Ultimate Spider-Man Season One, Episode Three “Doomed” Review

Peter Parker, spider-friends captain, is now adjusting to being trained by S.H.I.E.L.D. with his fellow teenage superheroes. The last thing Peter expects is to get… GROUNDED?!! Oh, and Doctor Doom shows up. Well, Spider-Man shows up to Doom’s front door. Anyway, Spider-Friends GO FOR IT!!!

ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN Season One, Episode Three
“Doomed”
Written By: Joe Kelly

THE STORY: After getting detention from Principal Coulson, Spider-Man, Nova, White Tiger, Power Man, and Iron Fist are transported via tubes (I think?) under their desks to the S.H.I.E.L.D Helicarrier. This all turns out to be a part of their superhero training, and they then have to fight a bunch of robot turret-things. Spider-Man and Nova turn it into a big competition, and make a mess with Nick Fury’s toys. Needless to say, he’s mad at them, and he tells them they are grounded. To show Fury how great they are, they decide to go through S.H.I.E.L.D.’s most wanted list so they can track down a bad guy. Lady Porcupine wasn’t impressive enough, so they choose Doctor Doom. Switching some S.H.I.E.L.D. vehicles to autopilot, the team heads to Latveria. Oh, boy. After a quick fight with Doom’s welcome robots, the Spider-Friends encounter the man himself. Beating him fairly easily, the team brings Doom back to the Helicarrier, and Fury is less than happy. Of course, Doctor Doom is really just a Doombot. He attacks, and nearly blows up the Helicarrier. Spider-Man again learns the value of teamwork and together, the Spider-Friends are able to stop the Doombot.

THOUGHTS: Okay, okay. I’m going to attempt to not completely rip this thing apart. Now, obviously, this was another ridiculous episode. The story made no sense, and the characterization was all over the flippin’ place. But there was some good stuff. The fun is much more present here than last episode. The action was very well done. Many of the jokes landed very well. Overall, this episode was enjoyable. My little brother planted himself next to me and sat through most of it, and that really seems to be what these guys want. They want the energy to be high, they want the jokes to keep rolling, and they want the young kids to enjoy it. Does that mean the story or characters were handled well? Um…

No. The story was very bad. The underlying problem of this episode is responsibility. Spider-Man and the stories he appears in are all about responsibility. Peter Parker is generally Marvel’s most guilt-ridden responsibility-driven superhero. There lies the issue with this show. This is not Peter Parker. As I joked before, this is Peter Parker, average teenager. The point that Peter is a rookie that needs a ton of training and improvement is crammed down the viewer’s throat SO often that Peter transforms into a totally different character. As Nova decides for the entire team (like the winner he is) that they will now go after Doctor Doom, Peter does absolutely NOTHING to stop it. What’s funny is, Peter actually says something along the lines of, “Doctor Doom could actually be a big deal. Now I should do the responsible thing and stop this. Maybe next life.” Just… Come on! There is seriously no way Peter would have ever said that. Then, on the way to Latveria, Spidey says, “Maybe this has gone too far. Nah!” No. What if a team member was hurt or killed? Did we all just forget about Uncle Ben?

Now, a quick roundup of the characters. It seems I have neglected to mention Phil Coulson’s role in the show thus far. Sorry about that. I like Coulson in the various Marvel movies, and I look forward to him somehow being in the S.H.I.E.L.D. TV show. In the previous episode, it kind of felt like he was just thrown in to tie this show to the movies. Here, he’s used for purely comedic purposes and I don’t mind it. He’s got a good voice for an animated series and Coulson trying to balance the school’s budget was a funny idea. Sometimes he’s a bit much, but Phil’s not a bad addition to the show. Nova just gets worse and worse to the point where there is just nothing else to be said. MJ is very distant from the focus of the show, and it makes me wonder why she’s even been introduced. Nick Fury was kinda fun this time.

I mentioned before that I don’t really enjoy the video game-style action. This episode has a very light feel to it, so this style fits it fine. The action was very smooth and well animated, and really just feels fun. To be honest, I laughed at some of the jokes. Especially the tiny little Spider-Man flying across the screen (after a talk about teamwork) on a rainbow saying, “And that’s one to grow on!”. I don’t know, it’s not great, but I laughed.

PROS: Good action, some funny jokes, smooth animation.
CONS: Poor characterization, ridiculous story, Nova.
GRADE: 3 out of 5 Doombots. Overall, not a good episode. There were some good aspects, but they are weighed down just by how Peter acts. Thank you for reading! Please comment and let me know what you think!