Spider-Man Season 3 Review

https://youtu.be/SnEtDERtH2M

Episode Guide

Sins of the Fathers Chapter 1: Doctor Strange
Sins of the Fathers Chapter 2: Make a Wish
Sins of the Fathers Chapter 3: Attack of the Octobot
Sins of the Fathers Chapter 4: Enter the Green Goblin
Sins of the Fathers Chapter 5: The Rocket Racer
Sins of the Fathers Chapter 6: Framed
Sins of the Fathers Chapter 7: The Man Without Fear
Sins of the Fathers Chapter 8: The Ultimate Slayer
Sins of the Fathers Chapter 9: Tombstone
Sins of the Fathers Chapter 10: Venom Returns
Sins of the Fathers Chapter 11: Carnage
Sins of the Fathers Chapter 12: The Spot
Sins of the Fathers Chapter 13: Goblin War!
Sins of the Fathers Chapter 14: The Turning Point

Now in its third season, Spider-Man returns for another explosive season of frenetic action that dives much more deeply into Peter’s (Christopher Daniel Barnes) dual life as Spider Man and Peter Parker. There’s some really nice character progression this year too with one episode seeing Spider-Man contemplating whether to retire as a hero for good and others seeing a return of the prolific villains from seasons past. The deeper exploration of Peter’s personal life coupled with more villains and a much more direct overarching plot make the third season the best in the show’s history.

The story begins with Spider-Man reflecting on his recovery from the Man-Spider mutation last year. What follows are a series of episodes that explore Peter Parker’s continuous relationship with Mary-Jane Watson (Sara Ballantine) while developing several key villains in impressive fashion. Norman Osborne (Neil Ross) becomes a much more prominent figurehead this year and his descent into the maniacal Green Goblin is well written and ends with a truly shocking finale. Green Goblin isn’t the only character that stands out this year though, Eddie Brock’s (Hank Azaria) turn from villain to anti-hero as venom is one of the stand outs this year, especially during an impressive two part episode that sees various villains and heroes standing toe to toe together against the maniacal Carnage (Scott Cleverdon).

One of the biggest issues hanging over the series last year was the constant overcrowding of villains and frenetic pace of the series that did detract a little from the impact of the stories. Although there are still some mediocre episodes and a few instances of overcrowding characters into episodes, Spiderman’s third season manages to get the balance right with much more emphasis on growing characters rather than outright action.

The distinct colourful art style returns this year but with it, so do the shots of the CGI cityscape of New York used last year. These do stand out quite jarringly but thankfully the darker, more personal story line coupled with excellent characterisation for key villains is really what makes this the defining season in the web-crawler’s history. Spider-Man’s third season builds on the foundations set in the previous two seasons and delivers a confidently written, definitive season of animated entertainment that sees Spider-Man one of the most impressive animations from the 90s.