[7.2/10] Definitely an improvement on the first Secret Wars installment. An intro with Blade and Morbius fighting Miriam was not what I was expecting, which made for an attention-grabbing start to the episode. I also liked that Black Cat was frustrated by getting abducted and roped into this whole mess, which gave her a throughline as a character and made her more than just an appendage to Spider-Man in his fight here.
The episode was far from perfect though. For one thing, the construction of the plot was pretty shoddy. There’s a pretty artificial ticking clock established, with the local alien rebels wanting to storm Red Skull’s base at a very particular time for reasons that are unclear. That feeds into the “Spider-Man needs to be a leader” theme for this arc, which basically amounts to him yelling at fellow heroes to do things faster. That’s a pretty weak way to dramatize his leadership, where rather than making truly hard calls or showing good decision-making that people want to follow, Peter essentially just tells his compatriots to speed it up, and we’re supposed to take that as something meaningful.
Still, the trek for Spidey, Black Cat, Captain America, Iron Man, and The Lizard through perilous straits to get to Red Skull is a solid one. Black Cat shows some affection and appreciation for Captain America, which works both as a natural concordance given their connected origins, and makes Cap a competitive threat not to just to Spidey’s leadership but also to his remaining love interest.
It also gives us a little backstory on Iron Man in the Marvel Animated Universe. It’s kind of funny coming at this show backwards as an MCU fan and seeing what an afterthought Stark is here. Still, the journey to Red Skull’s base makes for plenty of close calls and chances for the gang the show off their powers when getting into tough scrapes.
The fight with the bad guys once the good guys get to the enemy compound is rushed and a little underwhelming, with alliances shifting and villains escaping with rapid regularity. But it’s all serviceable at worst as a superhero finale. I did like that Smythe is willing to ally with the heroes because he just wants to get home to his father, and the villains infighting is always a fun look.
Of course, Black Cat ends up thanking Spider-Man for bringing her here and essentially christening him as a real leader. I appreciate the show trying to connect the crest of Peter’s personal and professional lives like that, but it comes off rather forced.
Overall, this is definitely a step up from the prior episode, with more meaningful stuff for the heroes to actually do, but it’s another case of this show trying to pack too much in to twenty minutes, where only the Black Cat/Peter material is given time to breathe.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2018-07-02T19:04:31Z
[7.2/10] Definitely an improvement on the first Secret Wars installment. An intro with Blade and Morbius fighting Miriam was not what I was expecting, which made for an attention-grabbing start to the episode. I also liked that Black Cat was frustrated by getting abducted and roped into this whole mess, which gave her a throughline as a character and made her more than just an appendage to Spider-Man in his fight here.
The episode was far from perfect though. For one thing, the construction of the plot was pretty shoddy. There’s a pretty artificial ticking clock established, with the local alien rebels wanting to storm Red Skull’s base at a very particular time for reasons that are unclear. That feeds into the “Spider-Man needs to be a leader” theme for this arc, which basically amounts to him yelling at fellow heroes to do things faster. That’s a pretty weak way to dramatize his leadership, where rather than making truly hard calls or showing good decision-making that people want to follow, Peter essentially just tells his compatriots to speed it up, and we’re supposed to take that as something meaningful.
Still, the trek for Spidey, Black Cat, Captain America, Iron Man, and The Lizard through perilous straits to get to Red Skull is a solid one. Black Cat shows some affection and appreciation for Captain America, which works both as a natural concordance given their connected origins, and makes Cap a competitive threat not to just to Spidey’s leadership but also to his remaining love interest.
It also gives us a little backstory on Iron Man in the Marvel Animated Universe. It’s kind of funny coming at this show backwards as an MCU fan and seeing what an afterthought Stark is here. Still, the journey to Red Skull’s base makes for plenty of close calls and chances for the gang the show off their powers when getting into tough scrapes.
The fight with the bad guys once the good guys get to the enemy compound is rushed and a little underwhelming, with alliances shifting and villains escaping with rapid regularity. But it’s all serviceable at worst as a superhero finale. I did like that Smythe is willing to ally with the heroes because he just wants to get home to his father, and the villains infighting is always a fun look.
Of course, Black Cat ends up thanking Spider-Man for bringing her here and essentially christening him as a real leader. I appreciate the show trying to connect the crest of Peter’s personal and professional lives like that, but it comes off rather forced.
Overall, this is definitely a step up from the prior episode, with more meaningful stuff for the heroes to actually do, but it’s another case of this show trying to pack too much in to twenty minutes, where only the Black Cat/Peter material is given time to breathe.