[7.4/10] All of these reviews are going to be biased by me having seen six prior Spider-Man series and three sets of Spider-Man movies, most of which have tackled the symbiote in some way, shape, or form. So I’ve seen a lot of “Peter Parker gets the symbiote suit, and suddenly feels much more powerful, but also much more aggressive” stories.
But it’s a good story! The central tenet of Spider-Man is that he is a good guy, but life is hard for him, so introducing some new factor that makes life much easier for him, but which also makes him something closer to a bad guy is an interesting challenge for the character, both in terms of plot and character development.
Still, I gotta admit that while I laughed at the symbiote-wearing version of Peter, whose only changes were that he used more abbreviations, wore some goofy sunglasses, and used the word “bro” a lot, didn’t exactly drive home that this was some grave change for Peter. At the same time, the episode didn’t really sell me on Spider-Man losing control while fighting baddies, as Max’s retort “can’t you see that he’s had enough?” felt pretty tame. (Though him hurting Harry is a nice breaking point.)
The strength of the basic story, however, wins out. The notion of Peter recognizing some changes in himself, wanting to be rid of them and their cause, and finding that the symbiote isn’t so ready to let go is a strong one that carries the day. Peter’s quips about it get a little annoying here, but his struggle to get rid of the symbiote, and then fighting it as it sluices back around him is a compelling visual.
I also like the introduction of the Vultures, and the vague carrot of using the symbiote at the Stark Expo for everyone. Symbiote Spidey’s aerial combat is pretty cool, and the use of the sonic scream as an anti-symbiote measure is pretty cool. I also like Spidey working but also double-crossing Norman Osborn to get the alien suit off of him but also contained, and the scene with him confessing his theft and own “experimentation” is a good one.
Overall, Spidey’s engagements with the symbiote are probably overfamiliar to me, but this is still a solid rendition of it, with the symbiote vs. Spidey vs. Vulture(s) action being particularly good.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2019-05-15T16:09:42Z
[7.4/10] All of these reviews are going to be biased by me having seen six prior Spider-Man series and three sets of Spider-Man movies, most of which have tackled the symbiote in some way, shape, or form. So I’ve seen a lot of “Peter Parker gets the symbiote suit, and suddenly feels much more powerful, but also much more aggressive” stories.
But it’s a good story! The central tenet of Spider-Man is that he is a good guy, but life is hard for him, so introducing some new factor that makes life much easier for him, but which also makes him something closer to a bad guy is an interesting challenge for the character, both in terms of plot and character development.
Still, I gotta admit that while I laughed at the symbiote-wearing version of Peter, whose only changes were that he used more abbreviations, wore some goofy sunglasses, and used the word “bro” a lot, didn’t exactly drive home that this was some grave change for Peter. At the same time, the episode didn’t really sell me on Spider-Man losing control while fighting baddies, as Max’s retort “can’t you see that he’s had enough?” felt pretty tame. (Though him hurting Harry is a nice breaking point.)
The strength of the basic story, however, wins out. The notion of Peter recognizing some changes in himself, wanting to be rid of them and their cause, and finding that the symbiote isn’t so ready to let go is a strong one that carries the day. Peter’s quips about it get a little annoying here, but his struggle to get rid of the symbiote, and then fighting it as it sluices back around him is a compelling visual.
I also like the introduction of the Vultures, and the vague carrot of using the symbiote at the Stark Expo for everyone. Symbiote Spidey’s aerial combat is pretty cool, and the use of the sonic scream as an anti-symbiote measure is pretty cool. I also like Spidey working but also double-crossing Norman Osborn to get the alien suit off of him but also contained, and the scene with him confessing his theft and own “experimentation” is a good one.
Overall, Spidey’s engagements with the symbiote are probably overfamiliar to me, but this is still a solid rendition of it, with the symbiote vs. Spidey vs. Vulture(s) action being particularly good.