What do you think of Spider-Man Unlimited cartoon?

[Venomous Mask]

It was supposed to be a sequel (I think) to TAS, but the inconsistencies made that impossible. I do really like the intro. One thing that always got to me is why did the producers feel that Carnage needed to look like a red zombie skeleton?

[Tien Long]

Ah yes, Spider-Man Unlimited. Definitely have a fondness for the series, filled with high expectations and slight melancholy. So here's my take on Spider-Man Unlimited:



I remember reading about the show in an issue of Wizard, about a year or so before it premiered. When it did premiere back in 1999, I was pretty excited. In my own life, there were a lot of positive things happening to me regarding comics and superheroes. First off, I was just getting back into comics after about a five year hiatus. This was the time of Heroes Return in Marvel Comics, when many Avengers related titles were on the rebound. That's when I become a diehard Avengers fan. Additionally, Fox Kids at the time had a bunch of hip, cool shows coming out for their new fall line up (Cyber Six, Beast Machines, The Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot, Avengers: United They Stand......YES, I said it, even Avengers: United They Stand. Didn't realize how much it would suck until it premiered. But I digress). Spider-Man Unlimited seemed to be the best of them. Finally, I had been waiting for Spider-Man anything for about a year or so since the end of Spider-Man: TAS. I thought that maybe this Spider-Man Unlimited series would pick up on the cliffhanger of that series. Maybe we'd finally see Spider-Man and Madame Web rescue Mary Jane!

Overall, I dug the series. Okay, it wasn't a direct sequel to Spider-Man: TAS, but it looked cool! It didn't recycle animation! It had Spidey throwing punches and being flippy and acrobatic! Plus the suit looked awesome! Nanobots that poured over his body and allowed him to shoot projectiles! It seemed very Batman Beyond, which was my other favorite show at the time. Indeed, couldn't help but think the two were related, that the Spider-Man producers wanted to cash in on hip, futuristic designs of established heroes. Hell, I think on a message board, I made a "Spider-Man Unlimited vs. Batman Beyond" thread.



Yep, it was quirky, but it had a lot going for it. Those first 3 episodes were something! I couldn't wait to see how Spider-Man, with his nanotech suit, would face against Venom, Carnage, the High Evolutionary, underground human resistance featuring living mummies, mutated animal things, and alternate takes on established Spider-Man characters! Yes, on to episode 4................................................w hich never came. That year, Spider-Man Unlimited just stopped. I heard later on that Fox wanted to compete with Pokemon. So they shelved Spider-Man and pumped out more Digimon. The other cool shows that premiered along with Spider-Man Unlimited, like Cyber Six, Rusty the Boy Robot, Avengers: United They Stand, were lackluster, short-lived, and cancelled. All to make room for some Pokemon knock-off's.

It would take a whole year before Fox would have Spider-Man Unlimited come back. The episodes were cool, though they had their choppiness and little animation quirks. But it didn't measure up to shows on Kids WB like Batman Beyond. And just like the last Spider-Man animated series, it ended on a stupid cliffhanger. For those who don't know, the Spider-Man Unlimited costume would show up a couple of times. There was a comic book adaptation, which crossed over in a way with a mainstream Spider-Man title. Mainstream 616 Spider-Man would end up wearing the unlimited suit in a really obscure issue of Spider-Man Universe or something. Also, the costume ended up as a hidden gem in the 2000 Spider-Man game from Activision. Found a cheat code which allowed me to play the game with that costume. Aside from that though, well, there hasn't been much about Spider-Man Unlimited. It hurts at times though when I see it ranked as one of the worst Spider-Man series ever or not even mentioned at all.



So yeah, Spider-Man Unlimited meant a lot to me. It had the makings of a great show and happened at a great time in my life. Comics were returning and the cartoons seemed hip. But a lot of these things didn't live up the hype. It's fine though. You're still special to me, Spider-Man Unlimited!

[PCN24454]

It was supposed to be a sequel (I think) to TAS, but the inconsistencies made that impossible. I do really like the intro. One thing that always got to me is why did the producers feel that Carnage needed to look like a red zombie skeleton?

I honestly didn't have a problem with that.

[Agent Z]

I liked the intro too.

[Huntsman Spider]

Ah yes, Spider-Man Unlimited. Definitely have a fondness for the series, filled with high expectations and slight melancholy. So here's my take on Spider-Man Unlimited:



I remember reading about the show in an issue of Wizard, about a year or so before it premiered. When it did premiere back in 1999, I was pretty excited. In my own life, there were a lot of positive things happening to me regarding comics and superheroes. First off, I was just getting back into comics after about a five year hiatus. This was the time of Heroes Return in Marvel Comics, when many Avengers related titles were on the rebound. That's when I become a diehard Avengers fan. Additionally, Fox Kids at the time had a bunch of hip, cool shows coming out for their new fall line up (Cyber Six, Beast Machines, The Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot, Avengers: United They Stand......YES, I said it, even Avengers: United They Stand. Didn't realize how much it would suck until it premiered. But I digress). Spider-Man Unlimited seemed to be the best of them. Finally, I had been waiting for Spider-Man anything for about a year or so since the end of Spider-Man: TAS. I thought that maybe this Spider-Man Unlimited series would pick up on the cliffhanger of that series. Maybe we'd finally see Spider-Man and Madame Web rescue Mary Jane!

Overall, I dug the series. Okay, it wasn't a direct sequel to Spider-Man: TAS, but it looked cool! It didn't recycle animation! It had Spidey throwing punches and being flippy and acrobatic! Plus the suit looked awesome! Nanobots that poured over his body and allowed him to shoot projectiles! It seemed very Batman Beyond, which was my other favorite show at the time. Indeed, couldn't help but think the two were related, that the Spider-Man producers wanted to cash in on hip, futuristic designs of established heroes. Hell, I think on a message board, I made a "Spider-Man Unlimited vs. Batman Beyond" thread.



Yep, it was quirky, but it had a lot going for it. Those first 3 episodes were something! I couldn't wait to see how Spider-Man, with his nanotech suit, would face against Venom, Carnage, the High Evolutionary, underground human resistance featuring living mummies, mutated animal things, and alternate takes on established Spider-Man characters! Yes, on to episode 4................................................w hich never came. That year, Spider-Man Unlimited just stopped. I heard later on that Fox wanted to compete with Pokemon. So they shelved Spider-Man and pumped out more Digimon. The other cool shows that premiered along with Spider-Man Unlimited, like Cyber Six, Rusty the Boy Robot, Avengers: United They Stand, were lackluster, short-lived, and cancelled. All to make room for some Pokemon knock-off's.

It would take a whole year before Fox would have Spider-Man Unlimited come back. The episodes were cool, though they had their choppiness and little animation quirks. But it didn't measure up to shows on Kids WB like Batman Beyond. And just like the last Spider-Man animated series, it ended on a stupid cliffhanger. For those who don't know, the Spider-Man Unlimited costume would show up a couple of times. There was a comic book adaptation, which crossed over in a way with a mainstream Spider-Man title. Mainstream 616 Spider-Man would end up wearing the unlimited suit in a really obscure issue of Spider-Man Universe or something. Also, the costume ended up as a hidden gem in the 2000 Spider-Man game from Activision. Found a cheat code which allowed me to play the game with that costume. Aside from that though, well, there hasn't been much about Spider-Man Unlimited. It hurts at times though when I see it ranked as one of the worst Spider-Man series ever or not even mentioned at all.



So yeah, Spider-Man Unlimited meant a lot to me. It had the makings of a great show and happened at a great time in my life. Comics were returning and the cartoons seemed hip. But a lot of these things didn't live up the hype. It's fine though. You're still special to me, Spider-Man Unlimited!

That was a pretty moving post there. What's worse, though, is that there were already scripts written and completed for the second season of Spider-Man Unlimited, as well as ideas that were being developed to extend past those completed scripts, before the whole thing was scrapped to compete with Kids' WB's Pokemon. As much as I love Digimon, I can't help being a little bitter as a Spider-Man fan that Spider-Man Unlimited got cast aside as it did.

[TheCape]

I watched reruns of this series in Jetix when i was 12, the novelty of the concept caugth me by surprise and i enjoy, weird as it was. Plus i really liked how Spider-Man looked and the animation was pretty good.

Hobestly i would have liked to see a conclussion to the whole thing, especially regarding Venom and Carnage.

[Spidey_62]

What do you guys think of a super niche mini-series adapting the scripts/outline for the second season? Even just a one-shot wrapping up the Destiny Unleashed cliffhanger would do! Maybe the model would be to look at the Batman The Adventures Continue mini-series DC has been doing, that's been coming out digital first, followed by print copies collecting several chapters. Maybe even skip print single issues entirely and just do digital, then a trade when it's done. More weird niche projects!

[Spider-Chan]

He died during Spider-Verse.

[Huntsman Spider]

He died during Spider-Verse.

True, but he came back in the group scene for the Spider-Geddon finale where they all piled on the Inheritors, so I'm guessing the new Web of Life and Destiny being spun might have undone his death.

[Tien Long]

That was a pretty moving post there. What's worse, though, is that there were already scripts written and completed for the second season of Spider-Man Unlimited, as well as ideas that were being developed to extend past those completed scripts, before the whole thing was scrapped to compete with Kids' WB's Pokemon. As much as I love Digimon, I can't help being a little bitter as a Spider-Man fan that Spider-Man Unlimited got cast aside as it did.

Thanks bro. That means alot. Yeah, saw some YouTube clips talking about how 6 episodes were already scripted before the show got the ax. Reading that reminded me of the reports at that time. When the show came back on around 2000, there were interviews and reports of maybe, perhaps possibly the show could return. But it just didn't happen.

It's funny, thinking back on it all, I can't believe it's been over 20 years since the show was first on. There's a significance there because of the time period. I remember taping episodes of Spider-Man Unlimited (it was someone I did a lot back in the day, whether it was for X-Men, Spider-Man, or Batman). Watched them throughout the week or even longer. And in a way that was the only way I had proof that the show existed! When it abruptly ended, there was not much evidence that it had existed. There as no YouTube, no way to rewatch the show. There were message boards where you could talk about it, but without the media, it just felt like it disappeared. That unknowing of exactly what happened and if it might appear again, that made the loss seem real.

[Speed Force League Unlimited]

I like this show, but I hate anthropomorphic boobs, and that lady vermin has a crush on webhead and shared saliva with him in one episode.

[Spidey_62]

He died during Spider-Verse.

True, but he came back in the group scene for the Spider-Geddon finale where they all piled on the Inheritors, so I'm guessing the new Web of Life and Destiny being spun might have undone his death.

Right.

Just cause Dan Slott ostensibly meant for that to be the 90s cartoon Spidey/Unlimited Spidey doesn't mean he wouldn't show up again later like in Spider-Geddon (or that it now becomes the end-all be-all canon for both of those cartoons), or that it can't ever be used again if other people want to. Spider-Man Noir died in Spider-Geddon then got brought back to life in another mini-series to star in another of his own mini-series again. Death don't matter and universes in comics are infinite!

[Huntsman Spider]

Right.

Just cause Dan Slott ostensibly meant for that to be the 90s cartoon Spidey/Unlimited Spidey doesn't mean he wouldn't show up again later like in Spider-Geddon (or that it now becomes the end-all be-all canon for both of those cartoons), or that it can't ever be used again if other people want to. Spider-Man Noir died in Spider-Geddon then got brought back to life in another mini-series to star in another of his own mini-series again. Death don't matter and universes in comics are infinite!

Pretty much, yeah.

Thanks bro. That means alot. Yeah, saw some YouTube clips talking about how 6 episodes were already scripted before the show got the ax. Reading that reminded me of the reports at that time. When the show came back on around 2000, there were interviews and reports of maybe, perhaps possibly the show could return. But it just didn't happen.

It's funny, thinking back on it all, I can't believe it's been over 20 years since the show was first on. There's a significance there because of the time period. I remember taping episodes of Spider-Man Unlimited (it was someone I did a lot back in the day, whether it was for X-Men, Spider-Man, or Batman). Watched them throughout the week or even longer. And in a way that was the only way I had proof that the show existed! When it abruptly ended, there was not much evidence that it had existed. There as no YouTube, no way to rewatch the show. There were message boards where you could talk about it, but without the media, it just felt like it disappeared. That unknowing of exactly what happened and if it might appear again, that made the loss seem real.

You're welcome.

[OptimusMegatron01]

Right.

Just cause Dan Slott ostensibly meant for that to be the 90s cartoon Spidey/Unlimited Spidey doesn't mean he wouldn't show up again later like in Spider-Geddon (or that it now becomes the end-all be-all canon for both of those cartoons), or that it can't ever be used again if other people want to. Spider-Man Noir died in Spider-Geddon then got brought back to life in another mini-series to star in another of his own mini-series again. Death don't matter and universes in comics are infinite!

Also, universe designations were different between Spider-Man Unlimited featured in Spider-Verse and the cartoon. I thinj the one that appeared in Spider-Geddon is the actual cartoon version, even though he was colored wrongly.

Also, MCU Spider-Man and Andrew Garfield Spider-Man appeared as cameos in Spider-Geddon. In Spider-Verse, Tobey and Garfield were also mentioned to have participated in the conflict. But would those be invalidated by the Spider-Verse movies? It seems Sony does want to use the old movie versions in the sequels and they'll likely ignore these cameos and easter eggs. Maybe one explanation could be that the events of Spider-Verse and Spider-Geddon happen later in their timeline.