The Spectacular Spider-Man Animated Series

[ROM Spaceknight]

I have never seen the Spectacular Spider-man animated series. However, with all of the praise given to this show on this thread & others, I plan on checking this out on Blu-ray soon. I'll post more once I see ths.

[WeirdSpider]

Overrated cartoon with god awful shitty character designs. Peter looks like a fucking 10 year old.

The 90's animated series is still the best.

[KCJ506]

Overrated cartoon with god awful shitty character designs. Peter looks like a fucking 10 year old.

The 90's animated series is still the best.

"Overrated" has become one of the least favorites words in the English language now thanks to the internet. Because for the most part whenever somebody calls something "overrated" they usually don't actually explain what was wrong with it. Just that it "sucks". Basically it boils down to "I didn't like this, so everybody that does is wrong".

And if I had to choose between having simple art with fast and fluid animation and great action sequences or "realistic" art with slow and choppy animation, heavy overuse of stock footage and lacking and generic action sequences, I'm going with the former.

[WebLurker]

Overrated cartoon with god awful shitty character designs. Peter looks like a fucking 10 year old.

The 90's animated series is still the best.

Can't say I agree with you. Ignoring the styles of animation (more "realistic vs. "cartoony"), I think a case can be made that Spectacular had better animation as a whole. More fluid and expressive. Not so stiff. And, on a writing level, I think that Spectacular also comes out ahead of the '90s cartoon; the thing was very well planned, with no filler episodes and a pretty good balance of the characterization and the plot.

[WeirdSpider]

Can't say I agree with you. Ignoring the styles of animation (more "realistic vs. "cartoony"), I think a case can be made that Spectacular had better animation as a whole. More fluid and expressive. Not so stiff. And, on a writing level, I think that Spectacular also comes out ahead of the '90s cartoon; the thing was very well planned, with no filler episodes and a pretty good balance of the characterization and the plot.

It only lasted for 26 episodes so who's to say it wouldn't have had filler episodes if it had lasted for a full 65 episode run.

This show changed way too much.
Making Felicia's dad Uncle Ben's killer was fucking stupid. Way worse than the Sandman retcon in Spider-Man 3.
Making Montana Shocker was bad too.

And yes I know that the 90's cartoon changed things too but not too the same degree as this show did.

[KCJ506]

It only lasted for 26 episodes so who's to say it wouldn't have had filler episodes if it had lasted for a full 65 episode run.

This show changed way too much.
Making Felicia's dad Uncle Ben's killer was fucking stupid. Way worse than the Sandman retcon in Spider-Man 3.
Making Montana Shocker was bad too.

And yes I know that the 90's cartoon changed things too but not too the same degree as this show did.

Actually I'd say the 90s cartoon had some changes that were a bit more drastic. Such as Electro being Red Skull's son, Kingpin being the creator of the "Sinister" Six, Doc Ock being Kingpin's stooge, Black Cat being a Captain America supersoldier. etc. No adaptation is gonna follow the comics 100% anyway. There's always gonna some type of change.

And was making Montana Shocker really that big of a deal? Shocker's a C-list villain and his true identity never really meant anything anywhere else. His real name was never even mentioned in the 90s cartoon and we never even saw him out of his costume there. Hell even when he was in jail, he had his costume on. Before Spider-man Homecoming, the only time I even remember seeing Shocker(Herman Schultz) actually unmasked and out of costume was in the Spider-man 2 movie video game. The creators of Spectacular even stated something along the lines of making Shocker Montana was because nobody actually gave a damn about Schultz.(Aside from a few comic "purists")

[GamerSlyRatchet]

It only lasted for 26 episodes so who's to say it wouldn't have had filler episodes if it had lasted for a full 65 episode run.

Because the show juggled plenty of storylines and subplots already in two seasons, using every single episode to advance them. It's safe to assume it would've continued doing that for three more.

Making Felicia's dad Uncle Ben's killer was fucking stupid. Way worse than the Sandman retcon in Spider-Man 3.

How? This was actually foreshadowed well, conflicts with nothing established in the show, and doesn't feel awkward and forced as the burglar distracting Flint Marko, causing him to shoot Ben. Plus, it gives the Spidey/Black Cat relationship a unique wrinkle that isn't just Batman/Catwoman all over again.

Making Montana Shocker was bad too.

Again, how? No one cared about Herman Schultz until arguably Superior Foes.

[Frontier]

Again, how? No one cared about Herman Schultz until arguably Superior Foes.

Well, I did .

[Smoov-E]

Overrated cartoon with god awful shitty character designs. Peter looks like a fucking 10 year old.

The 90's animated series is still the best.

See I find the 90's series to be supremely overrated with bland designs and cringe dialogue

[WebLurker]

It only lasted for 26 episodes so who's to say it wouldn't have had filler episodes if it had lasted for a full 65 episode run.

We can't for sure, but the track record was that show-runners were very good at keeping it lean and mean, so it's a fair guess that it would've keep a similar level of quality.

This show changed way too much.

That is a subjective opinion, as is mine that it was okay in what it changed.

Making Felicia's dad Uncle Ben's killer was fucking stupid. Way worse than the Sandman retcon in Spider-Man 3.

Personally, I thought the show did a better job of the idea of Spider-Man being forced to confront his uncle's killer better than they did in SM3 (and I'm saying that as someone who actually likes SM3). They did some interesting character stuff with it. At any rate, it was a more rational way to put a wedge between Spidey and Black Cat than Dan Slott did in his comics. I will concede that since the show was canceled, any kind of followup to it was also canceled, leaving it open-ended and without anything to really show for the work and changes put into it.

Making Montana Shocker was bad too.

Why? Montana was a D-list character and Shocker's civilian identity isn't very important to the mantle.

And yes I know that the 90's cartoon changed things too but not too the same degree as this show did.

Why is changing things bad if the spirit of the original is intact?

[Frontier]

See I find the 90's series to be supremely overrated with bland designs and cringe dialogue

I think there are definitely some cringey elements for it's time but I think a surprising amount of the 90's show still holds up.

But that's just me though .

Both felt truer to Spider-Man and better adaptions then Ultimate was in my opinion.

[Smoov-E]

I think there are definitely some cringey elements for it's time but I think a surprising amount of the 90's show still holds up.

But that's just me though .

Both felt truer to Spider-Man and better adaptions then Ultimate was in my opinion.

I started rewatching it on Hulu last month, time has not been kind to that show starting with the first episode

[Frontier]

I started rewatching it on Hulu last month, time has not been kind to that show starting with the first episode

I disagree, but fair enough .

[Mistah K88]

And yes I know that the 90's cartoon changed things too but not too the same degree as this show did.

...I don't know...One of the main points of Hobgoblin is the fact that he's a knockoff of the Green Goblin. I'd say making Gobby a knock off of Hobby is a pretty big change. It made less sense when Green Goblin would call Hobgoblin an imposter when Hobgoblin was THERE FIRST.

There was also the fact that Tombstone wasn't albino... He turned chalk white by falling into the same vat of chemicals as the Joker apparently...

No adaption is going to be 100% accurate to the source. Which is preferred, as there are many runs, retcons, and all that jazz that they have to streamline. To ignore changes like those, but to complain about Shocker having a different name is ludicrous. To be honest, it would have been better to complain about Silver Sable being Silvermane's daughter (as THAT would be something I would call a big change over some of the things you mentioned)...but then people will whip out Electro being Red Skull's son on you which is about equal, if not worse...


John Devereaux

First Appearance: Amazing Spider-Man Vol2 #43 (September, 2002)




http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Mr._Devereaux_(Earth-616))

So as we know, in comics he was director of Lobster-Man The Movie, that Mary Jane Watson starred in. In Spectacular, we first see him as an actor in Group Therapy where was an actor, we then see more of him in Season 2 when he became a drama teacher at Midtown Manhattan Magnet High School (M-Cubed), where Mary Jane transferred to. Perhaps in the future 10+ years he could have been used as a reference for Mary Jane Watson and maybe even acted in a film by him...who knows

Also a note, Midtown High in Spectacular is a Magnet school. Historically these emerged in the 1970's to remedy segregation in public schools, by pulling kids out of their normal neighborhood districts. The more modern incarnations are more academically selective, or have advanced programs and curricula that set them a part of standard high schools. Spectacular made this Magnet specialize in multiple subjects, which would explain why there were higher profile teachers every now and then for different special/advanced classes (St. Devereaux for drama and Captain Stacy for criminology). This was also a smart way to get a meathead like Flash Thompson in the same advanced school as Peter, without making him brilliant in science and simultaneously keeping him a jock , as he would simply excel in a different subject.

[Mistah K88]

So as we know Spectacular changed the races of minor characters to increase diversity in New York. An approach that the movie Spider-Man Homecoming would follow...although one "original" character from the movie is questionable at best.

Below is a list of all of the people of color in the show,

Originally Black in comics:
Glory Grant
Randy Robertson
Robbie Robertson
Hobie Brown
Lonnie Thomson Lincoln (Tombstone)

Originally Asian in comics:
Sha-Shan Nguyen

Originally Latino in comics:
Vin Gonzalez

Changed in Spectacular Spidey:
Black
Debra Whitman
Roderick Kingsley
Fancy Dan
Dr. Nicholas Bromwell
Principal Andrew Davis
Coach Smith
Agent Joseph Wade

Latino
Liz Allan (Puerto Rican)
Mark (Raxton) Allan (Puerto Rican)
Ox

Asian
Ned Lee(ds) (Korean)
Kenny (McFarlane) “Kong”
Miles Warren (Indian)
Aaron (Raymond) Warren (Indian)

Native American
Jean DeWolff

I'd say that the show changed so many characters that none of them seemed to feel like a token. So there was no need for an "ethnic best friend" or anything like that. With the exception of Liz having a bit of an accent in the second episode (which disappeared after that episode), none of the characters had or did anything real stereotypical, which made things much more realistic and enjoyable. Heck some characters like Ox or the Warren bros, you wouldn't know what they were supposed to be unless you asked. Whether you like it or hate it, you can definitely say that it didn't feel forced, the diversity in the cast was just....there.

I've actually heard a funny story about the Warren brothers, making me wonder if Stan Lee had a teacher by the name of Mr. Warren growing up. Being a background character at most during the Lee/Ditko era, the name "Mr. Warren"; was used on two different characters who just happened to be teachers of Peter (one in High School and one in College), they were linked as brothers later, and were given first names much later as well.

Raymond/Aaron Warren

First Appearance Amazing Fantasy #15 (August, 1962)




Mister Warren was one of Peter's High School teacher. Which...rings true in the show as well. In Spectacular, he is of Indian decent, Indo European to be exact, explaining his British accent.

http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix5/warrenraysm.htm