It's the happiest time of the year in the Spider-Verse, and the Amazing Friends are celebrating! But unfortunately, there's a Grinch, or rather, a Goblin that seeks to stop this whole thing! Even if that means he has to steal Christmas! Can Spidey and the team save Christmas? Well check out the 9-Part Spider-Verse Holiday Special below, and see for yourself! And while you're at it, read about all of the Easter eggs I sprinkled throughout!
Prelude: How the Goblin Stole Christmas!
It's Christmas time, and the Amazing Friends are here to spread holiday cheer! Unfortunately, the Green Goblin will do anything to make sure that doesn't happen... even if he has to steal Christmas!
Well, none of that seems good. But let's revisit it real quick to scope out all the details you may have missed!
-Notice J. Jonah Jameson and Captain Stacy were blindfolded in the beginning. Well that's so they can attend the Web-tacular without learning the location of the Spider's Nest.
-Spectacular Spider-Man was the first to sense the Green Goblin, because of their history. However, Spidey's never went off because it's still lost from the gas the other Goblin hit him with back in Episode 9!
-Tobey meme alert: "No, please, don't say that..." The words of crushing defeat after MJ dumped him in Central Park in Spider-Man 3. Sorry OG!
Part 1: All I Webbed for Christmas
OG and Amazing find a way to replace all of the Christmas gifts that Green Goblin destroyed, but getting them back to the Spider's Nest might not be so easy...
-Eagle-eyed fans of Insomniac's Marvel's Spider-Man games will recognize the woman who came in clutch with those gifts! Gloria, the homeless woman Spidey save who ended up at F.E.A.S.T., and turned her life around so much she wound up getting the run of the place. So she was more than happy to help the Amazing Friends save Christmas. Her handle, SoyGloria, is even the same from the social media feature in the games.
-Tobey meme alert: That's right! I squeezed two, count 'em, two Tobey classics into this one! The "Beat an old lady with a stick" and the ever so famous "My back!" Neither of which I've used up to this point, if you can believe it.
Part 2: Joy to the Spider-Verse
With the boom box busted, Miles and Gwen must find a way to restore fire beats to Christmas! But fear not, Brigadiers, for the Spider-Verse's resident drummer has an idea!
-Insomniac's Miles Morales returns! If you remember, at the end of Web-Warriors Episode 2, he told Miles that if they needed him, he'd be there. And they definitely needed him!
-The tune Insomniac Miles plays on his phone is the result of completing all of the Prowler missions in the game Spider-Man: Miles Morales. It reveals a mixtape from Uncle Aaron. Unfortunately, it's a little too old school for the internet, and most people would prefer if Uncle Aaron were never allowed to cook again...
-This version of Joy to the World Miles sings is from the real-life Christmas album that came out of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, which is actually titled A Very Spidey Christmas, same as this little holiday special of mine!
Part 3: I'll be Ham for Christmas
Spider-Ham and Spider-Man Noir set out to replace the food and decorations that Green Goblin destroyed! But last-minute Christmas shopping is never easy, there's always someone else after the same thing you are...
-Matt Murdock, aka Daredevil, is here to help! Fans will remember that he and Ham met in Episode 10 of Return to the Spider-Verse, and became sort of friends by the end!
-Several Kingpin Easter Eggs in here. I start him with his back turned because that's how we were first introduced to him way back in that Netflix show. He also goes into this monologue about when he was a boy, which is something Fisk frequently did. Frequently. And I did flip a line he used in Hawkeye, where he says "The people need to be reminded that this city belongs to me." Only, you know, turkey instead of city.
-And of course fans of Into the Spider-Verse will remember Spider-Man Noir being perplexed by the Rubrik's Cube because he can't really tell colors apart, which came into play in this episode.
Part 4: A Light That Won't Light
Advanced and Peni need to turn off the dark and get the Christmas lights back on in the Spider's Nest! Can two geniuses pull off the electric enigma?
-Firstly, I'd like to thank Emily Tatsumi for being the only woman I know that can speak Japanese. She once again lended her talent to Peni Parker's voice, and I am grateful. Click Here to check her out on Instagram!
-Fans of the 2018 Marvel's Spider-Man game will definitely spot the puzzle from Octavius Industries. I lifted it straight from the game using the PS5 capture feature. I almost didn't get it because what I didn't recall is that once you complete the puzzles, you can't replay them! But luckily, I had another save file where I hadn't done all the puzzles just yet. Close call!
Part 5: 'Twas the Fight Before Christmas
Green Goblin is still on the loose and terrorizing Christmas! But lucky for us, the Spectacular Spider-Man is here to stop him!
-I mean, of course Spectacular Spider-Man was going to fight his Green Goblin! I know what my fans want! I actually used this version of the Green Goblin because honestly, of all the different adaptations, this one looks the most like an elf. I kind of intentionally misled people into thinking it'd be OG's version of the Goblin, so I'm hoping this came as a happy surprise to the many fans of The Spectacular Spider-Man.
-Spectacular is able to confirm that this is indeed still his Norman Osborn under the mask when he confirms that he never apologizes. Since episode 1 of that show, Norman stated he'd never be forced into an apology (which got him into some trouble with the Vulture!) And it was even how Harry outed the Chameleon posing as his father in the last episode of the show.
Part 6: Secret Santa
Green Goblin has made sure that Santa Claus is not coming to town! Can Peter B. Parker help save Christmas for two kids before it's too late?
-Remember Peter B's "Let's do this from the beginning one last time" spiel in Into the Spider-Verse where he mentions he made some dicey money choices and to never invest in a spider-themed restaurant? Yeah, he's learned his lesson about frivolous spending, and a $300 hazard fee is a bridge too far!
-Peter B. had Mayday Parker in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, but did you know that's not the only kid he's had in the comics? He had a daughter in another universe named Annie Parker, in a series by Dan Scott call "Renew Your Vows". So, since Mayday hasn't happened yet in my universe, I named this little girl Annie (voiced by my awesome sister) to help nudge Peter B. over the edge on having kids. Let's hope that spoiled little boy didn't ruin it!
Part 7: Silent Nights
Spidey is on a quest to repair Aunt May's broken angel! But he'd better bundle up, because this mission may take longer than expected! Unless he gets help from some new friends...
-In Fisk's voice When I was a boy... I collected a comic series called "Marvel Adventures: Spider-Man". It was the first comic series I collected on a regular basis. I sent off for it with a little slip inside of a Rhino action figure and then I started getting them in the mail monthly. Issue #46 was a story called "Silent Nights". It was a Christmas issue about an angel Uncle Ben got for Aunt May shattering, and Peter searching for a way to fix it. Sound familiar?
Now, the sculpting artist for this special, Ashley Cazier (also the voice of Nico Minoru in Doctor Strange: Battle on Bleecker Street) sent me a whole bunch of goodies, but the angel arrived with the wing broken off. This was a while ago, and I was bummed about it, but serendipity is a funny thing. I was able to use the broken angel to adapt Issue #46 of Marvel Adventures: Spider-Man! Honestly, I couldn't have asked for a better scenario.
-Alicia Masters. You know her? She's not a Spider-Man character, but a Fantastic Four one! The Thing's girlfriend, blind, but able to see past the superficial, and into one's true heart. She literally singlehandedly convinced Silver Surfer that Earth was worth saving from Galactus. I based her more on Kerry Washington's portrayal in the first two Fantastic Four films, just to make her that much more unique in my universe. Also, my mom voiced her (thanks mom!) Now she mentioned her father, Phillip Masters, was the 'Puppet Master'. A villain to the Fantastic Four, to be sure. But in this universe, he was a simple man, who spent his life making toys for children and raising his daughter in a happy, and loving family.
Epilogue: So This is Christmas
The Spider-Verse has saved the holidays! It's finally time to celebrate a very Spidey Christmas!
-Tobey meme alert: The "Oh boy, yeah" from his backyard conversation with MJ in Spider-Man 2!
-You'll note that Advanced claims the Amazing Friends are simply greater together. This is a nod to the tagline for Marvel's Spider-Man 2, "Be Greater. Together."
-"Merry Spidey Christmas" is a song by Patrick Stump from the Spidey and His Amazing Friends Disney Jr. show! Thanks to Eileen (whose son LOVES this show) for alerting me to its existence, it was the perfect song to close out the holiday special, copyright claim be darned!
-I mean... you all know me by now, right? You know to stay after the credits of a Face Front Original by now, right? RIGHT!?
That's it for now! Man, I gotta say, this was so fun to make. I want to thank friend of Face Front and voice of Ghost-Spider Eileen Nestman for sitting down with me one night as we hashed out the outline of this story and made it possible. Please Click Here to go to her YouTube channel and show her some support! Last thing, if you want to watch A Very Spidey Christmas in its entirety, then I'll drop it right below for you Marvelites!
Thank you all for watching, sharing, interacting, and just supporting Face Front through 2023. This is all for you guys, and none of it would be possible without you. Thank you, thank you, thank you all! Face Front True Believers, and I'll see you in 2024!