This double length feature begins with Spider-Man
swinging along, when he witnesses the Human Torch apparently gone mad, burning
right through an armored car! Spidey goes to try and talk some sense into the
Torch and the two engage in a mild scuffle before Spidey rips up a fire hydrant,
dousing the Torch’s flame. Before they can continue, they are stopped by an
angry movie director, as it turns out that the Torch was shooting a movie and
Spidey unwittingly messed the whole thing up! Spidey leaves and embarrassedly
dreads the coverage of the incident in the Daily Bugle. We then see said
coverage, as J. Jonah Jameson revels in Spider-Man making a fool of himself.
He’s not the only one, as a mysterious figure also views the incident in the
papers, and a plan begins to come together.
Sometime later at his apartment, Peter hears a news
report that a new movie studio called Paragon Productions wants to make a movie
starring the Human Torch and Spider-Man! Peter thinks that this might not be a
bad idea, both as a way to make some quick money, and for his reputation. He
uses the last of his savings to fly out to Hollywood and lets the top brass
know that Spider-Man is interested in the movie idea. We then see the same
mysterious figure from before, now joined by another, as they revel in their
plan coming together. The next day, Spidey and Torch run into each other on the
way to the studio and decide to call a truce until the movie is completed.
At the studio, Spidey and Torch run through a scene a
couple of times and all seems to be running smoothly, yet for some reason
Spidey’s spider-sense keeps going off, much to his confusion. On a new
run-through of the scene, the Human Torch suddenly starts to fly right at
Spidey, causing Spidey to have to deflect him with a light reflector, all the
while wondering what’s gotten into him. Spidey then follows the Torch to his
dressing room and angrily rips a hole right through the wall! We then see the
two responsible delighted in their successful plan, as the fake Human Torch was
the Wizard in disguise, along with the help of Mysterio! The two met after the
Wizard saw the news report of Spidey bungling the movie production, which gave
him the idea for his plan. He contacted Mysterio and the two tested each other
a bit before agreeing to join forces to take down their hated enemies!
Back with Spidey, he angrily confronts the Torch about
the incident, but finds that he can’t bring himself to actually hurt the Torch.
The Torch likewise defends himself from Spidey, though halfheartedly, as the
two can’t shake the feeling that something is wrong. The Wizard and Mysterio
watch the whole ordeal, frustrated that their enemies are not destroying each
other as planned. In his frustration, the Wizard accidentally fires an energy
ray at the two heroes, alerting them that there is more going on. Deciding to
dispense with the cloak and dagger act, the two villains drop a cage dispensing
gas from the ceiling, though Spidey quickly clogs the trap with his webbing.
Spidey’s spider-sense leads the two heroes to the secure room that villains are
hiding at and the Torch heats the room up, causing the two villains to exit.
Seeing the Wizard and Mysterio are the ones behinds this, the heroes try to
grab them, but find they were just illusions set up by Mysterio.
Meanwhile, the real villains escape outside, before
leading the heroes to a section of the studio set up as a jungle façade. There,
the heroes encounter a large mechanical gorilla, courtesy of Mysterio, who
quickly knocks out the Torch and grabs him in its mighty hands! Spidey quickly
finds the large robot’s control center and smashes it, shutting down the
creature but leaving the Torch trapped in its hand. Spidey epically strains
against the creature’s fingers and eventually frees the Torch, before incorporating
some of the magnetic fluid from the gorilla into his web-shooters. Spidey and
Torch head towards one final trap, as right before they reach the villains,
they are encaged in strong barriers with a magnetic field that sends rocks
hurtling right for them. After some difficulty, the Torch shoots a concentrated
flame, making a tiny hole in the barrier, allowing Spidey to shoot his now
magnetically charged webs through the hole at the controls, reversing the
magnetic field. This causes the rocks to fly towards the villains, knocking
them for a loop and freeing the heroes. Spidey webs up the villains and the two
heroes receive reward money for the villains’ capture, which Peter uses to pay
for his flight home.