-up, for example, and the complete absence of the Stacys), but bad because every film-related element is swept aside and rushed (Harry disappears from the game completely until the end after the New Goblin fight and Eddie Brock’s issues with Peter are even more rushed than in the film). These issues are compounded by Tobey Maguire’s continued lack of enthusiasm for voicing the titular web-slinger; in fact, all the movie’s returning actors do a lacklustre job and, with the exception of J. K. Simmons as Jonah Jameson, they all sound bored and wooden. This contrasts with how janky the game’s physics can be; while Spider-Man has only basic idle animations until he gets his black suit, he flails around the place like ragdoll and can easily be pummelled and bounced around. Although New York City is fully populated with pedestrians, none of them will react to you. The streets are filled with traffic that obediently follows traffic signals but also crashes into each other (and you!) at various points, and I noticed times when the game suffered from slowdown and odd glitches, like enemies not spawning or clipping through buildings.

As fun as web-slinging is, dull interior levels and atrocious in-game models really let the game down.

Once again, New York City is the focal piece of the game; the game map is vast, including all the peripheral islands and recognisable landmarks both real (like the Statue of Liberty) and fictional (like the Daily Bugle building). Opportunities to go inside are severely limited, which is great for keeping the sense of action and momentum, but it does make things a bit empty and repetitive at times. When you are inside, it’s mainly to explore the subway and sewers under the city, where you’ll have to watch out for speeding trains and wade through the dank sewage water as you investigate the Lizard’s nests. The Scorpion’s missions see you infiltrating the high-tech facilities of MechaBioCon, where the game emulates the first game by trapping you in claustrophobic, futuristic laboratories, hallways, and facilities. Missions see you swinging all over the city, stopping bombs at City Hall and battling psycho schoolgirls in the Natural History Museum and a church, or visiting Peter’s apartment and even a cool sequence where Spider-Man (in a cutscene) stops a helicopter with a giant web. Crimes pop up all over the place as you swing around, with some being more important and worthy of your attention than others. Full scale gang wars can break out, helicopters need to be chased, and day turns to night turns to day as you web around righting wrongs. Unfortunately, Spider-Man 3 still doesn’t include any of the iconic musical cues from the movie and nowhere near the amount of visual variety as the last game. Sure, there’s a mission where you have to photograph a UFO, lizard-men ran rampant in the streets and sewers, and you’ll even have to contend with giant mech suits at one point, but the game’s missing a lot of the bizarre comic book flair, even when the likes of Sergei Kravinoff/Kraven the Hunter and Calypso Ezili/Calypso show up to hunt the Lizard and wield strangely out of place magical abilities. Things do pick up for the final showdown, which includes a monstrous version of the Sandman and a raging sandstorm amidst a construction site, but there’s really nothing we haven’t seen in other Spider-Man videogames, or much to make this one stand-out visually speaking.

Enemies and Bosses:
New York City is in the midst of a turf war between three rival gangs: the Arsenic Candies, the Apocalypse gang, and the Dragon Tails. Each has a couple of different types of goons in them, from standard guys who punch, kick, and block to those with ranged weapons like pistols, machines guns, and grenades, to larger or more skilled variants. The Apocalypse gang are a bunch of punks who are often bolstered by larger guys carrying street signs or decked out like rejects from the Mad Max films (Various, 1979 to present). The Arsenic Candies are annoying schoolgirls who attack and block with umbrellas, and the Dragon Tails are martial artists who fly at you with kicks or swords. Even the standard punks can be an issue, but the elite members can be a real pain in the ass. They inexplicably block and dodge all your attacks, forcing you to use your spider reflexes and more elaborate combos to actually land a hit, and often you’ll be greeted by a sneak attack or an explosive to the face! Sometimes the gangs are bolstered by mech suits courtesy of Luke Carlyle/The Mad Bomber, hovering overhead and rapidly firing at or tagging you with delayed explosives, which is super annoying, and you’ll often have to face large groups of them while rescuing hostage, activating consoles, disarming bombs, or rescuing civilians. Thanks to Dr. Connors, New York’s streets (and, more prominently, its subways and sewers) are also over-run by lizard-men. These reptilian bastards like to leap out from the shadows or water, spit acid, and slash at you and will absolutely have you tearing your hair out when you try to defend the antidote capsules from them. You’ll also have to contend with trigger happy crooked cops, the wasp- and spider-like robotic defences of MechaBioCon, inept security guards dressed in riot vests, burning buildings, rocket-toting gang members, and heavily armed mercenaries who like to set bombs and take hostages.

The game takes a sharp, frustrating difficulty spike whenever you battle the QTE-ladened bosses!

As part of your efforts to quell the three gangs, you’ll inevitably come up against their tougher forces, from explosive-bear-toting Arsenic Candies, to well-armed helicopters, and full-on battles in ornate palaces. The brutish leader of the Apocalypse gang is fought down near the docks, you’ll wade through an unending horde of Arsenic Candies when you break up the shotgun wedding of their leader, Priscilla, and you’ll have to fight off the Dragon Tail’s elite fighters to tackle their samurai-like leader, who favours teleporting and forcing you to engage your spider reflexes to land a hit and avoid his sword swipes. All three of these are fought later in the game, in-between extremely frustrating fist fights with Wilson Fisk/The Kingpin. Unlike other fights in the game, the battles against the Kingpin are not ones you can win simply by mashing buttons and pummelling him with combos. Instead, you need to wait for him to strike and the dodge, counterattack, and get out of harm’s way to avoid him making mincemeat of you with a few ridiculously powerful sumo slaps, headbutts, or slams. Once you’ve built up your rage, you can get to button mashing your best combos, but this fight really is a sudden uphill battle compared to those that came before it, which is saying a lot considering how goddamn frustrating Spider-Man 3’s boss encounters are! Depending on how you tackle the game’s missions, you might not see this right away but I sure as hell did when I chose to engage the New Goblin mission. This boss fight sees Peter attacked in the street like in the film, but it’s made up of two phases: the first is a QTE sequence where you must time button and stick presses to avoid the New Goblin’s attacks, and the second sees you battling him at street level as he hovers about. You absolutely must ace the first phase; if you get hurt here or die in the second phase, do not select “Retry” as this drops you in the second phase of the fight with the New Goblin at full health! As Harry’s sword swipes and pumpkin bombs can decimate your health bar very quickly, it’s far easier to get a slight edge by winning the first phase and then spamming your spider reflexes and combos. However, don’t be too trigger happy as this fight (like all the boss fights in Spider-Man 3) ends in a QTE sequence and you can easily mess it up if you mash X too much!

Some of Spidey’s most recognisable C-list villains show up for some aggravating boss battles!

One boss battle that was a bit different is the showdown with the Mad Bomber’s heavily armed helicopter. You must dart behind cover to avoid the chopper’s missile barrage and gatling gun, then use your spider reflexes to send a missile back at it a few times to bring it down, all while the rooftop disintegrates around you and Jonah cowers nearby. Dr. Connors transforms himself into a lizard and, after tracking him and defeating his minions, you’ll battle him on some treadmills that lead into meatgrinder-like blades! You need to use your spider reflexes to counter the Lizard’s dodge and then mash A to flip him into the grinders a few times; after that, you’ll fight him on equal ground, avoiding his slashes and tail swipe and fleeing to safety when he flies into a rage. Later, Kraven and Calypso come to town to hunt the Lizard; fighting Kraven can be tough as his potions grant him bear-like strength, talon-like flight, and panther-like speed, to say nothing of his duplication, invisibility, and charge attacks. Once you defeat him, you tangle with the Lizard again, this time in a monstrous form; in the first phase, he can’t be harmed so you have to mess about webbing up his hands and swinging him by the tail into four generators like he’s fuckin’ Bowser to lower his shield, then you can go to town on him but watch for his chomping bite and wall leap! Another recurring foe is the Scorpion, who attacks with his hooked tail and claws. After chasing him across the city, you’ll also battle him on a bridge and need to subdue him long enough to forcibly use his tail lasers to destroy a shield array but he ends up becoming an unexpected ally when you fight Alexander O’Hirn/The Rhino. The Rhino is so tough and heavily armoured that he’s completely immune to a frontal assault. Instead, you need to avoid his earth-shattering slams and punches and attack from behind (or distract him so that the Scorpion can do this). The Rhino will charge around, destroying the area and swinging girders at you, but these attacks leave him momentarily dizzy and open to a double team attack from Spider-Man and the Scorpion. You can also hop on him and complete QTE sequences to ram him into walls, though this remains as aggravating as the other boss battles.

Spidey gets some help from the New Goblin to battle the monstrous Sandman and ravenous Venom!

Finally, there are the other two villains from the movie, the Sandman and Venom. The Sandman is fought in the subway and acts as a kind of tutorial for your new black suit abilities. You need to avoid being hit by subway trains and dodge his mace and hammer-like arms to build up your rage meter and deliver a hefty beat down. The Sandman can form shields with his body and blast you with sand streams, and you’ll need to complete QTE sequences to both drop him further down the shaft and disintegrate him with a water jet like in the movie. The Sandman then disappears until the final showdown, where he’s approached by an embittered Eddie Brock; in this version of the story, Eddie is slighted when Spider-Man catches him faking pictures of him and threatens the Sandman’s family if he doesn’t help him kill Spider-Man. This final battle is similar to the one in the movie and involves three phases. The first sees Spider-Man fighting Venom in a partially-constructed skyscraper. Venom uses brute strength and cheap tactics to attack you; you’ll need to mash A when he tries to choke you with his webbing and avoid his web/uppercut combo. When he flies into a rage, smash some of the respawning pipes to stun him with noise and deliver a few combos but try to not be tossed from the site as it takes bloody ages to climb back up! The second phase sees Harry (who doesn’t get scarred or amnesia here) suit up as the New Goblin to help his buddy like in the film. The New Goblin can strafe, boost, attack with fast and heavy sword swipes, and toss pumpkin bombs with B and you’ll need to use these to take out the monstrous Sandman. Simply target his arms or his head and complete a QTE sequence, then douse him with water from a hydrant to actually do some damage. I found the best tactic to avoid being hit is to constantly strafe around him, mashing or holding B and using RB and X, Y, and B to unleash a barrage of bombs. You’ll then need to complete another QTE sequence before the fight switches back to Spidey and Venom, who are now surrounded by a raging sandstorm and at very low health. The strategy is the same, but made more difficult by Venom’s increased aggression, the sandstorm, and how annoying it is having to jump up to where the pipes are. Stun and beat on Venom a few times and you’ll initiate one last QTE sequence, the fastest and toughest of the game, that ends with Venom skewered on some spikes and apparently leaves Harry alive.

Power-Ups and Bonuses:
Spider-Man 3 is surprisingly light on in-game power-ups. Your health is restored every time you stop a crime or beat up some thugs (assuming you stick around long enough to collect the health that drops) and you’ll occasionally find health scattered throughout the game or hidden in crates, but I found this to be quite rare. You can extend your health and gain upgrades to your abilities by raising your crime fighter status, but this isn’t quite the same as gaining experience points. It simply goes up the more side quests and story missions you complete and that’s it; you don’t spend points and can’t customise your gameplay progression as you might expect. The only real tangible power-up is the black suit, which makes the game far more enjoyable. You’re faster, stronger, hardier, and have access to a rage meter than can make combat much more enjoyable, but you’ll naturally lose this as the story progresses.

Additional Features:
There are forty-three Achievements to snag in Spider-Man 3, eleven of which are awarded simply for beating the game and defeating the bosses. You’ll grab Achievements for swinging great distances, webbing up enemies, completing the different side missions, and one for riding around on a vehicle for five miles. Scattered across the city are gang tokens, time trials, combat tours, and skyscraper tokens. Finding and completing each of these nets you more Achievements, as does completing all the Daily Bugle assignments and random crimes that pop up across the city. Time trials are a test of your swinging skills and see you racing about through rings, combat tours have you webbing about to battle the various gangs against a time limit, there are bomb disarming challenges as well, and you’ll occasionally find collectible tokens on the city’s largest buildings. Unfortunately, there are no other difficulty modes to challenge, no comic book covers, concept art, or movie clips to unlock, and the only skin you get is the black suit. When you finish the game, you can switch to the black suit, which allows you to basically play a new game all the way through in Spidey’s symbiote attire and can switch back to your cleared save file at any time to mop up anything you’ve missed there. Sadly, that’s about it. There was some downloadable content that includes various banners and icons for the Xbox dashboard and the ability to play as the New Goblin and take on additional challenges, but there’s not much replay value to be had here, especially if you completed all the missions in your first play through.

The Summary:
Spider-Man 3 is an interesting beast. On the one hand, much of the gameplay and appeal of Spider-Man 2 has been recreated with some new bells and whistles to keep things fresh but, on the other hand, a lot of the game is a tedious and frustrating, sometimes even broken, mess of repetitive tasks and unfulfilling combat. While the city looks great, there’s some noticeably pop-up, lag, and glitches in the game world; the character models and voice acting are, by and large, atrocious and don’t seem to be much of a step up from the PlayStation 2 graphics. The villain selection is also very lacklustre; was anyone really crying out to see Kraven and the Scorpion again? And how many times have we seen the same old “Lizard builds a nest in the sewers/turns people into lizards” plot in Spider-Man games? I’m actually surprised the developers didn’t do more with the symbiote aspect of the story, such as having civilians be infected and forcing you to battle endless Venom clones. I basically hated every boss battle in the game, especially the ones against the New Goblin, the Kingpin and the Rhino, which were so frustrating that I was almost tearing my goddamn face off! You can power through, but why aren’t these more exciting and fun to play? Why are they such an uphill battle? Even the regular street punks put up quite a fight and Spider-Man just feels so weak and janky for much of the game that it was hard to find much enjoyment in the content. It doesn’t help that everything’s so repetitive; I lost count of how many speeding cars and bombs I disarmed, not to mention the copious and aggravating use of QTEs with no margin for error that just pop up out of nowhere, so you never get a second to rest! Ironically, I actually enjoyed (if not preferred) the few times game actually bothers with the movie’s story, which drops a lot of the worst parts of the film, but it wasn’t enough to save this. I think what’s happened here is the developers got a little lazy; maybe they were resting on their laurels, maybe they had run out of ideas. Either way, Spider-Man 3 just feels like more of them same but with a tedious focus on distracting you with boring side missions and dull villains rather than delivering a solid overall gameplay experience.

My Rating:

Rating: 2 out of 5.

Could Be Better

Have you ever played Spider-Man 3? What did you think to the open-world gameplay and Spidey’s symbiote abilities? Were you also frustrated by some of its more tedious features and focus on other villains? What did you think to the battles against the New Goblin, the Kingpin, and the Rhino and the inclusion of QTE sequences? Were you disappointed by the presentation, lack of unlockables, and padded gameplay? Which Spider-Man videogame or movie adaptation is your favourite? Head down below or over to my social media to share your thoughts on Spider-Man 3 and be sure to check out my other Spider-Man content.

Movie Night [Spidey Month]: Spider-Man 3

Dr. K10 Comments

Easily Marvel Comics’ most recognisable and popular superhero, unsuspecting teenage nerd Peter Parker was first bitten by a radioactive spider and learned the true meaning of power and responsibility in Amazing Fantasy #15, which was first published in August 1962. Since then, the Amazing Spider-Man has featured in numerous cartoons, live-action movies, videogames, action figures, and countless comic book titles and, in celebration of his debut and his very own day of celebration, I’ve been dedicating every Tuesday of August to talk about everyone’s favourite web-head!

Released: 4 May 2007
Director: Sam Raimi
Distributor: Sony Pictures Releasing
Budget: $258 to 350 million
Stars: Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, Thomas Haden Church, Topher Grace, and Bryce Dallas Howard

The Plot:
Having finally gotten the girl of his dreams, Peter Parker (Maguire) finds his life on the upswing, but an attack by vengeful Harry Osborn (Franco), and the discovery that recently-superpowered thief Flint Marko (Church) killed his beloved uncle see Peter giving in to the power and allure of a mysterious black suit from space.

The Background:
Following his debut issue becoming one of Marvel’s best selling titles at the time, Spider-Man’s popularity saw him become their flagship character. Soon, the wall-crawler fronted numerous team-up comics, videogames, cartoons, and even a live-action series. Although his cinematic debut was constantly delayed by script and legal issues, Sam Raimi and Sony Pictures Entertainment landed a critical and commercial success with Spider-Man (Raimi, 2002) and followed this two years later with Spider-Man 2 (ibid, 2004), which is widely regarded as one of the greatest superhero movies ever made. There was never any question that a third film would follow and Raimi initially planned to explore Peter’s morality, the humanity of his villains, and themes of forgiveness; However, his wish to cast Ben Kingsley as Adrian Toomes/The Vulture was blocked by producer Avi Arad, who insisted that the more popular Eddie Brock/Venom be included instead. Although Raimi was initially hesitant, he acquiesced after relating to the character as a dark mirror of Peter, but soon found his script so bloated that he initially toyed with filming two films back-to-back. Spider-Man 3 upped the ante for its special effects; painstaking hours went into crafting the scene in which the Sandman reconstitutes himself, an amputee stuntman was brought in to bolster Spidey’s fight with the Sandman, and Spidey’s iconic black suit was redesigned to emphasis it corrupting his morals. Although it was the most financially successful of Raimi’s Spider-Man films, Spider-Man 3 divided critics; while reviews praised the action and drama and the mixture of humour and visual spectacle, many felt the film was overstuffed with villains and failed to live up to the expectations set by its predecessors. Though accompanied by a comic book tie-in and videogame adaptation, Spider-Man 3 would mark the end of Raimi’s time with the web-slinger. Although plans for a fourth film got as far as casting and storyboarding, they were ultimately scrapped in favour of a complete reboot, though Tobey Maguire and Thomas Hayden Church would later reprise their roles nearly twenty years later for the multiversal epic Spider-Man: No Way Home (Watts, 2021).

The Review:
These days, with superhero films dominating the box office, many of them involving one or more heroes teaming up and a variety of villains, it’s easy to forget both the impact that Sami Raimi’s first two Spider-Man films had and state of the genre back in 2007. Superhero films were cropping up more and more and they didn’t always stick the landing; often, they struggled with too many villains, a lack of fidelity to the source material, or just being a bit of a tonal and narrative mess as studios tried to cash-in on the success of Raimi’s films and 20th Century Fox’s X-Men movies (Various, 2000 to 2020). Still, anticipation was high for Spider-Man 3; Spider-Man 2 was well-regarded as one of the best superhero movies ever made and it ended with a lot of plot threads to carry over into the third film, primarily the inevitable clash between Peter and Harry and the question of whether Mary-Jane Watson/M. J. (Dunst) was truly ready to accept the responsibility of being Spider-Man’s girlfriend. Unfortunately, little else from Spider-Man 2 directly carries over to Spider-Man 3 and this is made evident right from the opening titles, which barely feature Doctor Otto Octavius/Dr. Octopus (Alfred Molina) or any plot points from the second film beyond those that involve Peter, Harry, and M. J. Regardless, things get off to a decent start; the tension between Peter and Harry is emphasised in the reveal that Harry not only stalks Peter at every opportunity but refuses to listen to his explanations regarding the death of his father, Doctor Norman Osborn/The Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe). Although Peter doesn’t really make that much of effort to absolve himself of Norman’s murder, Harry’s mind is clouded by rage and stubbornness, which directly lead to him subjecting himself to a version of his father’s Goblin formula to give him the power to go toe-to-toe with his former friend.

Peter’s attempts to propose are interrupted by his inflated ego and the influence of his black suit.

For Peter, life is pretty good; he’s finally found a balance between his dual identities, or at least feels less conflicted now that he has M. J.’s full support. It’s not made clear how much time has passed between the two films (honestly, given how well the actors have aged and the way Peter and Harry treat each other, it feels like it could only be a few weeks) but Peter’s so at peace with himself and the world that he plans to propose to M. J., despite him still living in a crummy apartment and being stiffed on his wages by the cantankerous J. Jonah Jameson (J. K. Simmons). After receiving his Aunt May’s (Rosemary Harris) blessing, Peter heads out to seal the deal, only to be suddenly attacked by Harry, how sporting sleek, Goblin-inspired armour and weapons of his own. Peter battles this…*sigh*…“New Goblin” through the city skies but is both horrified and relieved when Harry takes a nasty bump to the head and recovers with no memory of Spider-Man’s true identity. This brings even more joy to Peter’s life as he rekindles his brotherly relationship with Harry and basks in the adulation of the city as Spider-Man. In fact, Peter’s so blinded by his own success and happiness that he fails to notice that he’s being a bit self-absorbed and that M. J. is having her own issues, faults that cause him to make the bone-headed mistake of kissing Gwen Stacy (Howard) in front of an adoring crowd and completely disregarding M. J.’s struggles to make it as a successful Broadway actress.

Peter’s relationships suffer because of his actions, leading to a brutal brawl with his former best friend.

Despite the fact that she made it into the cast, to the point where she received top billing, M. J.’s producers aren’t happy with the reviews about her performance and summarily drop her from the play, rattling her confidence and digging up bad memories of her childhood under her abusive father. Although she tries to confide in Peter and understand that his superhero commitments make him very busy, a rift forms between them when Peter fails to recognise how upset she is and keeps focusing on his own success. This scuppers Peter’s carefully-planned proposal dinner and drives M. J. to seek comfort from Harry, who’s only too happy to make time for her now that he’s rediscovered his carefree personality. They grow so close that they even share a brief kiss, though M. J. quickly comes to her senses and leaves before anything else can happen. This humiliation is enough for Harry’s mind to snap once more; visions of his dead father restore his memories and he resumes his vendetta against Spider-Man. He targets M. J. and blackmails her into breaking up with Peter, breaking his heart, and then twists the knife in further by insinuating that he and M. J. are having a love affair. Although Harry plays this conniving, manipulative role well, he can’t resist revelling in Peter’s anguish, meaning Peter immediately figures out that Harry has been using M. J. against him but, by that point, Peter is not only consumed by rage and ego but also fuelled by the negative impulses of his black suit. When Peter confronts Harry in the Osborn home, a brutal fight to the death breaks out between them; previously, Peter simply tried to avoid and quell Harry’s rage but, this time, he unleashes the full extent of his power and easily manhandles his former friend. Stubborn to the last, Harry attempts to blow Peter up with a pumpkin bomb, only to have the explosive tossed back in his face, permanently scarring him and leaving him an embittered recluse.

The Sandman might do bad things with good intentions but his mistakes raise Spidey’s ire.

Peter’s good mood is shattered when he and Aunt May are randomly called into the office of police captain George Stacy (James Cromwell) and told that they’ve been sitting on evidence for the last few years that proves thief Dennis Carradine (Michael Papajohn) didn’t killed Peter’s beloved Uncle Ben (Cliff Robertson). Instead, Carradine is retroactively revealed to have been working with a partner, Flint Marko, who recently (somehow…) escaped from jail. Peter had already had a run-in with Marko not long before this, but by that point the crook had already conveniently fallen into a random particle accelerator and been molecularly altered into a living man of sand. Now able to shift and alter his appearance at will, becoming almost intangible and rock-hard, the Sandman easily robs armoured cars to steal the cash he needs to help his critically ill daughter, Penny (Perla Haney-Jardine), as well as fend off Spider-Man when he inevitably arrives to stop him. Now armed with the knowledge that the Sandman killed his uncle, Peter seethes and obsesses over tracking down the thug and make him pay out of a combination of guilt over the death of both Uncle Ben and Dennis Carradine and the aggression encouraged by his mysterious black suit. Although generally a sympathetic and reluctant villain in the comics, the Sandman is reconfigured into a tragic figure here; he’s painted as a good man driven to crime and hampered by poor choices, and carrying a sense of guilt and responsibility over the evils he’s done and his love for his sick daughter. However, Peter has little time for the Sandman’s sob story and willingly succumbs to the black suit’s influence when they fight in the New York subway. Spider-Man angrily confronts the Sandman over his murderous actions and attacks without quarter, eventually dissolving him into a gloopy, muddy mess with a dismissive “Good riddance!” As if this battle didn’t hammer it home enough, Peter’s discussion with Aunt May reveals that he fully intended to kill the Sandman to make him pay for what he’d done. However, despite being heartbroken by Ben’s loss, May makes it clear that revenge is never the answer and lays the groundwork for Peter finding the courage to forgive the Sandman for his misguided actions.

Peter’s personality is corrupted by the symbiote, which finds a willing host in demented Eddie Brock.

That takes a bit of time, though, as Peter is under the poisonous influence of a mysterious alien goo that randomly (and conveniently) crashed to Earth right by his scooter. Latching on to him in the midst of a terrible nightmare, the viscous substance (later identified by Doctor Curt Connors (Dylan Baker) as a “symbiote”) turns Peter’s colourful costume a deep black and enhances his abilities considerably, granting him a strength and sense of exhilaration beyond his usual web-slinging. However, it also feeds and enhances his negative emotions; anger, fear, and aggression are all heightened by the creature, but Peter is so captivated by the allure of the black suit that he can’t deny himself its power when he gets a lead on the Sandman. Like an addict who doesn’t know when to quit, Peter wears the black suit under his clothes, caressing and stroking it, and even alters his appearance to match the sense of confidence and power the suit inspires in him. After his confrontations with Harry and the Sandman, Peter fully gives in to this rush, parading himself down the street like a dork and believing he’s God’s gift to the world. He all-but-demands a permanent position at the Daily Bugle, takes Gwen to a jazz bar and performs an elaborate dance number to make M. J. jealous, and angrily confronts rival photographer Edward “Eddie” Brock Jr. (Grace) over his doctored pictures of Spider-Man. However, after lashing out at M. J. in a rage, Peter finally sees that the suit is turning him into a literal and metaphorical monster. Fleeing to a church, he tries to remove the suit and is shocked to find that it truly is a living organism. Although the symbiote desperately tries to defend itself, it’s driven off Peter’s body by the ringing of the church bell, leaving him guilt-ridden and despondent over his recent actions, but the creature finds itself a new host when it latches onto Eddie. A snivelling little creep of a man, Eddie is driven to begging the All-Mighty to avenge his recent slights after failing to win Gwen’s heart or cheat his way into a full-time job. This bitterness and borderline psychopathy is all the symbiote needs to birth the film’s third villain, a “strange black-suited figure” (because he’s never referred to as “Venom” onscreen), and immediately set about making Peter pay for his actions.

The Nitty-Gritty:
There’s a lot happening in Spider-Man 3; so much so that it’s difficult to watch and not think about how easy it would’ve been to streamline things. I get that Sam Raimi was basically forced to include Venom in the film and I can see how that might’ve clashed with his ideas for the final entry, but just doing another couple of script rewrites really would’ve helped tighten things up because, as is, there’s just too much crammed in here. This is one of the few times where I would’ve been happy to see the film split into two parts to actually do Venom justice, but a far easier solution would’ve been to omit Eddie Brock entirely and just have the symbiote attach itself to Harry. Yes, it goes against the comic lore, but I think it would’ve tied in perfectly with the film’s themes of obsession, revenge, and forgiveness. Plus, it’s not like the Venom mantle hasn’t been assumed by others before. I also think the Sandman should’ve either stayed dead after his fight with Symbiote Spider-Man or been revealed to be alive in a post-credits scene (either using him emerging from the sewer as seen in the film or by repurposing a cut scene with his daughter), which not only would’ve made the final fight between Spider-Man and Venom/Harry less of a cluttered mess but also would’ve shown that the symbiote’s influence had real consequences for Peter as he would’ve had to live with the guilt of killing another man (or, at least, assuming he had).

Some odd decisions, cringe-worthy scenes, and pointless retcons bog down an already bloated film.

However, there is a decent film in here somewhere, it’s just buried beneath odd decisions, bizarre sequences, and a whole mess of characters. Did we really need Gwen Stacy in this when she barely has any relevance to the plot, for example? She’s nothing like her comic book counterpart and is literally there to emphasise what a creep Eddie is. She doesn’t even have a rivalry with M. J. or factor into the climax, so it feels like she was shoe-horned in as fan service more than anything. Peter’s cornball demeanour once he gives into the black suit is also extremely cringey; many have come to defend this decision, claiming that Peter is living out his idea of what it means to be “cool” and I totally get that he would have this dorky perception of what’s “hip” and such. But it’s surreal to see him strutting down the street and then doing this cartoonish dance number in the jazz club that’s immediately juxtaposed with him smacking M. J. and being so wracked by guilt that he goes and broods in the rain on a church! Spider-Man 3 also commits the cardinal sin of retconning the character’s origin to awkwardly wedge Flint Marko in as the man who killed Uncle Ben. Just…why? People moaned to high heaven when this happened in Batman (Burton, 1989) and it just confuses things here. Spider-Man 3 has the perfect means to tell its story of forgiveness in the Peter and Harry story. It didn’t need to complicate matters by forcing a link between him and the Sandman, especially as Marko already had a perfectly understandable and relatable tragic motivation that’s barely touched upon no matter how many times he stares at that damn locket. And then there’s the weird side plot of Harry’s amnesia. Again, I get it, they wanted to show how deep the bond between Harry and Peter is and explore their relationship as brothers, but it just leads to more goofball scenes and unnecessary drama between Peter and M. J. I feel like a similar outcome could’ve been achieved by just having Harry play mind games with Peter throughout the movie, especially if he adopted some of Eddie’s comic book antics and used his knowledge of Peter’s identity against him. And don’t even get me started on this “New Goblin” crap. Just make him the damn Hobgoblin! They even made a damn mask!

Unfortunately, all the impressive visuals and action sequences can’t counterbalance the muddled plot.

Luckily, amidst all of this negativity, Spider-Man 3 has some of the best action sequences and special effects of the entire trilogy. The mid-air fight between Peter and Harry may suffer from a little too much obvious green screen, but it’s far more versatile and fluid compared to the battles between Spidey and the Green Goblin, which were a bit clunky and grounded at times. While I have little love for the Sandman and could take or leave his inclusion, he does allow for some more visually interesting fight scenes. Seeing Spidey punch right through Marko, blast him into particles, and be smashed by his rock-hard appendages makes for some fun sequences. Unfortunately, all this goodwill is undone in the climax where any personality and nuance the Sandman has is completely washed away as he adopts a gigantic, mindless, rampaging sand monster form that, while intimidating and a suitable escalation of his threat, pales in comparison to the surprising emotional depth he shows beforehand, particularly in the admittedly beautiful and heart-breaking scene where Marko first pulls himself together after his accident. As ever, the Spidey suit looks great but it looks even better in black. While I prefer the classic white logo for the symbiote suit, saving it for Venom was a great idea to help him stand out more (even if it doesn’t make much sense for him to randomly have a big-ass symbol) and I loved the twisted, torn webbing and claws used on Venom. Indeed, the fact that Venom barely appears in the film and only for the finale is a massive disservice to both the character and his look in the film. Venom may lack the bulk and plural identifiers, but he looks fantastic when he’s got his claws out and is adopting his ironic, drooling, fang-filled visage. As much as I rag on the film, I do enjoy the visuals of the climax; seeing the construction site covered in Venom’s twisted webbing, the monstrous Sandman looming, and Venom screeching and attacking from the shadows makes for a very different and intense finale. It’s just a shame it’s intercut with cringe-inducing performances from tertiary characters.

Through the sacrifice of his friend and letting go of his hate, Peter earns a bittersweet ending.

After shedding the symbiote, Peter is left trying to pick up the pieces of his fractured life; M. J. has rejected him and is ready to leave town, he’s tried to kill his best friend, and his reputation has been sullied somewhat by his poor decisions. Thankfully, Eddie easily tracks down the Sandman and convinces him to forge a partnership, one primarily based on Eddie avenging himself on Peter by humiliating him and taking away his true love. Unlike Peter, who realised the damaging influence of the symbiote, Eddie is only too happy to give into it’s power (“I like being bad. It makes me happy!”) and refuses to listen to reason since he’s so consumed by hatred and a twisted sense of injustice. Ultimately, he’s unable to resist the power and temptation offered by the symbiote and perishes (quite violently) in a grenade blast, a disappointingly weak ending for a disappointingly weak version of Venom. However, Eddie does leave a lasting impression on Peter by delivering a fatal blow to Harry, who heroically sacrifices his life to save his best friend. Unfortunately, as cool as it is to see Peter and Harry team up for the finale (and it really is an awesome feel-good moment with some great team-up attacks from the two), it comes after Harry’s entire philosophy and vendetta is reversed thanks to a pep talk by his family butler, Bernard Houseman (John Paxton), who decided to wait until the last minute to be honest. Although the result is seeing Harry and Peter set aside their differences and finally make peace as Harry dies in his friends’ arms, this random revelation really detracts from it and takes all the agency out of Harry’s character. The Sandman is equally rattled by all the death; he regrets his actions and tries to justify them, and it’s clear that a massive weight lifts from his shoulders when Peter forgives him (why he let him get away is beyond me, though). Unlike the last two Spider-Man films, Spider-Man 3 ends on an emotional note with Peter having learned valuable lessons about forgiveness and him and M. J. sharing an emotional embrace, apparently ready to start over, rather than ending on a high with the traditional final swing.

The Summary: 
Spider-Man 3 just can’t help but be a disappointment. There’s just way too much happening in it, too many missteps and odd decisions, and too much of that goodwill tossed aside to rate it much higher. It’s such a shame, too, as it could’ve been an emotional and intense finale to Sam Raimi’s trilogy if only another attempt had been taken at the script to tidy things up. I just can’t help but think it would’ve been so much better to drop Eddie Brock and have Harry become Venom as a nice compromise between the filmmakers because the desperation to do everything and please everyone just results in a disappointing effort. It’s doubly disappointing for me as I’m a huge Venom fan and Venom did look really fantastic for the few minutes he was onscreen, but they really deserved their own dedicated movie or to be incorporated better to justify including them. Although I didn’t really like the forced drama between Peter and the Sandman, I did enjoy how human and relatable Flint Marko was. Ultimately, though, he feels like a bit of an afterthought and the only reason you remember him is because they made an unnecessary retcon to the first film. The drama between Harry and Peter was honestly strong enough to carry the entire film but it’s lost between all the other moving parts and has its legs completely cut out from under it by the amnesia side plot and that damn butler! Sadly, all the effects and impressive visuals in the world can’t salvage this film, which will forever go down as one of the genre’s biggest missed opportunities no matter how hard people try and defend it.

My Rating:

Rating: 2 out of 5.

Could Be Better

Are you a fan of Spider-Man 3? Where does it rank for you against the many other Spider-Man movies? What did you think to Peter’s struggles with the temptation of the black suit? Were you also disappointed by the execution and screen time of Venom? What did you think to Harry’s character arc and were you sad to see him die a hero in the end? What changes would you have made to the film to try and salvage it? Whatever your opinion on Spider-Man 3, leave a comment and be sure to check out my other Spider-Man content.

Back Issues [Spidey Month]: Spectacular Spider-Man #200

Dr. K1 Comment

Easily Marvel Comic’s most recognisable and popular superhero, unsuspecting teenage nerd Peter Parker was first bitten by a radioactive spider and learned the true meaning of power and responsibility in Amazing Fantasy #15, which was first published in August 1962. Since then, the Amazing Spider-Man has featured in numerous cartoons, live-action movies, videogames, action figures, and countless comic book titles and, in celebration of his debut and his very own day of celebration, I’m dedicating every Tuesday of August to talk about everyone’s favourite web-head!

Story Title: “Best of Enemies!”
Published: May 1993
Writer: J.M. DeMatteis
Artist: Sal Buscema

The Background:
In 1962, Marvel Comics legend Stan Lee followed up his success with the Fantastic Four with Spider-Man. His Amazing Fantasy #15 debut proved to be one of Marvel’s best selling titles and his resultant popularity led to a solo title barely a year later. Spider-Man quickly amassed one of the most colourful and memorable rogues galleries in all of comics, with easily his most hated and iconic nemesis being the Green Goblin. Though many have assumed this elf-like guise, the most famous face behind the mask is Norman Osborn, industrialist and father to Peter’s best friend, Harry, and he and Spidey would have their most memorable clash during these days after Norman caused the death of Peter’s long-time love interest, Gwen Stacy. Although this storyline appeared to end with Norman’s death, the Green Goblin concept lived on through his son. First introduced in 1965, Harry famously turned to abusing drugs following his father’s demise, which fractured his grip on reality as much as his relationship with Peter. This culminated in Harry exposing himself to a modified version of his father’s Goblin formula, taking up the mantle of the Green Goblin, and ultimately perishing in this tale. However, this wouldn’t be the last time the Osborns would plague Spider-Man. Both would be resurrected time and time again for some of the web-slinger’s most controversial stories, both played pivotal roles in Spider-Man’s animated and live-action ventures, and Harry, especially, has been noted as being perhaps Spidey’s most tragic villain due to his complex and destructive relationship with both his best friend and his maniacal father.

The Review:
Our story begins, in suitably dramatic fashion, with Harry Osborn/The Green Goblin closing in on Peter’s wife, actress and model Mary Jane Watson-Parker/M. J. As M. J. walks through Central Park, she spots the Green Goblin coming for her and tries to run, but ends up in his clutches. Across town, in Harry’s apartment, a desperate Peter confronts Harry’s wife, Liz Allan; unfortunately, she’s as deluded as their son, young Norman “Normie” Osborn, is apparently psychotic and has blinded herself to the truth that her husband, already a recovering drug addict, has lost his mind to his father’s Goblin formula. Peter leaves and swings across the city as Spider-Man, lamenting the psychological instability of his best friend and the hatred Harry feels towards both his alter egos for his part in the death of his father. The maniacal Green Goblin flies M. J. to the George Washington Bridge, the very same location where Peter’s former flame, Gwen Stacy, died at the hands of her lover thanks to Norman’s machinations. Although M. J. is sure that Harry has brought her there to recreate the infamous moment, he surprises her by unmasking and opening up to her. Showing his vulnerable side, he expresses his love for her and promises that no matter how bad things get between him and Peter, he would never harm her. Naturally, she finds this a little hard to believe considering he just kidnapped her and the fact that he flies into a rage at the mere suggestion of his father’s involvement in the death of one of his friends, but M. J.’s left with no choice but to try and appeal to his better nature and their friendship to try and convince him to stop before it’s too late.

Harry delights in tormenting Peter at every turn, threatening to reveal his secret identity.

Despite the desperate nature of his search, Spider-Man takes the time to intercept some punks robbing an apartment but chastises himself when he almost loses his cool and takes his anger out on the lowlifes. When Spider-Man returns to his apartment, he’s stunned to find M. J. there alongside an unmasked Green Goblin; assuming that Harry means to harm her, he lunges for his former friend and knocks him clean across the room, but M. J. intervenes before things go too far. Scowling, Harry accuses Peter of always thinking the worst of him and flies off, leaving the two in such a state that M. J. sparks up a cigarette and suggests that maybe it’d be better for Peter’s identity to be exposed and Peter so riled up by it all that he lashes out in anger. A sweaty, neurotic Harry returns home to his equally deluded wife to play “happy families”. Neither of them think it’s unusual that Normie has such a venomous hatred for Spider-Man, and Harry’s temperament is on a razor’s edge, switching between violent outbursts and tender affection. The next day, Peter mulls over his options and is startled when the Green Goblin appears before him in broad daylight simply to taunt him. The Green Goblin then pays a visit to cantankerous Daily Bugle editor J. Jonah Jameson to ask for his help in advertising the “Norman Osborn Foundation”, a charitable organisation in his father’s honour that he plans to debut in six weeks. Peter arrives but is powerless to do more than look on as Jonah cowers behind him and the Green Goblin delivers a vague threat to reveal some “juicy information” to the publisher if he co-operates. Over the next few days, Harry tours the city spreading the word of his intentions and Peter is enraged to find the notoriously fickle public are completely onboard with the idea and assume the Green Goblin attire is simple the “odd affectation [of] a millionaire philanthropist”. Irritated by the entire debacle and frustrated at trying to figure out Harry’s endgame, Peter doesn’t hesitate to attack the Green Goblin as Spider-Man when he next sees him. Spider-Man warns his former friend that he’s sick of all the games and wants to settle their differences then and there but the Green Goblin not only refuses to fight him until he’s ready but also threatens to tarnish his image forever by filing legal action against him if he gives in to his anger. Instead, Harry delights in torturing Peter; he promises that they will throw down, and that he will emerge victorious, but only after his perverse desires are satisfied and vows to destroy his life if Spider-Man tries to stop him.

Harry’s mania sees him fly into a rage and plot an explosive revenge against his father’s enemies.

Liz is delighted at Harry’s newfound project but worries that he’s pushing himself too hard getting things ready for the foundation’s big unveiling; although Harry suffers from frequent bouts of nausea, he shrugs them (and Liz’s worrying) off and resolves to stay strong for his father. Of course, things are far from well in the mind of poor Harry Osborn; he openly converses to a large, ominous portrait of his father and delights in sharing how he’s been driving Peter batty, forcing him and M. J. to move to a new apartment, and promises that the foundation gala will be his ode to his father’s memory, where he’ll make all the enemies to the Osborn name pay for their insolence by blowing them all to kingdom come! The next day, M. J. tries to talk sense into Liz, but her delusion is so complete that she won’t drop either her unnerving smiling façade or her belief that Harry is a good man doing good things after a lifetime of adversity. Later, M. J. tries the same thing with Harry, storming into his apartment, fag on the go, and begging him to let go of his vendetta and rekindle his friendship with Peter. However, Harry refuses to listen to reason not just because of the unbridled power the Green Goblin offers him, but also the opportunity it creates to show the world the man he really is. After also briefly considering facing the consequences of going public, Spider-Man happens upon the George Washington Bridge and resolves to stop Harry no matter what rather than risk losing the woman he loves all over again. However, when he arrives at Harry’s apartment, the deranged Osborn flies into a rage; in his mind, Peter and Spider-Man are the problem and the true enemy, and just the mere sight of him makes Harry snap, throw on his suit, and burst up through the skylight to confront his adversary as the Green Goblin.

Harry ultimately comes to his senses and sacrifices himself to save his friends and family.

Both launch at each other with everything they have, refusing to hold back any longer; the Green Goblin again boasts that he now has the power to crush Spider-Man and even brags that he’s improved upon it since Norman’s days and that he’s glad that his father never killed Spider-Man since it gives him the chance to do so now. Spider-Man counters by arguing that Norman Osborn was a crazed murderer and that he no longer cares if Harry reveals his identity since he’d rather be exposed than leave his family at the Green Goblin’s mercy. Spidey also avoids being skewered by the Green Goblins glider but, when Harry bursts free of Spidey’s webbing, the two stop their war of words and simply trade blows for a few panels. However, Spidey is forced to admit that Harry was right; the new Goblin formula makes them evenly matched, so he suggests they find another, less brutal way of settling their differences, only to be caught off-guard and poisoned into unconsciousness by a hidden syringe in Harry’s glove. Harry’s plan is for the two of them to go up in flames, ridding the world of their toxic influence, but he is horrified when he realises that, in his mania, he forgot that M. J. and Normie were still in the house! Since he’s too out of it to act, Spider-Man begs Harry to set aside his self-doubt instilled in him by his father and save his loved ones. Despite his hysteria, Harry is moved by Peter’s belief in him and rockets M. J. and Normie to safety; Spider-Man collapses, seemingly doomed, but M. J. begs Harry to go back for him and is grateful beyond measure when Harry chooses to rescue Peter at the last second. However, Harry collapses in a violent convulsion as the Goblin formula finally takes its toll on his body. After expressing his gratitude to Peter and recognising him as his best friend, Harry dies before Peter’s eyes, leaving Spider-Man, M. J., and Normie distraught in a series of dramatic and wordless panels.

The Summary:
I don’t normally say this but I’m really not a fan of the art in this one; I’ve read a few Spider-Man stories illustrated by Sal Buscema and they’re all as visually bad as each other. Spider-Man and the Green Goblin don’t look so bad, but everyone has this weird angular took to them, the colours are super muted and dull, and Sal Buscema can’t draw faces for shit. It’s a very ugly looking comic and it’s a same since it’s such a pivotal Spider-Man story that’s let down by this atrocious art style. Otherwise, this is a very emotionally-charged story; it’s not often that one of Spider-Man’s villains learns his secret identity and I liked how Harry tormented the web-slinger at every turn, stalking him in broad daylight and threatening to expose him if he gets out of line. One interesting twist was M. J.’s suggestion that Peter get ahead of it by publicly revealing his identity; of course, Peter balks at this this idea since it would only cause more troubled him himself and his loved ones, but it was intriguing seeing him briefly consider it since it would remove Harry’s leverage. Like a lot of Spider-Man stories involving the Green Goblin, “Best of Enemies!” features many references to Gwen Stacy, but I don’t mind that here as it’s thematically relevant. It seems as though Harry’s going to recreate that impactful moment with M. J. at the start of the tale and returning to the site of her death reinvigorates Spider-Man’s fighting spirit, showcasing that there’s nothing he wouldn’t do to protect his loved ones and bringing him to the brink of facing Harry to the death, even though his better nature still keeps him from crossing that line.

A pivotal and emotional Spider-Man story let down by some horrendous artwork.

Harry’s vendetta is also an alluring one; he’s consumed by revenge and hatred towards Peter since he believes that he killed his father and is so obsessed with living up to Norman’s expectations and avenging him that he’s willing to die alongside Spider-Man in the finale. Harry’s always been a complex character; Norman casts a long shadow and his mistreatment of his son led to Harry developing an inferiority complex and turning to drugs long before he exposed himself to the Goblin formula. As the Green Goblin, Harry is more than a physical match for Spider-Man; he has all of his father’s technology and tricks, but relies more on mind games, intimidation, and dirty tactics than pumpkin bombs and his glider. I really enjoyed seeing him rile Peter up into an unbridled rage and cause him misery, and the wordless panels of them beating the hell out of each other only to find they’re evenly matched. All throughout the story, Harry is portrayed as a maniacal, sweaty psycho who can barely keep his emotions in check; this has had an extraordinarily destructive influence on his wife and child, as well as his friendships, but also takes its toll on his body, reason, and sanity. By the end, he’s convinced himself that he and Spider-Man are a blight on the world and need to be removed to keep from “infecting” others, and it’s only when one of his oldest friends and his beloved son are placed in mortal danger that he chooses to shake off his father’s influence. I really liked the hesitation he showed just before going back for Peter and their emotional reconciliation right before he died, and the wordless panels help to emphasise the impact of Harry’s death on all involved, leaving Spider-Man alone and heartbroken by the loss of his best friend. In the end, despite the terrible art, “Best of Enemies!” remains one of Spider-Man’s most poignant stories. Harry’s downward spiral and final, heroic sacrifice were executed so well that it genuinely annoys me that Marvel chose to bring both him and Norman back again and again rather than try something new, but it doesn’t detract from how crucial this story is to the overall Spider-Man mythos.

My Rating:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Great Stuff

What did you think to “Best of Enemies!”? Where would you rank it amongst Spider-Man’s many other stories and moments? Do you think I was too harsh on Sal Sal Buscema’s art style? What did you think to Harry as the Green Goblin and his descent into madness and mania? Did you enjoy seeing him torment Peter or would you have preferred to see them throw hands more often? What did you think to Harry’s heroic sacrifice and were you also annoyed to see him and Norman return later down the line? Which incarnation of the Green Goblin is your favourite and how are you celebrating Spider-Man this month? Whatever your thoughts on Spider-Man and the Green Goblin, go ahead and share them below or drop a comment on my social media and be sure to check out my other Spider-Man Month content!

Game Corner [National Superhero Day]: Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 (Xbox 360)

Dr. K2 Comments

In 1995, Marvel Comics created “National Superhero Day” and, in the process, provided comics and superhero fans the world over with a great excuse to celebrate their favourite characters and publications.

Released: 15 September 2009
Developer: Vicarious Visions
Also Available For: Nintendo DS, Nintendo Wii, PC, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Portable (PSP), Xbox One

The Background:
Few videogame publishers are as closely associated with Marvel Comics than Activision, who have been spearheading adaptations of some of Marvel’s most popular characters since 2000. Of course, these weren’t all smash hits but some of their titles are counted as being among the best outings for the likes of Peter Parker/Spider-Man and the X-Men. In 2004, Activision teamed with Raven Software and achieved big success with X-Men Legends, a team-based brawler that mixed role-playing elements and co-op gameplay, and its sequel, so the two expanded to incorporate the larger Marvel universe with Marvel: Ultimate Alliance (Raven Software, 2006), a sadly delisted title that was met with generally favourable reviews. For the sequel, Activision turned to Vicarious Visions, who developed the game engine for the first game, and tweaked the gameplay to focus on team-based “Fusion” attacks to encourage players to experiment with different character combinations. Rather than tell an original story like the first game, or deliver on the many optional endings for Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, the sequel drew inspiration from the controversial “Civil War” story arc (Millar, et al, 2006 to 2007) that saw Marvel’s heroes divided over a governmental registration act, though the game was met with positive reviews. The action-packed gameplay and branching storyline were particularly praised, though some decried the stripped down roleplaying mechanics; the game was also delisted in 2020 and it would take just under ten years for another developer to produce a third entry.

The Plot:
After a series of devastating attacks on the United States, the American government passes the Superhero Registration Act (SRA), forcing all super-powered individuals to act under official regulation, to reduce the chaos that results from their battles. The superhero community is left divided; Tony Stark/Iron Man and his followers champion the Act while Steve Rogers/Captain America and his oppose it, but the two warring factions soon find themselves battling a new enemy that threatens global peace. 

Gameplay:
Like its predecessor, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 is a team-based brawler with limited roleplaying mechanics, exploration options, and puzzle elements. Players can (eventually) assemble a team of four from a roster of around twenty-five characters, many of which return from the last game alongside some newcomers, though your options are limited by story-mandated restrictions and the decision you make partway through to side with the Pro-Registration side or the Anti-Registration side. Regardless of which character you pick, your basic combat and control mechanics remain the same: tapping A executes a light attack while B throws a heavy attack; you can hold B to charge up a stronger strike and mix these together to form basic combos, such as a pop-up attack to break an opponent’s guard. X lets you activate doors and consoles, grab anything from crates to cars to toss at enemies, pull shields off foes and even grab enemies to pummel or throw them to their doom. Y lets you jump; press an attack button in mid-air and you’ll crash to the ground with a slam and press Y again for a double jump or to web-sling, fly, or dart along on a glider or ice bridge depending on who you’re playing as. The Left Bumper allows you to block incoming attacks or dodge out of the way by wiggling the left stick at the same time; there are also times when you’ll need to hit LB to deflect incoming projectiles. The Right Bumper allows you to heal yourself or your allies or revive a fallen comrade as long as you have a Heal Token in stock; these are found scattered across each location, usually spawning in during boss encounters or after defeating enemies, and you can hold up to two at a time.

Characters boast new superpowers and can combine abilities in devastating Fusion attacks.

Although up to four players can play Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 simultaneously; you can also play alone with some competent A.I. companions and freely switch to another character using the directional pad when playing solo. You can press in the right stick for a handy arrow to point you to your next objective or bring up the game map from the pause menu. Each character as a life and stamina bar; the former is filled when you collect red Health Orbs or level-up and the latter fills automatically, and each character also comes equipped with their own Super Powers, which you activate by holding the Right Trigger and pressing A, B, X, or Y. Many of these are shared across characters, but with a unique flare to each; Spider-Man can web enemies towards him, for example, while Matt Murdock/Daredevil homes in with his grapple cane, but both can lash at foes with their whip-like weapons. Most characters tend to have a ranged attack (Johnny Storm/The Human Torch’s flaming projectiles, Iron Man’s Repulsor blasts, Ororo Munroe/Storm’s lightning strikes, etc) and a clearing attack (Doctor Bruce Banner/The Hulk’s ground pound, Doctor Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic’s tornado spin, and Remy LeBeau/Gambit’s kinetically-charged card barrage, etc), but some also have abilities that buff either their attacks or their team (Doctor Jean Grey/Phoenix can automatically revive characters or add fire damage to her attacks, Danny Rand/Iron Fist’s “Healing Hand” technique heals him, and Captain America can temporarily reduce the damage he takes, for example). Not only can these be improved by earning experience points (XP) and levelling-up and spending “Ability Points” (AP) in the character menu, but you can now combine powers for powerful “Fusion” abilities. As you dish out damage, you’ll build up the Fusion Meter and you can store up to two Fusion Stars at once and combine powers by holding the Left Trigger and pressing either A, B, X, or Y to team up with one of your allies. This produces various effects depending on the combination but, again, many of them are very similar and only made unique by the way the characters team up. For example, you can perform the iconic “Fastball Special” by combining James “Logan” Howlett/Wolverine, Daredevil, Iron Fist, and Mr. Fantastic with bruisers like the Hulk, Ben Grimm/The Thing, or Mac Gargan/Venom. Venom, Hulk, and the Thing can also do a dual stomping attack and you’ll be able to suck enemies in with tornados from the likes of Storm and Thor Odinson while adding elemental attacks to these twisters with the Human Torch and Phoenix.

Puzzles and objectives are simpler than ever and dialogue trees give the illusion of dramatic discord.

No matter the combination of characters, you’ll be prompted to tap A to increase the radius, target specific enemies, or hit successive foes to score extra points and unlock additional abilities and buffs for your characters. Tapping or holding X is also the most common way you’ll be solving the game’s puzzles; generally, you’re tasked with clearing out all nearby enemies and then activating a console or door with X, but sometimes you’ll need to push or pull amplifiers and giant batteries to power up (or down) generators or pass through barriers, rip off control panels, or destroy projectors. Other objectives include destroying anti-aircraft guns, defeating certain enemies, activating consoles in the correct order, and moving stone columns around to unlock doorways and paths, and some missions also contain optional objectives (such as destroying weapon stockpiles or teleporter pads) that net you additional rewards. Additionally, while you’re often told over your comms that you need to act quickly, only certain objectives actually carry a time limit (you’re given less than six minutes to defeat certain bosses, dispose of bombs, or escape collapsing facilities, for example) and you’re often given options to pick from in dialogue trees that will earn you buffs for being “aggressive”, “diplomatic”, or “defensive”. However, as near as I can tell, this doesn’t really alter the story or your character relationships like picking between Pro- and Anti-Reg, which will restrict the characters available to you and alter both the bosses and mission objectives you’re given (protecting or destroying a Strategic Hazard Intervention Espionage Logistics Directorate (S.H.I.E.L.D.) convoy, for example, or raiding or defending a S.H.I.E.L.D. base). Other missions will see you joined by an additional fifth character (technically not a non-playable character as many, like Captain America and Nick Fury, are playable) who will provide support; however, you can’t select them during gameplay, and you’ll still be met with failure if all four of your team are knocked out.

Graphics and Sound:  
There’s been a decent graphical upgrade between Marvel: Ultimate Alliance and its sequel, namely in the sense that the game is far less dark than before and environments are a little more varied, though the same issues with things becoming repetitive and visually dull persist despite how many additional destructible elements have been added. The game starts in Latveria and sees you infiltrating both the castle town, with its many statues of dictator Doctor Victor Von Doom, and Dr. Doom’s main castle, a location that featured in the last game and is now far more linear and less confusing. This is true of all of Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2’s locations; it’s very rare that’ll you’ll need to explore off the beaten track, mazes and repeating areas are pretty much non-existent, and everything is much more straightforward this time around, which is great in the sense that levels tended to drag on a bit and be frustrating in the first game but disappointing as you don’t have much to do in, say, Wakanda, except follow a straight path taking out enemies and gun placements and simply walking past the waterfalls, jungles, and tribal trappings in the background. Additionally, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 is way less fantastical; there are no trips to Atlantis, Asgard, or Hell here and, instead, you have to make do with such inspiring locations as…downtown, the rooftops of Hell’s Kitchen, train tracks, and high-tech facilities. Some, like Phineas Mason/The Tinkerer’s lab, T’Challa/The Black Panther’s throne room, and the Negative Zone prison are actually visually very interesting but, for the most part, this is a far more grounded affair, and the game loses a lot of its madcap appeal as a result since the focus is on the more grounded struggles of the Civil War.

While the characters and cutscenes look good, the game is noticeably less visually interesting than its predecessor.

This disappointment is also felt in the game’s soundtrack, which once again opts for very generic, military-esque tunes and rock-inspired beats that serve only to make the mindless gameplay all the more tedious. The voice acting and cutscenes are a lot better this time around; there’s still an obvious graphical difference between pre-rendered cutscenes and in-game graphics, but there’s more focus on character interactions and debating the merits of the SRA. Characters will continue to offer commentary during gameplay, with Wade W. Wilson/Deadpool regularly breaking the fourth wall and characters alerting you when they’re on low health, plus you sometimes get bonuses and additional dialogue if you have certain characters speak to each other. Character models seem better this time around, though; the animations used to bring their powers to life feel more unique and tailored to each hero, though it is disappointing (though, at the same time, understandable) that the same Fusion animations are recycled for certain team-ups. Once again, you’ll be operating out of various hub worlds, like Stark Tower and the White Star base, where you can chat to other characters and find collectibles, and performing certain deeds during gameplay will net you extra costumes (though, sadly, each character only has one this time around). Unfortunately, though, you won’t be treated to as many bizarre and wacky Easter Eggs or endings as before; you only really get one game-changing choice to make here, meaning there are only two endings to see, which is a shame as I really enjoyed all the different consequences of your actions in the first game and how it led to more replay value, whereas here you’re limited to picking Pro- or Anti-Reg.

Enemies and Bosses:
A slew of disposable goons will be set against you throughout Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2, from Dr. Doom’s soldiers and robots to S.H.I.E.L.D. forces and the nanite-controlled minions of “The Fold”, a rogue A.I. that springs up in the game’s final act to reunite the warring superheroes. Regardless of who you’re fighting, you’ll come across the same recycled enemy tropes again and again: gun-toting soldiers, grunts with shields, ones who block your attack or inflict elemental statuses on you (such as burning, electrocution, and poisoning), and larger mechs. Helicopters will need to be taken out by tossing their grenades back at them, enemies will fire missiles and rockets at you; some have swords, some need to be stunned with your charged attack, some are shielded, and some toss explosive barrels your way. You’ll also have to watch for flame-spitting turrets, laser guns imbedded in walls, loose wires, and flaming hazards that’ll need a dose of coolant (or Bobby Drake/Iceman’s ice powers) to get past. It all gets very repetitive very quickly; the basic enemies aren’t much of a threat to you with your various powers and abilities but can quickly whittle your health down as they start mixing and matched and increasing in number, with more enemies onscreen than the last game and many of them being called in to boost or interrupt the many mini and main boss battles that you’ll have to contend with throughout the story. Like the last game, a who’s-who of Marvel’s most obscure and memorable villains are encountered throughout the game’s three acts, many of which crop up again, often in tandem with other villains.

The Tinkerer, Lucia von Bardas, and the damn Titanium Man represent a dramatic difficulty spike.

The first supervillain you’ll face is Max Dillon/Electro, who teleports around a church in a burst of electricity, performs an electrical blast attack, and can recharge his powers at the capacitors dotted throughout the area. After that, you’ll come up against Bentley Wittman/The Wizard and Steven Hudak/The Scorcher, with the former capable of erecting a shield and the latter roasting you with flame blasts, but your first real boss battle is against the Tinkerer. The Tinkerer stomps about in a large, spider-like tank mech that fires homing missiles, stamps the ground and sets it aflame, and sweeps that area with a laser blast. He’s also supported by an endless swarm of robotic minions, but you can use these to build up your Fusion Meter to target the Tinkerer’s legs and turn his mech into scrap metal. The Shocker/Herman Schultz’s stunning pulses must then be endured to rescue Carol Danvers/Ms. Marvel, then you’ll have your first of many encounters with the scythe-handed Eric Williams/Grim Reaper, one of the most recurring mini bosses who’s actually pretty tough thanks to his fast speed and quick, targeted slashes. Electro, the Scorcher, the Shocker, and the Wizard all reappear during the chaotic battle against cyborg Lucia von Bardas, which takes place on the deck of a ship. You’ll need to avoid her blasts and destroy the four cannons in each corner of the deck, which is easier said than done as Lucia defends three of them with flaming jets and you’ll have to contend with her supervillain bodyguards. Lucia also rains bombs from the sky, protects herself (and her minions) with energy shields, regularly hovers out of reach, and compounds the entire fight with a time limit. In the last part of the game’s first act, which takes part in Washington, D.C., you’ll have to do battle with Deadpool (who teleports about and riddles you with uzi bullets) and hit a bit of a brick wall when you go up against the mysterious Titanium Man. At first this isn’t so hard (he sends you flying, slows you with a pulse, and showers you with a laser spread) but things get much tougher in the second phase, where he turns invisible, is bolstered by minions and floating cannons, sends out loads of annoying vortexes, and there are no checkpoints during this battle, making it all the more frustrating.

While Bishop and Deathstrike can be aggravating, the Yellowjacket boss fight was actually pretty fun.

After this, you’ll be forced to pick a side and this alters the characters you pick and fight against; I went with Anti-Registration (because, frankly, the was the right choice all along) so I’ll primarily talk about those bosses. First up is a scuffle with Natalia Romanova/The Black Widow, who keeps you at bay with her pistols, cartwheel kicks, and grenades, and your first battle with Colonel James Rhodes/War Machine, who’s basically a mirror of Iron Man and attacks with a rocket-powered punch and missiles, though both are pretty easy fights here, especially compared to the one against Lucas Bishop. Your energy attacks will actually heal the grenade-toting Bishop, so try to focus on physical attacks, but you’ll deal the greatest damage against him if you attack and destroy the terminals he plugs himself into. This actually gets pretty tricky as you have to hit three power terminals to cause feedback, then hit four nodes on other terminals to stop him regaining health, and finally hit all six nodes when he draws energy from the middle of the terminals, all while avoiding his rushes and shockwave attacks. In comparison, Melissa Gold/Songbird is a bit of a joke since all you have to worry about are her pink sonic waves, but the difficulty ramps up again when you butt heads with Yuriko Oyama/Lady Deathstrike, who attacks with her Adamantium claws like a whirling dervish. Though the Thing saves your ass, you’ll have to contend with S.H.I.E.L.D.’s soldiers and robots in the second phase; Deathstrike will repair these mechs, so it pays to quickly take them out, but that’s not easy thanks to her speed and aggression. Thankfully, this is followed by a fun and visually interesting fight against Doctor Henry “Hank” Pym/Yellowjacket, who pounds and slaps at you in his gigantic form; you need to attack his massive fists to build up your Fusion Meter and stun him, only then can you unleash a Fusion attack to deal big damage to him, though you’ll have to watch for his double-fist slam and the minions who swarm the rooftops. When in the unstable chemical plant, you’ll have a quick run-ins with Bullseye (who I had no issues with despite his triple-shot projectile), Simon Williams/Wonder Man (who’s also not too hard despite teleporting about the place and sporting powerful melee attacks), and even an unexpected alliance between Jennifer Walters/She-Hulk and Mark Raxton/Molten Man that sees you avoiding the former’s jumping slams and the latter’s flame bursts.

You’ll face different bosses depending on which side you choose, which also impacts the game’s difficulty.

You’ll also contend with a more formidable version of War Machine and have a brief fight with Iron Man (who’s basically the same as War Machine but with fancier laser attacks) before he tags in Mr. Fantastic (who’s actually a bit of a pain thanks to his stretchy limbs bursting up from the floor and his tornado spin). Iron Man and Mr. Fantastic prove quite the double team when you battle them together; even with Captain America on hand to help and with victory coming by defeating Iron Man alone, this can be a tough fight as Mr. Fantastic sometimes glitches and perpetually spins in place and Iron Man flies around the arena sending energy projectiles your way. Finally, you’ll need to help Nick Fury dispose of some bombs while fending off a joint attack from Doctor Norman Osborn/The Green Goblin and Venom; the former flies around dropping grenades or tosses pumpkin bombs in your face while the latter attacks with their tendrils and even webs up the bomb disposal vent and commandeers the Goblin’s glider! On the Pro-Reg side, you’ll have to quell Eli Bradley/Patriot after your betrayal, fend off Jessica Drew/Spider-Woman rather than Black Widow and Hercules instead of Wonder Man, as well as tangle with Nathanial Summers/Cable, who proves highly resistant to damage, constantly teleports about the place, and forces you to rely on your standard attacks and super powers since there are no minions to help build up your Fusion Meter. Ritchie Gilmore/Prodigy, Angelica Jones/Firestar, Tandy Bowen/Dagger, Piotr Rasputin/Colossus, and Jamie Madrox/Multiple Man also crop up, with the latter being quite the obstacle if you don’t have the right teammates, while Tom Foster/Goliath takes Yellowjacket’s place. Instead of fighting War Machine, Mr. Fantastic, and Iron Man, you’ll take on Iron Fist, Luke Cage/Power Man, and Captain America, with this latter fight complicated by plumes of fire and the Cage and Cap being able to pull off Fusion attacks!

After battling numerous foes, you’ll need all your powers to defeat the nanite-infused Nick Fury.

Before you enter the Negative Zone prison,  Commander Maria Hill hands over a key card without issue and Robbie Baldwin/Penance is subdued and recruited after a brief fight. Terrance Sorenson/Equinox proved much tougher thanks to the nearby turrets and his health-draining elemental attacks, and you’ll battle the nanite-infected Grim Reaper, Bullseye, and Molten Man to rescue Luke Cage and Firestar. To escape the prison with the nanite samples, you’ll take on the combined might of David Cannon/Whirlwind, Karla Sofen/Moonstone, and Rachel Leighton/Diamondback; though Captain America and Iron Man help out, this can be a frustrating fight as Whirlwind is constantly spinning about and minions are always spawning in but focusing on one mini boss can help mitigate the danger. While in Wakanda, you’ll fight off Alexander Summers/Havok (whose concussive powers are bolstered by nearby vibrational pillars), the combined threat of Hulk-clone Rick Jones/A-Bomb and Vance Astrovik/Justice (who shields his nanite ally), and once again deal with the duo of Green Goblin and Venom, this time in the Black Panther’s throne room and with a wider, more versatile space for them to avoid your attacks (though having a flame-orientated character or buffs will help against Venom). Wonder Man and Spider-Woman guard the entrance to the Fold’s Iceland base, with both proving tougher than before, while She-Hulk, Firestar, Colossus, and Whirlwind await inside guarding amplifiers. You’ll also battle the Tinkerer again here; this time, he’s almost constantly shielded by the Fold’s enhanced elites, who you’ll need to destroy in order to deal damage to the mad inventor, though the sheer influx of enemies can make this a gruelling prospect. Finally, after battling on a rising elevator and reaching the top of the Fold’s amplifier tower, you’ll fight the nanite-infected Nick Fury. Using a coloured holographic projection, Fury emulates the powers of other characters and bosses to constantly keep you on your toes; he strikes with lightning, sends out energy pulses, rapidly moves and teleports all over the place, creates duplicates, absorbs and projects energy, blasts out a stream of light, and causes the ground to erupt in flames. Although a frustrating and long-winded bout, this was actually easier than some other bosses; switch characters to whoever’s closest, unleash your rapidly-filling Fusion Meter, and remember to deflect his projectiles when prompted and you should emerge victorious without having to expend a single revive, which is more than I can say for the damn Titanium Man!

Power-Ups and Bonuses:
As mentioned, combat yields XP that levels you and your team up; all characters level-up regardless of whether you use them or not, but levelling-up alone isn’t enough to power-up your team. You need to spend AP boosting their four superpowers and all four will only be unlocked by levelling-up; thankfully, AP is easily earned by beating enemies, rapidly tapping A during Fusion attacks, and smashing crates and other onscreen destructibles. Each character also has “Passive” abilities that can be upgraded in the character menu; many of these are locked to a specific side, so you’ll never have full access to all abilities in a single playthrough, and they provide buffs such as raising your chances of landing a critical hit, allowing more frequent use of your powers, regenerating health, reducing damage, and increasing the stamina you gain. Defeating mini bosses and bosses also rewards you with medals that provide additional “Boosts”; you can manually or automatically equip up to three of these at a time to increase your health, teamwork, resistance to or ability to inflict elemental attacks, and other similar bonuses. It also pays to utilise your comic book knowledge; if you make a team comprised entirely of X-Men or the Fantastic Four, for example, you’ll get an additional boost to aid you. Finally, extra rewards are on offer for performing three “Heroic Deeds” per character; these range from defeating fifty enemies, performing specific Fusion attacks, or using certain superpowers and will unlock a new costume or ability for each character, as well as being a fun aside.

Additional Features:
There are fifty Achievements to snag in Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2, with sixteen being tied to the story mode alone, though you’ll need to do two playthroughs and experience both the Pro- and Anti-Reg missions to earn them all. You’ll also earn Achievements for completing missions in co-op mode, clearing the game on “Legendary” difficulty, performing ten Fusions with a friend, earning high scores from Fusions, unlocking costumes, collecting boosts, and finding the various dossiers and audio logs scattered throughout the game. You’ll unlock additional characters not just through the story mode, but also by collecting Asgardian Ruins, pieces of the M’kraan Crystal, and Gamma Regulators; some characters’ alternate costumes also act as skins, such as General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross/Red Hulk and Eddie Brock/Venom. You’ll also find simulator discs scattered about that once again let you take on special simulator missions from the game’s hub worlds, can put your Marvel knowledge to the test in various trivia games for more XP, and will be given the option of starting a new game, with all your unlocks and stats, but at the cost of your existing save file. There is no option to replay previous missions as far as I can tell so you’ll need to start over if you missed anything. I’d also advise making use of the manual save function as often as possible, especially before you pick a side so you don’t have to start right from the beginning to see the other side of the story. If you were lucky enough to own this game before it got delisted, you can also expand the roster with some downloadable characters, like Cletus Kasady/Carnage and Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto, though this feature is obviously unavailable these days; additionally, other versions of Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 include console-specific characters, like Eric Brooks/Blade.

The Summary:
I was always hesitant about getting into Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2, simply because of my hatred for the diabolical Civil War storyline. Even with that bias to one side, I wasn’t impressed that the sequel stripped back the story and scope of the franchise so much; the first game arguably tried to do a bit too much and touch base with a bunch of different locations and characters in the Marvel universe, but at least it embraced the bonkers spirit of the source material and wasn’t as blinkered as the sequel. I really missed the unpredictability at the first game; here, the only replay value is in picking a different side, especially as all characters are available to you in the finale, so all you’re really left with is the new-fangled Fusion mechanic. Sadly, this isn’t as good as the game makes it out to be; once you’ve seen a handful of them, you’ve basically seen them all and they weren’t as impressive as I had hoped. I also wasn’t a big fan of some of the character choices and the lack of extra skins, though overall I think I preferred the gameplay and combat; it’s still mindless and tedious and gets old really quickly, but at least the different superpowers felt a little more dynamic this time. While I have no complaints about the game’s linearity since it made it faster to play, it is a shame that exploration has been cut way back this time around and that many of the level-up and customisation mechanics have been stripped down. Once again, the game’s biggest issue is cramming so much into it; it’s great for a Marvel fan but it does impact the enjoyment and memorability of the mini bosses since a lot of them are just the same thing over and over with the same tactics used to overcome them. Overall, I feel Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 is no better or worse than the first game: I miss the different gameplay mechanics and visual variety of the first game, but the sequel feels a bit more refined and focused; I don’t like how grounded and restricted it is, but the graphics and ability options are a step up. I think the best thing to do (if you can afford it) is have both and play them back to back for a complete experience but if I honestly had to pick which one was better, I’d go with the first one since I’m much more inclined to play it and see what wacky endings I can earn rather than seeing the SRA repealed or lessened by the end of this game.

My Rating:

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Pretty Good

Have you ever played Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2? If so, how do you think it compares to the first game? Which side did you pick and who made it into your team? What did you think to the new Fusion mechanic and the changes to the roster? Were you disappointed that the boss battles were still mostly tedious exercises and that the scope was scaled so far back? Did you ever complete all the Heroic Deeds and simulator missions? How are you celebrating National Superhero Day today? Whatever your thoughts, leave a comment below or on my social media, and be sure to check out my other superhero and comic book content across the site!

Back Issues: Secret Invasion

Dr. K1 Comment

Published: June 2008 to January 2009
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artists: Leinil Francis Yu

The Background:
In January 1962, legendary duo Stan Lee and Jack Kirby introduced Marvel Comics readers to the Skrulls, a race of warmongering shape-shifters who have long hounded Marvel’s heroes, particularly the Fantastic Four, by assuming their identities and powers. Experimented on by the all-mighty Celestials and launching aggressive campaigns against both the Earth and their hated enemies, the Kree, the Skrulls have been at the forefront of numerous Marvel stories over the years in addition to featuring as villains in various videogames and animated ventures before making their live-action debut, in a decidedly different manner, in Captain Marvel (Boden, 2019). Perhaps one of their most prominent storylines was the Secret Invasion arc that ran through these eight issues and multiple tie-ins and spin-offs; the brainchild of writer Brian Michael Bendis, Secret Invasion had not only been hinted at for some time and was heavily advertised as a means of changed up the perception of legacy Marvel characters and even return some to mainstream publication. Reviews of the storyline were mixed, with some noting that it was an anti-climatic Marvel event and others praising the marketing and artwork while criticising the religious undertones and spotty dialogue. Still, an adaptation of the story made its way into the Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes cartoon (2010 to 2012) and it also formed the basis of a six-episode, live-action series of the same name on Disney+.

The Review:
This eight-issue event series begins “years ago” after the destruction of the Skrull throneworld, a cataclysmic, prophesied event that leads the few survivors back to their queen, Veranke, who kicks the story’s narrative in motion by seeding Skrull agents throughout our world. It took years for this to be uncovered, and it was revealed in dramatic fashion when it turned out that the resurrected assassin Elektra Natchios was a Skrull in disguise, a revelation that alerted Tony Stark/Iron Man (then the conceited and self-righteous director of the Strategic Hazard Intervention Espionage Logistics Directorate (S.H.I.E.L.D.) following the game-changing events of Civil War (Millar, et al, 2006 to 2007)) to the depths of the Skrull’s infiltration. Recognising that even his armour’s sensors can’t be trusted to identity friend from foe, Stark drafts in his allies – Doctor Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic and Doctor Henry “Hank” Pym/Yellowjacket – to perform an autopsy in an attempt to figure out how the Skrull was able to remain completely undetected to technology, magic, and Mutant probing. Conveniently enough, a Skrull ship chooses this exact moment to come crashing into Earth’s atmosphere and make landfall in the Savage Land, taking Iron Man away from the operating room so he can investigate. Concerned that this could be the full-scale invasion they fear, Jessica Drew/Spider-Woman calls in the renegade “New” Avengers (those who refused to sign up to the ludicrous Superhero Registration Act in Civil War), which leads to Luke Cage/Power Man, Peter Parker/Spider-Man, James “Logan” Howlett/Wolverine, Danny Rand/Iron Fist, Clint Barton/Ronin, and Maya Lopez/Echo subduing Black Widow/Natasha Romanova and stealing her Quinjet to beat Iron Man and his government-sanction Mighty Avengers – Iron Man, Spider-Woman, Black Widow, Carol Danvers/Ms. Marvel, Janet van Dyne/The Wasp, Ares, Simon Williams/Wonder Man, and Robert “Bob” Reynolds/The Sentry – to the crash site. Both sets of Avengers are aware of the potential Skrull threat, which drives an even greater wedge between them as not only are the Secret Avengers being actively hunted by their former comrades, but they can’t even trust each other to be who they say they are.

While the Skrulls cripple Earth’s defenses, the fractured Avengers battle their classic counterparts.

After being brought down by one of the Savage Land’s rampaging dinosaurs, the New Avengers prepare to open up the crashed ship, but they’re intercepted by the Mighty Avengers, with Iron Man immediately trying to arrest them and Luke Cage obviously telling him and his jumped-up thugs to go kick rocks. Iron Man’s attempt to keep the rogue superheroes from overstepping the mark are scuppered when Timothy “Dum Dum” Dugan and his trusted butler, Edwin Jarvis, unexpectedly sabotage not only the orbiting the Sentient World Observation and Response Department’s (S.W.O.R.D.) satellite base but also Stark’s armour and S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Helicarriers and bases, effectively disabling the armoured Avenger and crippling the superhero community’s resources and communications. Additionally, maximum security prisons the Raft and the Cube are suddenly hit by mass breakouts and Mar-Vell/Captain Marvel and Susan Storm/Invisible Woman disable the villainous Thunderbolts and the rest of the Fantastic Four, with each of these supposed heroes flashing ominous eyes and assuring their victims that “He loves [them]”. Meanwhile, a Skrull armada bares down on Earth and Mr. Fantastic finds himself reduced to an elasticated mess right as he figures out the key behind the Skrull’s newfound undetectability, the victim of a shot from Pym, who’s revealed to also be the Skrull Citri Noll! Momentarily setting aside their differences to get Tony Stark to aid, the two Avengers groups are startled when a slew of classic-styled, currently deceased or long-changed superheroes emerge from the Skrull ship; Captain Steve Rogers/Captain America, the Vision, Thor Odinson, Doctor Jean Grey/Phoenix, Doctor Henry “Hank” McCoy/The Beast, Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch, Jessica Jones/Jewel, Emma Frost/The White Queen, and Barbara “Bobbi” Morse/Mockingbird appear alongside classic versions of Spider-Man, Power Man, Wonder Man, Iron Man, Hawkeye, Ms. Marvel, Wolverine, and the Invisible Woman. Naturally, a tense showdown ensues in which both groups assume the other are Skrulls in disguise; guys like Wolverine, Spider-Man, Emma Frost, and the Vision struggle to get any kind of reading on their counterparts beyond sensing their distrust while Ronin is stunned to see his former flame, Mockingbird, alive and well but, despite Ares trying to convince his allies that it’s a trap, tensions boil over and an all-out brawl kicks off!

As more characters enter the fray, internal distrust is as rife as the escalating war with the Skrulls.

With Stark in agony from the alien virus that’s crippled his armour, Ms. Marvel flies him to safety as the others duke it out; the two Spider-Men trade quips and punches, the Vision uses the Sentry’s fear of his destructive and malevolent alter ego, the Void, to disable his God-like power, and Ronin steals his counterpart’s weapons to subdue their attackers but the arrival of a raging Tyrannosaurus rex disrupts the fracas. Trampled to death by the dinosaur, the classic Spider-Man and Hawkeye are revealed to be Skrulls, and Wolverine intuits that the Skrulls are setting them against each other to wipe out any resistance to their invasion plan. However, when he tries to eviscerate Mockingbird, Ronin intervenes and questions her; she’s adamant that she’s not a Skrull and even reveals personal information that only she and Clint would know, which is enough to convince him to trust her. This offers Luke Cage the hope that the Cap and Iron Man aboard the ship are the real deal, which would certainly explain Stark’s recent manic behaviour and allow the recently deceased Cap to still be alive, but Wolverine’s far from convinced. Meanwhile, back in New York City, a portal opens up and a whole slew of Avengers-inspired Super-Skrulls attack; there’s Skrulls combining the powers of various X-Men, a Fantastic Four Super-Skrull, one that’s a mixture of Spider-Man villains, and even an Illuminati hybrid, meaning the Young Avengers – Eli Bradley/Patriot, Dorrek VIII/Hulkling, Billy Kaplan/Wiccan, Tommy Shepherd/Speed, Kate Bishop/Hawkeye, and their mentor, the Vision – are completely overwhelmed despite Hulkling’s efforts to talk down their attackers with his royal status. Thankfully, they receive some back-up in the timely arrival of fledgling superheroes, the Initiative – Joseph Green/Gauntlet, Rachel Leighton/Diamondback, Cassandra “Cassie” Lang/Stature, David Alleyne/Prodigy, Anthony Masters/Taskmaster, Geldoff/Proton, Z’Reg/Crusader, Jimmy Santini/Batwing, Fahnbullah Eddy/Gorilla Girl, Wallace Jackson/Red 9, Delilah Dearborn/Geiger, Melee, Andrea Roarke/Sunstreak, and Alexander Ellis/Annex. Though the Skrull forces prove ruthlessly formidable, and the Vision is lost in the battle, even more help arrives when the Secret Warriors – Colonel Nick Fury, Yo-Yo Rodriguez/Slingshot, Daisy Johnson/Quake, Alexander Aaron/Phobos, J.T. Slade/Hellfire, Jerry Sledge/Stonewall, and Sebastian Druid/Druid – add yet more names and the bodies to the chaotic artwork and conflict.

Heroes and villains set aside their differences to take the fight to the invading Skrull army.

The Skrull threat is doubled thanks to the distrust between the world’s heroes, with even Nick Fury abandoning Ms. Marvel because of her alien DNA. Meanwhile, as a weakened Stark desperately attempts to repair his armour, Spider-Woman reveals herself to be the Skrull Queen, Veranke, and tries to convince him that he’s a Skrull agent so deep undercover that he’s forgotten his true nature. Before her poison (both literal and figurative) can take hold, Black Widow causes her to flee and Stark reveals that the key to victory lies with Mr. Fantastic, who’s currently being tortured aboard a Skull ship. Thankfully, S.W.O.R.D. director Abigail Brand bluffs her way onto the ship and flushes the Skrull into space to rescue him; Reed then fashions a device that exposes the Skrulls’ real forms, arriving just in time to stop another conflict in the Savage Land and revealing not only that the classic Emma Frost, Invisible Woman, Thor, Ms. Marvel, and Jessica Jones are Skrulls but that Mockingbird is as well, enraging Clint. The real Thor transports everyone to New York for a final confrontation, which even the Watcher, Uatu, shows up to observe and also sees Parker Robbins/The Hood’s criminal syndicate and Doctor Norman Osborn’s Thunderbolts pitch in with the nearly-incomprehensible brawl. While Mr. Fantastic and Iron Man try to take out Veranke (still disguised as Spider-Woman) to demoralise the Skrulls, the Wasp targets Citri Noll, who apes Pym’s Giant-Man form, though it’s Stature and the assassin Bullseye who end up taking him out. Iron Man is forced to withdraw so he can sort out his messed-up armour, Fury’s forces save Mr. Fantastic from being torn apart by multiple Skrulls posing as the Invisible Woman, the real Jessica Jones joins the fray, and Kate Bishop ends up gravely injured amidst the chaos. Although Wolverine tries to take out Veranke, the bio-electrical powers she stole from Spider-Woman keep him at bay, meaning it’s an arrow through the face courtesy of the vengeful Ronin that ultimately subdues her.

Although the Skrulls are defeated, the general distrust in Stark allows Osborn to seize power!

With Veranke compromised, Citri Noll activates a device that causes Janet to enlarge uncontrollably and unleash a chemical agent designed to kill humanity and Skrulls alike. With no other choice available, Thor whips up a hurricane with his magical hammer, one so powerful that is destroys the enlarged Janet and dissipates the weird black spots that threaten everyone’s lives. Although Wolverine seeks to make Veranke pay for Janet’s death, it’s Norman Osborn who gets the kill shot, then Iron Man finally gets his shit together and leads an all-out assault on the remaining Skrull ships, with the now disillusioned and leaderless armada being easy pickings. Iron Man also frees everyone the Skrulls impersonated since the shape-shifters conveniently needed the original versions alive in order to make the deception more convincing, meaning Elektra and Mockingbird return to “life”, Reed is finally reunited with his family, and the true versions of the likes of Spider-Woman re-join society. Unfortunately, this also means that Jessica Jones left her and Luke’s baby, Danielle Cage, in the care of the Skrull-Jarvis, a plot thread left unresolved in this story. Although recent tensions are eased in the aftermath and ensuing celebration, there’s an unshakable sense of hesitation given how long the Skrulls had been a part of Earth’s society and superhero community; Thor also condemns Stark’s recent actions and refuses to associate with him. Thanks to having publicly executed Veranke, Osborn is able to manipulate the President of the United States into equally losing faith in Stark, his methods, and his technology; the President thus ousts Stark as director of S.H.I.E.L.D. and names Osborn as the new overseer of any and all superhuman and defensive measures under a new organisation, H.A.M.M.E.R., unaware that this is exactly the opportunity the scheming madman and his Cabal of allies (Emma Frost, Doctor Victor Von Doom/Dr. Doom, The Hood, Prince Namor McKenzie/The Sub-Mariner, and Lady Loki) were waiting for.

The Summary:
Now, I am by no means an expert on the Skrulls; I know of them, primarily as an antagonistic, shape-shifting race of aliens who are almost constantly at war with the Kree and getting into scuffles with the Fantastic Four, but they’re generally on the periphery of most Marvel stories I’ve read. Secret Invasion is probably, to date, their most prominent story, at least in my experience, and it definitely adds some nuance to them that I didn’t expect. Normally, I see them as a warmongering race who live to conquer through both subterfuge and force but, here, they’re motivated by a fanatical devotion to their God (the “He” they keep referring to) and their invasion is seen almost as divine intervention. The Skrulls swamp television screens with their pseudo-religious propaganda, hijacking every telecommunications device across the globe and assuming the guise of various political figures, celebrities, and superpowered monarchs like Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto and Dr. Doom, and insist that they’re there to bring glory to our world and that their might cannot be opposed. Given the strength of their invasion and that their Super-Skrulls have mimicked the combined powers of many of Marvel’s heroes, it’s perhaps not surprising that Marvel’s ridiculously fickle citizens embrace their alien overlords, though this scene showcases that the Skrulls aren’t simply defending themselves or there to usher in a new age for mankind as they claim and are hell-bent on conquering the planet.

Having lost everything, the Skrulls throw themselves at Earth with fanatical desperation.

This campaign is spearheaded by their queen, Veranke, a figure of worship for the Skrulls and who has placed herself on the frontline, earning the trust of Tony Stark by posing as Spider-Woman and becoming privy to many of Earth’s defences. Stark even reflects on his role in the invasion and the shame he feels about not recognising the threat sooner in a show of guilt that was somewhat uncharacteristic of him at this time; this is a man who was so blinded by his belief that superhumans needed to register with the government that he actively fought and imprisoned his fellow heroes and abandoned many of them, and his morals, in favour of an uncompromising, borderline fascist mentality that only led to further conflict and resentment Indeed, Veranke revels in the irony of having twisted Earth’s technology and heroes towards her agenda, something she was easily able to do thanks to Stark being so dead-set about forcing or punishing his peers to register their true identities and powers. However, as much as Veranke likes to preach that hers is a Holy mission, she’s actually equally motivated out of revenge, specifically against Mr. Fantastic and the Fantastic Four after they tricked a contingent of Skrulls into believing they were cows decades prior. Since the Skrull home world has been lost and their once-prosperous empire lies in ruins, the Skrulls follow her without question and throw everything they have at Earth; they’re even willing to give their lives in the process, and in a last-ditch effort of mutually assured destruction, only to be defeated and left dejected. Veranke’s death leaves the Skrulls directionless and all their once-formidable might is as nothing; those that survive are left demoralised as they saw this as their last chance at survival and glory. Thus, Veranke’s quest for vengeance and conquest leaves her people devastated and more worse off than ever as a sizable portion of their armada is destroyed and the last thing they had in all the universe, their faith, is also shattered by their defeat.

The Skrulls are so deeply entrenched that the already frayed heroes are strained to breaking point.

I’m generally not a fan of imposter storylines; it’s a tired cliché and one that quickly outstays its welcome, but it actually works quite well in Secret Invasion. Many of the Skrulls seem to be completely unaware of their true nature; the Mockingbird-Skrull believes that she’s the real deal right up until the end and is begging Clint to listen to her even as he attacks her in a rage. This is also true of Captain Marvel, who believed so strongly that he was the deceased former hero that he couldn’t bring himself to kill and was convinced by Norman Osborn, of all people, to turn on his race; he even died begging the Kree warrior Noh-Varr/Marvel Boy to carry on the fight in his stead, so complete was his conditioning. It’s not revealed exactly how the Skrulls have the memories they do but it’s one of the big reasons why so many of them went undetected; however, many of the Skrulls posing as classic Avengers continued to believe they were the real deal after their true nature was revealed rather than immediately attacking the heroes in service of their God, which definitely paints much of this conflict in a morally grey area. The Skrulls pick the perfect time to strike the Earth; its heroes are divided and at war with each other and easy to manipulate, and seeing the return of dead heroes like Captain America, Mockingbird, and Captain Marvel, as well as the original version of Iron Man, only fuelled the flames of conflict between them thanks to Stark’s actions during Civil War leading to many deaths, including Captain America’s. It would’ve been so easy to explain away Stark’s recent actions as being the work of the Skrulls but, interestingly, that doesn’t turn out to be the case and, similarly, Cap’s death isn’t immediately undone with the presence of his classic counterpart. Instead, we’re left with a world where Stark is still shouldering the burden of his actions and where Cap’s mantle has been taken up by his friend, James Buchanan “Bucky” Barnes; there are no quick-fixes in this story to explain away the events of Civil War and there isn’t really a sense that bridges have been mended by the end of it as distrust is still rife and the status quo remains unchanged.

A decent story with some interesting wrinkles but a bit overstuffed and manic at times.

Ultimately, I quite enjoyed this story; it’s hard to read as an eight-issue standalone as you need some knowledge of prior Marvel events, especially Civil War, and it’s clear that there’s a lot of additional story and conflict in supplementary collections and books, but the narrative works just as well if you only read these eight issues. I enjoyed seeing the Mighty and New Avengers be forced to set aside their differences when faced with their classic counterparts and the reveals of which characters were Skrulls, even if none of the major players were aliens in disguise. The quasi-religious bent to the Skrull invasion was an interesting twist, as was them siphoning and combining the powers of Marvel heroes into an army of Super-Skrulls, and the art was pretty consistent and easy to follow throughout. Unfortunately, the biggest issue I had with Secret Invasion was the sheer number of characters jammed into it; it was hard to keep track of it all at times and it’s obvious that teams like the Young Avengers, Thunderbolts, and Secret Warriors all had bigger parts to play in spin-off stories, but I think they could’ve been downplayed a little here. There’s a Skrull-Galactus with absolutely no context or consequence to the story and even Uatu shows up, which is generally a short-hand to indicate that the events are of cosmic importance but, again, it doesn’t actually factor into the story in a meaningful way. Stark spends most of the arc out of action thanks to the Skrull virus messing up his armour, which is great for leaving him vulnerable and in pain and unable to participate in the wider conflict but then he just shows up in an older armour with a throwaway line for the finale. Similarly, Thor just pops in out of nowhere, formally prominent characters like Wolverine and Spider-Man get lost in the shuffle, and late appearances from Jessica Jones and Norman Osborn are simply there to set up the next big Marvel events and stories. Overall, it was pretty enjoyable and not as much of a mess as some Marvel events, but the action got a little too chaotic at times and there were too many characters wedged into these issues, which I think would’ve been far stronger if they’d focused on, say, eight or ten main characters and then just showcased the others in supplementary materials.

My Rating:

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Pretty Good

Did you enjoy Secret Invasion? Were you shocked to find out which characters were Skrulls in disguise? Were you hoping that some of the classic Avengers would turn out to be the real heroes? Which of the teams featured was your favourite? Did you think there were too many teams and characters in the story and which of the spin-off books did you enjoy? What did you think to Veranke, the pseudo-religious slant to the Skrulls, and the Skrull invasion? Were you also frustrated by Tony Stark’s characterisation during this time, or did you enjoy seeing Marvel’s heroes in dispute? What are some of your favourite Skrull-centric stories? Whatever your thoughts on Secret Invasion, feel free to share them below or leave your thoughts on my social media.

Game Corner [Spidey Month]: Spider-Man (PlayStation 2)

Dr. K3 Comments

Easily Marvel Comic’s most recognisable and popular superhero, unsuspecting teenage nerd Peter Parker was first bitten by a radioactive spider and learned the true meaning of power and responsibility in Amazing Fantasy #15, which was first published in August 1962. Since then, the Amazing Spider-Man has featured in numerous cartoons, live-action movies, videogames, action figures, and countless comic book titles and, in celebration of his debut and his very own day of celebration, I’ve been dedicating every Friday of August to talk about everyone’s favourite web-head!

Released: 16 April 2002
Developer: Treyarch
Also Available For: Game Boy Advance, GameCube, PC, and Xbox

The Background:
There was a time when it seemed like every single cinema release had to be accompanied by a videogame adaptation; big-budget movies, especially, were often released alongside a hastily created videogame tie-in that often failed to properly capture the spirit of the film they were based on. As the flagship character of Marvel Comics, Spider-Man has a long and varied history with videogame adaptations across a variety of platforms so it was perhaps no surprise that Sam Raimi’s 2002 live-action $825 million blockbuster would be accompanied by a videogame tie-in. To be fair, Spider-Man benefitted from that fact that it was developed by Treyarch, who had previously had success with the character; indeed, much of Spider-Man’s combat and level progression was based on Treyarch’s previous Spider-Man game. This was reflected in the game’s reception as Spider-Man became the fifteen highest-selling videogame of 2002 and enjoyed high scores across all platforms. While some reviews criticised the game’s claustrophobic indoor sections and short length, it was generally regarded as the best Spider-Man videogame at the time of release. I remember buying the game for the GameCube after seeing the movie, having been won over by the game’s trailer and the film itself, but being underwhelmed by it after playing it to completion so I’m curious to see how it holds up today after the success of Spider-Man’s subsequent videogames.

The Plot:
After being bitten by a genetically-enhanced arachnid, high school senior Peter Parker finds himself endowed with the proportional strength and agility of a spider, and, when his beloved Uncle Ben is killed due to his irresponsibility, Peter puts his spider powers to good use as a masked crimefighter. After failing to capture and study this “Spider-Man”, who overcomes a variety of costumed menaces and robots, Doctor Norman Osborn transforms himself into the web-slinger’s most dangerous threat yet: the maniacal Green Goblin!

Gameplay:
Spider-Man is a third-person action game with a primary focus on beat-‘em-up action but which also includes a fair amount of web-slinging and a little bit of awkward stealth and extremely simplistic puzzle solving. As you might expect, players assume command of Peter Parker; the game begins right after Uncle Ben has been shot and at the very beginning of his crimefighting career as Spider-Man, and players are given a number of standard options when it comes to combat: X lets you jump and you can press it again in mid-air for a double jump, while Square throws a punch and Circle unleashes a kick. You can mix and match these button inputs to execute quick combo attacks (which you can review from the pause menu), and pressing either button near certain objects will allow you to pick up and throw them at your enemies. Of course, it’s not all about beating up random thugs across the city; at any time, you can press R2 and Spider-Man will start slinging webs (yes, they just attach to nothing, get over it) and won’t stop until you press X or slam into a wall. You can hold down R2 to speed up your web-slinging, though this does limit your turning ability, and you can press R1 to quickly zip upwards or straight ahead on a web zip-line; you can also press L1 to lock onto enemies, which is super useful when you’re swinging around and asked to attack enemies in mid-air.

Spidey can use his webs to attack his enemies but, unlike in the film, is limited by web fluid.

Spider-Man will automatically save himself with his webs if you fall while traversing the city rooftops and will automatically climb walls when close to them, though you can press the left analogue stick to enter a crawling state and the camera does tend to get very jerky and annoying when you’re clambering around on walls and ceilings as your perspective can get turned around pretty easily. If you’ve played the fantastic Spider-Man (Neversoft, 2000), you’ll be immediately familiar not only with Spider-Man’s combat and web-slinging but also with his web-based attacks. Pressing Triangle sees Spidey shoot out a quick web, but holding it allows him to web enemies up; if you press up, down, left, or right on the left analogue stick (or directional pad, if that’s your preference), Spider-Man will send out a high-impact ball of webbing, yank his foe towards him, wrap his hands in webbing to increase his punching power, or create a web dome to shield himself and send enemies flying with a press of X. You can also switch to different control styles that see you utilise the other face buttons for these commands, but you’ll find that these web attacks consume your web fluid (represented as a blue bar under your life meter), which is very strange considering Spidey had organic webbing in the film. Spider-Man can also dodge incoming attacks by using the left stick in conjunction with X to hop out of danger, though I found this to be awkward at best and unreliable at worst, and you can even press in the right analogue stick to look around and set your target for a zip-line.

Web-slinging sections see you using the compass to chase villains, rescue civilians, and disarm bombs.

All of these controls and gameplay mechanics can be reviewed in an optional tutorial mode, where the legendary Bruce Campbell snarkily talks you through all of Spider-Man’s abilities, and you’ll find question mark hints occasionally dotted around levels to help you out as and when. Like the 2000 game, Spider-Man is basically divided into two distinct gameplay styles: one sees you out in the city, swinging about the place, and the other sees you confined inside buildings. When out in the city, you’ll need to make use of a compass to navigate towards your next objective or keep track of your current target; you need to use this in conjunction with a Height Meter that shows your position compared to that of your objective, which can be a very clunky system as it’s not always clear where you need to go. Basically, just follow the compass direction until it flashes white, and then try to orientate yourself up or down to get to where you need to go, but invariably your compass will be absent when inside buildings. When web-slinging around the city, you’ll be tasked with hunting down thugs and putting a beating on them until you find information on where you need to go, racing after a target as they fly away from you, hunting down bombs or taking out robotic drones (often against a tight time limit), rescuing civilians from harm, and using your webs to secure water towers, bridges, and other objects to stop them from hurting civilians. When trying to keep track of a specific target, you really need to make use of the lock-on feature or else it’s very easy to lose sight of them and thus fail the mission; I also found that spamming Triangle was the fastest way to actually attack enemies in mid-air, but of course this will drain your web fluid. Luckily, the pick-ups that refill your health and web fluid will respawn so you can swing back over and grab them if you need to, but this will cost you time and probably see you fail your objective. Checkpoints in Spider-Man are few and far between; you can only save your progress after completing a level and, if you die or fail your mission, you’ll have to restart from the beginning of the level, which can lead to you repeating frustrating sections again and again.

Spidey must crawl and fight around claustrophobic interiors using a clunky stealth mechanic.

When confined to the interior of buildings, the game introduces a clunky stealth element; when Spider-Man is in certain shadows, the face on his heads-up display will turn dark blue and he’ll be hidden from enemies. This is essential to safely sneaking past cameras and enemies in many levels; though you won’t fail the mission if you’re spotted, an alarm will be raised and mechanical Super Soldiers will relentlessly chase after you, forcing you to quickly zip away and find a shadowy area to wait out the alarm. One of the most common tasks when in these claustrophobic areas will be heading through or acquiring keys to unlock doors; these doors can be difficult to identify as the areas are so bland and boring, and the enemies holding the key tend to be a little tougher than the usual mooks. Other times, you’ll need to use X to activate consoles, sometimes in a certain order, acquire codes from active PCs, web-zip past steam vents or through laser trip wires, and zipping up into vents to awkwardly crawl around and progress further. These levels also have much more focus on grounded beat-‘em-up combat, but the game quickly emphasises that discretion is the better part of valour and you’ll be tasked with deactivating security walls and laser traps in order to progress a little safer. The game comes with a number of different difficulty modes that obviously make enemies tougher and increase the game’s challenge; completing the game on higher difficulties also allows you to unlock additional content, which can be further unlocked by acquiring points for your combat, stealth, and level-completion strategies.

Graphics and Sound:
Obviously, Spider-Man is a videogame tie-in that came out on the PlayStation 2, so you can’t expect super high-quality in-game or cutscene graphics. However, Spider-Man is reasonably impressive and I can see why people would have considered it the best Spider-Man videogame at the time; New York City is rendered as a large map and even subject to rain and lightning storms and rendered in both day and night-time depending on the level you’re playing. However, it’s not a sprawling open world with numerous side quests or non-playable characters to interact with; although you can see traffic moving down below, you can’t go down to street level and the city is basically completely lifeless save for thugs, bosses, and a few civilians in need of rescue.

Environments can be quite bland and lifeless but some shine through weather and lighting effects.

The interiors are where the game really fails to impress, however; you’ll explore such dynamic and exciting areas as…a bland warehouse, the sewers and subway tunnels, and the high-tech Oscorp building. This latter is easily the most visually impressive and interesting of all of the game’s environments, inside or out; while it is a bit confusing as every area looks grey and bland, it’s given some variety with some blinking lights, laser traps, and different rooms containing consoles and power generators. Another interesting area is a bank, though you’re only really in here for one boss battle, and you’ll even be treated to a very mediocre interpretation of the balloon parade from the film, which includes a single inflatable panda bear and a sequence where you crash down through skylights while battling the Green Goblin, and of course conclude the game in a showdown on the Queensboro Bridge.

Cinematics are quite blurry and the awkward in-game cutscenes are quite laughable.

While the game’s thugs and enemies aren’t much to shout about, being largely generic and unimpressive, Spider-Man is rendered quite well despite every character model appearing as a stiff mannequin. Spidey does little hops and flips when climbing over ledges, assumes comic-accurate poses when left idle, and even busts out fancy animations when web-slinging that closely emulate the film. The game uses both pre-rendered and in-game graphics for its cutscenes, with the pre-rendered ones obviously being the more impressive of the two; the in-game models don’t even move their mouths and the voice acting is more miss rather than hit. Tobey Maguire, especially, sounds more wooden and awkward than ever, especially when trying to deliver quips as Spider-Man, and the game is sadly completely lacking Danny Elfman’s awesome and iconic score. The music that does play during levels is generally suitable enough, if a bit generic, but it does clumsily and noticeably loop, which just screams of low production values, and of course you’ll be faced with the long load times symptomatic of that era of videogaming.

Enemies and Bosses:
Spider-Man is faced with a number of nameless, faceless, disposable goons as he swings around the city and tries to use his powers responsibly; at first, he’s tasked with tracking down Uncle Ben’s killer, who here is interpreted as part of the Skulls gang, so you’ll be beating up unscrupulous street thugs in the early going. Some of these have pistols to defend themselves with, and they’ll also put up a block to defend themselves against your attacks. These thugs get a reskin as guards working for Oscorp who must largely be avoided and webbed up to stop them from raising the alarm and bringing in the Super Soldier robots. Wile Osborn’s miniature Spider Slayers are annoying robotic enemies who zip around on claw-like lines and try to roast you alive, these Super Soldiers are a massive pain in the ass. They relentlessly hunt you down, blasting at you with explosive bolts that are near-impossible to avoid, and the levels can be so restrictive that you’re better off just restarting the level rather than trying to desperately find shadows to hide from them.

After tracking down his uncle’s killer, Spidey must avoid the Shocker’s blasts in the city sewers.

Spider-Man’s first mission is to hunt down Uncle Ben’s killer; after beating up a bunch of his fellow gang members, Spidey finally tracks him down and faces off with him, only to be blasted full-force in the face over and over by the murderer’s shotgun! The killer sets a precedent for the game’s boss battles in that he, like all of the other bosses, is spry and tough enough to shrug off, dodge, and no-sell all of your web attacks except for the web-hands, so you’re best bet is to zip up to the ceiling and stay out of his sight, blasting at him with your impact webbing or dropping down to deliver a beatdown when he’s suitably confused. After a quick side quest where you swing around towards red balloons to take snapshots of Spidey for the Daily Bugle, you’ll need to rescue security guards being threatened by Herman Schultz/The Shocker. Once they’re safe, you’ll pursue him into the sewers and subway tunnels, where he’ll send blasts of concussive sound at you that you’ll need to dodge using your web-zip; this isn’t too much of a challenge to overcome and, afterwards, you’ll get to face him in combat. The Shocker launches projectiles of sound at you and can protect himself with a devastating whirlwind of damaging soundwaves, but was actually easier for me to pummel into submission than Uncle Ben’s killer.

After making short work of the Vulture, you must defend and then subdue the maniacal Scorpion.

Spider-Man’s next test comes when Adrian Toomes/The Vulture robs a bank; Spider-Man first chases after the Vulture by progressing vertically up a tower that catches fire and sees you slipping through holes and under stairs to zip your way upwards, then you need to chase after him as he flies away through the city and puts citizens at risk. Finally, the two face off in the skies around the Chrysler Building as rain and lighting fill the arena; Spidey must fire webbing at the Vulture while avoiding his charges and attacks in order to force him to land so he can put a beating on him, making him the easiest boss of the game by far. Afterwards, Spidey crosses paths with MacDonald “Mac” Gargan/The Scorpion, who just randomly appears out of nowhere; at first, you’ll need to protect him from Oscorp’s miniature spider-bots but then he turns against you and forces you to fight him. This is quite a tough fight even on Easy mode as the Scorpion leaps and scrambles all over the place, blasting at you with his tail, and grappling with you whenever you get close to him. It’s best to keep your distance and fire off impact webbing from afar, and then dodge his attacks so you can hit a few combos on him and put him down. Fittingly, the Green Goblin is the game’s most recurring villain and, though you won’t encounter him face-to-face until you’re halfway through the game, he more than makes up for it in his appearances; the first time you face him, you need to avoid his glider attacks and missiles and rescue Mary Jane Watson from the aforementioned panda balloon before battling him head-on.

As annoying as Oscorp’s mech is, the Green Goblins persistence and aggression is even worse!

Whilst on his glider, the Green Goblin is basically a tougher version of the Vulture as he flies around tossing pumpkin bombs and firing bullets and missiles at you, forcing you to fire off your webbing or striking at him when he comes close. Afterwards, you’ll have to chase after him and web up parts of the environment that he damages, before forcing him through a skylight for some ground combat. These fights are easily the toughest of the game as the Green Goblin bombards you with pumpkin bombs, blinds you with flashbangs, and can easily choke the life out of you and snatch you out of the air. Your best bet is to stick near the respawning health power-up, dodge his combos and hit some of your own, and blast him with impact webbing whenever you can. Afterwards, you’ll be forced to swing across the city against a time limit disarming his bombs, which is an annoying mission thanks to the janky compass and drones flying around the city, then destroy fifty of his Razor Bats before taking a detour through Oscorp and battling a giant mech. Before you can attack this directly, you’ll need to desperately swing around the enclosed arena destroying shield generators and being pummelled by missile turrets, constantly spawning drones, and avoiding the mech’s gigantic laser. Thankfully, there’s plenty of pick-ups in the area and the mech goes down pretty easily with a few web shots once the shield is lowered. Afterwards, you’ll have to chase after the Green Goblin as he flies off with Mary Jane and tosses explosive traps in your way, before finally facing off with him on the Queensboro Bridge. After getting Mary Jane to safety, you then need to repeat the same tactics as in the first couple of fights against him but now in the same battle; swing around firing webs at him to ground him and then dodge his melee attacks to land a few combos, but watch out for his big bomb blast attack. By this point, you should know how to dodge and go grab a pick-up when needed, and I know I found finishing the Green Goblin off actually easier than the first fist fight with him. After you end him, Mary Jane awkwardly gives Spider-Man a big ol’ snog on top of his mask while they stand over the lifeless body of Peter’s best friend.

Power-Ups and Bonuses:
Unlike in pretty much every modern videogame, Spider-Man is not blessed with regenerating health; as a result, you’ll need to pick up red and red-and-blue Spider Icons to restore half or all of your health. Also, like in the 2000 game, Spider-Man can run out of web fluid so you’ll need to grab blue and blue-and-silver Spider Icons to refill this bar. As mentioned, I find this an odd inclusion as Spider-Man had unlimited organic webbing in the movie but I guess it makes sense to keep him from being too overpowered. Luckily, these restorative pick-ups respawn after a while so if you find yourself struggling against a particular boss, you can usually backtrack or swing back around to collect a pick-up and keep yourself from losing a life. If you search around your environments, you’ll also find gold Spider Icons that will unlock additional combos to add to your repertoire, but that’s about it in terms of power-ups; you don’t earn experience points and can’t upgrade any of Spider-Man’s abilities or pick up temporary power-ups, meaning you basically end the game exactly as you started it but with maybe a few additional combos.

Additional Features:
If you visit the game’s ‘Gallery’, you’ll be able to view movies and artwork for the game, and you’ll be able to revisit any level you’ve cleared from the main menu as you progress. As mentioned, you’ll receive points every time you clear a level; these are awarded for your combat variety, stealth, and the amount of damage you take. Once you hit a certain number of points, you’ll automatically unlock some additional content from daft stuff like big hands and feet and exaggerated ragdoll physics to skins for Spider-Man, such as his wrestler outfit and acclaimed artist Alex Ross’s rejected design for the movie suit. You can also unlock a Peter Parker skin and enter cheat codes to play as guys like the Shocker and other enemies, though they all play the same as Spider-Man and don’t change the story in any way.

There are a number of cheats and unlockables, including a fully playable Green Goblin!

However, if you beat the game on the “Hero” difficulty, you’ll unlock the ability to play as Harry Osborn under the guise of the Green Goblin! This eliminates the pre-rendered cutscenes and alters the plot somewhat as this story picks up after the conclusion of the game and sees Harry take up his father’s mantle to research his death, and gives you access to an entirely new set of abilities. The Green Goblin can’t web-sling or climb walls but, with a press of R2, you’ll hop onto his glider and can rocket around the place at will; you can fire bullets, missiles, and bombs while on the glider, but your weapons will overheat in time so you’ll need to wait for them to cool down. On the ground, the Green Goblin’s melee attacks are the same as Spider-Man’s but, in place of webs, you have access to pumpkin bombs and Razor Bats and can race around on rocket boots like a madman to send enemies flying! Honestly, this was an incredible addition to the game and is a great way to encourage a second playthrough that adds an extra layer of challenge to the game as the Green Goblin can’t hide in the shadows, but can jump on his glider to blast enemies with missiles even when inside the most claustrophobic environments!

The Summary:
I remember being so hyped for Spider-Man’s first big-screen adventure, and so won over by the trailer for the videogame that ran before the film, that I went out and bought this for the GameCube that same week (if not that same day). I also remember finishing it pretty quickly, and this second playthrough was no different; as is the case with almost every videogame tie-in to a movie, Spider-Man isn’t an especially long game; levels aren’t built to allow exploration and are incredibly linear, so all you’ll have to worry about is trying to cope with how bland and similar the areas can look in each level. There’s also not a huge amount really asked of you; maybe you need to activate a console here and there, or input a code to open a door, or rescue a civilian, but these instances are few and far between and the game soon falls back into a routine of either web-slinging or clunky stealth sections. “Clunky” is the best way to describe this game; Spider-Man controls like he thinks he should be using tank controls, the camera and mechanics make web-slinging and wall-crawling very cumbersome at times, and your combos and dodging abilities are severely limited, making everything quite basic and monotonous. This may explain the game’s short length, as it’s over before it can become truly mind-numbing, but some levels are more frustrating than others; the stealth system is poorly implemented and it’s disappointing to see Spider-Man restricted to claustrophobic interiors rather than free to swing around the city. Basically, the game is a reskin of the 2000 Spider-Man title but stripped back in terms of bonuses, unlockables, and variety; there’s some fun to be had here, mostly in how cheesy the dialogue and cutscenes are, but you’re not really missing much if you skip this one for one of the many other Spider-Man games available even on the PlayStation 2.

My Rating:

Rating: 2 out of 5.

Could Be Better

Have you ever played the videogame tie-in to Spider-Man? Which console did you buy it for and were you impressed with it back in the day? What did you think to the web-slinging and combat mechanics? Which of the enemies added to the game was your favourite and would you have liked to see the likes of the Vulture and the Scorpion in Raimi’s films? What did you think to the game’s stealth gameplay and the unlockables on offer? Which Spider-Man videogame or movie adaptation is your favourite? Sign up to leave a reply below or drop a comment on my social media to share your thoughts on Spider-Man.