Review - Ultimate Spider-Man Volume 10: Hollywood

A big budget blockbuster about Spider-Man is being made with Doctor Octopus’ ex-wife as its consultant and the villainous scientist couldn’t be angrier. He escapes from prison intent on wreaking havoc on the film’s set and abducts Spider-Man in the process. Tired of having his life dictated and defined by others, Doctor Octopus is desperate and eager to eliminate those who hold him back.

Ultimate Spider-Man Volume 10: Hollywood collects Ultimate Spider-Man #54-59, written by Brian Michael Bendis and illustrated by Mark Bagley.

Hollywood is a tongue-and-cheek meta storyline that sees real life events being tied into the world of the fictional Spider-Man. Film producer Avi Arad announces the production of a Spider-Man movie directed by Sam Raimi and starring Tobey Maguire, which is set to film in New York City. It’s a comical to see this transpire within the Ultimate Universe and comes so close to breaking down the fourth wall. Instead of being overjoyed at being the subject of a blockbuster, Peter is annoyed. He’s miffed that people are profiting off of him and that he has no control over his narrative. The producers offer him an opportunity to get involved, but the one caveat they have for him is that he must reveal his identity to them first. Peter refuses and broods for the rest of the production. Amidst this somewhat lighthearted narrative there’s the story of Doc Ock breaking out of prison and leaving a path of destruction in his wake. He crashes the set and kidnaps Peter, taking him on a plane and torturing him. It’s a rather grim turn of events and it’s rather unexpected. This storyline makes it quite clear that Doc Ock isn’t a goofy villain or some kind of a henchman to a bigger boss. He’s quite scary all on his own.

Despite some memorable action sequences (particularly the final showdown between Spider-Man and Doc Ock) and some engaging humour, I found myself once again most interesting in Gwen Stacy’s side of the story. We see that she’s still processing the loss of her father and that she still blames Spider-Man for it. She becomes more and more unhinged as the arc goes on, which contrasts her usually cool demeanour. With all the hoopla of Spider-Man facing off against bad guys in intense grudge matches, it’s fascinating to me that what I find most compelling and memorable are what Bendis and Bagley do with the supporting characters. To me, that’s what elevates an otherwise disposable storyline.

Ultimate Spider-Man Volume 10: Hollywood is an entertaining read that checks all the boxes of what you’d expect from a Spider-Man storyline. It’s got the classic hero versus iconic villain showdown, reminders of how powerless Spider-Man is in controlling his own narrative, humour, and plenty of interpersonal drama. With that said, it is somewhat predictable and isn’t as exciting as it could have been. We’ve already seen Spidey and Doc Ock throw down more than once, so there wasn’t anything new there. The movie plot point was interesting enough, but there wasn’t adequate commentary done on the subject (as Gail Simone had done in her two-parter where Hollywood attempts to make a movie about Wonder Woman). Hollywood is fun, but it won’t leave the reader remembering more than an extracted tooth and a rather intense Gwen Stacy.

RATING: B-