Episode:The Alien Costume, Part Three

"The Alien Costume, Part Three" was the ninth episode of Spider-Man. The original airdate was May 13th, 1995. It is the final episode of the three-part series that details the origin of the symbiote costume and the creation of one of Spider-Man deadliest villains, Venom. In this episode Spider-Man finally gets into a confrontation with Venom.

A Score To Settle
Following the previous episode, Eddie Brock is lifting weights in his new place, with one wall covered in Spider-Man articles and pictures. He recalls all the things that Spider-Man and Peter Parker did to him and the symbiote recently. Eddie gets up and grabs one of the pictures vowing to make Spider-Man pay. Suddenly the symbiote appears over Eddie and he appears to be an altered version of Spider-Man's black suit with a big gapping mouth, razor sharp teeth, gravely voice, jagged looking eyes, and huge muscles. He says that since he is poison to Spider-Man he calls himself Venom.

Spider-Man swings through the city happy to be in his old costume, awaiting his date with Mary Jane Watson. However, he is interrupted by the sight of Rhino on a nearby roof. Spider-Man manages to subdue Rhino but is ambushed by Shocker. Spider-Man is knocked into a Daily Bugle billboard where Shocker and Rhino prepare to attack again.

Meet Venom
Venom appears and throws Rhino to the side and defeats Shocker. Spider-Man gets up thinking he still has the two villains to beat but finds them both webbed up already, just not his. Eddie Brock appears out of no where and helps Spider-Man out of the rubble then asks if "we" can call him Peter Parker. Eddie then reveals his better half and throws Spider-Man across the roof. Venom reveals that he now has the symbiote suit, and he's stronger than Spider-Man.

Venom tells him that they are now part of a life force that has existed since the dawn of time. The symbiote has amassed knowledge from thousands of worlds and millions of civilizations all so it could survive, and now it is sharing that knowledge with Eddie. Venom swings off and Spider-Man follows but is attacked from behind by Venom. Spider-Man realizes that Venom never set off his Spider-Sense. Venom tells Spider-Man that his webbing is stronger than his and that he is no longer Eddie Brock, they are Venom. Venom tells him that Spider-Man will see him everywhere he looks, even in his nightmares, then swings off.

Dr. Connors was right, the symbiote did bond with it's host and since it tried to bond with Spider-Man first it must have figured out a way to block his Spider-Sense. Spider-Man swings to Eddie's old apartment to find clues. Spider-Man finds a receipt for exercise equipment that was delivered to Eddie. At the Daily Bugle finds an ad for Atlas Equipment Rental but the man appears to turn into Venom, freaking Peter out. Peter calls Atlas and pretends to be Eddie in order to find where the equipment was sent to. Robbie Robertson hands Peter a packet of articles concerning Eddie when J. Jonah Jameson enters with his son John. The doctors say John will be just fine and can't wait to get him to command another shuttle. They have even named the satellite that's launching the next night the John Jameson Probe.

Peter leaves the Bugle and comments that Eddie could be anywhere. Peter changes into Spider-Man and spots Eddie clinging to the side of a building watching him. Venom wonders what people would do if they knew who Spider-Man was, especially Jameson. The two battle on a nearby roof but Venom eventually disappears. Venom taunts Spider-Man with the thoughts of going after Aunt May or Mary Jane. Venom ties of Spider-Man and hangs him over the side for all the public to see. Jameson and Robbie see the two. Then Venom rips off Spider-Man's mask and drops it down below. Jameson realizes this could be his one chance to identify the wallcrawler and grabs a camera to try to zoom in on him.

Unmasked
Venom promises to keep Mary Jane company when Spider-Man is gone. Jameson is unable to focus on Spider-Man since he keeps moving. Spider-Man eventually grabs a broken fan and cuts Venom's webbing and flees. Spider-Man uses a nearby flag to provide a temporary mask.

Peter goes to the movie theater for his date with Mary Jane worried that Venom got to her first. Mary Jane is fine and met up with a friend of Peter's, Eddie. Peter shoves Eddie away and drags Mary Jane away. Peter explains that Brock is a weirdo and sees Venom following them. Mary Jane looks but sees no one. Peter sees another vision of Venom and runs into the subway with Eddie close behind. Mary Jane is worried about Peter but trusts him enough to listen to him.

Peter returns home and Eddie comes just afterwards. Just as he did with Mary Jane, Eddie acts extremely nice to Aunt May so she thinks he is a good boy. Peter takes Eddie outside where he transforms into Venom and pushes over a tree onto Peter. Peter realizes that Venom will never stop torturing him and he needs to fight back.

Venom returns to his new place only to find that Spider-Man decorated one wall with articles about Eddie being fired in disgrace. Spider-Man leads him on a chase and eventually heads into the subway. The two jump onto the train but Venom gets knocked off. Venom steals a truck and makes it back onto the train.

Launch
Unbeknownst to Venom, Spider-Man has been leading him to the new shuttle launch site. The first in the New York Area and the same one named after John Jameson. Spider-Man climbs up the scaffolding with Venom following closely. Spider-Man eagerly awaits the activation of the engines, hoping that it doesn't fry him along with Venom. The engines do start and the symbiote falls off of Venom. Spider-Man webs up the symbiote and attaches it to the rocket as it blasts off into space.

Launch Control finds Spider-Man and the unconscious Eddie Brock going down in the elevator. When the military arrives they only find Eddie. The military checks the perimeters but Spider-Man has hitched a ride on the roof of one of the HUMVEEs and jumps over the fence. Spider-Man congradulates himself for beating the most relentless and unforgiving villain he ever faced.

Later, Mary Jane tells Peter that she wonders what is in the stars, if there's any life out there. Peter looks at moon and sees one last vision of Venom.

Reception
"Amazing Spidey" of Marvel Animation Age stated that the animation was not quite as good as the previous two episodes. Venom's design was perhaps the worst of any villain, most notably the red and blue highlights along the edges. "Spidey" did praise the episode as Venom is a really good villain. That it was mostly a shame we did not see any more Venom-only episodes, though that might have diluted his threatening nature. The episode itself was still an above average.

The episode has a 9.2 Superb rating at TV.com.