WARNING: The following contains spoilers for the first six episodes of Young Justice: Phantoms, streaming now on HBO Max.
Young Justice gives a version of Black Spider that is such a remarkable parallel to Marvels’ Spider-Man that the comparison is hard to ignore. While Black Spider seldom had such similarity in the comics, the TV series put its own unique stamp on the character all the way back in Season 1 that actually made him even more like the version most audiences would recognize.
Yet that character never truly came alive until the series’ move to HBO. In the latest episode of Young Justice: Phantoms, Black Spider showcases an important element of being the evil assassin version of Spider-Man that he was always missing before: dirty jokes.
Black Spider was one of the original League of Shadows assassins introduced in the show, and even then he had his distinctive dark humor burbling out in the midst of combat. Black Spider is even voiced by Josh Keaton, the same voice actor who portrayed the titular character in Spectacular Spider-Man by Young Justice‘s showrunner Greg Weisman. In the comics the character never acrobatically leapt around, firing off webs and quips while sticking to walls, and the parallels to the Marvel Comics character were never quite so strong. But it was not until this latest episode that they felt they were living up to their full potential.
In the first season, Black Spider would still quip during a fight, and they often gave a peephole into the psychosis that allows him to be such a cold-blooded killer, but they always lacked a certain oomph. He would say to his targets things like, “You know how it is, I’m on a deadline…and so are you.” They were chilling and trite, but felt more like generic bad guy jokes. In the latest episode he breaks away from that mold, however, firing off attacks in the midst of battle while making puns about his “wet, sticky balls.” Excuse me?
It’s childish, gross, low-hanging fruit that undercuts the drama of the action sequence. And that’s why it’s perfect. After moving away from the more child-friendly Cartoon Network, Young Justice enjoys a freer rein when it comes to the violence and sexuality they can depict, and what that means for Black Spider is that he can tell dirty jokes that carry that blend of stupidity and legitimate hilarity that makes Spider-Man so distinctive. In giving Spider-Man a dark twist, Black Spider never really felt like he was living up to his potential until now.
As a hero, Spider-Man’s jokes serve a dual purpose of undermining his opponent’s confidence while hiding his own insecurities. While they make for entertaining banter for the audience, in-character they really help reinforce the persona of confidence Peter Parker tries to project in the midst of combat. But for Black Spider, it legitimately seems as though he is having the time of his life trying to kill innocent people. The citizens of Marvel’s New York always referred to Spider-Man as creepy as he inhumanly moved around the walls and swung from place to place, but it’s only with the Black Spider we really get the sense of just how eerie and off-putting a spider-themed masked man can be.
Perhaps most importantly, Black Spider’s humor adds a unique voice where it is desperately needed. Most of the League of Shadows are icy killers that are callous to the world and prone to silence in the midst of combat. Black Spider brings an element of fun and adventure that showcases his own brand of callousness, and unrestrained by censors, his voice is almost refreshing.
Young Justice has yet to reveal much of Black Spider’s backstory and always utilizes him as an easy inclusion in action sequences primarily revolving around the drama of others. But the more he appears, the more fans like him, and as Young Justice continues, fans should not give up hope that they could see a story more focused on the villain in the future.
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