When the third season was in production, it was heavily publicized that it would involve inter-dimensional travel and meeting other Spider-Men. In truth, most of the season was pretty standard adventures that we'd seen in the first two: your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man fighting evil on a regular basis, sometimes by himself, and sometimes alongside other Marvel heroes (and even Disney's Jessie). There were some new angles involving new youth heroes popping up like Squirrel Girl or Cloak and Dagger, but most of it wasn't that different. These four episodes finally give us what was promised.
In the wreckage of the old SHIELD helicarrier, the Green Goblin uses Electro to open up an inter-dimensional portal so that he can gather the DNA from the Spider-Man in each universe, and Spidey-Prime has to go after him in hopes of protecting his counterparts. In contrast to the show's usual format, each episode shows us two of these alternate dimensions.
Part 1
Spider-Man 2099: This part's done in 3D computer animation. It looks cool, and it's great to see 2099 animated and teaming up with the regular Spider-Man.
Spider-Girl: A gender-flipped universe where all the male characters are female. In an interesting twist, this female Green Goblin hadn't mutated like the show's usual Goblin had. After getting what he needs, Norman gives his formula to Norma, allowing her to mutate like him, and both Peter and Petra have to take him down.
Part 2
Spider-Man Noir: The entire universe is in black and white, Spider-Man talks like a Sin City narrator while other characters like J Jonah Jameson and Mary Jane have that fast-talking lingo befitting news reporters of the era. Goblin and Spidey are the only characters with any hint of color, being from another dimension.
Spider-Ham: In complete contrast to the previous world, this one is bright and colorful in a cartoony style. You even get to see the other animal Avengers briefly, which is fun.
Part 3
Spider-Knight: A sepia-toned medieval world. The Spyder's armor looks really cool, and I think he and Thor would get along nicely. Turns out he was voiced by Christopher Daniel Barnes, from the 90s cartoon, which is awesome. Spidey fights alongside him against both the Goblin and the Alchemist (Doctor Octopus of this world). When the fight against Ock's Kraken takes too long, the Spyder finds the universe's Stephen Strange to send him back through the dimensions.
Miles Morales: This is the universe I think people were most eager to see. Peter Parker died in this one and the costume was taken up by a new kid, and he's voiced by Donald Glover from Community. It's a perfect fit. Goblin's able to learn Spider-Man's identity after seeing Peter Parker's gravestone.
Part 4
We're back to standard episode format and back in Spidey's home dimension. He tracks Goblin down back to the helicarrier, and he has injected himself with the DNA of the other Spider-Men, enhancing his own abilities and mutating further into Spider-Goblin. Fortunately, Electro's fed up of being used all this time, and opens the portal to bring the other Spider-Men here, finally bringing together the titular Web Warriors. It's a cool fight, but even the other Spider-Men don't have enough power to defeat Spider-Goblin. However, they manage to hold him down long enough for Electro to reverse the charge of Goblin's serum, and turn him back into Norman Osborn. Then Electro gets free, and with the power of the Siege Perilous, takes control of the helicarrier, and transformers it into a robot mech. Things look hopeless, but just as he pepped up and helped the other Spider-Men, they return the favor. The Web Warriors work together in a fight through New York City until Electro sets the helicarrier to self destruct. While the others continue to fight Electro, Spider-Girl and Spider-Ham get inside it to deactivate it. Failing to do so, they regain control of it and set it flying into the sky where it blows up out of harm's way. Spidey finally manages to take down Electro with some gold old Peter Parker ingenuity. The remaining power of the Siege Perilous is enough to send the others home, who bid a fond farewell to our Spider-Man. It turns out Norman Osborn has no memories of his Green Goblin persona or Spider-Man's identity (or does he?). The episode ends on the new SHIELD helicarrier, as Spidey tells his story to Nick Fury, who again congratulates him on a job well done before he swings off.
These episodes are a lot of fun, and should be satisfying even if you're not a fan of the show. I'm partially reminded of the last two episodes of the 90s Spider-Man series, which also involved universe-hopping and alternate Spider-Men. A big difference is that each Spider-Man in these universes has a different design and voice. Probably a smart move to keep the story arc limited to these four episodes rather than all season. Giving each episode its own universe probably would have been good too, but keeping these to half an episode does prevent them from getting too padded, and I'm ultimately satisfied. The only thing that could have made it better is if Josh Keaton was voicing one of the alternate Spider-Men. Drake Bell does a great job, and as stated before, so does Donald Glover. I'd be perfectly content if the show ended here, since it is definitely a high note on what I consider an underrated series.
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