Marvel's Spider-Man: Maximum Venom "Spider-Man Unmasked, Parts 1-2" Talkback (Spoilers)

[RoyalRubble]

Catch a new hour-long episode of Marvel's Spider-Man, tonight starting at 9:00PM ET on Disney XD! The episodes will also be available on DisneyNOW before its debut on TV.

Marvel's Spider-Man: Maximum Venom "Spider-Man Unmasked, Parts 1-2"
Episode Debut - August 16, 2020

After Spider-Man’s friend is turned back into the rampaging Rhino by Swarm, Spidey is forced to battle for his life in the Underground Monster League contest. Meanwhile, he must also plead his case to the school board to prevent his biggest ally, Max Modell, from being fired as principal for carrying out a secret venom experiment.

*Yvette Nicole Brown (“Community”) guest stars as Head Administrator.

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[Kevin's]

Conor's knows spider-man's identity
And jackel is referred multiple times in the episode

 

[Pattern_Maker]

I already know this episode is going to be used as another reason to hate on Anya and Gwen, but I believe out of all the episodes this has been their strongest one and it redeems how they acted toward Peter during the Goblin Wars. I really loved how Anya said that she and Gwen wanted to protect Peter just as he wanted to protect them by keeping his identity as Spider-Man a secret from them.

So Connor's deduced that Peter was Spider-Man by eavesdropping on Miles, Gwen, and Anya.

Grady is developing a crush on Gwen...that was unexpected.

Those scenes with Mary Jane were just awesome. She's definitely giving off vibes of Spectacular MJ, just a more athletic take on her than other incarnations. I know Mary Jane is supposed to be drop-dead gorgeous, but I feel like changes like this, the Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon, and the PS4 game helps her relate to the current generation more. Don't get me wrong, Mary Jane has always been more than her looks in every media, it's just that it's interesting to see it not pushed to the viewer's attention by other characters when it's been done before.

So that line about Swarm targeting Miles specifically is a reference to the season one episode Ultimate Spider-Man. Swarm's voice actor is Alex Desert, who also voiced Jefferson Davis (Miles' father) in season one.

And so Connor's is a straight-up villain. Hey, at least Yuri Lowenthal is gaining good practice for when he might voice the Superior version of PS4 Spider-Man.

Spoiler

I think we all know by a certain voice actor listened in the credits who his associate has been all this time and props to everyone who kept their belief in the character returning.

 

[Comicman2014]

I'm calling it, Dr. Connors will either be redeemed or killed off in the final episode of the season. Keeping Curt alive will be problematic for Peter unless they give him a redemption arc or something. It will be a huge cop-out if Peter convince Dr. Strange to erase everyone's memories (except for his 3 friends). I hope they don't go that route and use magic to fix this problem.

Why do I get the feeling Swarm and Kraven will team up at some point and create a battle-to-the-death show together?

 

[Korra_Fan]

Between Gwen and Anya FINALLY knowing that Peter is Spider-Man, MJ getting another appearance, and you-know-who pretty much confirmed as the Big Bad that we'll be ending the show on, this was a great special. I hope they stick the landing over the course of the next two.

I already know this episode is going to be used as another reason to hate on Anya and Gwen

If so I'd have to ask WHY? They were 100% justified in their anger toward Peter. I've said for the longest time that if Peter was insistent on having a team where he let Miles, Harry and the late Otto Octavius know who he is, then the two female members deserved to know too. Him not letting them know out of some well-intentioned sense of chivalry / chauvanism was a bone-headed move that was always gonna come back to bite him. I don't fault Anya and Gwen's reactions at all.

 

[Frontier]

"Marvel's Spider-Man: Maximum Venom" now with even less Venom .

When has Peter let Miles down? I guess it'd have to be a school project, because he's never let him down as Spidey .

It's nice to see Tinkerer building more machines instead of being some kind of technopath or using a bunch of weapons .

I know Max is in trouble here and he doesn't deserve it, but...he has inadvertantly created a lot of Supervillains and trouble for Horizon through his management, so I can't say it's all completely off base .

It was nice to see Otto again, but I agree that relying on the testimony of a former Supervillain isn't the best idea, especially when said Supervillain was known for their duplicitous nature .

I love how we're not even pretending Toomes was anything close to the Green Goblin in season 2. They just keep calling him The Vulture and ignoring that whole Goblin King business .

Poor Aleksei. They keep using him as a plot device. He doesn't even get to be the main Rhino of the episode .

It's so weird seeing Doctor Connors as this smug, snide, bad guy. In any other Spider-Man show, Peter would be defending him of charges of being a danger to people .

When they announced Yvette Nicole Brown would be playing "High Administrator," I was expecting she'd be some high-end Supervillain type lady, but instead she's basically just an education official. I mean, it's always great hearing Yvette Nicole Brown, just not the role I imagined for her on this show .

So...what was Swarm's deal? I guess they were trying to be vague about it, right down to Spidey and Swarm joking about exactly what he is, but it seems kind of weird that they have this guy pop up and then get defeated without giving any kind of context behind him. Is he just some kind of amalgamation of a bunch of nanobot bees? A guy in a suit? He seems pretty human aside from decomposing into bees. I liked his design and Alex Desert's performance though .

Keep dreaming about Gwen, Grady. Probably have as much chance there as you do with New York's bee population .

How did Connors know? Did he really just figure it out from listening in on the kids? The only person who would know Peter is Spider-Man is Brock, but the show seems like they've dropped him .

It's a good thing they're legally binding that "trial" to prevent Peter's identity from leaking out, but I doubt that both Peter will be unable to be Spider-Man around Horizon and that Connors won't use knowing Peter's identity to his advantage .

I guess it was finally time for the girls to find out about Peter's identity. To be honest I'm surprised they never asked Miles if they cared so much, but I guess it matters more when it's someone they already know. Although they'll more readily believe Peter's a Goblin than they do that he's Spider-Man .

The show is finally bringing up the Jackal again after a season and a half of not dealing with him at all, even mentioning his relation to Gwen, which hopefully means they'll finally address the fact that he got away at the end of Spider-Island. Maybe he was behind Swarm too. If I had to guess, they'll assume Jackal is the "Big Bad" and deal with him next special only for the reveal of who the real villain is to come at the tail end of said special .

Y'know, I get Max was down in the dumps, but refusing to help Peter while his former students might be in danger was still a jerk move .

I...was not expecting to see Hammerhead's kid again .

I'm super happy we finally got some quality Peter and MJ interaction in this episode. I figured Mary Jane was the sporty type, which is a fun contrast to how Peter's utterly clueless when it comes to sports, but it's really nice to see Peter talk to and get the perspective of someone who isn't yet another super scientist. MJ actually gave him some good and helpful advice, and overall I thought their interaction was genuinely pretty cute. Best of all, she called him "Tiger" .

This is probably the most the Spidey Team has actually felt like a team, particularly this season. Of course in the end they all get brainwashed so Peter has to save the day, but same old same old .

Connors' boss is fairly obvious even before you look at the credits and see who's playing him, but it looks like the show is finally bringing things full circle with it's proper main villain. I just hope they stick the landing better here than they did with Toomes, because this has the potential to be major if they handle it right .

 

[Fone Bone]

Marvel's Spider-Man: Maximum Venom "Spider-Man Unmasked"

All throughout the episode I was like "Man, what is Connor's problem?!" He's easily the most loathsome character on the show, and someone who wants what's worst for everyone. I sincerely hope that by the time this season is done he's gotten his comeuppance.

Gwen and Anya are right to be mad Peter kept secret that he was Spider-Man. But as Anya noted by the bad jokes, they should have figured it out themselves. That's probably one of the reasons they were so mad. Because they felt like dummies.

I like Peter saying Swarm blew his mind by suggesting there is no difference between a man who can turn into bees and a swarm of bees who can turn into a man.

I liked the nice footage of Otto Octavius. Which Connors of course ruins. Because he sucks.

I didn't much like that. Connors is working my last nerve. **1/2.

 

[Comicman2014]

Not sure I can buy the school board members keeping Peter's identity a secret after all of this (assuming Connors dies or loses his memory). That female board member seems like an okay person. Not sure I trust the other two members.

I'm pretty sure super villains and monsters will still crash the school with or without Spider-man around. Weren't some of them after Horizon tech? When you make the best tech and gadgets in the world, criminals are going to steal them. Banning Spider-man from the school will not work.

 

[Dank]

Connors' boss is fairly obvious even before you look at the credits and see who's playing him, but it looks like the show is finally bringing things full circle with it's proper main villain. I just hope they stick the landing better here than they did with Toomes, because this has the potential to be major if they handle it right .

You have to wonder why Connors would still be loyal to him after everything that happened.

 

[Pattern_Maker]

You have to wonder why Connors would still be loyal to him after everything that happened.

That's what I'm hoping get's answered in one of the next two episodes. My only guess is that Unidentified Voice told Connor's that he would use the symbiote to regrow his arm. A parallel to Max wanting to use the venom symbiote to heal that friend mentioned in Web of Venom.

Now I wonder if Miles, Gwen, and Anya suiting up would count as Spider-Man protecting the school since that's technically a loophole.

 

[Kevin's]

How did Connors know? Did he really just figure it out from listening in on the kids? The only person who would know Peter is Spider-Man is Brock, but the show seems like they've dropped him .

Not just brock but we missed something in the spider land part 1 Norman saw Peter dumping stealth spider suit and he even stole Peter's bag with the suit and at the end when Harry refused to kill spider-man the one one person Harry hated the most in the past so no an might have suspected Peter is spider-man
So if norman is the main villain He could have known that way

If at all Norman on jackel or who ever it is dint really know peter was spider-man then we need to consider the secret history of venom into account where we were shown that venom is alive and has found a perfect host and revealed spider-man's identity to him

Speaking to history of venom the sisters created two weapons one of them was venom whom we have all seen but we never saw the second weapon trough out the vengeance episode

And in the episode Peter started the search for rhino but spider-man continued in web of venom spider-man accidentally showed in the school now that can't be possible unless he is a horizon student
But I wonder that Conor's in most of his phone calls mentioned about max and their plan but talked about spider-man only once but in the episode ending we see that Conor's was happy to hear that spider-man was not allowed in horizon and Conor's is the interim principal of the school which makes me wonder if it was all about the school there is something in the school (I belive) they need
I feel like Conor's is not exactly on the bad side we can say he is neutral because he never lied to head administrator and did not reveal spider-man's identity to others

I don't know why Peter did not ask Tony starks help to save max because he have been trough same circumstances with ultron but there was a positive result there vision like synthetic symbiote substitute here so stark would understand and definitely help max by giving a testimony about his work and No one denies starks testimony be cause he was the one in the episode stark expo that scientists are supposed to take risks

 

[Frontier]

Now I wonder if Miles, Gwen, and Anya suiting up would count as Spider-Man protecting the school since that's technically a loophole.

Unlike with Peter, they don't know who the other Spiders are (even though it should be immediately obvious who Ghost Spider is) so it's not like they can directly connect them to anyone or specifically Peter.

 

[RoyalRubble]

Pretty good episode overall. Swarm was a pretty good new villain and his Rhinos and Spiders were decent opponents. Connors' plot seems intriguing though I don't really care much for this version of the character, I wasn't expecting him to be this villainous without being the Lizard. It's an interesting change but I am more interested in seeing his boss and knowing more about his master plan this time.

It was nice seeing the rest of the Spider Team knowing who Spider-Man really is, and I think Gwen and Anya's reactions afterwards were understandable and appropriate enough. They did get a bit annoying, but again, I can see them being upset with Peter keeping this huge secret from them, especially from Gwen, all this time. Miles didn't really add much to the plot, though it seems Swarm did have a grudge against him personally so that is something I guess.

Max getting fired from Horizon was handled well enough. But I imagine we haven't seen the last of him. Same goes for the Head Administrator, it seemed like they were announcing this new character as a more major role but I could be wrong. Her knowing Spider-Man's true identity could also hint there will be more to this story. On a side-note, considering Yvette Nicole Brown voiced her, I was sort of reminded of Amanda Waller from DC Super Hero Girls (similar to how the Mayor from Beware the Batman reminded me of Waller from the DCAU, but I digress ).

I was pleased seeing MJ again, and her scenes with Peter were pretty nice. I am not sure what they'll do with her in the final episodes, but I am kind of glad she didn't even learn Peter's secret here. It's nice seeing Peter have some friends outside his super-hero life, however briefly they appear.

All in all, a pretty good episode that for once didn't feature anything related to symbiotes apart from some throw-away lines during Max's trial. I can't say I missed Venom and his kind though, the episode was fine and delivered a decent enough story.

 

[M.O.D.O.K.]

I liked this episode more than the last couple, but it still had some issues. Peter revealed his identity way too easily, especially since Connors had no actual proof that Peter was Spider-Man. He could've pointed out that assumption was made when Venom unmasked him, and he could even have Max, Gwen, and Anya to collaborate on that.

While I'm glad the show is more aware of Max's flaws, I can't honestly feel that bad for him. Connors isn't wrong that Max has headed reckless experiments that endangered others (didn't he fire Otto for that?). Plus, remember how childish and petty Max was towards Peter post-Superior? How he didn't bother to tell Peter his scholarship had limits until he could barely do anything to keep it? Peter is being a way better person to go this far for him, especially when he ends up still feeling sorry for himself and refusing to help Peter with the Rhino issue.

I'm also surprised Peter, or anyone really, never brought up Connors being the Lizard.

I'm mixed on Gwen and Anya's anger towards Peter. On one hand, he definitely should've told them by the Goblin Nation event. He had a perfect chance to do so and he didn't. On the other, why do they feel entitled to Peter's personal life, especially when they never revealed their secret identities to him? Why must Peter bear the burden of it all? Also, I remember how they assumed the worst out of him and thought he was a Goblin, and their only evidence was him being a jerk. I'd be questioning my friendships if I was on that spot.

Good things? Swarm was really fun. I liked his design and animation. It's also a villain you don't see often. I also continue to enjoy the little we got of MJ. This revamp of her as an athlete works way better than being a bland reporter or just being as awkward as Peter like in the MCU. She works as a nice break from his Horizon-bound angst. I also liked the championship idea, though I was expecting more cameos by animal-themed characters.

Not just brock but we missed something in the spider land part 1 Norman saw Peter dumping stealth spider suit and he even stole Peter's bag with the suit and at the end when Harry refused to kill spider-man the one one person Harry hated the most in the past so no an might have suspected Peter is spider-man

That's a great point and something that bothered me back in season one. It'd be cool if it actually got addressed this season.

 

[SweetShop209]

I'm not as familiar with Alex Desert's voice work, which made me think Swarm was voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson. He did well there.

Also, I like Jim Martin's work with Randy Cunningham and those Spiderman Flex shorts. It's good to see more of him here.

 

[Frontier]

While I'm glad the show is more aware of Max's flaws, I can't honestly feel that bad for him. Connors isn't wrong that Max has headed reckless experiments that endangered others (didn't he fire Otto for that?). Plus, remember how childish and petty Max was towards Peter post-Superior? How he didn't bother to tell Peter his scholarship had limits until he could barely do anything to keep it? Peter is being a way better person to go this far for him, especially when he ends up still feeling sorry for himself and refusing to help Peter with the Rhino issue.

Not to mention Max's decisions led to Toomes becoming the Vulture, Harry going to his dad's school, The Jackal targetting Horizon, and Otto becoming Doctor Octopus. He's almost as much of a trouble magnet as Peter is .

I'm also surprised Peter, or anyone really, never brought up Connors being the Lizard.

I was surprised it wasn't brought up since the first special once Peter met him. Even if it's a sore spot for Connors, you'd think at least one person would bring up something that major. The guy turned into an actual giant lizard monster .

Good things? Swarm was really fun. I liked his design and animation. It's also a villain you don't see often. I also continue to enjoy the little we got of MJ. This revamp of her as an athlete works way better than being a bland reporter or just being as awkward as Peter like in the MCU. She works as a nice break from his Horizon-bound angst. I also liked the championship idea, though I was expecting more cameos by animal-themed characters.

I just wish they'd actually explained more about him, but maybe they'll get to that when we address The Jackal and his experiments .

It's so refreshing having prominent character on this show whose characterization can't be summed up as "I love science!" She definitely feels more fun compared to other takes on MJ, especially the reporter ones .

 

[Comicman2014]

You guys think the Dr. Connors in this season is a clone created by Jackal? Maybe Jackal and Norman are working together. It would explain why Curt is so evil and smug.

 

[Frontier]

You guys think the Dr. Connors in this season is a clone created by Jackal? Maybe Jackal and Norman are working together. It would explain why Curt is so evil and smug.

Yeah, unless they just forgot about it it wouldn't make any sense for Connors to be so loyal to Obsorn after what happened with The Lizard unless there was some foul play involved.

 

[Pattern_Maker]

You guys think the Dr. Connors in this season is a clone created by Jackal? Maybe Jackal and Norman are working together. It would explain why Curt is so evil and smug.

A clone or mind control.

 

[Kevin's]

A clone or mind control.

It made me wonder when Conor's stole the seed in the end of vengeance of venom I think the venom symbiote is still alive controlling Dr Conor's and healing
This might me possible because venom increases our emotions so it might have increased anger in Conor's
I feel so because in the episode vengeance of venom we never saw venom only thing is hiding the symbiote invasion cause by telling it was because of killing venom
So title is not exactly appropriate
And how the hell did klintar came to know that venom is dead