Spider-Man: "The Alien Costume" Recut by Problem Eliminator

[Problem Eliminator]

Recently, I decided to do a Spider-Man edit. I thought of editing together the only parts of the films I find worthwhile: the romance & origin story from Spider-Man and Doc Ock from Spider-Man 2. But the idea has apparently already been done, and at the end of the day, it would be a ton of work for an end result that might not satisfy me.

So if I’m not touching the films, what could I edit? Why not the Spider-Man media that got me into the character in the first place: the 1994 Fox Kids animated series?

I remember renting the Venom Saga VHS tape (the show’s three “Alien Costume” episodes collected together) and watching it over and over when I was a kid. It’s a classic Spidey story: Peter Parker gets a raw deal after using his superpowers for good, so when a mind-altering alien symbiote bonds with him and increases his power, he becomes increasingly selfish and aggressive. He must remove the symbiote before it takes over, but that’s just the beginning of his troubles as the rejected symbiote finds a hateful new host.

The animated series was groundbreaking as the first Spidey media to portray the symbiote as mind-altering, and Spider-Man 3 lifted many scenes and ideas from the show (only the show did them right). Combine this legacy with great performances by Christopher Daniel Barnes as Spidey, Ed Asner as J. Jonah Jameson, Hank Azaria as Eddie Brock/Venom and Roscoe Lee Browne as Kingpin, and the “Alien Costume” episodes are definitely worth revisiting.

The Venom Saga has been released on DVD, but like the VHS, the episodes aren’t edited together seamlessly. So the first goal of my fanedit is to remove opening credits, commercial breaks and flashbacks so that the episodes play as a single feature. The second goal is simply to improve the story and its presentation. I’ve minimized weak writing (particularly Spidey and villains making puns), removed poor animation (including repeated animation) and fixed editing & colouring errors (lots of these).

The end result is Spider-Man: “The Alien Costume” Recut, which I hope is the best possible presentation of the symbiote story.


Original film name: The Venom Saga
Fanedit name: Spider-Man: “The Alien Costume” Recut

Original running time: 63 min (with opening & closing credits)
Fanedit running time: 50 min

Other sources: Daredevil vs. Spider-Man, Spider-Man Complete Season 1

Full change list:

TV-to-Movie Changes
 

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“The Alien Costume, Part 1”

• Replaced Spider-Man: “The Venom Saga” title card with generic Spider-Man title card.
• Added new opening credits.
• Cut commercial breaks.

“The Alien Costume, Part 2”

• Inserted new footage to bridge “Part 1” and “Part 2.”
• Moved scene of Kingpin meeting buyers to beginning.
• Inserted new footage to replace opening credits.
• Cut commercial breaks.

“The Alien Costume, Part 3”

• Cut Brock’s flashbacks to “Part 2” and other episodes.
• Inserted new footage to replace opening credits.
• Cut commercial breaks.
• Added cast credit for Jim Cummings (Shocker).
• Added cast credit for Saratoga Ballantine (Mary Jane Watson).
• Added original 1994 production logos after end credits.

FanFix Changes
 

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“The Alien Costume, Part 1”

• Replaced season 1 opening with season 3 opening. This version is used for most of the series, and it’s a better, more iconic   sequence than the season 1 version.
• Cut opening scene on asteroid. This scene contains opening credits that had to go, as well as badly written dialogue. Cutting the scene gets the story (which is more about Spider-Man than the Promethium X) moving faster.
• Cut repeated footage during space shuttle sequence.
• Cut Peter phoning Aunt May. This moment arrives and ends so quickly that it might as well have been cut. I’ve removed it to make   the pacing smoother.
• Cut Rhino’s introduction in apartment. It’s unintentionally humorous to see him waiting by the phone. We’re now introduced to Rhino when he appears on the bridge and is talking to Kingpin via  headset.
• Cut Peter looking crazed while watching TV. Peter is understandably upset here, but he shouldn’t look psychotic (especially   pre-symbiote).
• Cut line “Yo, Spider-Man’s hiding behind the fire engine” (onlooker). It stretches credibility to have onlookers watch Spider-Man   from nearby windows, but not notice him change back to Peter Parker.
• Cut line “You’re not authorized to be here” (guard). Spoken by a guard to Rhino as he breaks into a government repository… kind of goes without saying.
• Other minor changes as needed.

“The Alien Costume, Part 2”

• Trimmed Kingpin meeting buyers. Edited to cut down on the unintelligent thugs to whom Kingpin is inexplicably selling the   Promethium X.
• Cut line “Not while this suit makes me stronger and faster than you” (Spider-Man). This line seems like exposition to catch the   viewer up from last episode, and it sounds too arrogant following Spidey’s previous scene.
• Cut Brock claiming to hate Spider-Man. Brock’s reason for hating Spider-Man is developed in previous episodes, but I’m trying to   make “The Alien Costume” a standalone story, so this had to go.
• Cut Spider-Man using spider sense like a psychic power. Not a natural extension of the “spider powers” concept.
• Cut line “I can see you’re all tied up, so I’ll be on my way” (Spider-Man). A cliche pun that drains tension from the fight sequence.
• Cut Jameson and Spider-Man exiting car together. I cut this because it’s unintentionally humorous to imagine Jameson and Spidey’s awkward car ride.
• Cut line “I’m all shook up” (Shocker). Pun.
• Trimmed battle in church. To improve pacing and remove poor animation.
• Cut repeated footage during battle in church.
• Cut line “Can’t pull the wool over me” (Shocker). Barely a pun.
• Cut Shocker punching through wooden door. A bizarre moment – badly animated, too.
• Trimmed Spider-Man yelling at Shocker. Christopher Daniel Barnes’ delivery makes me laugh, when it’s supposed to sound   threatening.
• Reversed shot of Peter looking at Uncle Ben’s portrait. Flows better this way.
• Cut impact sound when Peter is thrown from symbiote. The sound suggests that the church bell knocks Peter out of the symbiote,   but I’m pretty sure the symbiote ejects Peter from itself.
• Cut line “No!” (Peter). Unconvincing delivery.
• Cut Peter smiling after symbiote leaves. Looks creepy, doesn’t suit the moment.
• Cut Venom smashing through church wall. Meant to show Venom’s strength, but it’s too much, too soon.
• Other minor changes as needed.

“The Alien Costume, Part 3”

• Recoloured Spider-Man’s suit so it’s red, not pink. Not sure why the colour is off – it’s off for many episodes in the series.
• Cut Venom lecturing Spider-Man on the symbiote’s power. Accompanying CGI clashes with the rest of the show’s look.
• Cut line “You know nothing about us, but we know everything   about you” (Venom). Venom’s attempt at intimidation doesn’t work,   because what he says just isn’t true – Peter knows the symbiote’s weakness, he knows where Brock used to live, he knows Brock was disgraced and fired from the Bugle, etc.
• Cut close-up of Venom during hallucination. I used this shot elsewhere, and the hallucination flows better without it.
• Cut line “Somewhere, he’s out there – and my spider sense can’t detect him” (Peter). Hammy delivery. This fact is also established   earlier.
• Cut repeated footage of Spider-Man and Venom swinging.
• Cut line “This is my chance to ID that wall-crawling rat bag” (Jameson). Spidey just saved Jameson’s son, so this line felt   inappropriate. The show's version of Jameson has some heart, and I think he would cut Spidey some slack, at least temporarily.
• Cut Venom mentioning Mary Jane a second time. The show moves from idea to idea at a breakneck pace, so repeating this beat   disrupts the rhythm.
• Trimmed Jameson trying to focus camera on Peter’s face. Stretches credibility to have him so inept at operating a camera.
• Cut repeated footage of Venom swinging.
• Cut Spider-Man shooting web when he falls from ledge. The way Venom breaks the web doesn’t seem threatening, especially   considering how angry he is.
• Cut line “We’re going to turn out your lights, this party is over” (Venom). This sounds like a really neutered “We’re going to kill you.” Not sure why the show’s writers always had characters referring to fights as parties.
• Cut Venom driving truck to catch up with train. As much as this amuses me, it is perhaps too silly.
• Trimmed Spider-Man webbing Venom in face. Venom looks too passive.
• Cut line “Say aloha!” (Venom). I have no clue why he says “aloha” instead of “goodbye” – is Brock Hawaiian? Does it have something to do with NASA? I don't know. It’s random and sounds stupid, so I cut it.
• Other minor changes as needed.

Technical Changes
 

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“The Alien Costume, Part 1”

• Cropped shot of Smythe to remove colouring error.
• Removed stray frame from news broadcast.
• Removed stray frame from space shuttle careening on bridge.
• Recoloured Kingpin’s hand holding Promethium X.
• Removed red dot under Peter’s chin when he’s on couch.
• Recoloured Spider-Man’s web shooter.
• Other minor changes as needed.

“The Alien Costume, Part 2”

• Removed animation error in Jameson’s office.
• Stabilized twitchy shot of Jameson.
• Cropped shot of Shocker to remove unfinished animation.
• Cropped shot of wall crumbling to remove animation error.
• Cropped shot of Spider-Man to remove scene transition error.
• Fixed poor animation when Spider-Man exits room.
• Removed scene transition error in Peter’s bedroom.
• Removed stray frame from battle in church.
• Other minor changes as needed.

“The Alien Costume, Part 3”

• Replaced poorly cropped shot of Brock standing on roof.
• Fixed poor editing when Brock meets Mary Jane.
• Replaced poorly superimposed shot of Venom during hallucination.
• Other minor changes as needed.

A few disclaimers...

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Regarding picture quality: please note that the source DVDs contain artifacts. I’ve tried not to introduce more in my workflow, but their presence can’t be helped. The picture quality is also slightly degraded because of Vimeo's 500 MB file size limit.

Regarding the source material’s editing: it’s awkward at times. I’ve tried to fix the worst of it, but absent additional footage, it can only be improved so much.

The edit can be viewed below.

(password: fanedit)

Thanks for reading. Excelsior!

 

[Kal-El]

I LOVE the original series. Definitely watching this. Will edit the post later and put down my findings (keeping in mind the problems you mentioned with the source material).

 

[Zarius]

Oh yes, about time we got something from a 90s Marvel series. Most if not ALL of their library from that decade is out on DVD in the UK and some other parts of the world, so I was wondering just when some would get around to edits. The Venom Saga is a cherished memory of mine, having attained it for one of my birthdays.

That "SHOCKER" outburst from Spidey is so much fun, right up there with his hilarious "MARY JANE" yells in later series after she was thrown into another dimension.

All that's missing are clips from Live and Kicking;-)

 

[Omaru1982]

Loved this series, Christopher Daniel Barnes was kind of the definitive voice of spider-man to me though obviously in the ore recent games (as spider-man noir) he's no longer youthful sounding.

I'll never forget that sequence in this saga where him and flash come to blows and flash says something like 'Parker's developed a backbone' and he retorts with
'I've developed more than a backbone'

Wish you all the best with this edit.

 

[Kal-El]

Some of the animation's a bit wonky in places (source material problem), and there are a few scenes kept in that I didn't really agree with.

• For instance Venom chasing the train in a truck is kind of ridiculous. Would have made more sense if he jumped from the bridge and DID make the jump instead of falling flat on his face. He jumps from the truck onto the train's back end so the cut would've been easy.
• Didn't make much sense for Spiderman in the beginning of the cut to say that "he's got a faster way" when Jameson wants to take the chopper to the bridge to see his son. Spiderman's web swinging only works when he's got something to latch on to. If there's nothing in the vicinity, like a park without trees or a river with no bridge nearby, he's pretty much stuck to walking. That line could have been cut.
• Peter and Brock having the ability to morph thanks to the suit always was pretty dumb to me as well. The suit latching over to your clothing, like when Brock was talking to Spiderman on the side of the building and then changed into Venom, is one thing. Peter morphing into a cop, a rock star, or an italian suit, ... no thanks. That would've been cut by me.

The above is the only thing I've got going against it. Cuts are seamless, quality's great (for what it is) and Problem Eliminator held up to his name. When this gets on ifdb I'm definitely giving it good grades

All in all the episode did flow very nicely and it was a great throwback to my saturday mornings as a kid

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[coinilius]

I agree with Zarius, great to see some 90's Marvel cartoon edits! I really enjoy seeing 'VHS' style digest versions of old cartoons too, and looks like you have done a very nice job with this. One day I'd like to tackle the X-Men animated series, but have to actually get around to buying it first and there's just too many old cartoons I'm already working my way through

Also Kal-EL:

Peter and Brock having the ability to morph thanks to the suit always was pretty dumb to me as well. The suit latching over to your clothing, like when Brock was talking to Spiderman on the side of the building and then changed into Venom, is one thing. Peter morphing into a cop, a rock star, or an Italian suit, ... no thanks. That would've been cut by me.

Dumb or not, that is an established ability of the Symbiote from the comics - it all depends on what direction Problem Eliminator wants to take, though, if he wants to cut those scenes or not. Agree on cutting the truck sequence to just Venom making the jump to the train.

 

[Kal-El]

Dumb or not, that is an established ability of the Symbiote from the comics - it all depends on what direction Problem Eliminator wants to take, though, if he wants to cut those scenes or not. Agree on cutting the truck sequence to just Venom making the jump to the train.

Well, I didn't know that, to be honest. I haven't read all that many Spidey comics, and the ones I do have are with Morlun, not Venom. Thanks for the info

 

[Uncanny Antman]

Peter and Brock having the ability to morph thanks to the suit always was pretty dumb to me as well. The suit latching over to your clothing, like when Brock was talking to Spiderman on the side of the building and then changed into Venom, is one thing. Peter morphing into a cop, a rock star, or an italian suit, ... no thanks.

No go on uniforms or suits, but you're okay with the symbiote morphing into a Spidey costume?

 

[Kal-El]

More specifically I mean that I find it (slightly) more plausible that the symbiote is always present, and can morph itself into 'suit-shape' on top of Peter or Brock's existing outfit, but I find it hard to believe that the symbiote can mimick other materials

The 'from-anything-to-symbiote' I can understand, but the 'from-symbiote-to-anything-that-wasn't-underneath-at-first' is hard to believe. Or something like that :-D

 

[Problem Eliminator]

That "SHOCKER" outburst from Spidey is so much fun, right up there with his hilarious "MARY JANE" yells in later series after she was thrown into another dimension.

You might be disappointed to learn I cut most of that outburst! Haha. Definitely a memorable moment... Maybe not for the right reasons.

Wish you all the best with this edit.

Christopher Daniel Barnes is the definitive voice of Spidey for me, too. And thanks!

Some of the animation's a bit wonky in places (source material problem), and there are a few scenes kept in that I didn't really agree with.

• For instance Venom chasing the train in a truck is kind of ridiculous. Would have made more sense if he jumped from the bridge and DID make the jump instead of falling flat on his face. He jumps from the truck onto the train's back end so the cut would've been easy.
• Didn't make much sense for Spiderman in the beginning of the cut to say that "he's got a faster way" when Jameson wants to take the chopper to the bridge to see his son. Spiderman's web swinging only works when he's got something to latch on to. If there's nothing in the vicinity, like a park without trees or a river with no bridge nearby, he's pretty much stuck to walking. That line could have been cut.
• Peter and Brock having the ability to morph thanks to the suit always was pretty dumb to me as well. The suit latching over to your clothing, like when Brock was talking to Spiderman on the side of the building and then changed into Venom, is one thing. Peter morphing into a cop, a rock star, or an italian suit, ... no thanks. That would've been cut by me.

Thanks for this feedback! Let's see here...

• Looks like both you and coinilius think Venom driving the truck should be cut. I agree this part is ridiculous, but I also find it really amusing. Road rage Venom. For sure I'll see how the sequence plays without it.
• I think Peter's line "I've got a quicker way to get there" serves an important purpose - establishing that Peter is Spider-Man! Of course, most viewers already know this, but it's important to cover that base in a narrative sense. Spidey's webs also have a long history of not needing anything to latch onto. He swings from literally nothing all the time in the '60s show, it's a lot of fun.
• I find the symbiote morphing into various outfits a little silly, but without it, I'm not sure how I would get Peter away from the cops, or how I would get him in an Italian suit for his scene with Felicia Hardy and Flash. His morph into a rock star is also a guilty pleasure (like road rage Venom).

As for explanations regarding how the morphing works... This is my theory: at first, Peter can control the symbiote with his mind and turn it into any form he wants ("Part 1"). But when it starts taking control, it decides the form it wants (the black costume, which is bonded to Peter through all of "Part 2"). Once Peter finally rejects the symbiote, it has adopted enough of Spider-Man's traits that the black costume form comes to it automatically, even when it finds a new host to control ("Part 3" - Brock never morphs into anything but Venom). Anyway, that's enough fanboy twaddle from me.

Cuts are seamless, quality's great (for what it is) and Problem Eliminator held up to his name. When this gets on ifdb I'm definitely giving it good grades

All in all the episode did flow very nicely and it was a great throwback to my saturday mornings as a kid

Thank you. Glad to hear you enjoyed it!

 

[Kal-El]

You're definitely right about the problems it would create if you cut the morphing sequences.

I suppose Spiderman could build up speed by web slinging and eventually go ridiculously fast, but at that point in time it seems so out there that he could get there sooner than a chopper that takes off and immediately reaches full speed.

Speaking of the original animated Spiderman show, how about tackling that next?

 

[DonAdam]

Title suggestion: "The Symbiote"

 

[Problem Eliminator]

Speaking of the original animated Spiderman show, how about tackling that next?

Maybe sometime! Would have to take quite a different approach to that show.

In the meantime, I've cut together the climax of "The Alien Costume" without Venom driving the truck. The audio's really rough, but how do you feel it plays, Kal-El? IMO, it has the problem I thought it would have - Spidey gets to the airbase way faster now and some of the tension is gone. Thoughts?

(password: fanedit)

 

[Kal-El]

Some of the tension is gone? It plays sooo much better now! I think it's a HUGE improvement overall. The entire clip flows great

 

[Zarius]

I did'nt notice any fuzzy audio there at all, great transition.

Keep on trucking.;-)

 

[Problem Eliminator]

Thank you, Kal-El and Zarius. (The audio didn't necessarily sound bad, I just didn't edit it very thoughtfully.)

I've added the final version of Spider-Man: "The Alien Costume" Recut to this thread's original post. There are a few changes. Venom driving the truck is gone, and I've added back a few one-liners - one in the scene where Spidey steals the Promethium X and a couple in the train sequence (so that it doesn't end so prematurely).

Hope you enjoy it!

 

[Problem Eliminator]

I'm happy to say that this edit has officially been released! The database listing is here.

Thanks again to [MENTION=7560]Kal-El[/MENTION] for his detailed review back in June.

Here's the poster, if anyone has a use for it:

 

[baileym43]

nice work, Prob El. 90's Marvel cartoons aside, it's nice to see an animated edit done in general.
i hope there are more of these Multi-Part Episodes to proper Movies in the future. from you or anyone else. there is a ton of Marvel animated series material to work from.

 

[Kal-El]

Prob El

:lol:

 

[baileym43]

:lol:

Problem Eliminator . . . Prob El.