TMC
2012-07-07 07:01:47 UTC
http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/07/03/spider-mans-tv-history?page=1
Spider-Man (1967)
Five years after his comic book debut, Spider-Man came to TV for the
first time in this nostalgia-packed series. While more impressive than
the barely-animated Marvel Super Heroes series of the same era, Spider-
Man was still a very low-budget show, prone to re-using shots and
backgrounds. And check out the detail on Spidey’s costume, or lack
thereof, which only had the web pattern on his mask, boots and gloves
– and was missing a pair of legs on the spider-logo on his chest and
back. Unfortunately, things got worse after the first season, when the
show’s initial animation studio, Grantray-Lawrence, went out of
business. While future animation legend Ralph Bakshi was now guiding
the series, he was given a shoestring budget that resulted in the
episodes having multiple web-swinging sequences that simply used the
same shots of Spider-Man swinging over and over and over again (kids
really don’t mind repetition, huh?!). Things got so bad that a couple
of episodes consisted mainly of material from a previous Bakshi
series, Rocket Robin Hood, with Spider-Man thrown into the pre-
existing animation.
Still, kids loved the show and it only helped Spider-Man grow more
popular. And of course, this is the series that gave us the incredibly
memorable theme song – “Spider-Man, Spider-Man, does whatever a spider
can” – that would go on to be covered by the likes of the Ramones and
Aerosmith. And while the show went to more generic criminals (and even
aliens) in the later seasons, the first year also included fairly
comics-accurate depictions of Lizard, Electro, Doctor Octopus and
more, introducing them to a wider audience for the first time.
The Electric Company (1974)
Sure Tobey Maguire may be better known, but it's a guy named Danny
Seagren who first played a live-action Spider-Man. Seagran was the man
wearing the costume on The Electric Company in their "Spidey Super
Story" segments. These segments ran from just a couple of minutes long
to several minutes, and featured Spider-Man facing off -- though not
actually fighting, this being a children's educational show -- against
a bevy of odd villains such as Eye Patch, The Tickler (Game of Thrones
crossover!), The Wall and The Thumper, not to mention a woman dressed
in an Easter Bunny costume. There was a bad guy named the Sandman in
one episode, but he had no connection to the Spider-Man comic book
villain, nor did any familiar comic book characters besides Spidey
himself show up here.
These were silly, kid-oriented stories that are fairly bizarre to
watch now. Certain scenes cut back and forth between live-action and
comic book panels, and Spider-Man himself never speaks out loud,
though all the other characters do. Instead, when he "talks" a comic
book style word balloon appears next to him, which he and those around
him often awkwardly stop to look at. The show hardly had any budget
for special effects, so Spider-Man never showed off any discernible
powers or abilities except for his web, which amusingly would always
begin as a crudely animated effect (as he shot it forward) before
cutting to a shot of a bad guy caught in a net.
Some fairly unintentional (or so we assume) camp enjoyment is
certainly found here, as this version of Spider-Man never takes off
his costume, but does spend his time jogging, going to baseball games,
and other mundane activities. And it's hard not to laugh at seeing the
respected, Academy Award-winning Morgan Freeman, then an Electric
Company regular, ham it up in various roles -- including Count Dracula
and a moronic cop -- throughout the "Spidey" shorts.
The Amazing Spider-Man (1977)
A decidedly un-amazing version of our hero, The Amazing Spider-Man was
the first live-action, dramatic take on the character, but lacking all
of the energy and wit we expect from the character. The dated FX were
simply all that could be done during that era (and on a TV budget),
but much worse is that this show made their grad student-age Peter
Parker (Nicholas Hammond) and his alter-ego incredibly bland, despite
his fairly accurate costume and abilities.
Of Peter’s supporting cast from the comics, only Aunt May and J. Jonah
Jameson were regularly included and not a single supervillain showed
up – instead Spidey mostly fought one generic thug after another.
Well, there was one pseudo-familiar foe for Spider-Man, as in one
episode, Spidey fought his own... wait for it… clone!
The Amazing Spider-Man was actually a decently-performing series, but
CBS cancelled it and Wonder Woman when they feared becoming too
associated with superheroes (as if that’s a bad thing!), only keeping
the better-rated The Incredible Hulk.
Spider-Man (AKA Supaidāman) (1978)
What if Spider-Man were Japanese? And had a completely different
origin? And used a giant robot to fight monsters? Thankfully, a TV
series answered these questions.
In one of the strangest comic book adaptations ever, Marvel licensed
Spider-Man to Japanese company Toei for a show done in the Tokusatsu
style – a style best known in the US thanks to Power Rangers, and its
inclusion of Japanese footage.
This Spider-Man was a motor-cross champion, Yamashiro Takuya, who gets
his powers from an alien from the planet Spider (stay with me here,
folks), who gives Yamashiro a bracelet that gives him the powers of…
Spider-Man! And the ability to summon a giant robot named Leopardon!
But watch out, Spider-Man – Professor Monster and his Iron Cross Army
are coming to cause trouble!
It really does look and feel like Spider-Man meets Power Rangers and
is undeniably fun in that regard, in a super campy, cheesy way. It in
no way is faithful to Spider-Man beyond the costume, but hey, it’s not
boring!
Spider-Woman (1979)
The 1970s are the only decade since his creation where Spider-Man
didn’t have his own animated series (though as you can see by the
three previous entries, he still was plenty busy in live-action), but
he did make a guest appearance in this series. This short-lived show
about Jessica Drew and her alter-ego gave Spider-Woman an origin and
powers that were more similar to Peter Parker’s than in the comics.
Beyond that influence, Spider-Man himself made two notable guest
appearances in Spider-Woman, including the very first episode of the
series, "Pyramids of Terror," which opens with Spidey on a solo
adventure that he'll eventually need Spider-Woman's help on -- what
Spider-Man is doing going through Egyptian pyramids we're left to
speculate about. This Spider-Man certainly captures some of the corny
wit of his comic book counterparts, as he cracks several jokes before
getting captured by a Mummy.
Spider-Man (1981)
While many children of the '80s fondly remember Amazing Friends (more
on that in a minute), this Spider-Man series is sometimes either
totally forgotten or mistakenly believed to be the exact same series
as the one that debuted simultaneously to it. It's understandable, as
the two series shared the same production company, Marvel Productions,
and the same character designs -- Peter Parker, J. Jonah Jameson, Aunt
May and the animated world they live in all look exactly the same here
as they would in the more popular Amazing Friends. In addition, the
Green Goblin episode of this series would be used as the template for
a very similarly plotted episode of Amazing Friends.
While not directly adapting Spider-Man comic book issues, this series
did a decent job of portraying the character in a way that was very
familiar to fans and did a good job of capturing the basic feel that
Spider-Man stories contained, if not much of the drama. It also
featured some fun guest stars over the course of its 26 episodes,
including Captain America and the Sub-Mariner, and the first animated
appearances of such notable Marvel Comics characters as the Black Cat
and Ka-Zar. There were also many familiar Spider-Man comic book
villains, and a few, such as Magneto and the Frightful Four, from
other Marvel books.
http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/07/03/spider-mans-tv-history?page=2
Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends (1981)
There were actually two fewer episodes of this Saturday morning series
than the syndicated Spider-Man series also launched in 1981, but this
show still became the bigger and better-remembered hit - fondly
remembered by the generation that grew up with it. As previously
mentioned, this show shared the same character and animation designs
as that solo 1981 Spider-Man series, and J. Jonah Jameson's voice was
actually provided by the same actor, William Woodson, though different
actors voiced Peter Parker and Aunt May. The most likely reason for
Amazing Friends' bigger popularity than the solo series is that the
show delivered a very impressive gathering of super heroes and
villains that would appeal to kids, and in the process truly got
across the idea of the broad scope of the Marvel Universe for the
first time in another medium.
The main characters alone united our favorite wall crawler and a
founding member of the X-Men (Iceman), and while Firestar was created
for the series, she certainly felt like a Marvel hero, and would
eventually be added to Marvel Comics continuity. And the "Spider-
Friends" as they called themselves -- hey, we're not saying there
wasn't some silly stuff going on here -- encountered a who's who of
Marvel mainstays, including the Hulk, the X-Men, Thor, Captain
America, Dr. Strange, the Sub-Mariner, and even sly appearances by out
of costume heroes Matt Murdock and Tony Stark.
Spider-Man (1994)
The longest running Spider-Man TV show to date, the 1990s animated
series ran for 65 episodes. Accompanied by a successful toy line and
other merchandising, the show was a bit hit and made quite an impact
on kids who grew up with it, with many still naming it as their
favorite TV incarnation of the character.
Christopher Daniel Barnes (The Brady Bunch Movie) made for a likable
Peter-Parker/Spider-Man, and this was easily the most faithful-to-the-
comics Spidey series yet. Not only were a ton of familiar comic book
villains included – from classic characters like Green Goblin, Doctor
Octopus, Shocker and Scorpion to the more recent (at the time) guys
like Venom and Carnage – but many of the storylines were based
directly on ones from the comic book. While sometimes radically
tweaked, it was still fun for comic fans to see versions of everything
from Secret Wars to the Clone Saga to the black costume story make
their way into the show.
The show also tied into the larger Marvel animated universe at play in
the 1990s, featuring guest stars like the X-Men, Iron Man, Hulk,
Fantastic Four, Daredevil, Punisher and even Blade. Some elements of
the show (and specific storylines) certainly don’t stand the test of
time and some of the cheesier aspects stand out, but this Spider-Man
show still deserves credit for simply taking the then-novel idea of
looking at the comics for more direct inspiration and guidance.
Spider-Man Unlimited (1999)
This is one of the odder and lesser-known Spider-Man series. Conceived
as a loose continuation of the 1994 series, Spider-Man Unlimited took
a concept you might expect to see as a short story arc for a Spider-
Man series – finding Spidey trapped on an alternate version of Earth –
and made it the basis of the entire show. This curious take on the
wall-crawler involved Spider-Man traveling to “Counter-Earth,” a
duplicate of our planet that is home to the High Evolutionary and his
“Beastials” – half human/half animal soldiers, who keep humanity under
their thumb.
With Spider-Man (wearing a new, “nano-tech” costume, which seemed
partially inspired by the look of Spider-Man 2099) in the role of
freedom fighter, away from most of his supporting cast, this was just
a bizarre approach in every way. The animation wasn't very attractive
and the stories uninvolving – all of which led to a short, single-
season run of the series, which ended on a never-resolved cliffhanger.
Spider-Man: The New Animated Series (2003)
With the first Spider-Man movie a huge hit, it was only natural that
the character get a new animated series. Produced by Mainframe
Entertainment for Sony, Spider-Man: The New Animated Series had a bit
of an odd home on MTV – perhaps why it only lasted one season.
The first (and as of 2012, only) completely computer animated Spider-
Man series, this show used the first Sam Raimi film as a springboard,
following Peter Parker and Harry Osborn as ESU students and roommates
and Mary Jane as an aspiring actress, while referencing events from
the film – from Norman’s death to Spider-Man and Mary Jane’s iconic
kiss. The computer animation was a fairly subpar, though there were
some fun storylines along the way, including a couple – such as Peter
getting in hot water for missing Mary Jane’s show and Peter deciding
to quit being Spider-Man -- that would be echoed in Spider-Man 2.
A clever bit of casting had Neil Patrick Harris voicing Peter/Spidey,
with the surprising inclusion of 90s music star Lisa Loeb as MJ and
90210’s Ian Ziering as a notably blond Harry. The villains were an odd
mixture of those taken directly from the comics such as Lizard and
Electro, and several invented for the series, although often with nods
to familiar comic book characters. The Kingpin is notably designed to
resemble the then-current version from the Daredevil movie – an
African American voiced by Michael Clarke Duncan, reprising his role
from the DD film.
The Spectacular Spider-Man (2008)
It’s hard to say enough good things about this show. There was early
trepidation about the designs on this series, with its extremely
“cartoony” look. But then fans actually got to see Greg Weisman and
Victor Cook’s series, and found it was made with nothing but love and
respect for Spider-Man and his history. The show was genuinely
entertaining for all ages, with well done humor and some truly great
action scenes that were incredibly exciting and clever. And the series
managed some surprisingly strong moments of depth and emotion, making
whether this show’s high school version of Peter would go to a school
dance with a lovably nerdy version of Gwen Stacy as interesting as
whether he’d survive a fight with the Green Goblin. If you were a
hardcore/old school Spider-Man fan, there was a treasure trove of
touches to love here, including references and characters pulled from
some very specific early Lee/Ditko and Lee/Romita stories. Rights
issues prevented any non-Spider-Man characters from appearing in
Spectacular, but the creators took that hindrance and worked with it,
proving what a deep bench of wonderful or potentially wonderful
characters there already were in Spider-Man’s past.
Sadly, this series only survived for a too-brief two season run. It’s
not really correct to call it “cancelled”, as it ended for convoluted
business reasons – The show was produced by Sony, who had the Spider-
Man TV rights at the time. But when Marvel got the TV rights to the
character back, the show basically had to end, for reasons Weisman has
explained in detail, unless Marvel would have gone to the very bizarre
lengths of paying licensing rights to a show about their own
character.
We still miss The Spectacular Spider-Man, but man does the show hold
up on re-watch after re-watch.
Ultimate Spider-Man (2012)
The current (and eighth!) Spider-Man animated series began just this
year – the first series 100% developed and made by Marvel, without
outside producers. Some very notable talent is involved behind the
scenes, including Brian Michael Bendis and Paul Dini, though the shows
had a mixed response from adult fans. That’s mainly due to some
deliberate but extreme stylistic choices, which have Spider-Man
breaking the fourth wall, and Spidey imagining some very goofy things
happening to him in the midst of his battles.
The biggest team-style series for Spider-Man since Amazing Friends,
Ultimate has a teenage Peter Parker recruited by S.H.I.E.L.D. to train
alongside other young heroes, including Nova, White Tiger, Power Man
and Iron Fist. The show is also extremely Marvel Universe oriented,
with villains and guest stars pulled from a ton of Marvel titles, and
including the likes of Iron Man, Hulk, Doctor Doom, The Frightful Four
and more.
While Sony still has Spider-Man’s movie rights, making a crossover
with the Marvel Cinematic Universe/Avengers movies unlikely, the TV
show doesn’t have that burden and S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Coulson (with
Clark Gregg reprising his role) has the meeting with Spider-Man he
couldn’t accomplish in the films, as he goes undercover as Peter
Parker’s principal. The Sam Raimi Spider-Man movies also show their
influence, with J.K. Simmons voicing J. Jonah Jameson.
The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes
With Marvel finally able to once again put Spider-Man and their other
characters together on TV again, it was decided it was time for Spider-
Man to guest star on the current Avengers animated series.
While it hasn’t aired in the U.S. at the time of this article being
published, Spider-Man’s first appearance on The Avengers: Earth’s
Mightiest Heroes (there's more than one) has aired already in
Australia – in a story that mainly has Spidey teaming up with Captain
America.
This episode would serve as a source of controversy to Spectacular
Spider-Man fans (myself included), after Marvel decided to replace the
voice performance of Spectacular’s star, Josh Keaton, with their
current Ultimate Spider-Man star, Drake Bell.
http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/06/08/avengers-earths-mightiest-heroes-swaps-spectacular-spider-man-for-ultimate-spidey
Spider-Man (1967)
Five years after his comic book debut, Spider-Man came to TV for the
first time in this nostalgia-packed series. While more impressive than
the barely-animated Marvel Super Heroes series of the same era, Spider-
Man was still a very low-budget show, prone to re-using shots and
backgrounds. And check out the detail on Spidey’s costume, or lack
thereof, which only had the web pattern on his mask, boots and gloves
– and was missing a pair of legs on the spider-logo on his chest and
back. Unfortunately, things got worse after the first season, when the
show’s initial animation studio, Grantray-Lawrence, went out of
business. While future animation legend Ralph Bakshi was now guiding
the series, he was given a shoestring budget that resulted in the
episodes having multiple web-swinging sequences that simply used the
same shots of Spider-Man swinging over and over and over again (kids
really don’t mind repetition, huh?!). Things got so bad that a couple
of episodes consisted mainly of material from a previous Bakshi
series, Rocket Robin Hood, with Spider-Man thrown into the pre-
existing animation.
Still, kids loved the show and it only helped Spider-Man grow more
popular. And of course, this is the series that gave us the incredibly
memorable theme song – “Spider-Man, Spider-Man, does whatever a spider
can” – that would go on to be covered by the likes of the Ramones and
Aerosmith. And while the show went to more generic criminals (and even
aliens) in the later seasons, the first year also included fairly
comics-accurate depictions of Lizard, Electro, Doctor Octopus and
more, introducing them to a wider audience for the first time.
The Electric Company (1974)
Sure Tobey Maguire may be better known, but it's a guy named Danny
Seagren who first played a live-action Spider-Man. Seagran was the man
wearing the costume on The Electric Company in their "Spidey Super
Story" segments. These segments ran from just a couple of minutes long
to several minutes, and featured Spider-Man facing off -- though not
actually fighting, this being a children's educational show -- against
a bevy of odd villains such as Eye Patch, The Tickler (Game of Thrones
crossover!), The Wall and The Thumper, not to mention a woman dressed
in an Easter Bunny costume. There was a bad guy named the Sandman in
one episode, but he had no connection to the Spider-Man comic book
villain, nor did any familiar comic book characters besides Spidey
himself show up here.
These were silly, kid-oriented stories that are fairly bizarre to
watch now. Certain scenes cut back and forth between live-action and
comic book panels, and Spider-Man himself never speaks out loud,
though all the other characters do. Instead, when he "talks" a comic
book style word balloon appears next to him, which he and those around
him often awkwardly stop to look at. The show hardly had any budget
for special effects, so Spider-Man never showed off any discernible
powers or abilities except for his web, which amusingly would always
begin as a crudely animated effect (as he shot it forward) before
cutting to a shot of a bad guy caught in a net.
Some fairly unintentional (or so we assume) camp enjoyment is
certainly found here, as this version of Spider-Man never takes off
his costume, but does spend his time jogging, going to baseball games,
and other mundane activities. And it's hard not to laugh at seeing the
respected, Academy Award-winning Morgan Freeman, then an Electric
Company regular, ham it up in various roles -- including Count Dracula
and a moronic cop -- throughout the "Spidey" shorts.
The Amazing Spider-Man (1977)
A decidedly un-amazing version of our hero, The Amazing Spider-Man was
the first live-action, dramatic take on the character, but lacking all
of the energy and wit we expect from the character. The dated FX were
simply all that could be done during that era (and on a TV budget),
but much worse is that this show made their grad student-age Peter
Parker (Nicholas Hammond) and his alter-ego incredibly bland, despite
his fairly accurate costume and abilities.
Of Peter’s supporting cast from the comics, only Aunt May and J. Jonah
Jameson were regularly included and not a single supervillain showed
up – instead Spidey mostly fought one generic thug after another.
Well, there was one pseudo-familiar foe for Spider-Man, as in one
episode, Spidey fought his own... wait for it… clone!
The Amazing Spider-Man was actually a decently-performing series, but
CBS cancelled it and Wonder Woman when they feared becoming too
associated with superheroes (as if that’s a bad thing!), only keeping
the better-rated The Incredible Hulk.
Spider-Man (AKA Supaidāman) (1978)
What if Spider-Man were Japanese? And had a completely different
origin? And used a giant robot to fight monsters? Thankfully, a TV
series answered these questions.
In one of the strangest comic book adaptations ever, Marvel licensed
Spider-Man to Japanese company Toei for a show done in the Tokusatsu
style – a style best known in the US thanks to Power Rangers, and its
inclusion of Japanese footage.
This Spider-Man was a motor-cross champion, Yamashiro Takuya, who gets
his powers from an alien from the planet Spider (stay with me here,
folks), who gives Yamashiro a bracelet that gives him the powers of…
Spider-Man! And the ability to summon a giant robot named Leopardon!
But watch out, Spider-Man – Professor Monster and his Iron Cross Army
are coming to cause trouble!
It really does look and feel like Spider-Man meets Power Rangers and
is undeniably fun in that regard, in a super campy, cheesy way. It in
no way is faithful to Spider-Man beyond the costume, but hey, it’s not
boring!
Spider-Woman (1979)
The 1970s are the only decade since his creation where Spider-Man
didn’t have his own animated series (though as you can see by the
three previous entries, he still was plenty busy in live-action), but
he did make a guest appearance in this series. This short-lived show
about Jessica Drew and her alter-ego gave Spider-Woman an origin and
powers that were more similar to Peter Parker’s than in the comics.
Beyond that influence, Spider-Man himself made two notable guest
appearances in Spider-Woman, including the very first episode of the
series, "Pyramids of Terror," which opens with Spidey on a solo
adventure that he'll eventually need Spider-Woman's help on -- what
Spider-Man is doing going through Egyptian pyramids we're left to
speculate about. This Spider-Man certainly captures some of the corny
wit of his comic book counterparts, as he cracks several jokes before
getting captured by a Mummy.
Spider-Man (1981)
While many children of the '80s fondly remember Amazing Friends (more
on that in a minute), this Spider-Man series is sometimes either
totally forgotten or mistakenly believed to be the exact same series
as the one that debuted simultaneously to it. It's understandable, as
the two series shared the same production company, Marvel Productions,
and the same character designs -- Peter Parker, J. Jonah Jameson, Aunt
May and the animated world they live in all look exactly the same here
as they would in the more popular Amazing Friends. In addition, the
Green Goblin episode of this series would be used as the template for
a very similarly plotted episode of Amazing Friends.
While not directly adapting Spider-Man comic book issues, this series
did a decent job of portraying the character in a way that was very
familiar to fans and did a good job of capturing the basic feel that
Spider-Man stories contained, if not much of the drama. It also
featured some fun guest stars over the course of its 26 episodes,
including Captain America and the Sub-Mariner, and the first animated
appearances of such notable Marvel Comics characters as the Black Cat
and Ka-Zar. There were also many familiar Spider-Man comic book
villains, and a few, such as Magneto and the Frightful Four, from
other Marvel books.
http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/07/03/spider-mans-tv-history?page=2
Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends (1981)
There were actually two fewer episodes of this Saturday morning series
than the syndicated Spider-Man series also launched in 1981, but this
show still became the bigger and better-remembered hit - fondly
remembered by the generation that grew up with it. As previously
mentioned, this show shared the same character and animation designs
as that solo 1981 Spider-Man series, and J. Jonah Jameson's voice was
actually provided by the same actor, William Woodson, though different
actors voiced Peter Parker and Aunt May. The most likely reason for
Amazing Friends' bigger popularity than the solo series is that the
show delivered a very impressive gathering of super heroes and
villains that would appeal to kids, and in the process truly got
across the idea of the broad scope of the Marvel Universe for the
first time in another medium.
The main characters alone united our favorite wall crawler and a
founding member of the X-Men (Iceman), and while Firestar was created
for the series, she certainly felt like a Marvel hero, and would
eventually be added to Marvel Comics continuity. And the "Spider-
Friends" as they called themselves -- hey, we're not saying there
wasn't some silly stuff going on here -- encountered a who's who of
Marvel mainstays, including the Hulk, the X-Men, Thor, Captain
America, Dr. Strange, the Sub-Mariner, and even sly appearances by out
of costume heroes Matt Murdock and Tony Stark.
Spider-Man (1994)
The longest running Spider-Man TV show to date, the 1990s animated
series ran for 65 episodes. Accompanied by a successful toy line and
other merchandising, the show was a bit hit and made quite an impact
on kids who grew up with it, with many still naming it as their
favorite TV incarnation of the character.
Christopher Daniel Barnes (The Brady Bunch Movie) made for a likable
Peter-Parker/Spider-Man, and this was easily the most faithful-to-the-
comics Spidey series yet. Not only were a ton of familiar comic book
villains included – from classic characters like Green Goblin, Doctor
Octopus, Shocker and Scorpion to the more recent (at the time) guys
like Venom and Carnage – but many of the storylines were based
directly on ones from the comic book. While sometimes radically
tweaked, it was still fun for comic fans to see versions of everything
from Secret Wars to the Clone Saga to the black costume story make
their way into the show.
The show also tied into the larger Marvel animated universe at play in
the 1990s, featuring guest stars like the X-Men, Iron Man, Hulk,
Fantastic Four, Daredevil, Punisher and even Blade. Some elements of
the show (and specific storylines) certainly don’t stand the test of
time and some of the cheesier aspects stand out, but this Spider-Man
show still deserves credit for simply taking the then-novel idea of
looking at the comics for more direct inspiration and guidance.
Spider-Man Unlimited (1999)
This is one of the odder and lesser-known Spider-Man series. Conceived
as a loose continuation of the 1994 series, Spider-Man Unlimited took
a concept you might expect to see as a short story arc for a Spider-
Man series – finding Spidey trapped on an alternate version of Earth –
and made it the basis of the entire show. This curious take on the
wall-crawler involved Spider-Man traveling to “Counter-Earth,” a
duplicate of our planet that is home to the High Evolutionary and his
“Beastials” – half human/half animal soldiers, who keep humanity under
their thumb.
With Spider-Man (wearing a new, “nano-tech” costume, which seemed
partially inspired by the look of Spider-Man 2099) in the role of
freedom fighter, away from most of his supporting cast, this was just
a bizarre approach in every way. The animation wasn't very attractive
and the stories uninvolving – all of which led to a short, single-
season run of the series, which ended on a never-resolved cliffhanger.
Spider-Man: The New Animated Series (2003)
With the first Spider-Man movie a huge hit, it was only natural that
the character get a new animated series. Produced by Mainframe
Entertainment for Sony, Spider-Man: The New Animated Series had a bit
of an odd home on MTV – perhaps why it only lasted one season.
The first (and as of 2012, only) completely computer animated Spider-
Man series, this show used the first Sam Raimi film as a springboard,
following Peter Parker and Harry Osborn as ESU students and roommates
and Mary Jane as an aspiring actress, while referencing events from
the film – from Norman’s death to Spider-Man and Mary Jane’s iconic
kiss. The computer animation was a fairly subpar, though there were
some fun storylines along the way, including a couple – such as Peter
getting in hot water for missing Mary Jane’s show and Peter deciding
to quit being Spider-Man -- that would be echoed in Spider-Man 2.
A clever bit of casting had Neil Patrick Harris voicing Peter/Spidey,
with the surprising inclusion of 90s music star Lisa Loeb as MJ and
90210’s Ian Ziering as a notably blond Harry. The villains were an odd
mixture of those taken directly from the comics such as Lizard and
Electro, and several invented for the series, although often with nods
to familiar comic book characters. The Kingpin is notably designed to
resemble the then-current version from the Daredevil movie – an
African American voiced by Michael Clarke Duncan, reprising his role
from the DD film.
The Spectacular Spider-Man (2008)
It’s hard to say enough good things about this show. There was early
trepidation about the designs on this series, with its extremely
“cartoony” look. But then fans actually got to see Greg Weisman and
Victor Cook’s series, and found it was made with nothing but love and
respect for Spider-Man and his history. The show was genuinely
entertaining for all ages, with well done humor and some truly great
action scenes that were incredibly exciting and clever. And the series
managed some surprisingly strong moments of depth and emotion, making
whether this show’s high school version of Peter would go to a school
dance with a lovably nerdy version of Gwen Stacy as interesting as
whether he’d survive a fight with the Green Goblin. If you were a
hardcore/old school Spider-Man fan, there was a treasure trove of
touches to love here, including references and characters pulled from
some very specific early Lee/Ditko and Lee/Romita stories. Rights
issues prevented any non-Spider-Man characters from appearing in
Spectacular, but the creators took that hindrance and worked with it,
proving what a deep bench of wonderful or potentially wonderful
characters there already were in Spider-Man’s past.
Sadly, this series only survived for a too-brief two season run. It’s
not really correct to call it “cancelled”, as it ended for convoluted
business reasons – The show was produced by Sony, who had the Spider-
Man TV rights at the time. But when Marvel got the TV rights to the
character back, the show basically had to end, for reasons Weisman has
explained in detail, unless Marvel would have gone to the very bizarre
lengths of paying licensing rights to a show about their own
character.
We still miss The Spectacular Spider-Man, but man does the show hold
up on re-watch after re-watch.
Ultimate Spider-Man (2012)
The current (and eighth!) Spider-Man animated series began just this
year – the first series 100% developed and made by Marvel, without
outside producers. Some very notable talent is involved behind the
scenes, including Brian Michael Bendis and Paul Dini, though the shows
had a mixed response from adult fans. That’s mainly due to some
deliberate but extreme stylistic choices, which have Spider-Man
breaking the fourth wall, and Spidey imagining some very goofy things
happening to him in the midst of his battles.
The biggest team-style series for Spider-Man since Amazing Friends,
Ultimate has a teenage Peter Parker recruited by S.H.I.E.L.D. to train
alongside other young heroes, including Nova, White Tiger, Power Man
and Iron Fist. The show is also extremely Marvel Universe oriented,
with villains and guest stars pulled from a ton of Marvel titles, and
including the likes of Iron Man, Hulk, Doctor Doom, The Frightful Four
and more.
While Sony still has Spider-Man’s movie rights, making a crossover
with the Marvel Cinematic Universe/Avengers movies unlikely, the TV
show doesn’t have that burden and S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Coulson (with
Clark Gregg reprising his role) has the meeting with Spider-Man he
couldn’t accomplish in the films, as he goes undercover as Peter
Parker’s principal. The Sam Raimi Spider-Man movies also show their
influence, with J.K. Simmons voicing J. Jonah Jameson.
The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes
With Marvel finally able to once again put Spider-Man and their other
characters together on TV again, it was decided it was time for Spider-
Man to guest star on the current Avengers animated series.
While it hasn’t aired in the U.S. at the time of this article being
published, Spider-Man’s first appearance on The Avengers: Earth’s
Mightiest Heroes (there's more than one) has aired already in
Australia – in a story that mainly has Spidey teaming up with Captain
America.
This episode would serve as a source of controversy to Spectacular
Spider-Man fans (myself included), after Marvel decided to replace the
voice performance of Spectacular’s star, Josh Keaton, with their
current Ultimate Spider-Man star, Drake Bell.
http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/06/08/avengers-earths-mightiest-heroes-swaps-spectacular-spider-man-for-ultimate-spidey