This week we’re covering season 3, episode 1 of Spider-Man: The Animated Series – ‘Doctor Strange’.
We’re back for a third season, and boy does it get off to an insane start.
Sci-Fi lasers are a thing of the past. Now we’ve only got time for magic eye lasers, especially when they come from Amore-Jane Watson, whose step-dad may just be Baron Mordo in disguise. He may promise the world, but his ex-wife took everything in the divorce – and we mean everything.
While Baron Bone is doing his best to summon Mr Nasty himself, the dread Dormammu, into our dimension – Spidey teams up with Doctor Strange to take him down. After all, there’s only room for one Daddy in this town, and his name ain’t Mordo.
Listen on Apple Podcasts here
Spotify here
Stitcher here
Further podcast notes
Let’s look back at the episode through some stills (the dumb ones come later)
This is the first real Aunt Anna episode – and if memory serves me, she’s a real piece of work.
One of the more outrageous twists of the show is that one of the flying ninjas with laser eyes is in fact Mary Jane Watson
Here’s the Wand of Wattoomb, which looks like a bone with a goofy skull head.
Luckily, Doctor Strange leaps into action – putting Mysterio’s fake magi
Mary Jane being the possessed minion of Baron Mordo is bad and all – but let’s be honest, this is a look:
Baron Mordo, posing as Brother Mordo, posing as Mary Jane’s absent father:
He’s working for Dormammu, who looks a little more Human-Torchy for those only familiar with him through the 2016 movie.
Once Peter infiltrates the cult, he gets his own dose of parent-based hypnotism, leading to some pretty trippy visuals.
Spidey’s 2nd meeting, now under Mordo’s control, doesn’t go to well.
At least until he uses the Eye of Agamotto to see Mordo’s spell and free Spidey of it.
“Don’t mind this glowing magic bone, child, I really am your father.”
Mordo is communing with Dormammu, who wants to eat our universe. Let’s not get too into the plans of supervillains in Saturday morning cartoons but I’m not quite sure what Mordo gets out of this deal…
Wong even joins the fight (more active than he is in all iterations)
Spidey jumps head-first into the dark dimension, which he quickly realises was a terrible idea…
Then he pulls a Maleficent and turns into a giant dragon.
Their escape doesn’t go perfectly after Dormammu King-Kong-grabs Mary Jane to become his new thrall.
Unfortunately for him, he looks evil as hell – so she rejects him.
But from the shadows, someone else is watching…
Spoilers: it’s Madame Web. We’ll be seeing more of her in the near future.
And while we’re here… dumb photos below:
Death wish Spidey with no questions asked:
You know, this cartoon gets real insane real quick.
And here’s the episode image…
Comic Origins
As for the comic origins this time around… Doctor Strange first appeared in Strange Tales #110, written by Stan Lee and with art by Steve Ditko. But he first teamed up with Spider-Man in The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #2 in 1965 – from the same creative team.
As per usual with Ditko’s incredible Doctor Strange artwork, things get freaky real quick. This issue is pretty much directly adapted into the Doctor Strange episode of Spider-Man: TAS, but with the major change of no possessed MJ and the villain of the piece being Xandu rather than the Baron Mordo/Dormammu team-up.
That’s all for this week, folks!
That '90s Spider-Man Show 