Marvel's Spider-Man: Webbed Champion/City of Heroes, Part 5: Spider in the Eagle’s Shadow

City of Heroes, Part 5: Spider in the Eagle’s Shadow is the 9th episode of Marvel's Spider-Man: Webbed Champion.

Featured Characters

 * Spider-Man / Peter Parker (Flashback and main story)
 * Ghost-Spider / Gwen Stacy
 * Kid Arachnid / Miles Morales
 * Spider-Girl / Anya Corazon
 * American Knight / Kevin Walker

Supporting Characters

 * Shang-Chi (first appearance) (Flashback and main story)
 * Lin Lie the Sword Master (first appearance)
 * Brawn / Amadeus Cho (first appearance)
 * Avengers
 * Black Widow / Natasha Romanoff
 * Captain America / Steve Rogers
 * Hawkeye / Clint Barton
 * Iron Man / Tony Stark
 * S.H.I.E.L.D.
 * Yuri Watanabe
 * Max Modell

Antagonists

 * Taskmaster / Tony Masters (first appearance)
 * Mister Negative / Martin Li (first appearance)
 * Inner Demons (first appearance)
 * The Mandarin (single appearance; flashback only; deceased)
 * Master Planner / Otto Octavius (First revealed as Otto Octavius)
 * Chameleon (first appearance)
 * William Stryker (mentioned only)

Other Characters

 * Tigra / Mary Jane Watson (flashback only)
 * Ms. Marvel / Kamala Khan (flashback only)
 * Aunt May (mentioned only)

Plot
Peter Parker / Spider-Man and Gwen Stacy / Ghost-Spider are swinging around New York as they share opinions and suspicions about who the Master Planner could be and what he is planning. Having heard William Stryker's communication, Spider-Man mentions how familiar the Master Planner's tone seemed to be. Just then, they witness Chameleon, a criminal with a shape-shifting suit, assaulting Horizon High over a device he was hired by the Master Planner to obtain. Spider-Man confronts Chameleon, who (unable to mimic Spider-Man's appearance and abilities because of Spider-Man's new suit ) takes the shape of numerous ninjas to fight him. Spider-Man, however, still defeats him using a series of Kung Fu-themed techniques and disables him using a nerve-strike attack which paralyses Chameleon. As Chameleon is taken to jail, Ghost-Spider voices amazement as Spider-Man reveals he and Mary Jane Watson "learned with the Master" and takes Chameleon's mask for check-up. From the top of a building, a shadowed criminal watches the event before taking his leave.

Next day, Peter watches news about last night's events as he takes Gwen, Anya Corazon, Miles Morales and Kevin Walker to the secret sanctuary where he learned his new Kung Fu moves. The four then encounter Peter's secret teacher: Shang-Chi the Master of Kung Fu. As his friends follow Shang-Chi to train with him, Peter is tasked to meet with Lin Lie the Sword Master at Horizon High. Suiting up as Spider-Man and making it there, he encounters Lin Lie and Amadeus Cho / Brawn, who were informed of a secret clan of ninjas calling themselves the Inner Demons, led by their Darkforce-powered leader Mister Negative. The three begin searching every street until they come across the Avengers (Captain America, Black Widow, Iron Man and Hawkeye), who are also searching for the Inner Demons. Black Widow mentions having infiltrated the clan and learned that Mister Negative seeks the Ten Rings, mystical Chinese relics which previously belonged to the tyrannical Chinese emperor known as the Mandarin, as Lin Lie acknowledges that, because the rings house the Mandarin's soul, they can bring him back to life if they fall in wrong hands. Just then, they are confronted by another clan of mercenaries competing with the Inner Demons over the Rings. This one is led by Taskmaster, who had also made a deal with the Master Planner.

Though they defeat the mercenaries, Spider-Man and the others find a more powerful adversary on Taskmaster, who can mimic his opponents' fighting techniques, although the villain (much like Chameleon) cannot mimic Spider-Man's moves. Just then, both groups are likewise attacked by Mister Negative himself, who also holds personal grudges with Taskmaster. Just as both villains retreat, Spider-Man (after scanning Mister Negative's biological status) identifies him as Martin Li, a former Oscorp head scientist who was presumed dead following a failed experiment with a Darkmatter virus in Oscorp, and concludes that Li has plans to take over Oscorp. Meanwhile, Gwen, Anya, Miles and Kevin continue learning more Martial Art skills under Shang-Chi's instructions. During the lessons, Shang-Chi also tells the four that the nerve-strike technique used by Spider-Man on Chameleon must be their last resort, and be used only for enemies who are considered to be too unstable. Elsewhere, Spider-Man, Lin Lie, Brawn and the Avengers manage to track down and reach the Temple of Mandarin, where the Ten Rings are located. As Lin Lie formulates a ritual to destroy the Rings, the others are confronted again by Mr. Negative's Inner Demons and Taskmaster's clan. Spider-Man and his allies keep the villains occupied long enough for Lin Lie to complete the ritual and destroy the Rings, although Mister Negative manages to acquire one of them and put it on his finger, but suddenly losing control of himself and its power.

Overwhelmed by the Ring's influence, Mister Negative unwillingly causes havoc in the Temple, decimating the Inner Demons in the progress. Taskmaster eventually attempts to attack Mister Negative and obtain the Ring, but is overpowered and incapacitated. Gwen / Ghost-Spider, Miles / Kid Arachnid, Anya / Spider-Girl and Kevin / American Knight (having completed their training with Shang-Chi) arrive to reinforce the heroes. Using their Kung Fu techniques, they manage to redirect Mister Negative's Darkforce powers against the Ring, destroying it and immobilizing Mister Negative. Taskmaster recovers and attempts to attack the heroes, but with his mask (the source of his movement-mimicking abilities) damaged, he is defeated by Spider-Man and paralyzed by Ghost-Spider with the nerve-strike technique. As Taskmaster and Mister Negative are taken in to S.H.I.E.L.D. custody, the Avengers make their good compliments with Spider-Man and his friends, praising for their performance as Captain America and Black Widow have a friendly meeting with Shang-Chi, who likewise praises the young heroes for keeping up with their lessons about Kung Fu. While swinging around New York, Spider-Man takes regard of Taskmaster's attempted attack on Mister Negative and, noticing Taskmaster's brief use of Otto Octavius's tentacle harness, comes to realize that Octavius is the Master Planner, and voices intentions to stop Octavius by any means necessary.

Voice Cast

 * Robbie Daymond as Spider-Man / Peter Parker
 * Laura Bailey as Ghost-Spider / Gwen Stacy, Black Widow / Natasha Romanoff
 * Nadji Jeter as Kid Arachnid / Miles Morales
 * Melanie Minichino as Spider-Girl / Anya Corazon
 * Cameron Bowen as American Knight / Kevin Walker
 * Matthew Yang King as Lin Lie the Sword Master
 * Eric Bauza as Brawn / Amadeus Cho
 * James Sie as Shang-Chi
 * Roger Craig Smith as Captain America / Steve Rogers
 * Mick Wingert as Iron Man / Tony Stark
 * Troy Baker as Hawkeye / Clint Barton
 * Sumalee Montano as Yuri Watanabe
 * Fred Tatasciore as Max Modell, Inner Demons
 * Steve Blum as Taskmaster, Chameleon
 * Stephen Oyoung as Mister Negative / Martin Li
 * Scott Menville as the Master Planner / Otto Octavius

Trivia

 * The title of the episode is a reference to Snake in the Eagle's Shadow, a 1978 Hong Kong martial arts action comedy film directed by Yuen Woo-ping in his directorial debut, and starring Jackie Chan.
 * During their training with Shang-Chi, Gwen and Anya are shown combining different animal-themed fighting techniques with one another to create a new effect, similar to Jackie Chan's character combining the "Cat Claw" and "Snake Bite" techniques to defeat his opponents.