Spider-Man: The Animated Series Episode Reviews

Secret Wars, Part 3: Doom
Review and Media by Stu

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Episode #63 - Secret Wars, Part 3: Doom
Original Airdate - November 21st, 1997

Spider-Man and his newly formed team of heroes travel to New Latveria and find a civilization ruled by a just and fair Doctor Doom. While there, Doom offers Ben Grimm a device that allows him to switch from his Thing form to his human form and gains his trust. However, Reed is unconvinced and begins an attack against the Latverian ruler but is stopped by Doom's robots, and is held for treason along with the rest of the heroes. Left with no choice, Spider-Man and the Thing launch a campaign to free their friends only to find that Doom has gained new powers.. the Beyonder's!

Credits
Written By: John Semper, Mark Hoffmeier and Ernie Altbacker
Music Composed By: Shuki Levy and Kussa Mahchi
Animation Services By: Toyko Movie Shinsha (TMS)
Guest Starring: Christopher Daniel Barnes as Spider-Man, Robert Hayes as Iron Man, Joan Lee as Madame Web, Earl Boen as The Beyonder, David Hyter as Captain America, Iona Morris as Storm and Joseph Campanella as The Lizard, Tom Kane as Dr.Doom, Cam Clarke as Mr. Fantastic, Gail Matthius as The Invisible Woman, Quinton Flynn as The Human Torch, and Patrick Pinney as The Thing

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Review:
The final part to "Secret Wars" ends the arc on a high-note, ending better than it began! It's not all that faithful to it's comic book counterpart, true, but it's actually more entertaining, in my opinion. As with all "Secret Wars" episodes, the animation shined.

I especially like The Lizard here. It's no secret that he was a stand-in because they weren't allowed to use The Incredible Hulk, but I found that it was pretty convenient as it allowed the story to bring in more characters from Spider-Man's world and help ground Peter, even though they were fighting on an alien planet.

The main villain of the piece is finally unveiled - Dr. Doom! Spider-Man: The Animated Series treats him better than most other animated series. His voice, his design, his character - all of it is simply so much better than his appearances in other animated shows at the time. It's a shame we never got something of a follow-up. I'd love to see "Spider-Man vs. Dr. Doom - Part 2!"

Even though it was only a small moment, it's worth noting that this is, to my knowledge, the only time Spidey and the Human Torch have had an animated team-up. There was something odd about the FF here, they seem nothing like they are in their own cartoons, but that makes sense since John Semper has stated that he wasn't fond of their previous animated appearances. That said, Sue and Johnny have great designs, but Reed and Ben not so much.

"Secret Wars, Part Three" also has some of my favorite quotes in it:

Spider-Man: "Hold on Doom. We're not your pawns. Under that metal suit, you're just a very disturbed human being. You can't possibly control the God-like abilities you've stolen. You might place us all in great danger if you don't give that power up!

Dr. Doom: Do you take me for a fool? Who amongst you has ever wanted to give up your superpowers?

Spider-Man: I have. Because I've learned, time and time again, that with great power, there must also come great responsibility.

Best. Quote. Ever.

Unfortunately, as it's the case with this show sometimes, it's followed up with a really silly scene in which the heroes are about to be crushed by a mountain. It's almost embarrassing to watch, quite frankly.

Thankfully, we can push that out of our minds knowing that, all in all, the arc hits the landing here in the conclusion. Plus we get a great cliffhanger of what's to come!To know all that we've just watched was merely a test for Spidey made me wonder what was coming next when I first saw it.

And it doesn't disappoint, I'm happy to say.

Screenshots:

Part One