Spider-Man the Animated Series Respect Thread

[Spidercide]

Rewatching some of Spider-Man the Animated Series from the 1990s I recognize there are numerous execution and production issues (which i can look passed due to nostalgia) and that various characters have problems as far keeping to the spirit of their original portrayals.

However something I think needs to be recognized of the show is that it got two things very, very right.

Spider-Man himself. Whilst obviously it is a Spider-Man of a certain era and age, the Peter Parker of this show is what Spider-Man should be. He can angst and feel guilt but not all the time and not over EVERYTHING to the point of it being ridiculous. He’s heroic and a good person but not without his foibles. he can get angry, sometimes he looks before he leaps, can be selfish from time to time but (usually) does the right thing at the end of the day. And by god is he witty as all get out. Genuinely one of the funniest Spider-Man interpretations ever.

The other thing they got right was the ‘feel’ of Spider-Man’s world.

This is difficult to articulate. But essentially the Spider-Man of this show 90% of the time is street level (or as street as censored allowed) usually going as wacky as mad science robots which are present in his series fairly frequently anyway. He has a supporting cast and rogue’s gallery of colourful personable characters with their own gimmicks or things going on. His life has its ups and downs so sometimes things go badly and other times they go well. His story usually moves forward and things develop in his life, of course with special emphasis placed upon his love life and subplots are genuinely present throughout the series starting with season 2.

THIS is how you do Spider-Man, even if you mess up some specifics about the characters, the dynamics and themes and ‘feel’ of the world is what Spider-Man is about.

It isn’t selling you on some bullshit story about how this is a story about youth or about a guy who’s life sucks **** in an endless stream of misery. It’s just about a guy living his life and he happens to be a hero out of a profound sense of responsibility. THAT is Spider-Man and that is what this show is all about.

[Rahul]

For me Christopher Daniel Barnes is the best Spidey voice actor thanks to this series.

Just the right amount of self loathing, responsibility, immaturity and maturity in his voice required to be both Peter Parker and Spider-Man.

[Spiderfang]

This series is what initially got me into the comic books and the Spiderman games. I really wish whoever holds the rights would release it onto DVD already...

[Miles To Go]

This series is what initially got me into the comic books and the Spiderman games. I really wish whoever holds the rights would release it onto DVD already...

The entire series is out on DVD in Region 2, if you have a regionless player, you can track it down

[John Ossie]

It was this series that got me into Spider-Man in the first place, so for that I'll always love it.

[blackspidey2099]

It was this series that got me into Spider-Man in the first place, so for that I'll always love it.

Yeah, same with me!

[AmazingFantasy]

Yeah, same with me!

Aaand me as well.

[Fearless Heart]

Preach it, brother!

[Miles To Go]

The show's lead writer John Semper's made a comeback lately with DC's Cyborg. I really recommend it.

[Alan2099]

While it had it's flaws, it was a really fun series. I loved the last storyline with the multiple Spider-man and Stan lee appearance. The secret Wars story was also really well done.

I didn't much care for Dr. Octopus's more muscular design, but the voice felt perfect to me. Likewise, I enjoyed Kingpin's more hi-tech empire, even if it's not comic accurate. I wouldn't mind seeing that stuff adapted into the comics.

[WeirdSpider]

Still my favorite Spider-Man cartoon.

I tried to get into Spectacular Spider-Man but I couldn't stand the character designs.

[Pav]

A lot of the earlier stories by Slott seemed to purposefully evoke the feel of the Animated Series.

-Pav, who points to Hobgoblin/Kingpin use...

[Alan2099]

I tried to get into Spectacular Spider-Man but I couldn't stand the character designs.

Oh good. I thought that was just me. I alwasy hear everybody talking so good about it, but I just look the designs at it and it looks horrible.

[Frontier]

This cartoon was my life growing up. It's what introduced me to Spider-Man and fostered my love for the character and his role in the Marvel Universe .

Dated as it is in some areas, I think it's a testament to the quality of the show that they were a able to do Spidey's world such justice through the writing, and feature iconic takes on characters that still resonate today with fans.

Still my favorite Spider-Man cartoon.

I tried to get into Spectacular Spider-Man but I couldn't stand the character designs.

Oh good. I thought that was just me. I alwasy hear everybody talking so good about it, but I just look the designs at it and it looks horrible.

I know the designs for Spectacular were a little off-putting to some people, but I think they worked very well in animation and looked amazing during fight sequences, and we got some really cool and interesting redesigns for the Rogues Gallery.

[Huntsman Spider]

The best part, to me, was the finale. Not just because it was the first to do "multiple Spider-Men from alternate realities coming together to save the Multiverse," well before Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions or Spider-Verse (both of which were written by Dan Slott), but also because this was used as a unique method of getting to the root of who Spider-Man and Peter Parker were. The villain of Spider Wars wasn't some typical madman hell-bent on conquest or destruction, but (a version of) Peter Parker himself, driven insane by both the pernicious influence of the Carnage symbiote and years of loss and misery and torment that had taken their toll on him even before he learned he might not be the "real" Peter Parker, thanks to the existence of a certain blond doppelganger we know fairly well.

Then there was one of Spider-Man's ostensible allies, an armored multibillionaire who had had everything in his life go his way, seemingly effortlessly achieved all the fame, success, and adulation that constantly eluded "our" Spider-Man, and it had gone to his head, rendering him incapable of even considering that he might fail or screw up, which made him reckless and arrogant and ultimately a liability to the other Spider-Men, getting himself and one other taken out in the process. Spider-Man visited both of their realities, saw what his life could have become, and ultimately found it in himself to say to his creator Stan Lee (yes, Stan Lee actually made an animated cameo as himself in the next-to-final scene of the final episode) after saving existence itself from total destruction that he actually liked who he was and his life and for the first time in a long while, he wouldn't change a damn thing about either. When Stan remarked that Spider-Man didn't sound like the character he'd been writing all these years, Spidey's response was simple but profound: "Well, Stan, we all have to grow up sometime, I suppose. Even us characters of fiction." If only the people in charge at Marvel for the last decade actually understood that.