This week, Ultimate Spidey pays tribute to one of Marvel’s most self-deprecating, humorous properties.

So, all those superhero fights with bad guys rack up a lot of damaged property, right? Well, this time, the gang goes up against none other than the Wrecking Crew, primarily known for construction-related puns and mutual love for destruction. The gang does their best to stop them from trying to rob a bank, but the Wrecking Crew basically just ignores them and goes about destroying everything around them. Which is weird, even for super villains. The Wrecking Crew flees after making a mess of the place, and Fury swoops in, chastising the team for letting them get away with so much damage. He assigns them to work under cover and figure out what they’re up to. They’re assigned to work with none other than: Damage Control.

What is Damage Control, you say? Damage Control was created by Dwayne McDuffie as a construction company in the Marvel Universe, who specialize in cleaning up the damage caused by clashes between heroes and villains. Damage Control was always one of the most satirical, comedy-driven titles for Marvel, because of it’s self-referential nature. Here, Damage Control is run by a guy named Mac Porter, and they have a hilarious commercial done much in the style of, say, commercials for Life Alert or lawyers trying to cash in on medical recalls. They even have a D-List hero, Captain Ultra, as a spokesperson. But Mac is a good guy, seemingly, and the gang gets to work, getting a glimpse at the not-so-glamorous life of what it’s like to live in the wake of heroes. J. Jonah Jameson is even following them around with cameras to make sure Spider-Man isn’t up to no good. Nova accidentally gets shrunk by a Damage Control shrink ray and spends most of the episode complaining about it.

Mac tells the team that one of the buildings is unsafe and no entry is allowed. Peter notices that the building is right next to the bank that the Wrecking Crew were trying to rob and senses that trouble may be afoot. But the rest of the team thinks he’s trying to slack off from clean-up duty. Peter goes as far as to break into Mac’s office, running into the world’s most destructive/cleanest security system on the planet. He meets up with the Wrecking Crew on the roof and he uses his cool stealth suit to engage with them in a fight before it breaks. But the rest of the team has his back and they are able to catch them and beat them with little to no collateral damage, with some help from Mac Porter. Fury shows up, congratulates them for a job well done, and ends up blowing up half a building himself. Peter hands him a sweeper and walks away.

There’s not much to even say about this episode, because it was succinct, moved quickly, and even functioned without 309,032 cutaways. I actually think they’re learning. That being said, some thoughts:

  • I love Damage Control. It’s one of the funniest titles Marvel has ever run and I basically fantasize about a ‘Parks and Recreation’ style send-up of the comic. It could fit into the MCU just fine. MAKE IT HAPPEN, WHO DO I CALL.
  • This is one of the first times I’ve ever seen something reference all the members of the Wrecking Crew by name.
  • The Damage Control commercial was excellent, and could be appreciated by anyone who has seen crappy but loving commercials for any local business.
  • Ava and Luke high-fiving and Ava giving a quiet ‘ow.’ Sometimes this show actually remember the little things.
  • I actually did laugh at the ‘Yo! Spidey!” joke every time it happened.
  • Stan Lee cameos will always be appreciated. He’s like America’s wiley grandpa.
  • Is it me or do all “strongman” villains like The Wrecker always have the same voice?
  • This episode was dedicated to Dwayne McDuffie, who died in February of 2011. Respect.

Did you miss an episode? Check out our recap of ‘Snow Day‘.