Animated Spider-Man Series General Discussion

[Brad]

 

Spider-Man is one Marvel's biggest characters, and naturally as such has been given quite the number of animated series to accompany his appearances in comics, movies and video games. Spider-Man's cartoons have ranged in quality over the years but all have retained a level of success for Marvel, many of them introducing new fans to the webhead. Here are some of them -

 

 

CURRENTLY AIRING ON DISNEY XD

The latest TV adaption of Spider-Man, Ultimate Spider-Man is a more Marvel Universe centralised show with SHIELD being heavily involved in Spider-Man's life. It was created following the cancellation of Spectacular Spider-Man due to Disney purchasing Marvel. Spider-Man works within a team of heroes involving Nova, White Tiger, Iron Fist and Power Man to defeat his enemies and train to become a "real superhero". The show is known to break the fourth wall frequently and have a more comedic focus, and Brian Michael Bendis is one of the writers and producers of the show, known for his work in the Marvel Comics.

 

 

(2008-2009)

Arguably the best animated adaption of the wall crawler, Spectacular Spider-Man aired for just one year with two seasons. Though initial reaction to it's art style was mixed, the show itself was met with critical acclaim for its strong storytelling, richly developed characters, great voice acting and extremely well choreographed fight scenes. Spectacular wonderfully balances Peter's real life issues and his life as Spider-Man making both engaging and engrossing, unlike most other animated adaptions of the character. The show was sadly cancelled following Disney acquiring Marvel despite a third season being planned.

 

 

1994-1998

Another famous adaption from the 90s and a maker of many nostalgic memories for Spider-Man fans. This show's arcs and stories were heavily adapted from the comic books and had five seasons with 65 episodes. Though it's not the best it's an enjoyable romp with oddly strong action scenes considering legal rights meant Spider-Man wasn't allowed to punch anybody. It's also pretty well known for re-using existing footage to help on budget costs and such.

 

(1998-2001)

Possibly the shortest of all the animated Spider-Man series running for just thirteen episodes, Spider-Man Unlimited was set in an alternate world called Counter-Earth where giant anthropomorphic animals rule. Spider-Man is in pursuit of not only the missing John Jameson, but also Venom and Carnage who have escaped to this alternative world. The show had fair ratings but was completely overshadowed by the newly debuted Pokemon and Digimon shows which caused it to eventually diminish and be cancelled. 

 

(1967-1970)

"Spider-Man, Spider-Man, does whatever a spider can..." The first ever Spider-Man animated series from the 1960's. This show became iconic thanks to the introduction of Spider-Man's most famous theme song ever, and its popularity lives on today through... internet memes. Which you've probably seen scattered around the internet. Watching this show now is hilariously funny in the most unintentional way, but back in the day it was well known for being a childhood favourite.

 

(1981-1983)

Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends was the next "big" animated series starring the wallcrawler since the 60's. Sharing a similar, but much improved animation style to the 60's show also, this adaption also included two other Marvel superheroes alongside Spidey - Iceman, and original creation Firestar. The trio was named Spider-Friends, and they fought many villains together alongside cameos of various other Marvel heroes too.

 

So. Discuss Spider-Man's animated career in this here thread, you hear? 

[Nintendoga]

Great OP! Where's muh Spiderman and Amazing Friends? Fiddle Baddle! Gonna have to give this OP an 8.9/10!

And I just wanna mention again, Spectactular Spiderman is available on Blu-Ray for $25. Buy it here!

Yes, the entire series.

Pics of the cover/back in the spoiler

 

Awesome

And as much as people shit on Spiderman TAS, it's a great show, even with the budget problems and editing and the "Spidey can't punch anyone" rule. It's ass, but the good kind of ass.

Spectactular Spiderman is still the best tho.

And dat 60's Spiderman. Jesus.

[Chaos Warp]

Spectacular Spider-Man is the best. That's a great show. I need to see Spider-Man TAS though.

 

Oh and Ultimate Spider-Man sucks, the writing is so crappy and Spidey acts like child-friendly Deadpool. Why?!

[nintega137]

Spectacular Spider-Man is the best. That's a great show. I need to see Spider-Man TAS though.

 

Oh and Ultimate Spider-Man sucks, the writing is so crappy and Spidey acts like child-friendly Deadpool. Why?!

Wanna see how deadpool acts on the show? 

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r06mCANdnXQ

[Mando-Whirl-Wind]

Wanna see how deadpool acts on the show? 

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r06mCANdnXQ

Well he does get stabbed and looks like a Pincushion multiple times(And Agent MacGuffin was amusing, you have to admit)

 

 

I still consider the 90's show the best myself, and I hold a soft spot for all of Spidey & Friends(I mean Fred from Scooby Doo was ICEMAN, whats not to love), not to mention plently of cameos like Namor and Doctor Strange

[Mania Pipe]

I really loved Spider-Man the Animated series when I was growing up, so it was big part of my childhood. However, as much as I loved the 90's Spiderman animated show, I think I have to hand it to this one being the best Spider-Man animated show:

 

 

Great writing on the characterization and stories, great character development and growth, balancing Peter Parker's life as a high school student and a web slinging superhero. I love how the episodes aren't just a separate episode with just one plot to each of them, but episodes with plot threads that continue to arc over and connect together to create a story. Awesome usage of elements from other Spider-Man material and yet manages to make its original storyline a bit more unique. It knows how to be fun with itself and know when to take the dramatic moments seriously. It is such a shame that it had to be cancelled after the second season and be replaced by THAT show. Ultimate Spider-Man the show can go fuck itself. Other than that, I really loved Spectacular Spider-Man and it is seriously a great show. One of the best animated Marvel shows in recent years if I might add.

[Chibinuva]

Wanna see how deadpool acts on the show? 

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r06mCANdnXQ

I think the most jarring/annoying part about this is the fact that Deadpool is fucking Ron from Kim Possible.

Also even though Spectacular is amazing and easily the best spidey show out there, part of me will always love TAS because that show was my childhood. In hindsight, it had its glaring flaws (like the re-used footage and spidey's...mysterious inability to punch anyone,) but I loved it. Also it had Stan Lee in the finale, and I'm pretty sure the only other show he's been in is Ultimate (but we don't count that because it sucks.)

[SteffieMusings]

The Spectacular Spider-Man is my favourite of the Spider-Man animated series. The writing and characters are superb. Pity it never received a third second.

 

Although there might be people that believe it's old and outdated, I still have a soft-spot for Spider-Man: The Animated Series since it actually introduced me to the character.

 

I'm on the fence when it comes to Ultimate Spider-Man, but there are some episodes that I enjoy.

 

Spider-Man the New Animated Series (the 3D/ MTV one) didn't really grab my interest, while Spider-Man Unlimited bored me.

[Brad]

Yeah, Ultimate is pretty mediocre. Fourth wall breaking comedy which breaks the show's entire flow with unfunny jokes and it's fuelled with un-engaging characters and action scenes. Maybe it just feels even worse living in the shadow of Spectacular, but it also feels like it was designed entirely to sell merchandise. Especially with the stupid Spider Bike and shit.

 

Oh, and Drake Bell isn't a good Spidey VA imo. All hail Josh Keaton.

[Mania Pipe]

Oh, and Drake Bell isn't a good Spidey VA imo. All hail Josh Keaton.

 

At first I thought I was gonna give Drake Bell a chance for Ultimate Spider-Man. Then I finally heard his performance in the show and was like "Yeah... no. :/" Honestly, I would've preferred James Arnold Taylor as a much better choice than Drake if they couldn't get Josh Keaton to reprise his role. The fact that Marvel replaced Josh with Drake in Avengers: EMH for no reason really pissed me off.

[Chaos Incarnate]

Being a kid growing up in the early 2000's, Spider-Man was always my favorite superhero, due in no small part to the 90's animated series. If I wasn't watching Raimi's films in theaters when they released, and later re-watching them as much as possible, I would always have Spider-Man: The Animated Series on VHS. I loved the colorful, comic inspired animation, giant lineup of his rogues gallery (German accented Doc Ock for the win), and cameos from other Marvel Universe superheroes. I caught up with the show on Disney XD a few years ago, and it really hasn't aged too badly. Sure, some of the voice acting+writing doesn't hold up, and the censorship was beyond ridiculous, but overall, it really nailed Spidey's personality and sense of justice, while getting a good grasp of other characters' as well. I don't think its aged as badly as some would think, and I can recommend any Spider-Man fan give it a look, if they can look past some of the flaws.

 

• Never really grew up watching the 60's series or Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends much, but I can definitely say neither hold up very well, mainly due to the dated animation. Still, the 60's show did a good job capturing the look and feel of Spider-Man at the time, so I gotta give credit where credit is due.
• Unlimited had a competent art style and was animated nicely, plus Rino Romano was a decent Spider-Man, but I never liked the premise from the get go, and I wasn't sorry to see it go so soon, even on a cliffhanger. It's a shame they never actually went with a 2099 series instead, I knew that it was in the pipeline before evolving into what we got. Shame. Still, at least its got a kickass theme song to go along with it.
• The MTV series wasn't too bad for me, watching a couple episodes on Youtube. The computer animation doesn't hold up too bad aside from a few hiccups here and there, and it had potential to become really good after the series finale cliffhanger. My only problem with it was that it took itself too seriously at times, and even before Spider-Man 2, didn't work as a sequel to the 2002 film.

Oh man, Spectacular was amazing, and such a huge step up from the giant period of animated mediocrity from the wall crawler. I like that this show tried to do its own thing with the Spider-Man mythos through its designs, character backstories, and unique twists along the way, like with the Goblin identity scenario. This show got Spidey down to a tee, through its fun, vibrant tone, while still treating its audience with respect, and being accessible for anyone to watch. I still can't get over how it was cut short when it was.

 

I haven't seen Ultimate yet, nor do I have any interest in checking it out any time soon. The animation and voice acting seems pretty damn nice, but oh lord does the writing look mind numbingly bad, which is a shame as it's sort of based on the Ultimate Universe, one of my favorite Marvel reinventions for any character. Maybe I'm jumping onto the hate train too soon, as I haven't even fully watched it, but it just doesn't have anything to offer for me.

[Mando-Whirl-Wind]

Honestly, Ultimate gets more hate than it deserves, due in part to its part in getting spectacular cancelled, but on the other hand it does have a decent diveristy, and introduces some newer elements, and a larger connection to the other marvel stuff, like the other heroes, and It has Agent Coulson as his handler, and Principal, which had quite a few good jokes in relation to that in the first season. Once again, there are much better spidey cartoons, but its not that bad if you are just taking it easy, and dont take it seriously

Also didnt realize Deadpool's voice was the guy who voiced Ron, I knew it was familiar, but I think it wasnt that bad, and he did get in character(and Agent Macguffin was amusing, that one ought to get most writers to crack a smile)

[Brad]

The only good elements Ultimate bring to the table are the Marvel Universe connections and animation. The rest of it just isn't enjoyable. The comedic focus of the show would be great if the jokes were funny, but they never are. Any storytelling they try to draw you into each episode is broken by the annoyingly out of character fourth wall breaking sequences that aren't funny either. The characters are one dimensional, completely uninteresting and don't really go anywhere - this especially goes for the team members which all feel like tacky extras who aren't popular enough to get their own show so they threw them in with Spider-Man (plus, they're a constant reminder of the "friends can overcome anything" moral, which gets pretty fucking annoying after a while). The voice acting on Spidey isn't really that amazing either and the rest of the cast isn't interesting enough for me to care. The entire thing feels like Disney's attempt to cash in on the Spider-Man brand since they don't have the movie rights. 

 

It's completely fair to hold it to a standard, because Spectacular proved to us that Spider-Man cartoons can be so much better.

[Mando-Whirl-Wind]

The only good elements Ultimate bring to the table are the Marvel Universe connections and animation. The rest of it just isn't enjoyable. The comedic focus of the show would be great if the jokes were funny, but they never are. Any storytelling they try to draw you into each episode is broken by the annoyingly out of character fourth wall breaking sequences that aren't funny either. The characters are one dimensional, completely uninteresting and don't really go anywhere - this especially goes for the team members which all feel like tacky extras who aren't popular enough to get their own show so they threw them in with Spider-Man (plus, they're a constant annoying reminder of the "friends can overcome anything" moral, which gets pretty fucking annoying after a while). The voice acting on Spidey isn't really that amazing either and the rest of the cast isn't interesting enough for me to care. The entire thing feels like Disney's attempt to cash in on the Spider-Man brand since they don't have the movie rights. 

 

It's completely fair to hold it to a standard, because Spectacular proved to us that Spider-Man cartoons can be so much better.

I feel like the second season did fix a few things... but I never said it was overly good either, but I'm not going to defend it, just like I dont defend Avengers Assemble, whereas Avengers EMH is far superior(though AA at least has an... unusual pick of villians, you dont see Hyperion, Attuma, and Dracula very often in the cartoons

[Jacky]

Now if you probably couldn't tell (yeah i know it's suprising) i'm kinda of an expert on the Arachnid-Male, and that means i also like Arachnid-Male shows.


Nothing more can be said about 60's Spidey than has already been said. It's a work of art that belongs in a museum.  Every frame of this show is comedy gold.





Now without a doubt the 90s series was probably the thing that made me the Spider-Fan i am today in the first place. Turning on the telly and hearing that dope-ass theme song (SPIDER-MAN, SPIDER-MAN, RADIOACTIVE SPIDER-MAN, RADIOACTIVE SPIDER-BLOOD SPIDER-BLOOD) with my spidey toys and a bowl of cereal was the best feeling. Introduced a whole smorgasboard of iconic Marvel characters as well. At the time i thought the show was surprisingly deep for kiddo like me. Today, the show is absolutely hilarious and corny, melodramatic, completely blatant censorship and general avoidance of any fighting or killing (shitloads of stuff exploded in the show however), some truly interesting animation that rivals 60's Spidey in quality ( CGI BUILDINGS EVERYWHERE). If anything that just makes me love it even more. I mean look at this shit. It's amazing. Classic show. 

SHOOOOOOOOOCCCCCKKKKKKEEEEEEEEEEERRR




Out of everything here, Spectacular Spider-Man is not only my favorite spidey toon, but one of the best superhero cartoons, and hell in general, cartoons of the past decade. It's 50 years of Spider-Man, 60s Lee/Ditko, Ultimate, and the movies, that's all distilled into one perfect portrayal of Spider-Man. Extremely impressive show, nailing the Parker/Spidey experience, especially when it comes to his relationships with others, some great fight scenes, a nice little art style. Character development was one of this show's biggest highlights, you grow to care for every character, and you want to know what happens next. Even a dick like Flash Thompson gets some time to shine. Also Josh Keaton is perfect as Pete and I will fight you otherwise if you disagree. Shame the show got cut short, but eh it happens. Oh yeah, it also has a dope-ass theme song as well. SPECTACULAR SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN

As for the others; USM is pretty funny and charming in the small doses i've seen (i really liked the episodes with GOTG as well as the Deadpool one), though yeah it probably gets grating after a while. All in all, fairly cutesy show i'd say, all of the Marvel cameos and references are great too. I mean, Principal Coulson is the best thing ever. Drake Bell's alright as Pete, only really like him because i personally grew up with Drake and Josh lol, glad he's at least getting some work these days. Dude has to eat after all. It's personally inoffensive to me otherwise, i'm not utterly offended by it's existence, because i'm not a frickin NERD who gets upset by  CHILDREN'S CARTOONS. MTV, was eh from what i remember. NPH was great, but classic villains were kinda overshadowed by original ones who kinda sucked. Like, those psychic Wonder Twins? pretty dumb. Also, even a worse cliffhanger to end on than in Spectacular.  Protip, if you're not sure you're getting renewed, don't end on something too huge. I remember liking Amazing Friends from the reruns i saw as a kid. Teaming up Spidey with Iceman and Firestar is kinda of a weird trio (Fire and Ice? Makes sense! Fire and Ice......and Web? Sure?) but i remember having fun with it. As for Unlimited, i saw one episode of it as a kid and thought it was dumb, don't remember anything else about it.

So yeah that Spooder-Man. He has some good cartoons. 

[Emperor Robrainiac]

I grew up watching 90s Spider-man, and I really loved it. I remember making my dad buy me all sorts of action figures based on the series, mostly different versions of Spider-Man. I still love that theme song, and it wasn't until recently that I noticed it was basically a cheesy 90s XTREEEME remix of the 60s theme. Though I gotta say, Spidey not being allowed to punch people was something I did not know until now... Man, this is gonna make the show so much different when I decide to watch it again. XD

 

I would later watch  Spider-man and his Amazing Friends on Disney XD. It was a cartoon my dad said he enjoyed watching as a kid, so I figured, what the heck? I enjoyed it, I found it to be a charming and fun show.

 

Spider-Man unlimited... Never watched it that much to be honest, and i missed out on it when it aired on Fox Kids. I would watch it years later, and I kinda found it to be pretty weird... Spider-Man on a different planet with "beastmen?"  It wasn't bad, but it wasn't enough to catch my interest.

 

Spectacular Spider-Man... I never watched it until recently to be honest... why? Well, when I was in my teen years, I was going through a phase where if the art style didn't appeal to me, then the show sucked. Years later, I decided to give it a go... And now I'm kicking myself really hard. This is a great show! Granted, I still think the art style is butt ugly, but what makes up for that is the storytelling, animation, and voice acting. Shame I was an idiot when I was a teen.

 

Ultimate Spider-Man. Oh god Ultimate Spider-Man... Is it bad for me to say I wanted to like this cartoon? I liked the art style, the animation was lovely, and the tone from the first episode gave me a Teen Titans vibe, a show I loved in highschool. I was really hoping it would fill the empty place in my heart that was left when Teen Titans was cancelled, but in the end, the more episodes I watched, the more I came to realize as to how dumbed down this show was. Breaking the 4th wall to tell a joke at inappropriate times, lame kid-friendly family guy-esque jokes, and the whole "teams up with with a superhero every week" was something Batman: Brave and the Bold did better and it's the end result was a charming tribute to the silver age. In Ultimate Spider-man's case, however, it just doesn't have the same appeal as BBatB had. What a major disappointment this show was.

 

Any other series, I did not have a chance to catch or have time for seeing. Though judging from some of the gifs posted here, I've really got to see 60s Spiderman sometime soon.

[Brad]

The third season of Marvel's Ultimate Spider-Man animated series will be subtitled Web Warriors, introducing Miles Morales from the Ultimate comic book line and many other alternate-reality Spidey counterparts.

 

USA Today reports that Ultimate Spider-Man: Web Warriors will premiere on Disney XD on August 31, with a focus on a "Spider-Verse" storyline, including Miles Morales, Iron Spider, Spider-Man 2099, Spider-Man Noir, and, yes... Spider-Ham! There will also be a version of Spider-Girl, though it's not May "Mayday" Parker but a new gender-swapped version of Peter from another world, named Petra Parker. This new arc is "going to really show how important Spider-Man — and by extension Peter Parker — is to the entire universe we've built," said Stephen Wacker, vice president in Marvel Television's animation division.

 

The third season also will explore other parts of the Marvel universe, giving viewers their first look at Ka-Zar of the Savage Land, Cloak & Dagger, Agent Venom, and Amadeus Cho. The plan is for Ultimate Spider-Man to incorporate more multi-episode storylines, with the "Spider-Verse" arc occurring in the first half of the upcoming season. The season will begin with Spider-Man accepting an invitation to become an Avenger, alongside Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Hulk, Hawkeye, Black Widow and Falcon.

 

Oh dear god

 

SOMEBODY STOP THEM

[Mando-Whirl-Wind]

so the final episodes of the 90's series turned into a entire season... this could be kinda interesting

 

and armored spidey looks cool

[Wraith]

Miles Morales's animated debut being this shittacular show makes me very, very sad.

 

They nailed Spiderman Noir's design there though, not gonna lie.

[Sami]

Spider-Girl's pose there is hilarious.

[Kuzu]

turbojet is gonna flip his shit.

[Soniman]

Petra Parker?

 

Fuck you guys.

[Boomer]

Isn't the show already crowded enough with Luke Cage/Nova/Iron Fist/White Tiger/any other character no-one cares about?

*sigh* Why did this get a third season but Spectacular Spider-Man didn't?




Spider-Man Noir looks cool as fuck though.

[SIXTH-RATE SOMA]

Spider-Girl's pose there is hilarious.

 

how else are you gonna show off the boobs and butt for all the seven year-old fans of your series

[Balding Spider]

Wait they're going to ruin Miles next?

Turbojet's officially on suicide watch.