INTERVIEWS

The Spectacular Spider-Man is swinging high on Disney XD and, to celebrate the premiere of the second season of the acclaimed series, Marvel Animation Age has caught up with The Spectacular Spider-Man supervising producer/story editor Greg Weisman to talk about what lies ahead for the animated web-slinger, without spoiling any of it, naturally. It's all yours Greg!

Marvel Animation Age: Let's drive right into it! After the hectic final arc of The Spectacular Spider-Man's first season - including the introduction of Venom, Aunt May's heart attack, and Peter and Gwen sharing their first kiss - what can fans expect with the first episode of the second season?

Greg Weisman: Nothing special. We were totally fried. So we just hacked out the first few episodes of Season Two. Kidding, kidding. [Man, if that gets quote out of context, I’m in BIG trouble.] Anyway, we get the second season rolling with a literal BANG. Pete’s got a list of things to do involving Eddie Brock, Aunt May, Gwen and Harry, but folks like Mysterio, Tinkerer, Liz Allan and Norman Osborn are pretty determined to get in his way.

MAA: What kind of themes will The Spectacular Spider-Man be exploring for the second season? Also, as you can expect, fans are anxious to know which baddies will be popping up for the second season. Care to drop some hints on who'll be facing off against the web-slinger?

Weisman: Well, we’ll see the return of literally every Season One villain, plus the introduction of a bunch of new ones, including Mysterio, Tinkerer, Silver Sable, Silvermane, Calypso, Kraven the Hunter, Molten Man and more. Thematically, the show hasn’t changed. We’re still all about “The Education of Peter Parker.” Our boy still has a LOT to learn.

MAA: Now, the first season of The Spectacular Spider-Man received major applause from both fans and critics. In fact, it was called a love-letter to both the classic Spider-Man comics and the fans. Does the high acclaim of the first season increase the pressure to match or exceed what came before in the second season? Did you set out to top the first season when producing episodes 14 - 26?

Weisman: We did want to top ourselves – and I think (biased opinion here, of course) that we succeeded. But it’s not really about pressure from fans. They don’t put any more pressure on us then we put on ourselves. This show is very important to everyone on the crew

MAA: The second season of The Spectacular Spider-Man has already aired in Canada, and in a host of different international territories. Is it frustrating having to wait for the second season to air in the United States, knowing that a good chunk of the audience may have already illegally viewed these episodes?

Weisman: Extremely. But that’s the biz, I guess.

MAA: As a quick follow-up to the previous questions, are you worried that having the second season readily available online will hurt the ratings for The Spectacular Spider-Man when Disney XD debuts the new season? Are you hoping they'll still tune in when the series premieres?

Weisman: I’d be lying if I didn’t admit to that concern. But these are still great episodes, so hopefully they’ll still do well.

MAA: Now, the series has jumped from TheCW4KIDs to DisneyXD. Are you worried that some fans may not get the new channel, or may just forget about the network change? Are there any big plans on the network's part to give the new episodes a big push upon the premiere?

Weisman: Geez, are you trying to depress me? Yes, obviously, a producer worries about everything that might go wrong. Might. But I try not to buy trouble. We’ll just have to see how it plays out. As for the network’s plans, you’ll have to ask them.

MAA: With all of the chaos involving The Spectacular Spider-Man moving to a new channel, the late premiere of the second season, all of that, has put this series in a rather unique situation. Has this added complications been rough on you and the production team?

Weisman: Well, we all got laid off, which wasn’t fun. But we still hope to be back to do a third season. But the network change had no effect on production of Season Two at all.

MAA: Despite any problems for the series, The Spectacular Spider-Man has amassed a strong and dedicated fanbase, probably one of the most dedicated I've ever seen for a Spider-Man series. Why do you think fans have latched on to this series in such an impassioned fashion? Did this come as a surprise to you?

Weisman: I wouldn’t say a surprise. It’s exactly what we were hoping for. But it’s a huge relief that the fans have (largely) responded as positively as they have. As for the why, I think it’s as simple as this: all of us working on the show are HUGE Spidey-Geeks. We tried our damnedest to create the kind of Spectacular Spider-Man that we’d like to watch. To the extent we succeeded, it makes sense that what worked for us, worked for the fanbase.

MAA: Production on the second season finished way back in January 2009 and, for now, the creative team behind the series have moved on to other projects. Are you still hoping for a third season for The Spectacular Spider-Man. What can the fans do to help lock down new episodes of The Spectacular Spider-Man for the future? Should they all tune in to the second season premiere?

Weisman: That wouldn’t hurt. Buying related merchandise, like the DVDs and the Hasbro toys would probably help too. Because, we all would REALLY like to do more seasons.

MAA: As a follow-up question, is there anyone currently looking to continue the series outside of Sony? Is there a chance the series could move elsewhere for production for a third season?

Weisman: For production? I don’t think so. But that’s business stuff. I’m just the creative guy.

MAA: If The Spectacular Spider-Man remains at 26 episodes, and is not picked up, do you have any moments from those 26 episodes that you're especially proud of?

Weisman: A lot. Too many to single out. Though Norman twisting Harry’s ankle is a favorite, I guess. Frankly, I’m proud of every single episode.
Note: Spoiler in the above question. Highlight text to read.

MAA: Let's briefly change the topic for a moment. As we inch clo ser to the end of this Q & A, care to tell us about any other projects you 're working on that you'd like to inform us about? Anything interesting in the works?

Weisman: Vic Cook, Greg Guler and I are working with artist Antonio Campo and Ape Entertainment to produce a comic book called Mecha-Nation. This is an original property, created by Vic and developed by Vic, Greg G. and myself. The first issue should be out in time for San Diego Comic-Con. I’ve also written an episode of Batman: The Brave and the Bold and hope to write another soon. I have a few other projects in the works, but most aren’t ready to discuss.

MAA: Oh, and the Gargoyles fan in me has to ask - any new DVD or comic book developments? (sorry, sorry - I'm sure you get asked this countless times every day, but well...couldn't help it!)

Weisman: Our second trade paperback, Gargoyles: Clan-Building, Volume Two, will be out in July in time for Comic-Con. And Volume One is still available on Amazon and elsewhere. Our spin-off trade paperback, Gargoyles: Bad Guys: Redemption will be out in August in time for the Gathering, i.e. our annual Gargoyles convention. This year our convention is in Los Angeles at the Universal Hilton. It will also feature a number of panels on Spectacular Spider-Man, including many voice actors, writers, artists and production people from both series. For more information, check out gatheringofthegargoyles.com/g2009/. If you’re a fan of either show, you won’t want to miss this. It’s a small con, so the ratio of fan to pro is better than any other convention you might attend, bar none. Finally, your ADULT readers might check out: bluemugproductions.com for something completely different: a mature-audiences-only Internet comic, which will premiere the week before Comic-Con.

MAA: And speaking of DVD, can you spill any hints on when we can expect The Spectacular Spider-Man: The Complete First Season on DVD (and perhaps Blu-ray)? Any details on what bonus features will be included?

Weisman: All I know is that it should be out sometime this summer. I believe a specific date will be announced very soon.

MAA: Now, to wrap up, can you tell us why fans should tune into the second season premiere of The Spectacular Spider-Man at 7:00pm (ET) on June 22nd, 2009, on Disney XD?

Weisman: Uh… cuz our show kicks @$$! (He says with total objectivity.)

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The Marvel Animation Age and would like to thank Greg for his participation in this interview, and his work on the show. Cheers Greg!

Note: Interview performed before the official announcement of the The Spectacular Spider-Man: The Complete First Season DVD release and the official announcement of the second season premiere of The Spectacular Spider-Man on Disney XD.