page_title: Competition (The Spectacular Spider-Man)
section_title: Cultural references
hierarchical_section_title: Competition (The Spectacular Spider-Man) / Cultural references
caption_attribution_description: English: Jesse Gates carries the ball against the Pine Bluff Dollarway Cardinals in the Arkansas Class AAA state championship game.
context_page_description: "Competition" the fifth episode of the animated television series The Spectacular Spider-Man, which is based on the comic book character Spider-Man, created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. In it, Spider-Man must face the Sandman, a former petty thug who now can manipulate his sand body at will.
  "Competition" was written by Kevin Hopps and directed by Troy Adomitis. Hopps and Adomotis each had their respective roles previously in "Interactions." Victor Cook, a developer, producer, and supervising director for The Spectacular Spider-Man, was thrilled to use Sandman because he felt he was "a perfect character for animation." "Competition" aired on March 29, 2008, on the Kids WB! block for The CW. The episode received warm reviews from television critics - IGN wrote that the fight scenes were the greatest of the series at the time.
context_section_description: The title of the episode is referent to economics - the title scheme was used for the arc the episode fell inside and was pitched by Greg Weisman, story editor and producer for The Spectacular Spider-Man. It also refers to the episode's theme of people competing for glory. Several scenes from the episode were taken directly from the film Spider-Man 3. Spider-Man does a leg-sweep on Sandman in the same manner as in the film. Flint Marko's transformation into the Sandman was also based executed in the same manner as it was in the film's version of his transformation. A main focus in the episode features Peter and Harry trying out for high school football.
  The origin of this incarnation of sandman shares similarities to his ultimate counterpart version while sharing similarities to the comics and the film.
caption: The majority of "Competition" focuses on high school football.
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