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Ultimate Spider-Man
#16 - Beetle Mania
Original Airdate - July 29th, 2012
Spider-Man is put on a S.H.I.E.L.D. security detail to protect his worst critic, J. Jonah Jameson, from a high tech enemy. But things get personal for Spidey when he must also save Mary Jane from The Beetle.

Ultimate Spider-Man stars Drake Bell (Drake & Josh) as Peter Parker/Spider-Man, Chi McBride (Boston Public) as Nick Fury, Clark Gregg (Iron Man, Thor, The Avengers) as Agent Coulson, JK Simmons (Spider-Man) as J. Jonah Jameson, Steven Weber (Wings) as Norman Osborn, Greg Cipes (Teen Titans, Ben 10) as Danny Rand/Iron Fist, Ogie Banks as Luke Cage/Power Man, Caitlyn Taylor Love (I'm In The Band) as Ava Ayala/White Tiger, Logan Miller (I'm In The Band) as Sam Alexander/Nova, Tom Kenny (SpongeBob SquarePants) as Doctor Octopus, Matt Lanter (Star Wars: The Clone Wars) as Harry Osborn/Flash Thompson, Tara Strong (The Fairly Odd Parents) as Mary-Jane Watson, Misty Lee (Batman: Arkham City) as Aunt May, and recurring guest star Stan Lee (Spider-Man) as Stan the Janitor.

"Beetle Mania" was written by Scott Mosier and Man of Action and directed by Alex Soto.

Ultimate Spider-Man is produced by Marvel Animation and carries a TV-Y7-FV parental guideline.

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Pretty good episode. Even if this episode wasn't a team-up episode it was one of the better stories this show offered so far. I never really cared that much about the Beetle, but he was cool here. I'm guessing he had to be upgraded enough to become a threat for five super heroes, but it worked out pretty well. Though in the end he seemed to be defeated a little too easily, after putting up such a good fight for most of the episode. I wonder if we'll get to see him again on the show, I thought he was one of the better villains so far and they could follow up on this story by having him wanting revenge on "Team Awesome" for defeating him.

Having the entire team in this episode was a good idea; they're finally starting to work somewhat like a team should. Though I still don't particularly like any of them, they are starting to become less annoying and might eventually become some decent additions to the show. Considering their battle with the Beetle was their first official mission from SHIELD, things might get better in the next episodes. Who knows, maybe their next missions will prove to be more entertaining. It would be neat if they would actually fail on a mission - just to add some much needed drama to the show, but I kind of doubt it.

Even the gags this episode weren't too bad. None of them were particularly good (maybe except the anger management scene, with Wolverine, Sabretooth and Doc Samson - that was pretty funny) but they weren't horrible either. The Trapster's "glue jokes" in the beginning were pretty bad, but I think that was actually the point. And I'm pretty sure we can expect the Spider Buggy to appear on the show again, even though I can't really see any reason Spidey would need it. He already has a motorcycle, which I also think it's an unnecessary addition to the show.

What surprised me the most I guess was the little character development Mary Jane received in this episode. It wasn't anything spectacular but by this show's standards I thought it was pretty good. It was neat how they continued the sub plot of her wanting to join the Daily Bugle (first mentioned in "Exclusive"). I wonder if she'll ever get to be a reporter or something, it could lead to some interesting stories. Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by this episode, even though the basic plot is a little too similar to an episode of Spider-man and his Amazing Friends. Still, this was a good episode.