Episode:Insidious Six

"The Insidious Six" and "Battle of the Insidious Six" is a two part episode from season 2 of Spider-Man (1994 TV series) and two-part second season premiere.

"The Insidious Six"
In order to finally kill Spider-Man for his enemy, Silvermane, the Kingpin hires six of Spider-Man's most heinous villains to take down Spider-Man. These villains are: the Rhino, the Chameleon, Dr. Octopus, the Scorpion, the Shocker and Mysterio. But an even worse threat is born and that threat is Dr. Farley Stillwell's invention of Neogenics is taking away Spider-Man's strength and Spider-Man's powers have been on the blink due to the changes in his blood chemistry. In order to lure Spider-Man in one of the Kingpin's traps, Ock kidnapped Peter Parker's Aunt May by pretending he was a medical doctor and says that Peter had collapsed on the street near his clinic. Spider-Man goes to save Aunt May, but the Insidious Six beats Spider-Man because he had lost his powers. Part 1 of 2.

"Battle of the Insidious Six"
The six supervillains can't believe their eyes when Spider-Man walks into their trap at the warehouse. Spider-Man is unmasked by the Insidious Six, but manages to convince them that he is a fraud. Peter tells them he will lead them to Spider-Man if they release Aunt May. Meanwhile, Silvermane and the Crime Lords grow more disenchanted with The Kingpin and want to put him out of business, so Kingpin kidnaps Silvermane and wages war with the Crime lords by using the Insidious Six to help. Later Peter escapes and becomes Spider-Man and defeats the Insidious Six and saves Silvermane, who pretended he was an innocent wealthy man. Part 2 of 2.

Production
These two episodes were based upon the first Amazing Spider-Man Annual, a comic book storyline where Spider-Man was losing his powers and just when Dr. Octopus had banned together the Sinister Six to defeat Spider-Man. Like the comics, Spider-Man regained his powers and defeated the Insidious Six except in the comics, he might have been losing his powers due to emotional problems after his Uncle Ben died but here in the series was a natural part of his evolution in his powers. These two episodes introduce such characters as Silvermane, Hammerhead, Michael Morbius and the first episode of this two-parter introduces the only appearance of the Owl.

The Insidious Six are based on the Sinister Six in the comics. The censors thought the word "Sinister" was too frightening for a children's television series, so they renamed the Sinister Six into the Insidious Six. Ironically, at the same time, in the X-Men animated series which was airing at the same time as Spider-Man, there was a villain known as Mr. Sinister. Producer of the show and Spider-Man fan, John Semper, also found this statement ironic. In the comics, the Sinister Six consisted of members such as Dr. Octopus, the Sandman, Kraven the Hunter, Electro, Mysterio, and the Vulture. For the Insidious Six, the Scorpion, Rhino, Shocker and Chameleon take up Sandman, Kraven, Electro and Vulture's positions as members. Sandman never appeared in the show, Kraven was reformed in an earlier episode he appeared in, Electro would later appear in Season 5 and Vulture would become a member in the same season, taking up Mysterio's position because Mysterio was killed in a Season 4 episode.

Cast

 * Christopher Daniel Barnes &mdash; Spider-Man/Peter Parker
 * Linda Gary &mdash; Aunt May
 * Sara Ballantine &mdash; Mary Jane Watson
 * Jennifer Hale &mdash; Felicia Hardy
 * Joseph Campanella &mdash; Dr. Curt Connors/The Lizard
 * Michael Bell &mdash; Owl
 * Gregg Berger &mdash; Mysterio
 * Nicky Blair &mdash; Hammerhead
 * Roscoe Lee Browne &mdash; The Kingpin
 * Edward Mulhare &mdash; Alistair Smythe
 * Jeff Corey &mdash; Silvermane
 * Jim Cummings &mdash; The Shocker
 * Martin Landau &mdash; Mac Gargan/Scorpion
 * Don Stark &mdash; The Rhino
 * Efrem Zimbalist Jr. &mdash; Dr. Octopus/Otto Octavius
 * Nick Jameson – Michael Morbius
 * Patrick Labyorteaux – Flash Thompson