Ah, another Wednesday. Time for more Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man! In my opinion, this episode laid out interesting future story threads. While I was intrigued by the ideas in the previous episodes, I mentioned that it didn’t feel like they were progressing. Now, everything is falling into place.
In fact, so much happened in this episode that it’s difficult to cover in one post. Just a heads-up: Spoilers. Lonnie’s connection with the 110 Gang catches up with his everyday life. School is getting difficult for Peter, Pearl, and Nico. Especially after Nico found out Peter’s secret. Thanks, Harry. There’s more to Norman than what’s on the surface after Spider-Man’s encounter with Daredevil (hence the episode title). And Mac Gargan’s Gang has tracked down the 110’s hideout while getting outfitted with Octavius tech. Yeah. That’s a lot.
If I had to nitpick anything, the show’s feeling overcrowded. Sure, each of these developments makes me want to keep watching, but there are a lot of them for one episode. I can see why these episodes are 30 minutes. Despite longer episodes, will it be possible to give each of these story threads the attention they need?
I mentioned in the past that it felt like the show was looking for excuses to keep audiences watching. By throwing in major developments at the end of episodes, it seemed like the show was desperate for viewers. What I like about these new developments is that, after the buildup of the previous plot threads, it feels like they’re starting to amount to something. That’s where I give leeway.
Of course, there’s still time for this show to either wow me or disappoint me (I hope it’s the former), but let’s throw it over to Season before I start rambling.
Season’s Take
For me, “Duel with the Devil” didn’t feel overcrowded so much as expecting to have a long run with the dozens of characters. I mean, it’s Spider-Man. They’re likely going to get several seasons out of this show. Spider-Man also has a large rogues gallery. If this show is taking notes from Harley Quinn, they’re going to explore many of Spidey’s rogues.
That said, I do like the time the show takes to pull in smaller Spider-Man villains as part of the main cast. As someone more familiar with the prolific Spider-Man villains, it’s nice to see something different. The show progressed naturally with this episode having a lot of rising action regarding relationships between the characters and themselves. We saw a bit of doubt in previous episodes, but “Duel With the Devil” brought that doubt to the forefront.
The way it is now, the show is somewhat predictable. We know Norman Osborn is going to be the Green Goblin at some point and we already saw Lonnie get his nickname as Tombstone. Nico will likely become Sister Grimm or The Gloom. I really hope they go with the latter. Harry’s a bit of a wild card. I’m curious to see who he chooses once the inevitable Green Goblin/Spider-Man showdown occurs. If I’m wrong about my predictions in future episodes, I’ll be pleasantly surprised.
Hey, hey! Kyra Kyle here. Valentine’s Day is a couple of days away, so I figured we would talk about video games for couples. Technically, any multiplayer game could work as a video game for couples. Plenty of shooters would work here. I even thought about adding Mario Kart; it just missed my list. And it also seems odd to rank any of these games, so I decided not to number them this time.
Cat Quest 2 (iOS, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch)
I want to include a game that doesn’t get as much attention, so I added Cat Quest 2. I hear that Cat Quest 3 has been released; I’m sure it’s good too, but I haven’t had the chance to play it yet. Cat Quest 2 is an adorable open-world action RPG. Couples join forces as royalty of the cat and dog kingdoms to save Felingard from evil forces. The premise screams lots of heart-pounding action and high fantasy, but Cat Quest 2 has the feel of a cozy game. Cat Quest 2 has plenty of battles and puzzles to appeal to several different players.
Snipperclips (Nintendo Switch)
We needed at least one straight-up puzzle game for this list, and Snipperclips is that selection. Snipperclips is a physics game. Players must work together in creative and unique ways. You play as paper characters Snip and Clip and cut each other up to solve wacky puzzles by forming shapes out of each other. Snipperclips has a short runtime, the shortest of this list at about 4 hours, but it’s a fun diversion and can build communication skills in a goofy way.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Nintendo Switch)
You’ll need two Switches to turn Animal Crossing: New Horizons into a multiplayer game but it’s ideal for long-distance couples. Heck. You don’t even need to be a couple. My family celebrated New Year’s Eve and other holidays on Animal Crossing: New Horizons while my oldest daughter was in Japan. I’ve even heard of some people getting married in the game during the pandemic. Animal Crossing: New Horizons has a relaxing pace, and its creative elements make it a great way to unwind and bond.
I could’ve added so many other cozy games like Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Stardew Valley just missed the list. If you want more romantic options, Sims 4 could work.
Overcooked 1 & 2 (PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch)
Ah! Who doesn’t love a little cooking chaos? Overcooked will test every couple’s ability to handle stressful situations, while wrapping it in the goofiest virtual kitchen imaginable. Overcooked includes levels where players must hop between two food trucks on the move, bake pizzas in a haunted house, and grill burgers in a fast-food joint ripped apart by an earthquake. Overcooked’s scenarios can become stressful but the over-the-top nature prevents anyone from taking it too seriously.
This is another game type where I struggled to keep the number of games to just one. I’ll mention the Moving Out series here; it’s filled with similar cheeky humor and puns and challenges players to help a family move out of a home.
It Takes Two (PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch)
I couldn’t omit the only game that tends to make its way to the top of every list of this type: It Takes Two. There’s a good reason for It Takes Two taking most lists like this top spot. The game’s central conflict is with a couple whose relationship is on the rocks and they need to communicate better.
Players take on the roles of wife May and husband Cody. The pair are on the verge of divorce and a little bit of magic (that I won’t spoil here) turns the family upside down at the beginning of It Takes Two. May and Cody shrink to a few inches tall. They’re made of clay, yarn, and other crafting supplies. Both characters have differing abilities so even if you make it through the challenging obstacles once, there’s a reason to play It Takes Two twice. It Takes Two was specifically designed for two players and it shows.
Those are the five games we have for this list, but there are plenty more video games that can be great for couples. I almost added Lover in a Dangerous Spacetime to the list too. Which video games do you play with your significant other? Let us know who you would add or remove in the comments. And wherever you are, I hope you’re having a great day.
We didn’t release a news post last week. We’re still figuring out how we’re going to cover Geekly News. This week, we’ll try a headliner story with other stories. Hey, hey! Kyra Kyle here, and we’re back with some Geekly News. Hopefully, I make some sense; I’ve been under the weather this past week.
Fantastic Four: First Steps Trailer Dropped
The official teaser trailer for Fantastic Four: First Steps was released on February 5th. The trailer left me equally excited and nervous about the upcoming film. The new movie appears to be the most faithful adaptation of Marvel’s first family. The Thing looks comic book accurate; I watched the trailer multiple times to hear the click of his lips and clack of his fingers. And H.E.R.B.I.E.’s inclusion made me smile. Sure, the special effects look on-point, especially when we get our first glimpse of Galactus, but the teaser’s best feature is how the Fantastic Four interacted. This team has been doing the superhero shtick for a while. They behave like a family and not just because Sue uses the word family. The scene between H.E.R.B.I.E. and The Thing shows us the team’s family dynamic.
Just in case you missed the Fantastic Four: First Steps teaser trailer, here’s the official teaser:
Let’s cover some details from the trailer.
Prior to the trailer’s release, if you happened to log into the live feed, you would’ve seen a countdown sponsored by the Future Foundation. In the comics, the Future Foundation was created by Reed to better serve humanity’s future, and the Fantastic Four’s space suits resemble their Future Foundation super suits. Most likely, the group works for the Future Foundation.
The movie is set in the 1960s and showcases a retro-futuristic look. The Fantastic Four are headquartered in the Baxter Building, just like in the comics. The Baxter Building may or may not replace Avengers/Stark Tower in this alternate reality. Director Matt Shakman manipulates the aspect ratio (when the scene shifts to our first view of the Baxter Building) much like he did in WandaVision.
While The Thing does cook in the comics every once and a while, it’s fun to see the connection between Ebon Moss-Bachrach and his role in The Bear.
If you pause the scene where Reed works on an equation, you may notice a bridge to observe parallel worlds. This could explain how the Fantastic Four cross over into MCU’s reality.
The rocket the Fantastic Four takes in the trailer is known as Marvel-1. The Fantastic Four are indeed Marvel’s First Family. The company wasn’t even known as Marvel until after the group took to the skies in the Marvel-1. Fantastic Four: First Steps recreates the look of the original rocket.
The Thing Halloween masks the three kids wear resemble a rare Thing face mask available in 1967.
The blue car that flies through the streets is most likely the Fantasticar. One can almost make out the name at the front of the car. The flying Fantasticar is the primary mode of transportation for the Fantastic Four.
John Malkovich’s character makes a brief appearance and while the movie hasn’t announced who he’s playing, he’s most likely portraying Ivan Kragoff/Red Ghost. I was relieved. I just finished the Fantastic Four Color Palette Quiz for July and debated if I should include Red Ghost. I thought, nah, no one will know who he is and there’s no way he’ll make an appearance in Fantastic Four: First Steps. Looks like I may have been wrong.
We have a Galactus sighting. Yay! He looks comic book accurate, unlike the cloud in Rise of the Silver Surfer.
Finally, we come to the stage the Fantastic Four stand on during what appears to be a television appearance. I say television appearance because the stage looks like the famous stage that The Beatles performed on during their first performance on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964.
Like I said, the trailer has me hyped and a little worried. Please. Let this movie be good. It must be good.
PlayStation Network Outage
This is a developing issue and the latest addition to this geekly news break. Sony confirmed a Playstation Network (PSN) outage started on Friday, February 7th at 1900 EST. I’m writing this update on Saturday, February 8th, and the network is still down. Even if the outage returns before this post goes live, PSN would be down for over 24 hours.
The PlayStation Network outage impacts game sales, subscription sign-ups, and microtransactions across the PlayStation Store. Players can’t play live service games. This doesn’t just affect Sony. All third-party partners can’t sell games or content or run their live service games until the PlayStation Network returns.
Sony gave a clipped and terse response on February 7th at 2043 EST. “We are aware some users might be currently experiencing issues with PSN.” The company didn’t give any updates or an estimate to when the servers will be restored. The company didn’t even announce that the outage was global. “Some users?” Try all users. If you’re still experiencing issues with PSN while reading this, be sure to check the PlayStation Network status page with this link.
This PSN outage of at least 24 hours marks the longest PSN outage since the infamous 2011 PlayStation Network outage. Back then, the PSN had been out for 24 consecutive days because the system got hacked. Hopefully, this outage doesn’t last as long as the 2011 outage or have as many repercussions.
Azur Promilia Misses Its Release Date
This news is a bit late, but Azur Promilia, one of my most anticipated video games of 2025 (and my most anticipated Gacha video game of 2025) missed its release date of January 25th. You may be asking, “Azur Promilia. What’s that?” Let’s discuss what the game is and what this delay could mean.
What is Azur Promilia?
Azur Promilia is an upcoming Gacha game by Chinese publisher Manjuu. Players recruit characters and form teams like Genshin Impact, sprinkle in some light farm simulation like Harvest Moon, and each character receives boosts from pets you can raise like Pokémon. You can breed these creatures that help you in combat. We don’t know if these critters inherit stats from their parents. If that’s the case, it could reduce the amount of grinding needed in a Gacha. Fingers crossed.
What we do know is there will be mounts, even flying mounts, to traverse a vast open world. The translation (into multiple languages to include English) is complete. The game will have a simultaneous launch (every region will get the game on the same day). It uses a free-to-play Gacha model. And pre-registration is open. You can pre-register for Azur Promilia on the game’s home page. Follow this link.
What does Azur Promilia’s Missed Release Date Mean?
In short, we don’t know. Chinese video game companies apply for a release date a year in advance. Manjuu applied for Azur Promilia’s license on January 25th, 2024, which means the company needed to release the game on or before January 25th, 2025. The cost to apply for a video game release is hefty. There is a chance that Manjuu applied for an extension for their current license, or they may have to reapply. Either way, there has been little word from Manjuu since Azur Promilia missed its release date.
Here comes some speculation. You’ve been warned. Since Manjuu has gone radio silent and China is in the middle of a holiday season, Azur Promilia will be released in April 2025 at the earliest. There is a chance that the game could be released next month (March 2025), but Manjuu will need to ramp up its promotion for Azur Promilia in advance of the game’s release. I wouldn’t mind streaming the game if Manjuu would like to send Geekly a key. Just saying.
If we hear something from Manjuu about a new release date in the next week, great. There’s a chance for a March release. If we don’t, I’d expect an April 2025 release date or later. I’ve been waiting for Azur Promilia for months. It looks fantastic. I can’t wait to get lost in another stunning world. Plus, dragons. I want my dragon mount already.
Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual Releases
The 2024 version of Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual will be officially released on February 18th, 2025, but many local gaming stores have had hard copies since February 5th, 2025. I know that the previous sentence doesn’t make sense. The 2024 version of D&D’s Monster Manual releases in 2025. All I can do is shrug. Publisher Wizards of the Coast has an odd release schedule for the 2024, 50th Anniversary Dungeon & Dragons core set.
The 50th Anniversary Dungeons & Dragons edition makes some changes to D&D 5th Edition. Think of it as 5.5 Edition. It caters to new players and streamlines certain aspects of 5th Edition. If you pre-ordered the book, you can pick up your copy. If you didn’t pre-order your copy of the Monster Manual, most local gaming stores will have additional copies. And if you haven’t picked up the rest of the core set (Players Handbook and Dungeon Masters Guide), you should be able to pick up the 50th Anniversary Dungeons & Dragons core set in its entirety. Happy gaming!
And that’s all I have for you this week for Geekly News. Thank you for reading, and wherever you are, I hope you’re having a great day.
Hey, hey! Kyra Kyle here. Back with another Top 5 Tabletop Games. 1988 and 1989 may not have as many top-notch games as our previous list, but there are plenty of culturally relevant games from these two years. We’ll talk about board games soon, but first, if you’ve forgotten our criteria for the Top 5 Tabletop Games, let’s reiterate the ground rules before we start.
1: Cultural relevance plays as much of a factor as overall quality. A game might make a list that doesn’t hold up to others of its type, but you must admit the game is everywhere.
2: Only one game from a franchise makes the list. This will become more of an issue the closer we get to games with expansions.
3: Longevity plays a role, too. A game doesn’t have to fly off the shelves today, but it had to have some widespread appeal for a decent time.
5: Merchant of Venus (1988)
Merchant of Venus is a pun on the Shakespeare play Merchant of Venice. Despite the name, the planet Venus doesn’t appear in the game. Merchant of Venus is set in an unexplored part of the galaxy. Players take on the roles of galactic traders. They move around the board, buying and selling goods. The game begins with players discovering the identity of the cultures in fourteen solar systems available for trade. They often find valuable artifacts from an earlier period of civilization. Once the board has been revealed, the game focuses on moving goods from cultures that build to other races that demand goods.
Merchant of Venus’s turn from exploration to commerce can be a satisfying volta. It reminds me of other games like 2004’s Betrayal on House on the Hill and 2007’s Galaxy Trucker. Both games might also make their year’s respective lists. While it can run a little long (2 to 6 hours), Merchant of Venus can be a lot of fun.
4: Taboo (1989)
Taboo works a lot like a team-based version of the Ten Thousand Dollar Pyramid game show. It’s played by two even-numbered teams from four to ten. Players sit in alternating teams, forming a circle. One player takes the role of “giver,” who gives their teammates clue words. The “giver” attempts to get their teammates to guess the word printed on the card, but there are “taboo” words. These are words the “giver” can’t say.
While the “giver” can’t say those taboo words, their teammates can make as many guesses as they want with no penalties for wrong guesses. Once the team correctly guesses the word exactly as written on the card, the “giver” moves on to the next word. Teams try to get as many words on a card before time runs out. The playing team gets one point for each correct guess and loses a point each time the “giver” says a “taboo” word. I never liked the buzzer for Taboo. The other team hovers over the “giver” with the buzzer in hand and the obnoxious buzzer they wielded gives me nightmares. Nightmares!
3: Mall Madness (1988)
Mall Madness has a simple but fun concept: finish your shopping spree before anyone else. It doesn’t hurt that the game has a 3D board, and the original (back in 1988) had a computer that would dole out player movement and could even keep track of money. The 80s game even came with four different credit cards in addition to traditional paper money.
Players didn’t have to move by exact count to enter each shop, and once you bought something from a shop, you couldn’t reenter the same shop. Mark off the items on our list using plastic pegs in a punch board, and as soon as you’ve bought your six items, race to your parking space. I didn’t play too much of Mall Madness when it was first released. My parents didn’t care for the premise (they didn’t want us kids learning too soon about credit cards), but Mall Madness has left an indelible mark on the board game industry. It’s been in print steadily since its release and has had plenty of themed variants like Hannah Montana and Littlest Pet Shop.
2: TriBond (1989)
We have a second word game for this list, TriBond. But TriBond does something a little different. The game’s main feature is the TriBond “Threezer,” an invented word by the producer to describe the three-word clues players must analyze and determine what all three clues have in common. So, you may get a set of three clues like “Olive, Forest, and Kelly.” They’re all shades of green. Or you may get another set of clues like “Tootsie, Hook, and Rain Man.” All Dustin Hoffman movies.
TriBond adds a little bit of lateral thinking to the classic word game. While I think the word “Threezer” is a bit much, the concept is a great one. And I like the idea that a player can “challenge” another player ahead of them in one of the board’s three tracks. TriBond uses dice, one to determine how far you’ll move on one of three tracks and another to determine your questions category (Entertainment, Sports and Recreation, Academics, and Miscellaneous). The “challenge” allows players to take some of the random luck out of the classic rolls, spin, and move.
1: HeroQuest (1989)
I have so many fond memories of HeroQuest. HeroQuest plays like a stripped-down version of Dungeons & Dragons. One player assumes the role of the evil wizard Zargon/Morcar. They use the map taken from the game’s quest book to run the game. The remaining players select their character from the four available.
I was a tween when HeroQuest was first released, and since I read the rules, I ran the game as Zargon. That was my first taste of being a dungeon master and D&D. Even though I have great memories of HeroQuest, it is a game for newcomers. Its adventures are pre-programmed and lack the creative impulses of a D&D game, but HeroQuest has a massive toy factor and does an amazing job of distilling the essence of D&D into a digestible, approachable game for younger players. HeroQuest serves as a great gateway into tabletop role-playing games. Fortunately, it’s received a received a reprint.
Did we get the list right, for the most part? Let us know which games you’d add in the comments. And wherever you are, I hope you’re having a great day.
Brainiac has been hinted at for the past few episodes. Now, it’s his time to shine. And boy, do we get a lot of Brainiac this episode.
I’m going to be honest. I wasn’t expecting the first half of “Breaking Brainiac” to include Brainiac’s backstory. I suppose I should have expected it since we saw the creation of Floronic Man in “Back to School.” It was emotionally charging for me, but it wasn’t as dark as Ivy’s backstory in previous episodes. Since “Breaking Brainiac” didn’t have as dramatic shifts in tone, the inclusion of jokes throughout Brainiac’s backstory softened the blow for his family’s demise.
Lena Luthor flips a switch in this episode. Well, I guess she was going to do whatever she felt was best for her. I wasn’t sure which way they’d decide to go with her. Who knows? She may help out Harley and Ivy in the future. I think she’ll come out the other end of the Brainiac saga relatively unscathed.
I liked the lack of Harley and Ivy in “Breaking Brainiac.” We had two heavy Ivy episodes in a row. The way things were set up by the end of “Floronic Man,” it looked like we’d have another heavy Harley/Ivy episode. They haven’t had a chance at being side characters for a bit.
Kyra’s Take
I agree that Harley Quinn does well when it takes a break from the title character, and “Breaking Brainiac” was a welcome break from Harley and Ivy. We’ve gotten a lot of heavy Harley/Ivy episodes lately.
Despite Harley Quinn weaving in Floronic Man’s backstory into present events during “Back to School,” Brainiac’s flashback in “Breaking Brainiac” dominated this week’s episode. It may have taken up more than half of the episode. I don’t know how Harley Quinn could have done this differently. Even though this was a major shift, the audience needs to know who this version of Brainiac is, and following the episode where Harley and Ivy get kidnapped by Brainiac is a good excuse to hit rewind and explore this new character.
Harley Quinn stays true to classic DC Comics characters while taking these characters in a different direction. “Breaking Brainiac” is no exception. I squeed when Brainiac’s son shrank a city filled with people and waited for Harley Quinn to show us Kandor. Harley Quinn delivered on that promise. It also delivered with a heart-felt Brainiac story. I’ll echo Season’s sentiment, jokes soften the blow of Brainiac’s family’s demise. These jokes come in the form of an android suffering through domestic bliss.
When we catch up with Harley and Ivy and the now, we see Brainiac struggling with the loss of his family. However misguided, he wants to achieve perfection so no one has to suffer the fate his family did. Ironically, he views Harley as Metropolis’s biggest imperfection, which makes me wonder why Lena Luthor, who is revealed to be working with Brainiac, invited Harley to Metropolis and why she insists on Harley staying. My tension sense is tingling.
“Breaking Brainiac” lays down a great foundation. I can’t wait to see where this season goes. Thank you for reading, and wherever you are, I hope you’re having a great day.
We’ve hit the third episode in a row this week. More revelations come to light at the end of the episode in addition to some friendship woes. Let’s go!
“The Unicorn Unleashed!” features four Russian criminals working together. They outright say what their villain counterparts are (except for Dmitri, the Chameleon). This episode centers on Mila Masaryk as The Unicorn through Otto Octavius’s gear. She busts her friends out of jail but gets power-hungry. There already wasn’t much of a sense of camaraderie among the four in “Hitting the Big Time,” so this wasn’t unexpected. I’m unsure if Mikhail’s son is going to be the Rhino in future episodes or if they’ll have Mikhail be the Rhino. I’m leaning toward the latter.
Peter’s friendship with Nico is suffering as he’s making less time for her and being dismissive. This could lead into her origin story and I’m hoping it does. This uneasiness was sprinkled throughout this episode more than it was in “Hitting the Big Time,” so I’m hoping they explore it more in future episodes. That brings me to Lonnie.
We got a lot of Lonnie in Episode 4. They kept that momentum going with Episode 5. Lonnie gets called into a gang fight against the Scorpions and saves Big Donovan’s life. I half-expected him to ask for his freedom from the gang as a reward. Instead, he asked Big Donovan to stop calling him “Superstar.” Tombstone is born.
Skye’s Take
Lonnie continues to be my favorite character. Despite not being the focus of this episode or the previous, he steals the screen every time he’s on it. Especially now that he’s officially “Tombstone.”
Even though Lonnie’s transition is good, the Peter/Spider-Man stuff is still cool. Things move forward in his story: his new relationship with Harry (after discovering his identity), his current relationship with Nico, and crime fighting. Weirdly, I’m more interested in Lonnie’s story. Don’t get me wrong, I like Spider-Man as much as the next person, but now that Lonnie’s story is popping off, Spider-Man feels like a side story. Maybe it’s because I’ve seen Spider-Man done so many times before. Some of the general crime-fighting fare is a bit old to me now. Heck, even Peter struggling with his social life is a bit overplayed.
While more villains were established, mostly with Doc Ock in the opening and the gender-swapped Unicorn, it still doesn’t seem like much is being done with them yet. I can respect the creators biding their time and waiting for the opportune moment to release them, but it feels like cliffhanging for viewers. If you promise enough villains for seasoned fans, eventually you’ll hook them whether or not you deliver.
Lonnie’s story alone is enough to keep me coming back to this show. Although, if they unveil a big-name Spider-Man villain soon, that’d help spice up the Peter stuff.
Last episode, Peter waffled back and forth between partnering up with Norman Osborn. This episode, they go full swing into a partnership—with a twist ending.
“Hitting the Big Time” had quite a bit of Lonnie. We get to see his encounter with the Scorpions. Lonnie didn’t seem to fully understand the gravity of his situation until his chat with Big Donovan after this encounter. I’m thinking he’ll take down Big Donovan in the coming episodes then continue to run the gang as the ringleader if we’re to go by his comic book counterparts.
We get to see Spidey go through a myriad of costume changes. We won’t talk about the individual suits here, but this segment provided a pseudo identity crisis for Spidey. I say “pseudo” because Osborn pressured him into trying the different suits that didn’t fit. Spidey knew who he was from the beginning. Getting to see the different suits in action was a goofy treat.
Toward the end, Spidey’s identity gets revealed to Harry Osborn by mistake. Oops. On the plus side, Harry seems to think it’s cool. Spoilers, we also catch a glimpse of Otto Octavius. End of spoilers.
Skye’s Take
This episode was entertaining despite not having too much bearing on the story. The biggest additions in this installment involved Lonnie while Peter worked with Norman.
Lonnie deals with gang life and he’s not ready. Things get real when Lonnie meets a rival gang, led by none other than Mac Gargan. Lonnie’s reaction to this shift is believable. At first, he treats gang life as an excuse to get some study time in. After learning that belonging to a gang puts a target on his back, he reluctantly continues doing jobs for them to protect his family. Clearly, the wheels are turning for him to become what we all know who he’ll become, and it’s legit riveting. At this point, Lonnie’s my favorite character.
Back with Peter and Norman, they try out a series of different suits to see what works. It’s pretty funny. While it’s not essential to the plot, it is fun to watch and is much funnier than the humor in earlier episodes.
While I like where this series is going, I still have one problem. A lot of future villains are being teased right now. Newly added villain teasers are The Scorpion and Doc Ock, but when are they going to, you know, do something? By this point, several future villains are set up, but nothing is being done with them.
Although maybe that’s to come in the next episode. I can only hope. And I’m excited to find out. 😉
I said last week I expected to see Norman Osborn as Green Goblin within the next few episodes. Now, I’m kind of hoping that’ll be the Season 1 finale. Without watching Episodes 4 and 5 prior to this review, let’s swing into “Secret Identity Crisis.”
We didn’t linger too long on Peter’s mental crisis after Norman revealed that he knew of Peter’s identity as Spider-Man. Normally, I’d like to explore this a bit more but, for this show, it would feel out of place. That said, we got to learn a bit about Nico’s situation during this segment. She’s in foster care. If they’re going to lean into a variant of the Runaways narrative, I’m digging this backstory.
I’m not sure I cared too much for Lonnie’s kid brother joining a gang. He seemed disgruntled but, overall, a good kid. It wasn’t entirely unexpected since we saw how Lonnie was followed by the cops (among other things) in “Amazing Fantasy.” This felt a bit forced. However, Lonnie turning himself over to the gang to save his brother does make sense for his character. I’m curious to see how he’ll become Tombstone later.
One last thing. I thought it was endearing to see Peter save Uncle Ben’s camera. The camera backstory isn’t something I’ve seen much of. I found myself saying, “Aw.”
Skye’s Take
While I started having doubts in the last episode, the show is back on track with this one. At first, I thought the show was moving too fast and I couldn’t tell where they wanted to take the show. Their intentions are now clear. In fact, this episode was kinda cute.
I latched onto each character. Not gonna lie, I was surprised to see how caring and positive each character is, especially Norman Osborn. Considering how the previous episode ended, I expected him to go into full Goblin mode real soon. However, he’s far from that. Norman seems genuinely pleasant and willing to help Spider-Man after learning his identity, and that’s a nice spin on the idea. The Spider-Man stuff is getting more interesting as Spider-Man’s “Guy in the Chair” is literally the Green Goblin.
I agree with Season on the Lonnie stuff. His brother Andre joining a gang was out of left field, but the show needed to get Lonnie into a gang somehow. It also makes Lonnie a more complex character. Knowing his future as Tombstone, seeing him vulnerable around his family sets him up as a tragic character. I’m looking forward to the episode when they rip my heart out with him becoming Tombstone.
With minimal gripes on this episode, and prior to watching the other two, I’m back on board. Let’s keep this Spider-Train a rollin’ with more great episodes.
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