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Alex writes...

1. Do you think Xanatos will ever form a club with Lex Luthor and Norman Osborn? I can't imagine he would find Bruce Wayne and Tony Stark fun for long :)

2. Regarding their wealth do you think Xanatos and Luthor are billionaires and Osborn was a multi millionaire in terms of wealth?

Greg responds...

1. I think we touched on this in one or two of the RadioPlays. You can check 'em out on YouTube. There are links in the Gargoyles Wiki.

2. I haven't done the math.

Response recorded on September 01, 2021

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EDWARD ASNER

So...

This is hard.

It's been a bit of a stressful weekend, as my father went into the hospital with chest pains. A stint that had been replaced last year had failed and was replaced again Saturday morning during an angioplasty. I've been concerned, worried. But the procedure seemed to go well, and he was set to go home today. We seemed to have dodged a bullet.

But there was a second gun.

I slept in today. I woke up to two pieces of news:

1. My dad was good. Solid. My sister picked him up at the hospital and took him straight to breakfast. (My mother was annoyed at not being included - but that's a whole other story.) He's home now. I've talked to him. He sounded cheerful. All good.

2. Ed Asner had passed away.

I spent most of the day doing laundry and other mundane tasks. Life goes on, right? It has to. But it's been difficult getting my head around the whole thing. I've gotten many calls and texts today, offering condolences as if I were part of the Asner family. Folks seem to know how close I felt to Ed. But I don't want to exaggerate. Ed was my friend. I hope he knew I was his, as well. But I haven't talked to him in at least a couple of years. (You can partially blame that on the pandemic, I suppose. There are a lot of people I've lost touch with. If anything, this is a reminder to GET in touch. And I'm going to make an effort to do that.) In any case, there are many, many people who knew Ed better than I did, who were closer to Ed than I was.

Nevertheless, at the risk of turning this post into my own self-aggrandizement, I am going to spend a few paragraphs here on the subject of the Ed Asner that I knew and loved.

I was a fan of Ed's long before I met him. Like many, many people, he first entered my awareness playing Lou Grant on The Mary Tyler Moore Show. (Later, I got a kick out of picking him out of reruns, where he usually played the heavy in such series as The Wild Wild West and others.) But as Lou, Ed was simply brilliant. One of the truly classic scenes in all of television is the scene in the TMTMS pilot, where Lou interviews Mary for a job. Do yourself a favor and view it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zj286uBKCu0

That scene had a major effect on me, even seeing it as a kid.

Now, having just rewatched it, the genius of the writing and the two performances still knocks me out. But there was something else about Lou and Mary. Watching their interactions was a bit like watching my parents. The connection in my mind between Lou and my dad was especially strong.

Ed and my father were two Ashkenazi Jews from the midwest. My dad was from Chicago; Ed, from Kansas City. They were gruff AND loving. They even had mannerisms in common. There was much more, I'm sure, that they DIDN'T have in common. But something connected the two men in my mind. And, meanwhile, my admiration for Asner as a performer knew no bounds. When I saw him in the Lou Grant series, in Rich Man, Poor Man, in Roots, that admiration only increased. When I learned of his activism - and the price he paid for it - that admiration shot through the roof.

Years later, when we had begun pre-production on GARGOYLES, I thought of Ed Asner - or of Lou Grant, at least - as the inspiration for Hudson. In fact, when we held auditions for the role, I wrote at the bottom of the character description that "Hudson hates spunk." This was, of course, a variation on Lou's classic line from the above job interview scene. Now, to be clear, I never imagined we'd get Ed to play the role. I figured he was way too big a star for us to land. But low and behold, a few days later, Ed came in to audition for the part. Later, he told me that when he read the character description, he was initially thrilled. The "Hudson hates spunk" line made him feel like he was a lock to land the role. Then a couple minutes later, he thought that if he didn't land the role it would really be awful. But of course, he immediately understood the character and nailed his audition... only for Jamie Thomason and I to throw him a curveball, asking him to do it again in a Scottish accent. He nailed that, too.

Working with Ed was a joy. He was fun and funny and so supportive. In addition to playing Hudson (and Burbank and Jack Danforth/Dane) on Gargoyles, I also cast him as recurring characters on Max Steel (Chuck Marshak), 3x3 Eyes (Grandpa Ayanokoji), W.I.T.C.H. (Napoleon the talking cat), Young Justice (Kent Nelson) and Rain of the Ghosts (Joe Charone). When casting Peter Parker's late Uncle Ben in The Spectacular Spider-Man, Ed was the only person I ever considered. He always brought so much to each and every role.

And more than that he was a great friend to me. After the first season of Max Steel, when I couldn't find a job for over a year and thought I might have to give up on my writing career, Ed was there, offering me support. We had lunch at Musso & Frank's. He looked at pictures of my kids out of my wallet and told me to laminate them. He introduced me to his son, Matt Asner, a producer. He didn't allow me to wallow in self-pity or to badmouth guys who I believed had done me wrong. He just reassured me that I had ability and would find my way through. He was, in essence, my work dad.

So today, as you might imagine, has been complicated. My dad is home and healthy. And Ed is gone. I'm grateful and sorrowful. And struggling. But life goes on. It has to, right?

Finally, I'm going to quote Hudson from Gargoyles. In "The Price," an episode that spotlighted the character, Ed as Hudson told Xanatos: "A friendly word of advice: True immortality isn't about living forever, man. It's about what you do with the time you have. When all your scheming's done, what will be your legacy, Xanatos?"

I think we all know that Ed Asner did amazing things with the time he had. And though we'll miss him dearly, his legacy is clear and shining.


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Kiddo writes...

Hey, thanks for hours of entertainment through your shows. I just recently finished watching the canon run of Gargoyles on DVD through the library (Me and a friend greatly enjoyed the journey, and had a lot of fun watching it!) after growing up on your other shows, like Young Justice and Spectacular Spider-Man. So, thank you, and as I’m new here, I’d figure I’d try and put a question that isn’t quite so... obvious.
Did Eliza’s palate change much after the Avalon World Tour?

Greg responds...

Um... sure.

Response recorded on August 17, 2021

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Akeem M. writes...

Hi Greg,

I know you are not the biggest fan of hypothetical questions, but I have a question regarding Spectacular Spider-Man that can be considered one. We all know about the untimely demise of the show, and the fact that you and the team had an outline of where you wanted the series to go. If Sony were to do animated movies in Spectacular's universe (as that seems to be the only feasible outcome at this time), would you continue with your plans as they were back when the show was running? Or do you feel that you would include some ideas from comics in the past decade while the show was off the air?

Greg responds...

Akeem, the reason I'm not a big fan of hypothetical questions is because there's no way for me to answer a hypothetical question like this. I DON'T CONTROL THIS STUFF. Given that simple fact (that fans don't seem to want to absorb), there are too many variables for me to answer. How do I know what I would do in the EXTREMELY unlikely event that this comes to pass? It depends on what my bosses want.

Response recorded on August 13, 2021

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Stephan Bowen writes...

Let me start out by saying that I have enjoyed your work on Young Justice and Spectacular Spider-man and anything that I have seen of your work. But my question may be a bit long and/or complicated (probably). So I have watched Spectacular Spider-man for as long as I can remember and enjoy it for what it is, but the way it ended has always made me want more. I have thoroughly looked at the guidelines for the question I am about to ask and couldn't find anything, but I would like permission to make a comic series (if I do) of Spectacular Spider-man. I wouldn't want money for it as for me it would be a hobby, if I were to make it I wouldn't want to harm the fame and attraction that it has gotten in recent years. From what I have heard you say in your Spectacular spider-casts and your interviews that I can source back to you, I have written down in notes and will try to follow as best as I could (at least in a stort standpoint). I'm not trying to disrespect you in any way, in fact it is quite the opposite actually. In essence if there were a season 3 and however far along I am in this (if I go through with it) I wouldn't expect you to (no other way to word this) be inspired by me (I guess) let alone read any of the comic(s). But I would love an answer, if you feel uncomfortable answering here you can email me (stephan.bowen13@gmail.com); in no way is this an endorsement, but I am young (19 yrs old) and am known to make decisions based on an idea

Greg responds...

What you're describing sounds like fanfiction to me. And I'm all for you doing that. And I don't imagine Marvel or Sony would object as long as you're not making any money off it. But I'd never be able to look at it for legal liability issues. In essence, it's none of my business.

Response recorded on August 12, 2021

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A Fan writes...

Hi Greg,
Since it's cancelation, you've shared a lot about what was planned for Spectacular Spider-Man. I was doing a rewatch of the series the other day and finally noticed Flash's sister during the hospital scene. I'm curious as to whether there was going to be some grand overarching narrative with her in later seasons, or if she was just in the scene to serve as window dressing?

Greg responds...

We had plans for EVERYONE.

Response recorded on August 12, 2021

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anonymous writes...

Do you think there is more hope of Spectacular Spiderman coming back after Tom Holland saved Spiderman in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He convinced Disney and Sony to negotiate over the rights for a 2nd time after Spiderman was temporarily off of the Marvel Cinematic Universe after the 1st negotiation. I think Spectacular Spiderman can come back if you help Disney, Marvel, and Sony negotiate over Spiderman TV rights again. If they see the success of the series you've worked in like Young Justice maybe through a portfolio or something, they could give it another shot. Tom Holland showed me that rights issues can be solved if we take action though that might've been because of the big bucks of the movies. Times are different now, maybe if you can help propose those companies to make a deal over the TV rights, they can accept it because it can be financially better for both companies to run something like that. Times are different with revivals nowadays like with Young Justice, companies care a lot about money so maybe you and other people can convince that it will financially benefit both companies. I really believe one day, the series will be revived.

Greg responds...

I don't help with negotiations. EVER. That's way above my paygrade.

(I don't even handle my own negotiations, frankly. My agent does that.)

And by the way, plenty of people have seen my successes on one show or another - and felt very, very free to ignore them. I am FAR from having the kind of clout that you're implying I have.

Response recorded on August 12, 2021

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Wei writes...

Thank you for your time and all the great series over the years.

Like other Spider-Man fans I feel it's unfortunate that it's unlikely for Spectacular Spider-Man to return due to legalities (would love to be proven wrong though).

However would you be willing to helm a new animated Spider-Man series for Marvel?

Greg responds...

In theory.

Response recorded on August 12, 2021

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Anonymous writes...

Hi, Greg Weisman! I was rewatching Spectacular Spider-Man, great show, and I was rewatching Intervention specifically. One thing that caught my eyes was the manager, Sullivan Edwards I believe, and I tried looking for a comic book or movie counterpart for him since in Amazing Fantasy #15 the manager is called Maxwell Shiffman. I found a Mr. Sullivan from Spider-Man 1, and a famous promoter in real life named Edward Sullivan, was the manager based on the SM1 character as a homage to the latter? Thanks!

Greg responds...

The name was an homage to Ed Sullivan, the newspaper and television personality.

Response recorded on August 12, 2021

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Andrew writes...

Were you involved with the creation of The Spectacular Spider-Man intro, and if so what involvement?

Greg responds...

That was mostly Vic Cook and Phil Weinstein, as I recall. Plus The Tender Box, who wrote and produced the show's theme song. But I did have input.

Response recorded on July 26, 2021

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FallenLegend writes...

Hey greg I got one question for spectacular spiderman.

This is something I've always wondered in every version of Venom.

Why did the symbiote covered Peter's face like a "normal mask", but then started to show the scary teeth and the jaw when he became bonded with Eddy?

Thank you, Greg!

Greg responds...

Each relationship was symbiotic. Take from that what you will.

Response recorded on July 26, 2021

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Charlie writes...

1. Is there an in-universe reason that Peter Parker doesn't try to join the Fantastic Four or really think about them at all? I understand they're celebrities who deal with unspecified "cosmic threats," but assuming the Baxter Building exists and is in New York I can't imagine why Peter wouldn't think himself at least worthy of their time. Reed Richards has a nearly god-level intellect and Sue Storm's force manipulation abilities have near-unlimited potential, but Spider-Man is at least in the same league as Johnny Storm and Ben Grimm, right?
2. Why is Kraven working with Doctor Octopus in "Gangland," as evidenced by Doc Ock trying to call him on his comm?

Greg responds...

1. We had a definite plan (before scripts were written) to introduce Johnny Storm as Spidey's frenemy in Season One. And then move their story forward from there. But we weren't allowed to use Johnny or any of the FF, so we abandoned that.

2. They seemed sympatico.

Response recorded on July 26, 2021

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SLI writes...

Hello,

Like many people, I watched Spider-Man Into the Spider-Verse recently and found it delightful (don't worry though, SpecSpidey will always be my favourite rendition of the character).

Into the Spiderverse was very clearly a Sony production and not a Disney one, which I take to mean that while Sony gave Disney back the rights to making animated Spider-Man shows, that clearly does not apply to animated Spider-Man films, at least not at the moment.

1) Does that mean that the SpecSpidey art/story assets would be usable by Sony in a film?

2) Could this realistically mean that if a future "Into The Spiderverse" sequel or spin were made and more "Spider-verses" were introduced (which seems like an obvious next step for them), that we could see SpecSpidey as one of those spider-verses?

Given that they brought spider-man noir into 3D space and somehow made that work, I don't imagine they'd struggle with SpecSpidey's art style, if it came to that.

After all, they were willing to bring in the 1967 cartoon as one of their alternate universes, though hopefully in the case of SpecSpidey they'd take it a bit more seriously, perhaps by bringing in Josh Keaton and a writer or two from the original show...?

Greg responds...

1. I don't know, but I doubt it's that simple.

2. I don't know, but I tend to think it unlikely.

One can dream...

Response recorded on July 26, 2021

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Hammerhead writes...

Hey Greg, rewatched Spectacular Spiderman on Blu-Ray and it was great! Two questions:
1. In the episode when the Sinister Six first appear, Toomes wipes some stuff on the prison walls before they escape while bringing Sandman and Rhino their food. What is he doing?
2. In the episode where Norman auctions off his specs for Rhino mercs, there's a moment where Hammerhead headbutts Rhino a couple of times and I think I only noticed it this time because of the blu ray quality, but there's specks of red that appear where Hammerhead hits Rhino in the face. Is that blood??

Greg responds...

1. I honestly don't remember. I'd have to watch it again.

2. Might be. Again, it's been a lot of years. I don't remember. Sorry.

Response recorded on July 26, 2021

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Anonymous writes...

did you know that your show is awesome?

Greg responds...

I kinda feel like it's awesome. It is to me, at least. It's the kinda show I would like to watch. But I'm happy to have you and others confirm that. Very happy.

Um... which show are we talking about?

Response recorded on July 26, 2021

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B writes...

In https://www.s8.org/gargoyles/askgreg/search.php?qid=22687, where Mo asked "I just rewatched spectacular spiderman and I feel there were a few bits inspired by the Rami trilogy, is that true?" and you said "Since I don't know what the Rami trilogy is, I'm gonna say no.", they must have been referring to the original trilogy of Spider-Man films starring Tobey Maguire and directed by Sam Raimi. The Raimi trilogy.

Greg responds...

Oh, I get it. In that case, the answer is definitely yes. Sorry I misunderstood.

Response recorded on July 23, 2021

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Jacob Levy writes...

Hello Greg,

Congrats on your amazing work on Spectacular Spider-Man, Garoyles, and upcoming season of YJ.

In Spectacular Spider-Man, Uncle Ben dies in the late spring/early summer. Since Season 3 would have taken place during that time period, were there plans either to acknowledge or have an episode centered around the one-year anniversary of Uncle Ben's death.

Thanks again for creating a fantastic series that will hopefully return someday and best of luck with Young Justice.

Sincerely,
Jacob

Greg responds...

Thank you.

1. Sure.

Response recorded on July 14, 2021

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Christopher Rosa writes...

Dear Greg Weisman,

This is Christopher Rosa again. I sent you a message before, and like I said before I'm a big fan of the shows you work on and write for, in particular The Spectacular Spider-Man cartoon. But a part of me feels that you handle Flash Thompson wrong, a part of me feels to that Flash was becoming nice and befriend Peter too fast. I dislike it in the comics that Peter had to accept Flash's bullying because if he tried to fight back he could really hurt him. Though in the cartoon Flash never physically attacks Peter and instead mostly calls him names and pranks him, I feel by Peter easily forgiving Flash like that it was saying that it was ok for Flash to bully Peter. I just wish you show Peter standing up to Flash more, maybe Peter didn't have to fight Flash but he could have stood up to him and told him "I'm not letting you push me around anymore" or he could have told a teacher. But then again, each season only has 13 episodes and there may have not been enough time with that with Peter's life as Spider-Man and social life. That is what I feel, and also me and a friend talk and he told me of an idea of someone telling off Flash and telling him how hypocritical it is for Flash to worship a hero whose example he doesn't have the character to follow in his own life. What do you think of that idea and what I just said?

Greg responds...

I think you have a good point, but our version of the Flash/Peter relationship was more complex than what you're suggesting. They have a history that goes back long before any bullying. Their friendship as little kids was altered by the death of Peter's parents, which scared Flash. Had we had more episodes, we would have explored this in more detail.

Response recorded on July 14, 2021

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Olivier Ouimet writes...

So it's been like almost 10 years and I just watched season 1 and 2 of The spectacular Spider-Man and well you probably know where i'm going with this but this would mean a lot to so many people. I was heartbroken by the ending wich wasn't an ending and I'm 17 and this is a kids show sort of and I just had so many feelings. So much was planned for season 3 and 4 just thinking about it... So as there been anything new? Please tell us.

Greg responds...

There has not. Wish I could say otherwise, but there's not likely to be.

Response recorded on July 14, 2021

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Matt B writes...

I was wondering about Jean Dewolff's change from captain to patrolman and Italian American (I think) to Native American. I like the changes but am curious about the thought process behind them.

Also, what people was Jean from?

Also, does she know Elisa Maza? I'm guessing that Native American NYC cops are a small sorority.

Also, Jean and a few other characters (EG Gwen, Captain Stacy) die in the comics. I won't ask names because of spoilers, but were you planning on some character deaths if the series had continued?

Thanks, and i hope you get to follow up on SSM and Gargoyles someday. I really mss those shows. At least YJ is coming back!

Greg responds...

1. We had long-term plans for Jean, which necessitated her starting as a patrolwoman.

2. We were looking to increase diversity in the show, and the name DeWolff suggested a nice fit with Native American.

3. Never worked it out. Guess I'd lean toward Inupiat and French Canadian/Cree (Metis) ancestry, which matches her voice actor, Irene Bedard. (Or so Wikipedia tells me.)

4. Let's assume that in the Gargoyles Meets The Spectacular Spider-Man Meets Young Justice Universe that they do.

5. No spoilers.

Response recorded on July 12, 2021

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Max writes...

Hey, Greg. If you could do your own personal take on the Spider-Man mythos as a TV series (not like Spectacular. I mean a wholly original concept built from scratch.), what would it be like? With new origins for the villains and all that...

Greg responds...

Sorry, but I've done that, and it IS Spectacular. I'm not looking to reinvent the wheel with an existing property. I'm looking to do the best version of that property that I can manage.

Response recorded on July 12, 2021

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Elliot writes...

What can we do to have Disney marvel and Sony’s attention to bring back spectacular spider-man

Greg responds...

Request that they air the show on Disney+, maybe? But honestly, I think it's a virtual contractual impossibility for it to come back. So don't get your hopes up.

Response recorded on July 09, 2021

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Crummy writes...

Just want to say first I fell in love with spectacular spiderman when it aired on teletoon years ago, and recently I rewatched season 1 and 2. Now that I've rewatched it I've become more invested in the characters and I want to know why gwen and peter never had a true relationship, every episode I was wishing for it to happen and it never did. I just want to know if peter and gwen ever did have a relationship in this universe or not after season 3. Thank you for making my childhood great.

Greg responds...

No spoilers. Sorry.

Response recorded on July 09, 2021

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Nathan Scott writes...

Hay greg big fan of your work I was wondering if you could explain to me why you used a mouthlay format for young justice and spectacular spider man.

Greg responds...

I'm assuming "mouthlay" is a typo, but I can't quite figure out what it's replacing. The closest I can come up with is "monthly," but I don't understand what "monthly format" might mean. Sorry.

Response recorded on July 09, 2021

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Alark writes...

As another question , have you heard about the new Spider-Man PS4 video game coming out, what are your thoughts on it? Thank you very much for your time.

Greg responds...

I don't know anything about it.

Response recorded on July 09, 2021

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Anonymous writes...

Hey, Congratulations with Young Justice Season 3! I wanted to ask you a question and how that would have affected the Spectacular Spider-man world. There has been a lot of debate over what kind of scientist Peter Parker is in the comics. In the original Ditko run clearly studied Chemistry, Until ASM #22, when he says: “I wonder if I should specialize in Biochemistry or Physics”. After Ditko left the title, Romita came in and according to the Marvel Handbook, he studied Biophysics. After that, it became a mess, he became Biochemistry researcher, a Chemistry Teacher, Engineer for Horizon Labs, CEO of Parker Industries (with a PHD in Physics) and more recently, the Daily Bugle’s Science Editor. So my question is, what kind of Science he would have studied while in college in the show and what is your opinion about what kind of science major he is in the comics?

Greg responds...

At the high school level, Peter was interested in everything science.

At the Conners' lab, he was studying bio-chemistry.

What he would have ultimately majored in, in college, is a spoiler.

Response recorded on July 09, 2021

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Paulo writes...

Hey, I want to know, what is Tombstone origin story? Is he just albino, like in the comics, or is there something that happened to him, like in Spider-Man Animated Series?

It would be something that would be explored in the future?

Greg responds...

No spoilers. Sorry.

Response recorded on July 09, 2021

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Lewys Tapscott-Nott writes...

How do you plan out a story Spider-Man?

Greg responds...

I'm not Spider-Man.

But basically, there's no difference in planning a Spidey story than planning a story for any show. It involves a lot of index cards, moving beats around until it gels.

Response recorded on July 09, 2021

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Emily The Disney Fan writes...

Hello again Mr. Weisman!

I know you've made Radio Plays of Cross overs with Gargoyles, Spider-Man, and Young Justice! Which leads me to this Question if you don't mind!

Is There by chance any Other Particular Disney Animated Series, Like The ones from Disney Channel or any other the other Disney Afternoon shows, That you would like to Cross Over with 'Gargoyles'?

Greg responds...

W.I.T.C.H., probably.

Response recorded on July 02, 2021

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Anon writes...

Hey, Greg. Love the Spectacular Spiderman and I've noticed some visual references to the Raimi films(quite a few actaully) but I'm sure there are many more that i missed. Can you point them out besides those?:
Pic in the bugle of spidey stiking to a wall like he does in Spiderman 1 festival parade, Him swinging in the like in, landing on the train and jumping on the building twards the train like in Sm2, the arms binding to doc ock's back, spidey throwing a piece from the highscool fountain like he throws that piece of clock at doc ock in 2, falling airfight with venom in the highscool like the one at the building site in 3.

Greg responds...

There's no way I remember all the references. Not even sure if I'M aware of all the references, since our board artists and directors may have also slipped some stuff in there.

Response recorded on July 02, 2021

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BattleBeast writes...

Greetings Greg, as a fan you and your shows I have to ask.
If you could combine Spectacular Spider-Man with Young Justice (or just Marvel and DC in general), what do you think Spider-Man's relationship with each member of The Team and Justice League would be like?
For example:
1) Who would be his best friend on the team?
2) Who would be his Love interest?
3) Who would be his Justice League Mentor?
4) Which YJ villain would be his rival?

Greg responds...

Check out our Gargoyles meets the Spectacular Spider-Man meets Young Justice convention Radio Plays on Youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ggu7lSMXOnM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZ9Q4LJ3Lbk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opxWHewfkiA

Response recorded on July 02, 2021

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Chris writes...

Hello Greg.

I know you don't work for Disney, but regarding their upcoming streaming service and Spectacular Spider-man, I am curious about something. Assuming they would want to add the show, could they or would they be unable to since Sony still holds the show's rights.

Greg responds...

I don't know. But to my knowledge, they haven't added it.

Response recorded on July 02, 2021

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Jared. L Powell writes...

What has it been like to work on so many different show that so many people remember fondly?
What was your favorite show to work on out of all of them?

Greg responds...

1. It's very cool, honestly. Though, if I'm being even more honest, I do wish that I'd been able to make more of fewer series than so many different series.

2. Choosing between my "children" is not something I tend to do. Ultimately, I truly enjoyed working on Gargoyles, WITCH, The Spectacular Spider-Man and Young Justice as a writer-producer. And although it was never "my" show, the writing team on Shimmer & Shine were such great people, that I truly loved working with them on it.

Response recorded on July 02, 2021

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Dakota writes...

Mr. Greg Weisman. I just wanna say that I loved spectacular spiderman, gargoyles (as a very young kid) and young justice. Spectacular and young justice have become my favorite cartoons of all time! You sir are awesome and so are your shows

Greg responds...

Thank you so much for your kind words. I'm thrilled you like our stuff!

Response recorded on July 01, 2021

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Chris writes...

Hello Greg. I am curious about Spectacular Spiderman. I know that you have other upcoming projects to focus on, but if Sony were to completely reliquensh all rights for the Webhead including the series and Marvel acquired them, do you believe there would be a chance for you to conclude the series as you planned?

Greg responds...

That's such a huge hypothetical, that I don't know how to respond... beyond saying that I personally would be willing to continue the series in the EXTREMELY UNLIKELY event that all the stars aligned to give me the chance.

But it doesn't conclude. It never concludes.

Response recorded on July 01, 2021

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Warren writes...

First of all, I wanted to say I'm a huge fan of your work on the shows Rebels and Spectacular Spider-Man. Now, I wanted to ask what was the reason behind Eddie Brock's look in Spectacular? I always thought he stood out from the rest of characters somehow. I'd greatly appreciate if you could go as in depth as possible. Thanks for giving us such masterpieces and have a merry christmas.

Greg responds...

I'm really not sure what you mean. He was designed by Cheeks Galloway, just like all the major characters. What seems different to you?

Response recorded on June 29, 2021

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Mohammad writes...

Hey Greg,
I hope all is well~ <3
I just finished The Spectacular Spider man and I can't sleep anymore, my heart aches because of how the show was left off, especially when I enjoyed it so much. It just fills me with negative emotions every time I look at one of Disneys Spiderman cartoon shows knowing well enough that it won't ever be as good as Spectacular Spiderman. I know I won't get any closure no matter what I do. But I do have questions.
My few questions are:
1) How much of Spectacular Spiderman did you write after the end of season 2?
2) Were any of season 3 of Spectacular Spiderman episodes animated?
3) Will you ever work on another Spiderman animated series? Or any other marvel super hero cartoon show?
I just want to add that the way Spectacular Spiderman was created, it was amazing. The character development, the fight scenes, the drama, and of course, the theme song. They were all just perfect. I enjoyed the series greatly but anxiety kept getting stronger every time an episode ended.

Thank you so much for The Spectacular Spiderman, it was great~ <3

Greg responds...

1. None. We had plans. But we wrote no scripts. Did no real work.

2. There were no Season Three episodes.

3a. I'd love to, but it's not up to me.

3b. Ditto.

Thanks for your kind words.

Response recorded on June 29, 2021

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Greg Bishansky writes...

Lately I've been thinking of a villain trope that is decades (if not centuries) old. The maniacal laugh or the evil laugh. When used properly, I love it. When not, it can be hammy, over the top, and out of character.

Several of the villains you've written over the years have used it, and many haven't.

Off the top of my head, Thailog comes to mind first. And I wouldn't want Thailog without it. Granted, I sometimes wonder where he picked it up. It definitely wasn't from Xanatos. And while Sevarius might be hammy, I don't recall him doing it.

Hyena also has a maniacal laugh, and given her name (and personality) it definitely suits her.

The Archmage had a maniacal laugh.

Demona laughed maniacally three or four times. But it's not a trait we normally associate with her.

And let us not forget the Green Goblin in "Spectacular Spider-Man". I think he was the only villain on the show to have one. Likewise, I recall Nerissa doing it on "W.I.T.C.H." at least once.

The Joker aside, I do not recall any of the villains on "Young Justice" doing it. Any of them. Maybe I'm misremembering, it's been a while since I watched through the show, but I am struggling to remember and coming up blank.

Which leads to me to ask. Is the maniacal laugh a dated relic? Especially as we expect supervillains to be more sophisticated in our dramatic fiction, superhero or otherwise.

For example, in "Transformers", the classic Megatron used to laugh maniacally all the time. All the time. More modern takes on Megatron have done away with the maniacal laugh.

I love it, don't get me wrong, but should villains still be doing it. If we ever get more "Gargoyles", I definitely want Thailog to continue doing it. But, had Thailog made his debut in the year 2017, would I still want him doing it?

You have gotten the chance to create your own great supervillains as well as write many of the classic and iconic supervillains. Right now, what are your thoughts on the villainous laugh?

Greg responds...

I haven't exactly studied this issue.

I use it when it feels right in terms of character and situation. Obviously, some characters have more of a sense of humor about what they do than others.

Not all villainous laughs qualify as "maniacal" in my book either.

I would never outlaw the practice, but I think I do use it sparingly, both to avoid silliness and to make it special if and when we do use it.

Response recorded on June 29, 2021

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Dave writes...

Regarding Spectacular Spider-Man (I don't know if you still take these questions but I'm gonna try), I've seen reviewers talk about how season one talks about Consequences, while season two is about Change and maturity, I would only like to know if there is some sort of pattern to these themes, like if both of them are part of stages of some sort of human development or anything, and also what themes would you like to have incorporated in the following seasons.

I don't know if this is a previous answered question but after searching through the archives I wasn't able to find one.

Thank you, love all your work and hope you have a good day.

Greg responds...

The fact that reviewers talk about something doesn't mean it matches with our intent.

I'd say Consequences, Change and Maturity are themes of both seasons, and would have been themes of any other seasons, had we gotten to make them.

The major theme of the entire series was "The Education of Peter Parker". Individual arcs had their own themes, too. Biology, Economics, etc.

Response recorded on June 28, 2021

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Josh writes...

Hi Greg. When Uncle Ben appeared in Peter's mind to help him fight the symbiote, was that Peter's mind manifesting as someone he loved, or was Uncle Ben really helping Peter from beyond the grave?

Greg responds...

The former.

(Or so we've been led to believe!!!!)

Response recorded on June 28, 2021

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FallenLegend writes...

Hey there it's me again. Sorry for asking so many things, but I admire your writing and love your shows.

I have two questions regarding your storytelling techniques.

First How do you manage to always see up us guessing? I know you're very protective on spoilers. But I mean, how do you plan these seeds of questions in our minds?

I have a lot of questions you won't answer because they are spoilers. But how do you manage to make us want to know in the first place.

Your questions are like Hydra. Whenever you answer a question we have as fans (like who are the members of the light) two more questions take their place.

Second

I've heard you mention that you would do series forever if you could. But how would you do that with licensed properties?

Specially after you said you do like characters growing.

Sure with Gargoyles you said you could keep the story after Goliath dies and sure you could make a lot of villains and plots. We already got Alexander Xanatos in the future for one.

But what about Spectacular Spiderman? by season 2 you had already introduced like 90% of his most famous villains. How could you've kept things fresh without creating original characters?

And with Young justice, not complaining about time skips, but eventually all of them will become adults right? Wouldn't you be running out of teenage superheros by time skipping?

I know you're skilled writer. But it seems like theres no way on making these lost longer and keep character growing without creating new characters that aren't part of the franchise.

I'm very curious. Thank you greg!

Greg responds...

1. Planning, I guess. (If I'm understanding your question correctly.) We block out our stories beat by beat over an entire season. Some of it's instinct, I suppose. A lot of it is experience. But our rule of thumb is if it intrigues us, it might just intrigue our audience.

2. The DC Universe has been going for over 80 years. The Spider-Man corner of the Marvel Universe has been going for almost 60. No one's run out of characters yet. And as I believe YJ proves, you can age your original leads and still constantly intro new young leads as you go. (We're not even vaguely close to running out of young heroes that are canon to DC.) If anything, I think our audience is sometimes annoyed that we don't focus enough on existing characters and keep introducing more.

Response recorded on June 28, 2021

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Adam Ahmed writes...

Hello Mr. Weisman,
I just watched Spiderman Homecoming, and many incidents within the movie reminded me A LOT of your beautiful work of the Spectacular Spiderman. I re-watched the entire series again! I love the action, comedy, irony, romance implemented in the series! Needless to say all of us fans of spidey are disappointed of the circumstances, but I want to how will us fans of your work move on from it since we want to see this series revive again? Literally all I see on YouTube are clips from the series and viewers commenting how much they want it back ( and so do I..I am even cried). And also how are your colleagues ( crew members) from Spectacular Spiderman series are doing?
I just want to thank you for creating such an amazing show back in 2008 as many more writers are inspired from your work, and I hope and I hope there will many more work from you

Greg responds...

Hey, Adam, thanks for all the kind words. I think, universally, most of the SpecSpidey cast and crew misses the series. We recently did a reunion podcast you might enjoy:

https://anchor.fm/the-geek-buddies/episodes/The-Spectacular-Spider-Man-Reunion-Interview-with-Josh-Keaton--Vanessa-Marshall--Greg-Weisman--Victor-Cook-and-Sean-Galloway-eifolk

Response recorded on October 27, 2020

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Jack Carpenter writes...

1: Does Peter Parker ever grab fast food/something from a convenience store/food stand/whatever, while in costume?

2: What are the eyepieces of his suit made of? Are they lenses like in all the pre-MCU movies? Mechanical irises like the MCU? Just cloth?

Greg responds...

1. Rarely.

2. Spectacularum. Or is it Spectacularite? I always mix up those two.

Response recorded on October 22, 2019

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Sam Palmer writes...

Hi Greg, big fan of your work and excited for the new season of Young Justice after quite a break.
Now for the questions:
If you could magically pick another one of the shows you've worked on to bring back, but could only pick one, which would it be?
2. Why this one? Unfinished stories, fond memories of working in it, etc?
3. Realistically, considering factors such as all the politics, the fan base, etc, in your opinion which show would you say would be most likely to come back (even if it's a one in a million chance) and which is the least likely?

Greg responds...

1. Gargoyles would be my first choice.

2. All of the above. It's still my baby.

3. Gargoyles is most likely, especially with it appearing soon on the new Disney+ streaming service. Spectacular Spider-Man is the least likely, as the contractual problems between Disney, Marvel and Sony make it nearly impossible.

Response recorded on October 17, 2019

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John Doe writes...

Hey Greg. I have a few questions.
1) I've read somewhere that you stopped reading comics all together in the mid 90s. Not asking why as you've already abetted that but rather did that ever stop. The abstaining from comics that is for lack of a better word. I assume that you've picked up a read a comic every now and then since you quit obviously but was there a time where you went back consistently?
2) How do you determine when you will answer questions. I tend to check this site maybe once a month and sometimes I'll be back and you've answered dozens of questions, a lot of the times in one day. Other times you'll haven't answered a question in weeks. Is it just as simple as whenever you have free time and want to our is there some uniquely complicated schedule that you follow. (The question sounded more silly as I continued.)
3) Do you consider yourself to have a dry sense of humor. I've been told I do and I find some of your replies downright hilarious that to others might seem to come off as blunt. Or on the contrary are you just more of very blunt person.
4) Can you explain the little joke you do every time someone asks you who would win what fight and you reply with that quote about the hulk and the thing.

Greg responds...

1. I started reading comics again when I started working on The Spectacular Spider-Man (around 2007, I think) after about a decade break. By the time Marvel did a soft reboot after Secret Wars in 2015, I was reading nearly everything in their line, in part because I was also writing Starbrand & Nightmask for Marvel. Plus I was reading all their Star Wars Books, in part because I was also writing Star Wars Kanan for Marvel and Lucasfilm. Both those books were cancelled, and Marvel no longer had any work for me. And then the third season of Young Justice began, right about the same time as DC did its own soft reboot with Rebirth. I started reading everything in the DC line at that point, edging out any free time I had for Marvel for the time being. I've continued to read the entire DC line (with very few exceptions) ever since. I'm about three or four months behind in my reading, but I'm still purchasing everything and reading as fast as I can manage.

2. It's just when I have time. Ideally, I try to answer five questions every weekday, but there are some days (many days, really) when even that is impossible. And then there are some (rare) days when I find myself with free time, and I just go to town on the queue.

3. I like to think I have a dry sense of humor. Certainly when I write. My verbal humor may be goofier or more sarcastic or whatever. I may also be blunt. The two things aren't mutually exclusive.

4. I think it's fairly self-explanatory. "Hulk vs. Thing, who would win?" is one of the oldest fan questions in comics. It's all situational, and the question - and those like it (including most hypotheticals) - just doesn't interest me. Fans can decide that sort of thing for themselves. They don't need me to weigh in.

Response recorded on April 30, 2019

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Emeka Uzoh writes...

The Spectacular Spider-Man is my favourite TV series of all time because I liked how it focused on Spider-Man and Peter Parker's early years as a teenager trying to learn how to balance his dual life and also deal with the usual things that teenagers go though.

1. Have you seen Spider-Man:Homecoming?

2. I wanted to know when you were making TSSM did you want people to fall in love with the original Stan Lee/Ditko and John Romita Snr run?

3.What is your favourite run of Spider-Man comics?.

Greg responds...

1. Yes.

2. Yes.

3. Lee/Ditko and Lee/Romita Sr.

Response recorded on April 24, 2019

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DeAngelo Hill writes...

Why don't you have Spectacular Spider-Man in your Twitter Bio? I'm sorry I'm such of fan of the show, And I know you had something to do with it's success being behind the scene s

Greg responds...

I was a showrunner, story editor, writer, producer and voice actor on the series, and I'm very proud of it. You'll see an image from it on my profile page, fully as large as Young Justice, Gargoyles and Star Wars Rebels. So I'm hardly shying away from promoting my involvement in it. As for the bio, "The Spectacular Spider-Man" just takes SO many characters to type, there wasn't room for it.

Response recorded on April 24, 2019

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Mo writes...

I just rewatched spectacular spiderman and I feel there were a few bits inspired by the Rami trilogy, is that true?

Greg responds...

Since I don't know what the Rami trilogy is, I'm gonna say no.

Response recorded on January 09, 2019

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Dorkpool writes...

I have a question regarding Spectacular Spider-Man:
Were there ideas you had that you couldn't do for the show or had originally planned but ended up changing? And no, I'm not asking a "what would you have done for season 3" kind of question. It's more of wondering what original ideas you had for seasons 1 and 2, if those ideas ended up changing or pretty much stayed the same from development to screen, and what they were.

Greg responds...

I've talked about this before. We had plans to use Kingpin and Johnny Storm - and weren't allowed to use either for legal reasons. We reordered a couple things, i.e. saved Kraven for Season Two and moved up Electro. But otherwise, we pretty much did what we set out to do.

Response recorded on May 17, 2018

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Jack Carpenter writes...

In Spectacular 201, who were those... two... random guys with the tire iron on the bridge who tried to attack Mysterio? I didn't really think about it before, but in hindsight, they seem kind of random. Just... two guys, on a bridge, with a tire iron, and a loudmouth dude in a flashy costume shows up, if I recall hasn't actually done anything YET that they've seen, and they just decide to have a go at him.

I though maybe they were the security detail for the TriCorp shipment, but they have neither guard uniforms nor guns.

This is obviously a really tiny, unimportant thing, but... I don't know, it really stood out to me.

Greg responds...

I think it's just clear to these guys that Mysterio is the one who's held up traffic. They're New Yorkers. It ticked them off.

Response recorded on April 09, 2018

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Big Choc Choc writes...

Would you come back for a Season 4?

Greg responds...

Of what?

(But pretty much the answer is always yes.)

Response recorded on April 05, 2018

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A Fan writes...

Greg,

Spectacular Spider-Man ended it's run on November 18th, 2009. It is June 23rd, 2017 as I'm writing this. To put it simply, it has been a while and with the show's successor Ultimate Spider-Man already completed it's run I was wondering if your opinions on the third season had changed. I know that previously you had said that ideas are only as good as their execution, and that you believed that without a show there was no point in spilling your ideas across the internet. I'm asking if you'd ever consider changing your mind and revealing these ideas, at least some of them (perhaps for the show's ten year anniversary)? Normally I would never ask such a question, I want to make it clear that my intention is not to pester or offend you. You are one of the most brilliant creators out there and your execution of ideas is incredible. But I feel I should at least ask. Due to the arrangements between Marvel and Sony changing it is my understanding that Marvel can never revive the series because Sony holds the rights to that particular version of the character. Why pay to use that Spider-Man when Marvel can make their own and milk it for cash? I would be disappointed but I would respect your decision if you choose to hold onto to these ideas, I know your intention is not to hold these ideas over our heads forever. I'm sorry if this question annoys, offends or warrants any negative response from you. I am not only a fan of the series but a fan of your work and that is not my intention.

Thanks for the great two seasons of the series and everything you've done since then.

Greg responds...

I'm not annoyed or offended in the slightest. And, no, my intent is not to hold my ideas over anyone's head. But I'm afraid I'm sticking to my sense that ideas minus their execution aren't worth much and are subject to a ton of second-guessing. I've learned that the hard way. So I'm going to decline. Sorry.

BUT NOT ANNOYED OR OFFENDED, I PROMISE! :)

Response recorded on March 16, 2018

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Alex Costa writes...

Hi Greg, hope you're doing good.

How old would Johnny Storm, Cyclops and Beast have been in the SpecSpidey universe relative to Peter (if you could have used them)? Would they have been 16 too?

Greg responds...

I didn't fix ages for characters I was not allowed to use, i.e. it never got that far. But they definitely would have been on the young side.

Response recorded on December 20, 2017

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Akeem M. writes...

Hi Greg,
While wading through all these Young Justice topics, I must ask a couple things about Spectacular Spider-Man.

1.Confirmation of characters.
So as you know, you and your team decided against creating original characters for the show. EVERY named person had to be from the comic books, even if alterations were made to their race (Ned, Kenny, Kingsley, Debra, Fancy Dan, Ox, Liz, Mark, the Warren bros. etc.) or gender (Mayor Waters). However there are a few characters that you confirmed who they were, but we didn't get to see too much of them since their role in Peter's life had yet to be realized (Jason Ionello, Tiny McKeever), and would have been more active in Season 3, which is a shame we never got. We also got some fun characters like Dilbert Trilby (Bugle obituary writer in comics, newscaster in Spectacular), Matthew Resnick (Officer murdered in "Maximum Carnage", Vault warden in Spectacular) and Trina (barista/cashier in "Brand New Day" and the same in Spectacular)

That said, there are some characters that we never got names for and just need a confirmation that they are who we think they are. We have Hammerhead's chauffeur, who we believe is Myrna, who in comics is Hammerhead's moll from Gerry Conway's "Gang War" arc.

Another character you mentioned is Eddie's roommate at the Empire State University dorms. You mentioned that his name was "Josh something", and he was indeed from comics. The only Josh that we were able to find was Josh Kittling, Randy Robertson's friend in college during Stan Lee's "Crisis on Campus" with students protesting and a plot to steal the Lifeline Tablet. He was a black student during the racially charged late 60's early 70s [when the comic came out])

Now the question is, are we correct about Myrna and Josh? And are there any other characters from comics that who we've seen, but weren't didn't have their names said in the show (much like Tiny, Jason, Myrna and Josh), if so, who were they? Or if you just provide names, I'm sure we could find them.

2.Ned
So as you know, Ned would have gotten much more screen time in season 3. However, it was mentioned that there was ground work with him and Betty laid out in season 2 that was recorded, however it was cut as there were time constraints and the scenes weren't all that important in the scope of things happening in Peter's life. So out of curiosity I must ask what those scenes consisted of? Simple things like Ned flirting with Betty, or starting to have a romance (kind of like Flash and Sha-Shan's scenes but Betty being more receptive to Ned's advances), or was there anything deeper than that? Also what kind of person is Ned? How would you describe him in Spectacular? In comics, he wasn't too much of a character, but just got wrapped up in a major storyline WAAAY after he was introduced, but I'm curious to know your thoughts on Ned Lee(ds). Not to ask what your plans were for him in a hypothetical season 3, but more along the lines of how you described Betty (being someone who can handle someone like Jonah with ease).

3.Character ages
While I think that it wasn't as thoroughly thought out as Young Justice (like the exact dates they were born and all that), I am curious about the ages of a few characters. Don't worry; I'm not going to ask their EXACT ages and blood types, but generally a ball park. We know most of Peter's circle is 16 (Liz, Harry, Gwen, etc.) with Flash turning 17 in the series, Kenny and Rand being high school seniors (which would put them at 17-18), Eddie being a college freshman (which would put him at 18-19), Betty being 20, Debra Whitman being graduate student age (which would put her in her early to mid-20's), I can assume Norman is in his early to mid-40's, with my assumption that May, Vulture, Tinkerer, Silvermane, being in the same generation (Maybe late 50's early 60's?) However, who I'm interested in is Electro… clearly he's older than Pete's high school crew, but he's also clearly younger than someone like Ock, whom I assume in his late 30's to early 40's. I can only assume that Spectacular Maxwell Dillon is in between Eddie Brock and Debra Whitman's ages… So would I be correct about Max?

Greg responds...

1. I won't confirm or deny Myrna. You're correct about Josh. Otherwise, I'm not providing names beyond what was in the show.

2. The Ned and Betty stuff was flirtatious and perhaps a bit more than flirtatious. Beyond that, I'll leave Ned to your imagination.

3. Basically, yes. Max was in his mid-twenties when he became Electro.

Response recorded on December 18, 2017

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Julian Sagan writes...

Hey Greg, congrats on Young Justice Season 3. I have a few quick questions on Spectacular Spider-Man.

1) Peter in the comics is generally considered to be 5'10". Your Peter said he was 5'6". Was the idea to eventually grow him to 5'10" or keep him the same? Sorry if this goes into spoiler territory.

2) Unlike Batman and Superman, Spidey's archenemy is a bit more debatable. Most will point to either GG Doc Ock or Venom but it partly depends on the writer's preference, the era and the continuity. I was surprised by how much equal dedication you guys gave to the Big Three; I feel most Spider-Man writers are somewhat biased to one or the other. So I'm curious, would you say YOUR version of Spidey had an archenemy in the show or did you see all three of them as equals? My instincts tell me it's Norman after Final Curtain but I'd like to hear it straight from the horse's mouth.

Thank you and best regards,

JS

Greg responds...

1. He might have gotten a bit taller. He was only 16 in the show. But I never figure Spider-Man to be tall or brawny. Seems out of step with his character and archetype. And 5'10" seems like a tall man to me. Of course, I'm only 5'7", so perhaps I'm biased.

2. My gut is to say Gobby. But it's not like the others are pieces of cake. I just think it's more personal with Peter when it comes to Norman.

Response recorded on December 15, 2017

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Steven writes...

Hi Greg, did you that there was an avengers cartoon titled avengers earths mightiest heroes which was also cancelled after 2 seasons it was great show and if you didn't watch it I highly recommend it. It also featured spider man who was originally voiced by Josh Keaton but then redubbed by drake bell if you would like to hear Josh's voice in that show I would recommend spreading the #joshkeatonisspiderman and #drakebellisnotspiderman

Greg responds...

I love Josh, but that's not a campaign that would make any sense for me to participate in, unless my goal was to NEVER work on another Marvel show again.

Response recorded on November 06, 2017

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Nathan writes...

So with the sad passing of the wonderful character actor, Miguel Ferrer, I would imagine that the character of Vandal Savage will be recast, but just curious how much, if any interaction do you ever have with the myriad voice actors on your shows? Do you have any noteworthy Ferrer anecdotes to share? Just curious, Im gonna miss that guy being a regular fixture in american media

Greg responds...

I won't comment on what we are or are not doing with Vandal in Season Three.

And I'm afraid I don't have any anecdotes of Miguel, though I can recall (imperfectly) a few anecdotes that he told.

What I will say is that Miguel was always a complete pleasure to work with on both The Spectacular Spider-Man and Young Justice. He was SO good and a lot of fun.

There are other people, including our voice director Jamie Thomason, who knew Miguel much better than I did. But he is missed.

Response recorded on October 31, 2017

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FallenLegend writes...

Hey Greg, theres something I would like to ask your opinion about.

You see comics have been notorious for being hard on average people to get into. You should know that your cartoons have been much more influential than whatever it's publised on printed form.

For millions of people when they think Young Justice they think of earth 16 and when they think of spiderman they think of spectacular.

Say Teen Titans Tv show' has Starfire as a cute alien and naive girl wich is among the best female characters ever in my opinion. While on comics she is a dumb bimbo with hardly more personalitybthan a brick

Comics on the other hand are harder to get into and well you might jot agree but the quality is much better in cartoons such as yours. I would rather watch young justice that get into the continuity mess that comics are.

It would seem that every continiuity reboot that tries to make things simpler just makes things worse.

In your experience what would you do to make comics as approachable as tv shows are?

Greg responds...

Well, I'm going to start - without going point by point - by NOT agreeing with everything you've stated above. Some comics have issues. Some are both accessible and very well-done. In general, I'm really liking DC's REBIRTH, for example. I'm reading all of it - trying to keep up. I don't love every series, let alone every issue, but generally, I think they're doing a pretty darn good job. I'd particularly recommend Wonder Woman.

And I think there are plenty of crap television series, as well.

It's all about execution. Plenty of good comics series. Plenty of good television series. Plenty of lousy examples of both. But I'm glad you like YJ and Spectacular.

Response recorded on September 25, 2017

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B.W. Morris writes...

Hi Greg,

I wanted to tell you how much I've enjoyed Young Justice, Spectacular Spider-Man and the first two books of the Rain of the Ghosts series. Your writing helped inspire me to try my hand at fiction writing and, after a couple of years, I now have my first novel published. So I wanted to thank you for being one of those people who inspired me to try my hand at it.

Looking forward to Young Justice 3 and best of luck with it!

Greg responds...

Thank you. And thanks for posting this. It's very gratifying!

Response recorded on September 18, 2017

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Jack Carpenter writes...

1) Why was Cletus Kasady incarcerated in Ravencroft? I mean, knowing him from the comics, it's not exactly hard to guess, but I figured I may as well ask.

2) Why, in your mind, is Flash Thompson such a big Spider-Man fan?

Greg responds...

1. No spoilers.

2. Spidey is cool! Beyond that, I'll leave it to your interpretation.

Response recorded on August 15, 2017

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Steven writes...

Can you publically encourage people to buy the spectacular spider man blu Ray to help get the show back as well as sign petitions to bring back the show.

Greg responds...

I am happy to encourage people to buy the BluRay, but unfortunately - and unlike YJ - simply making purchases and/or signing petitions doesn't solve the specific complicated contractual roadblock to bringing back the series.

SONY can no longer make animated Spider-Man series, since they gave those rights back to MARVEL.

MARVEL can't make the specific version of THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN without paying SONY to do it.

MARVEL (a division of DISNEY) isn't likely to pay someone else to do a cartoon based on their own (signature) character.

And, yes, SONY & MARVEL cooperated on the recent live-action SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING movie. But SONY paid MARVEL to produce that, not the other way around.

To be clear, this situation doesn't give me any pleasure. And I don't mean to rain on your hope parade. But I figure you'd prefer to know the facts.

Response recorded on August 08, 2017

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Kit Walker writes...

I'm currently wrapping a rewatch of Gargoyles' canonical seasons and preparing to continue the Weisman-lovefest with a rewatch of Spectacular Spider-Man and a thought has occurred to me: Was Coyote's continued use of Xanatos' face, particularly in his 3.0 and 4.0 versions where that face is on a screen, consciously influence by the early Spider-Slayers? Specifically, the ones that usually had J. Jonah Jameson's mug projected on a screen as they fought.

My guess would be that it's a bit of happy coincidence, as the idea's not the most unique, but since you've proven no slouch on Spider-Man lore...

Greg responds...

I don't think it was. I think the Coyote thing evolved out of what we did with him in his first appearance.

Response recorded on August 08, 2017

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Anonymous writes...

1.As a Spider-Man fan, I love stories that push Spider-Man and Peter Parker emotionally.

2. I feel that the Spectacular Spider-Man episodes managed to show that Spider-Man and Peter's choices were determined by whatever emotions he was feeling.

3. I want to know what are your favourite Spider-Man stories?

Greg responds...

1. Me too.

2. Hope so, at least to some extent.

3. I'm not big on ranking things. I love Spidey, and there have been a ton of stories I've loved, and a few that I haven't loved as much. A lot of the stories we adapted in Spectacular are stories I had a particular affinity for, like the Colonel Jupiter story and the Master Planner story, etc.

Response recorded on July 06, 2017

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Emeka Uzoh writes...

1. How did it feel adapting the early 1960s stories of The Amazing Spider-Man comic book that Stan Lee, Steve Ditko and John Romita Snr. had created as a fan when you were working on The Spectacular Spider-Man?

I am also a huge fan of your work and writing style.

Greg responds...

How did it FEEL? Um... Great!

Response recorded on July 05, 2017

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Jack Carpenter writes...

1) So aside from Spider-Man and Young Justice, are there any other comic properties you'd love to adapt?

2) Which one would you like to have the chance to do most?

Greg responds...

1. Yes.

2. I'm so not picky.

Response recorded on June 16, 2017

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Carl Johnson writes...

Hello Mr. Weisman,

I had just a couple of questions.

1. One thing about the animation industry is that once a season is over there is no guarantee that the next season will be picked up. Should some one have a plan B for another profession if the next season does not work out? Or is there plenty of work in California that if you did your job well, finding another one should not take long?

2.If someone has a animation idea they want to pitch and have all the details worked out (pitch bible, characters, story, and pilot script) how would they know when they could pitch the idea?

3. I had a question for attires for animation shows. Does it cost more to have different episodic attires for characters or do characters have only one attire to save time? I know in Spectacular, Peter had a winter attire with the jacket, or that one time he had the black shirt with brown pants during the symbiote removal episode but is there a choice on whether they can change their attire episode by episode to add more realism?
Thanks!

Greg responds...

1. Well, uh... There are no guarantees. I try to have other work lined up, pretty much always. And sometimes I'm just flat-out unemployed for stretches. This gig is not for the faint of heart, I guess.

2. I'm not sure I understand the question. If you're ready, pitch. But my caution would be to be careful not to poison the water. If it's a work in progress, and isn't actually very good (YET), then I wouldn't pitch. Make sure you're only showing the best possible version of what you've got. On the other hand, there's not much point in noodling forever on an idea. If it's solid, go for it.

3. Every design - and new clothes are a new design - cost time, which costs money. So, yes, in animation, we need a pretty good reason to give characters additional wardrobe. But if we need it, we need it.

Response recorded on April 24, 2017

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cristian writes...

hello:

in spectacular spider-man tv series. did norman knows peter is spider-man like the comics?

Greg responds...

He said he didn't. Do you believe him?

Response recorded on April 12, 2017

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Emeka Uzoh writes...

hello,

rephrasing the question, How did you manage to relate to Spider-Man/Peter Parker? that I asked you earlier. I actually wanted to ask you what traits of Spider-Man/Peter Parker's character do you find that you have within yourself?

Greg responds...

He worries about money.

He worries about girls. (I don't do that anymore. Happily married for over twenty years, but I haven't forgotten what that was like.)

He worries about letting down the people in his life.

He worries about stopping super-villains. (Um... well, actually, I do worry about that. Though maybe that's not time well spent.)

Response recorded on April 11, 2017

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Brodie Marschall writes...

Hey, Greg,I've got to tell you something, Josh Keaton, the voice of Spider-Man in Spectacular Spider-Man reprised the character in the Marvel Super Hero Squad video games and Marvel Vs. Capcom 3, And he was going to reprise his role in The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, But he was replaced by Drake Bell from Ultimate Spider-Man.
What do you think of this?

Greg responds...

I think Josh is great, and my ideal Spider-Man. So I'm happy whenever he gets to do anything (but especially Spider-Man).

Response recorded on April 07, 2017

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Marquis writes...

John Semper, script writer of Spider-Man the Animated Series from the 90s, has crowdfunded an audio drama epilogue for the show with much of the original cast. Since he's somehow allowed to do that, I wonder if you've ever thought about tying up some of Spectacular's loose ends through a full-cast audio recording of your own?

Greg responds...

I have no idea if he's ALLOWED to do that. Or if he just did it. You'd have to ask him. Personally, I wouldn't risk the lawsuit. And the spectre of getting permission, even for a non-profit venture, from both Sony and Marvel/Disney is nightmarish to me. In addition, since I have no ownership in the property, I'd want to get paid for my work. And finally, I've had my fill of crowd-funding for a lifetime.

Response recorded on March 29, 2017

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Emeka Uzoh writes...

How did you manage to relate to Spider-Man/Peter Parker?

Greg responds...

He's everyman. He's easy to relate to. He has powers AND responsibilities. Doesn't everyone?

Response recorded on March 29, 2017

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Lloyd keh writes...

Its brought a joy to my heart seeing Young justice get renewed for a 3rd season, the fans really acknowledged this series a lot ! You also took a big part in YJ return. GgvvvvvvvvbbbbbbbYou gave 3 ways we could help The series get renewed for a 3rd series. Netflix also took part in this great return so I was Wondering How can we get spectacular spiderman to return for a 3rd season. There's been multiple petition People have created and multiple I've signed (including the one on change.org). There's also been a hashtag #MakeSpidermanSpectacularagain & people have been influencing others to buy spectacular spiderman on blu ray & I myself have bought it and been doing the same.. I just wanna know if we are taking a step in the right direction & if we are, is marvel and Disney seeing this? I mean they should be seeing all this. It's been going on for years and last thing , how do u feel about this whole spectacular Spiderman thing ?

Greg responds...

I'd love for Spectacular to come back, and stranger things have happened. But if I'm being honest, I don't see a clear path for it. Buying the BluRays definitely helps - or at any rate doesn't hurt. But Marvel has its own animation studio now (owned by Disney) and is understandably NOT inclined to PAY Sony (which controls the rights to Spectacular) to produce a cartoon based on their signature character. I'm sorry. Believe me.

Response recorded on March 28, 2017

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RexBlazer1 writes...

Out of curiosity, are you aware that, in the original comics, the initial intent for the Venom symbiote was that, instead of going to Eddie Brock, it would go from Peter Parker to a WOMAN who had a grudge of her own against our friendly neighborhood web-slinger?

From what I've heard, the initial idea was that the woman would be pregnant and in labor. Then, her husband would try to wave down a taxi, and the taxi driver, who is paying more attention to Spider-Man in action instead of the road, accidentally hit and killed the woman's husband. The woman would then give birth on the spot, but the child would be a stillborn, and she'd lose her sanity because of the sudden loss of both her husband and her child, sending her to the Ravencroft Institute. She'd eventually regain her sanity and be released, but would still blame Spider-Man for the loss of her family. The symbiote would be nearby and sense her mutual hatred of the web-slinger, and bond with her to form Venom.

The reason Marvel didn't go this route, from what I hear, was that they felt their readers wouldn't consider a woman to be a physical-enough threat to Spidey. (Never mind the fact that a woman with the Venom symbiote would be, by definition, physically STRONGER than Spidey). Thus, they went with Eddie Brock, whose grudge was based on things that happened because of his own stupidity.

Here's the article describing it, just scroll down the page and you'll find it:
http://www.cbr.com/comic-book-urban-legends-revealed-50/

Not to mention, as a result, it came to be something of a self-fulfilling prophecy, as Spidey doesn't have a lot of MEMORABLE female villains. In fact, the only one I can think of is Felicia Hardy aka Black Cat, who is very on/off when it comes to villainy, and is TECHNICALLY a clone of Catwoman when you think about it.

Still, imagine how things might've been had they gone with the female Venom route.

Greg responds...

It's interesting, but I'm not too enamored of the scenario you described. Again, her hatred of Spider-Man is largely irrational. She could hate the cab driver. God. Whatever. I prefer things being more personal. On the other hand, the goal of having more and more powerful female villains is one I'm whole-heartedly behind.

Response recorded on March 23, 2017

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Anonymous writes...

Hello Greg! I hope you are doing well and I want to congratulate you for Young Justice season 3 being commissioned. I cannot wait to see it. Here are my questions:

1. How long was your timeline for Spec Spidey, if you had one? I know you had eventual plans to go into Peter's college years and beyond if you had the chance, so I was curious if you had stories, characters, and events such as deaths, graduations, etc. planned out? I'm not asking what stories you wanted to tell but I am curious if you had a long outline, similar to Garg and YJ.

2. Why did you make MJ and Gwen friends in the series? It was a change I loved and considering where Pete and Gwen end up in the comics and where Pete and MJ end up, I thought it was a brilliant idea.

3. For YJ and Spec, was Jamie Thomasson a comic book fan? I ask because I wonder if him being a possible comic book fan helped him cast parts in the show easier. Did he only rely on your scripts or also on other source material?

Can't wait for YJ season 3 and hoping for Garg comics! And I still hold out hope you can write Spider-Man again in another form! Take care Greg and good luck.

Greg responds...

1. I did have one. But I don't remember how long it was, and I don't have access to it here at my Warner Bros office.

2. I didn't come up with it. They were on and off friends in the comics.

3. You'd have to ask him, but I don't recall him being a hardcore geek like me.

Response recorded on March 16, 2017

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Vincent writes...

Do you know if Tom Holland, or any of the cast/crew of Homecoming, or if Feige are fans and have seen Spectacular Spiderman?

Spectacular was an excellent adaptation which really captured the spirit of Spiderman. I love it so much and hope Homecoming does something similar to it.

Greg responds...

No idea.

Response recorded on March 03, 2017

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Kolty writes...

So in Young Justice, you cast Bruce Greenwood as Batman, but not John DiMaggio as the Joker. Any reason on ditching that match-up? I find it amusing.

Greg responds...

I don't know why it's amusing. We weren't/aren't in continuity with the Red Hood movie. But we felt Bruce was right for our Batman, and that John's interpretation of Joker wasn't right for our version of the character. Love John's work, however, as any fan of The Spectacular Spider-Man must know.

Response recorded on February 21, 2017

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Josh writes...

I was one time rewatching all of The Spectacular Spider-Man episodes and I noticed in the episode Identity Crisis smaller fronted overlapped letters on the word Kevin Michael Richardson on the closing credit. Was that some kind of goof/glitch and if so how can it happen out of curiosity or perhaps are the letters supposed to be some kind of word maybe? I wish if it is some kind of glitch that it could be fixed someday because I seemed to be triggered by OCD/intrusive thoughts/unwanted thoughts on it lately which seems to make me have anxiety feelings.

Greg responds...

I'm sorry, but I have no idea what you're talking about. How were you watching the episode?

Response recorded on February 15, 2017

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R.I.P. Miguel Ferrer

Just a few words about Miguel Ferrer, who passed away yesterday. I won't pretend I knew him very well, but he was always a pleasure to have in the booth. He was the voice of Silvio "Silvermane" Manfredi on The Spectacular Spider-Man, and Bo "Bibbo" Bibbowski and Tribune #1 on Young Justice.

Did I forget anything? Oh, yes. His brilliant portrayal of Vandal Savage in Young Justice, making him one of the most interesting and complex hero/villains I've ever had the pleasure of working on.

His talent - both in material I was involved in and in the many, many things I simply watched as a fan - was immense.

He will be missed.


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James writes...

Hey Greg,

I have some more questions about S2 Ep1 of Spectacular Spider-Man.

1) Did you voice anyone else other than Menken?

2) How did Xander Berkeley land the role of Mysterio?

3) What inspired your version of Mysterio?

4) Where did the idea of the little purple bat things come from? Who voiced them?

I liked the Star Wars reference when Spidey said "May the Spidey Sense be with me."

Greg responds...

1. The truck driver, maybe. I'd have to look at it again.

2. I suggested him. He and voice director Jamie Thomason and I had worked together on GARGOYLES, in which he played Coldsteel, so we knew he'd be great.

3. The comics and the core idea of the character.

4. The Homunculi seemed to fit Mysterio's M.O.

4a. Thom Adcox, Dee Bradley Baker, Steve Blum, Phil Lamarr, Cree Summer and James Arnold Taylor. I loved those little guys and wanted to do a spinoff series with them.

Response recorded on January 20, 2017

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James writes...

Hey Greg,

Spectacular Spider-Man is the best Spidey adaptation ever in my opinion. I have a few questions about S2 Ep1 "Blueprints".

1) Who was Eddie's roommate?

2) Where did Eddie live? Was it a dorm on campus?

3) How was it having Stan Lee making a cameo?

4) What all does Liz Allan's father own? Liz says he owns some hotels and in a previous episode they gang ate at his restaurant.

5) Where was Miles Warren before he returned to NYC?

I have more questions so I am going to submit another discussion because of the 5 question rule.

Greg responds...

1. Oh, I used to know this. I really did. But its been so long, I can't remember. It was a character from the canon. I want to say... Josh something. But honestly, I can't remember now.

2. Dorm on campus.

3. F---ing AWESOME!

4. The restaurant was IN one of his hotels. He owns hotels.

5. Elsewhere. (Never bothered to figure that out.)

Response recorded on January 20, 2017

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Victor Valente writes...

Hi Greg,
So a new Spider-Man series was announced yesterday at the New York Comic Con. Are you taking part in this project in any way? If your not, is there any way you could get aboard it because that would be spectacular.
Thank you so much for your time.

Greg responds...

No. And no. I'm busy on Young Justice S3, and in any case, Marvel would have to want me on it. They certainly know how to find me. There's clearly no interest in putting me and the character back together at this time.

Response recorded on January 18, 2017

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Mair writes...

Hi Greg,
First of all I just want to say thank you for every piece of writing you've ever done. You're a genuine source of inspiration to me and i'm continually amazed by the depth of your storytelling.

You've talked in the past about your decision to keep Emily Osborn alive and around in Spectacular instead of being a missing mother. I was thinking recently about how it's not uncommon for writers to imply that Norman's treatment of Harry to the idea that Harry's birth caused or bought about Emily's death.
You're Norman is probably the most explicitly cruel of all the Norman adaptations towards his son, and yet he totally lacks this excuse. I was wondering if that was something you where conscious of when writing the Osborns?

(P.S Spec!Norman is probably my favourite version of the character. He's cold, clever, charming and creepy, but most of all he's an unnervingly believable bully.)

Greg responds...

I never really bought into that as an excuse for Norman. If he had been a decent man up to the point of Emily's death, then he would have treated his son with decency. But he wasn't, so he didn't. So it didn't bother me to "lose" that particular motivation when weighed against other concerns.

Response recorded on January 17, 2017

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Chris writes...

After re-watching "Spectacular Spider-Man" episode "Gangland", I was left wondering... Where did Silvermane get that impressive armour.

Greg responds...

Sears.

Response recorded on January 12, 2017

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Windona writes...

Hey Mr. Weisman, a few random questions about Spectacular Spider-Man (even though it's been a while)

1) Did Gwen ever meet Harry's parents? (I ask because she has a way different reaction than Peter about them in Final Curtain, leading me to wonder)

2) I noticed when watching that Norman Osborn's treatment of Harry has multiple signs of emotional abuse (and of course, was revealed to have physically hurt his son in the s2 finale). Was this something intentional/clear, or just 'let's make Norman Osborn's relationship with his son like this' without thinking 'we want to make Norman explicitly emotionally abusive'?

I just want to say, thank you for creating a lot of wonderful characters, and doing them justice. Harry Osborn has always been one of my favorite, and I feel like not everyone appreciates the complexity of his characterization/does it well. (Though this is probably true of many characters that pass from writer to writer)

Also, since I know you like to include a level of real science (a level since sci-fi and fantasy inherently require breaks from science), 3) Did you ever read up on epi-genetics? It's really cool!

Greg responds...

1. Yeah, she's met them.

2. Like somehow we didn't NOTICE that he was abusive? No.

3. I haven't. At least not yet.

Response recorded on December 22, 2016

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writes... writes... writes... writes... writes...

Why didn't SpecSpidey or YJ have "Previously On" segments? Was it a network or production decision?

Greg responds...

I'm vehemently against using them. I learned painfully from Gargoyles that they actually have the opposite effect then one would think.

Instead of acting as small reminders or hints, they convince people that they've missed too much to join the series now. They were never necessary. Everything you truly NEED to know to enjoy a given episode is spelled out in one way or another within the episode itself.

Response recorded on December 16, 2016

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Zergrinch writes...

Hypothetical question.

ALL of your past and present projects have been renewed, and you have been asked to help them all. Which one would you prioritize, and why?

Greg responds...

Well, as many regular readers of this site know, I'm not big on hypotheticals. Reality is so much more complicated, but I'll give it a shot:

GARGOYLES first, always. We're trying to get another comic book version now. Tweet the hashtag #WeLiveAgain!

YOUNG JUSTICE, second. Season Three is real. It's here. I'm working on it.

I'm also working on the second book in the WORLD OF WARCRAFT: TRAVELER series, THE SPIRAL PATH, and recently completed co-plotting work on THE FALL AND RISE OF CAPTAIN ATOM, w/my old Captain Atom partner Cary Bates.

The third book in the RAIN OF THE GHOSTS series, MASQUE OF BONES, which I still plan to get back to as soon as I possibly can.

Everything else falls into the category of it's just too hypothetical to differentiate. But I'm very fond of THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN, W.I.T.C.H., ROUGHNECKS: THE STARSHIP TROOPER CHRONICLES, STARBRAND & NIGHTMASK, anything with the STAR WARS REBELS characters [especially STAR WARS KANAN], 3X3 EYES, DISNEY'S VILLAINS and many others.

And I'm sure Edmund Tsabard would love to finish Last Tengu in Paris.

Response recorded on December 05, 2016

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Aaron writes...

1 what do you think of the marvel and Sony Spider-Man agreement and do you think this could help spectacular spider man get season 3

Greg responds...

Anything's possible, but it doesn't seem likely.

Response recorded on November 30, 2016

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Daniel writes...

is there still any hope that Spectacular Spider-man could return as a tv show/comic book or movie or is 100% dead?

Greg responds...

I'd never say 100%, but unlike Young Justice, I don't see a path for the return of Spectacular. But I hope I'm wrong.

Response recorded on November 09, 2016

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Green Lantern's Nightlight writes...

Can you name anything noteworthy Stan Lee contributed to Spectacular Spider-Man, because no direspect to him, but it just seems he's credited by default simply because he's associated with the character and nothing more. He's even a producer on the Deadpool film! I did read once his time with Bryan Singer on the first X-Men film, and it seems he has an office at Marvel (well, at least it does when he gets these Marvel interviews from an office).

Anyway, back to Spider-Man, I am curious as to what his contribution was, whatever length it was.

Greg responds...

Stan's Executive Producer credit on The Spectacular Spider-Man was, I'm sure, contractual. But he did contribute.

(And, by the way, saying "he's associated with the character" is both a ridiculous understatement and does a disservice to Stan and his legacy.)

For starters, there's the obvious contribution that he co-created Spidey, and wrote a huge proportion of the stories and characters we adapted. That's why Vic Cook and I chose to give Stan and Steve Ditko the "Created by" credit, which was not contractual.

Then, of course, Stan Lee voiced the character of Stan in the episode Blueprints. He came in to record and it was an inspirational thrill to everyone.

In my career, there have been many people who received credits on shows who really did do nothing observable to justify said credit. But Stan Lee doesn't strike me as one of those. His contributions to SpecSpidey were invaluable.

Response recorded on October 27, 2016

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ShadowKiller2000 writes...

In Spectacular Spider-Man, Dock Ock's power source or battery pack or whatever was called the Megalo Pack. What made you guys use that name. Was it something from the Comics?

Greg responds...

I don't remember.

Response recorded on October 24, 2016

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Spectacular Radio

For fans of THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN, I've been doing a podcast where we go through the series, episode by episode, with guest starts including Josh Keaton (Peter/Spidey), Ben Diskin (Eddie/Venom), Supervising Director Vic Cook and others. The entire first season of "SPECTACULAR RADIO" is up now, here:

http://www.spidey-dude.com/?cat=118

Plus, check out Spidey-Dude.com, which also does the podcasts Mayday Mondays (based on Spider-Girl) and Clone Saga Chronicles!


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RexBlazer1 writes...

Hi Greg,

I've asked before about a matter concerning storytelling in a general sense, and now I'd like to ask about a more specific one. Namely about the symbiote in "Spectacular Spider-Man." What I'm going to ask is not really spoiler-ish, I think, but is more of an issue that I didn't think about until recent months. And, to be honest, it's one that I don't see a lot of people noticing.

Simply put, why does the Symbiote costume look the way it does when Spidey first dons it in the show? The audience recognizes it because of how iconic it is, but what's the in-universe reason for its overall appearance? Admittedly, I may've missed something when I first watched the show, and it could be that I'm not thinking of any reason due to not having seen the full show in a while, but it's a question that I think needs answering. Plus, it's something that wasn't addressed in the 90s animated series either.

In the original comics where the Symbiote first appeared, the "Secret Wars" miniseries, the story did give an in-universe reason for the way Spidey's black costume appeared. The heroes had an alien machine that would repair their outfits or give them new ones. When it was Spidey's turn, he was subconsciously thinking about Spider-Woman's (Julia Carpenter's) outfit, which was mostly black and had the classic white spider symbol. There, it made sense.

Now, obviously, you guys couldn't do the Secret Wars stuff within "Spectacular Spider-Man," but in doing the Symbiote storyline, I respectfully don't think you explained its appearance. It just appears and almost instantly becomes a black suit not long after. Sure, the characters acknowledge the different outfit on Spidey, but, again, there wasn't any apparent reason for the costume's design to look the way it did, aside from it just being iconic to the audience.

So, again, I ask you; was there an in-universe reason within the "Spectacular Spider-Man" show for the Symbiote's costume look to appear the way it did?

Greg responds...

It was a black symbiotic, so it was a black costume. I think maybe you're overthinking it. Also, notice how it evolved over the four episodes it appeared in.

Response recorded on September 20, 2016

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safminako writes...

Do you think Keith David could voice any other of your characters? If so, which ones?

P.S
I am still a fan of the show and totally used jump off of an ironing board trying to fly when I watched Gargoyles as a kid.

Greg responds...

I don't understand what you mean. Keith is amazing, and has done a voice for me on nearly every series I've produced. The list includes Goliath (Gargoyles), Officer Morgan (Gargoyles), Thailog (Gargoyles), Mama (3x3 Eyes), Hades (Kidd/Hero), The Big Man (The Spectacular Spider-Man) and Mongul (Young Justice: Invasion).

Response recorded on September 16, 2016

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Kellen O'Rourke writes...

Hello again Greg,
A couple of things, I read the archives and I got a couple of answers to my previous questions. I'd like to ask your opinions on the Spider-Man film franchise, specifically the two The Amazing Spider-Man films.
1. Do you agree with the general response on those films or not. As you know none of those films were really loved much.
2. What do you think of it ending prematurly and the franchise getting a third reboot? Are you excited for that?
3. Also wondering, how did the sales go for the complete series of The Spectacular Spider-man on blu-ray? I got it as soon as it was released and let me tell you, it's one of the best investments I ever made.

Hope you're doing well and thank you for your time.

Greg responds...

1. I didn't see the second one and thus can't comment on that at all. I thought there was a lot to like about the first one, but felt I didn't really need the origin again.

2. I have no opinion on that specifically. But I did like Spidey's appearance in Civil War. So that's promising. Not sure about hot Aunt May. Seems ageist.

3. I have no idea. They don't give me that information.

Response recorded on July 19, 2016

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Kellen O'Rourke writes...

Hello Greg,
I have recently got into Gargoyles and it quickly became one of my favorite series and I think you're one of the most brillant people in the business. I saw your name in the credits and I looked up your other works and I noticed that you where one of main heads behind The Spectacular Spider-Man, which I think had the potential to be the definitive Spider-Man series. I've come across several interviews of you discussing the series, you covered most of the characters but you didn't really get into Harry Osborn. He was one of the most interesting people in the show.
1. How did you develop him from being one of Peter's best friends to ultimately passing him over for popularity?
2.If the show had continued, where did you see his character going?
3.What was the reason for having his mother being alive?
Thank you very much for your time.

Greg responds...

1. It's mostly all right there in the original Lee/Romita comics. Harry wants to win approval from his father and therefore makes a number of choices that he believes will help him achieve that.

2. No Spoilers.

3. It just seemed like we had too many single-parent families. For both Gwen and Pete, having the lone parent seemed essential. For Harry, it didn't. Plus we had long term plans for Emily.

Response recorded on July 19, 2016

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Anonymous writes...

I've been re-watching Spectacular Spider-Man, and I'm now sure that it's the greatest Marvel show ever. There are a few questions I thought of while watching.

1. What inspired you to have Green Goblin be in a "rhyming mood" in "Opening Night"? I thought it was a really brilliant way to showcase how over the top he is.

2. Since Punisher, Cloak, and Dagger all first appeared in Spider-Man's comics, were you allowed to use any of them?

3. You've talked about where heroes like the Fantastic Four were during this show, even if you couldn't use them, but did you ever consider where Moon Knight, Black Widow, Hawkeye, or Dr. Strange were? Would you have considered using any of those characters if you could have?

4. When you were doing research on Spider-Man to write the show, were there any characters, especially villains, who you discovered and immediately felt like you wanted to use?

5. What made you decide to have Silver Sable be Silvermane's daughter instead of a mercenary? I really liked the change because of her chemistry with Hammerhead and because I think Silvermane is a very underrated villain, so I'm curious about what made you think of making those changes to her.

Greg responds...

1. It was to further equate him with Puck.

2. It didn't come up, but I doubt it.

3. Moon Knight was probably not Moon Knight yet. Hawkeye was probably still a circus performer; Black Widow, a Russian spy. Dr. Strange was probably still in Tibet. Over time - and given enough episodes AND PERMISSION - I'd have used anyone and everyone.

4. Yep. Vulture, the Big Man, the Enforcers, Hammerhead, Electro, Lizard, Shocker, Sandman, Rhino, Tombstone, Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus, Chameleon, Black Cat, the Sinister Six, the Burglar, Venom, Mysterio, Tinkerer, Kraven, Calypso, Master Planner, Colonel Jupiter, Silver Sable, Ricochet, Silvermane, Molten Man, Hobgoblin, Scorpion, Hydro-Man, Carnage and Kingpin.

5. Initially, their names.

Response recorded on July 12, 2016

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Cheston Bulgin writes...

Was Spectacular Spider-Man set in the same universe as Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes? I ask because when Spidey was brought in to make an appearance, Josh Keaton was suppose to voice Peter before they dubbed him with Drake Bell. I heard they changed up the animation too when Drake was voicing him.

Greg responds...

No to your question. I wasn't involved in what followed.

Response recorded on July 11, 2016

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DJ writes...

Hi,
I noticed that you did a radio show that was basically a crossover between Spectacular Spider-Man and Gargoyles, and I was wondering a few things:

1. I've looked all over the website for the final act, but I haven't been able to find it. Is there a way I can read it and find out what happens?

2. Did you write it as a way of considering trying to merge the Gargoyles universe with the Marvel universe, or were you doing it just for fun?

3. Would you be willing to allow the Gargoyles universe to become part of Marvel or DC if they asked you?

Thanks,
DJ

Greg responds...

1. The production itself is on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95V2vAFJmKs
But you couldn't have searched ASK GREG too hard. It took me no time to find it: http://www.s8.org/gargoyles/askgreg/search.php?rid=846

2. Fun.

3. It would never be up to me. But I'd recommend AGAINST it.

Response recorded on July 08, 2016

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Atelson Fitgerald writes...

By the time you answer this, I bet the movie is in quick production or you've been sworn to silence. With all the rumors of Marvel's untitled Spidey film coming up, there are tons of rumors saying that it's pulling from the Spectacular Spider-Man animated series including the title and teen dynamic. By any chance, are you involved in any way with the film?

Greg responds...

No. And that's NOT me being cagey. I'm not involved at all.

Response recorded on July 07, 2016

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CONvergence 2016

I leave tomorrow for CONvergence 2016 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Okay, really Bloomington, MN, but close enough.) CONvergence is one of my favorite cons. And I have the honor of being their first fan-funded guest. Here's my schedule for the long weekend:

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 29, 2016
GUEST RECEPTION 07:00pm - 09:00pm
Atrium 4

THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 2016
"Why Gargoyles is Still Relevant" 12:30pm - 01:30pm
Atrium 6 w/Christopher Jones, Patrick Fisher, Alana Profit, Chandra Reyer.

RADIO PLAY AUDITIONS 02:00pm - 03:00pm
Plaza 3 w/Christopher Jones.

"Physics of Time Travel" 03:30pm - 04:30pm
Edina w/Renate Fiora (m), Dan Berliner, Melanie Galloway, Jim Kakalios.

"Fancy Bastard Pie Competition" 08:30pm - 09:30pm
Garden Court - Southwest w/GPS.

FRIDAY, JULY 01, 2016
SIGNING 11:00am - 12:00pm
Autograph Table B.

RADIO PLAY AUDITIONS 12:30pm - 01:30pm
Plaza 3 w/Christopher Jones, Khary Payton.

"Writing by Ear" 02:00pm - 03:00pm
Bloomington w/Patrick Marsh (m), Emma Bull, Aimee Kuzenski, Jim McDoniel.

"Don't Call Them Sidekicks: The Enduring Power of Teenage Superheroes" 03:30pm - 04:30pm
Bloomington w/ Christopher Jones, Jessa Markert, Khary Payton, Sylus Rademacher.

"Drawing with the Masters" 07:00pm - 08:00pm
Plaza 2 w/Christopher Jones, Ruth Thompson.

"Why Diversity Needs to be Deeper than Marketing" 08:30pm - 09:30pm
Edina w/ Trisha Lynn (m), Kate Norlander, Jonathan Palmer, Dirk Ykema.

"Xanadu Cinema Pleasure Dome Live Podcast" 10:00pm - 11:00pm
Edina w/Windy Bowlsby, Melissa Kaercher.

SATURDAY, JULY 02, 2016
"Building Worlds for Fiction" 09:30am - 10:30am
Plaza 1 w/Michael Carus (m), J.M. Lee, Melissa Olson, Lynne M. Thomas.

"Why We Need Representation in Superheroes" 11:00am - 12:00pm
Edina w/ Christopher Jones, Bri Lopez Donovan, Khary Payton, Lynne M. Thomas.

RADIO PLAY REHEARSAL 12:30pm - 01:30pm
Atrium 6 w/ Christopher Jones, Jim Kakalios, Khary Payton and a cast of tens.

RADIO PLAY PERFORMANCE 02:00pm - 03:00pm
Atrium 6 w/ Christopher Jones, Jim Kakalios, Khary Payton and a cast of tens.

"Superficially Strong Female Characters" 05:00pm - 06:00pm
Edina w/ Crystal Huff (m), Kathryn Sullivan, Chrysoula Tzavelas, Joan Marie Verba.

"One on One with Christopher Jones" 07:00pm - 08:00pm
Edina (m) w/Christopher Jones.

ANIMATION BLUE 07:00pm - 08:00pm
Atrium 6 w/Christopher Jones, Lyda Morehouse, Khary Payton, Jenna Powers, Edmund Tsabard.

SUNDAY, JULY 03, 2016
YOUNG JUSTICE 09:30am - 10:30am
Atrium 6 w/Christopher Jones, Khary Payton.

SIGNING 11:00am - 12:00pm
Autograph Table B.

RAIN OF THE GHOSTS 12:30pm - 01:30pm
Edina.

READING 02:00pm - 03:00pm
Rm 2201.

ONE ON ONE 07:00pm - 08:00pm
Atrium 6 w/Melissa Kaercher.



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