Spider-Man: The Animated Series Episode Reviews

The Return of Kraven
Review and Media by Stu

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Episode #45- The Return of Kraven
Original Airdate: February 22nd, 1997

After Dr. Crawford is mutated into a monster, Spider-Man and Black Cat team up with Kraven to help her. Meanwhile, Dr. Curt Conners races to find an antidote.

Credits:
Written By: Meg McLaughlin
Music Composed By: Shuki Levy and Kussa Mahchi
Animation Services By: Toyko Movie Shinsha (TMS)
Guest Starring: Christopher Daniel Barnes as Spider-Man/Peter Parker, Gregg Berger as Kraven the Hunter/Sergei Kravinoff, Nina Talbot as Anastasia Hardy, Matthew Laborteaux as Flash Thompson, Susan Beaubian as Dr. Mariah Crawford/Calypso

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Review: The episode was somewhat unwelcome, but proved to be an enjoyable one. Kraven's return wasn't really needed considering he had already had a perfectly fine send-off earlier in the series. Kraven worked better as a hero in this series, rather than a villain. As a villain, he came off as a little corny, not exactly a threatening adversary for the wall crawler.

The best part of this episode is Spidey's characterisation. Still suffering from the loss of Mary Jane, he's now a bitter, broken man who is annoyed at The Black Cat's constant harassment of him, as she wishes to be a crime fighter like him. The episode is also pretty dark for this cartoon. Spidey's genuine lack of concern for The Black Cat was a surprise. Not how our hero usually acts.

The episode does do a nice job of moving a lot of the relationships on, however. Flash and Debra, Spidey and Black Cat, even Kraven and Mariah. It's actually one of the best episodes of season four. Not a difficult task, granted, but still, it does a great job with Spidey. The final scene with him and Black Cat was executed superbly, especially the accompanying score.

The ending was a nice turnaround, with Peter moving back in with Harry. Not everything is so bitter after all. While it was only a small scene, it plants the seed for some bigger stories down the road. A good note to end the episode on after Spider-Man's rough go of things lately.

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