Marvel's new Spider-Man animated series

[GamerSlyRatchet]

I do find it kind of hilarious how so many of the series' major conflicts Max Modell is partially responsible for.

Like, the show treats him as this nice, good, guy and this paragon of positive science but his personal decisions ends up creating or driving all of Peter's major villains in one way or another.

Heck, he was literally the final boss! His villain name was in the title the whole time!

I disliked his character for a long time, so I personally didn't mind it.

(At least their actual interactions are handled pretty well. But that relationship definitely needed more time in the spotlight.)

Pretty much my thoughts. I liked the idea of making her an extroverted athlete to contrast Peter's shy nerd, but she came too little, too late.

[Kevinroc]

Pretty much my thoughts. I liked the idea of making her an extroverted athlete to contrast Peter's shy nerd, but she came too little, too late.

I really think if she were a bigger part of the show with that characterization they gave her, with that kind of interaction with Peter expanded upon, it would have been to the show's benefit. As it stands, she definitely feels like "should we ever actually do anything with MJ after those teases in Season 1? Stick her in the last few episodes? Okay."

(I found most of the other characters in the show painfully dull. Because they were all science nerds with very little to make them stand out from one another. The cast really could have used someone with a very different personality to contrast.)

[Celgress]

No, it's over. It ended last year.

Okay, thanks for the clarification. I was like "why is this thread suddenly revived? I thought the series was over?".

[Frontier]

I disliked his character for a long time, so I personally didn't mind it.

Honestly thinking about how much Max unintentionally screwed stuff up and was the secret villain of the show makes me appreciate him more .

I really think if she were a bigger part of the show with that characterization they gave her, with that kind of interaction with Peter expanded upon, it would have been to the show's benefit. As it stands, she definitely feels like "should we ever actually do anything with MJ after those teases in Season 1? Stick her in the last few episodes? Okay."

(I found most of the other characters in the show painfully dull. Because they were all science nerds with very little to make them stand out from one another. The cast really could have used someone with a very different personality to contrast.)

I never realized how much the show needed someone actually normal and not obsessed with science to contrast with everything going on until the final episode where MJ reacts to everything like a normal person.

[Celgress]

.....I never realized how much the show needed someone actually normal and not obsessed with science to contrast with everything going on until the final episode where MJ reacts to everything like a normal person.

A very good point. Spider-Man has always been anchored by the normal people around him. His double life as Peter Parker informs his actions, how he sees the world and how the reader/viewer sees him. When you take that away the character becomes something less; a hollow shell of his true self.

Edit - Those at Marvel's Animation Division don't seem to understand the above crucial aspect of the character. The last two series were all about super-heroics without balancing those antics against the backdrop of civilian life.

[PCN24454]

A very good point. Spider-Man has always been anchored by the normal people around him. His double life as Peter Parker informs his actions, how he sees the world and how the reader/viewer sees him. When you take that away the character becomes something less; a hollow shell of his true self.

Edit - Those at Marvel's Animation Division don't seem to understand the above crucial aspect of the character. The last two series were all about super-heroics without balancing those antics against the backdrop of civilian life.

Does that mean that Boomerang and Gog were terrible additions to Peter's civilian life?

[Mistah K88]

(I found most of the other characters in the show painfully dull. Because they were all science nerds with very little to make them stand out from one another. The cast really could have used someone with a very different personality to contrast.)

Oi the kids were all soooo unenjoyable...it'd be at least SOMETHING if they were interested in different sciences, but everyone being a omnidisiplinary scientist was a little...eh.

Also...Peter's secret identity has to be one of the most least consequential thing in the past 2 cartoons...I saw an episode where he unmasked in front of the school board.

[blackspidey2099]

I will agree that Mary Jane ended up being probably my favorite supporting cast member in the show, despite her lack of screentime. I'm not sure why they thought turning Harry, Miles, Gwen, and Anya into super-geniuses like Peter was a good idea, since it just takes away from all the qualities that made those characters unique in their own right. I would have definitely liked to see Peter interact with more normal people.

[Spiderfan001]

Do we know when the next spider man animation series is coming?

[Kevinroc]

Do we know when the next spider man animation series is coming?

Supposedly sometime this year, but it's for REALLY young children. Around Pre-School age.

[Frontier]

Oi the kids were all soooo unenjoyable...it'd be at least SOMETHING if they were interested in different sciences, but everyone being a omnidisiplinary scientist was a little...eh.

Also...Peter's secret identity has to be one of the most least consequential thing in the past 2 cartoons...I saw an episode where he unmasked in front of the school board.

I will agree that Mary Jane ended up being probably my favorite supporting cast member in the show, despite her lack of screentime. I'm not sure why they thought turning Harry, Miles, Gwen, and Anya into super-geniuses like Peter was a good idea, since it just takes away from all the qualities that made those characters unique in their own right. I would have definitely liked to see Peter interact with more normal people.

I do feel like the supporting cast suffered a lot from being depicted as, basically, the same kind of teenage super-scientist with little to distinguish them besides minor character traits. And their character development basically amounted to just getting powers and a costume.

And then you have Peter who ends up needing to get saved/helped on such a daily basis or can't resolve anything major on his own show without help while despite justifying Spider-Man needing the team said team often get knocked out or don't remain as focal to the plot to justify Peter being the main character. It just didn't work as well as it could have.

And I think this and USM really suffered from spending a little too much time on the Superhero side of thing rather than the civilian side. Maybe not as bad as USM wherein you could go several episodes without Peter even taking his mask off, but it was getting to the point of an Arrowverse show where all the main characters are fellow Superheroes or involved in his Superhero life so what's the point of his civilian identity?

[Celgress]

Does that mean that Boomerang and Gog were terrible additions to Peter's civilian life?

Yes and yes, IMO. Hey, you asked for my opinion you got it. Just say no to Boomerang, always so no to Boomerang, and clones, and symbiotes.

[Digifiend]

Supposedly sometime this year, but it's for REALLY young children. Around Pre-School age.

Yeah, it's on Disney Junior, not Disney XD like the last two shows (in the US anyway - in the UK those channels have closed down, and it'll presumably be a Disney+ original). It's called Spidey and His Amazing Friends, and stars Peter (Spidey), Miles (who has a new codename, Spin) and Gwen (Ghost-Spider).

[blackspidey2099]

Does that mean that Boomerang and Gog were terrible additions to Peter's civilian life?

I kinda like Gog, but yeah, I'm not really a fan of Boomerang being Peter's roommate - and honestly I think Spencer has handled Peter's civilian life pretty terribly with the exception of the Mary Jane-centric stuff.

[Frontier]

This show had such a random take on the Goblins and the Goblin Legacy.

First they make Harry look like Phil Urich so he can end up as the Hobgoblin, even if the only thing that version of the Hobgoblin had in common with Urich's version is the flaming sword. And then they have Harry mimic the two Green Goblin deaths from the comics. Then Norman ends up being the final boss as the Hobgoblin and ends up getting blown up by his son (because heaven forbid Spider-Man resolve the main conflict of his own show). Then Harry procedes to use it as a heroic identity like Phil Urich did as the Green Goblin.

Then in season 2 we have Adrian Toomes go from getting a souped up Vulture suit to suddenly having an army of Goblin followers and a huge Iron Man robot suit as The Goblin King, which he barely does anything in, and then proceeds to use it so he can pilot a giant Mecha that he apparently designed and Norman stole the designs from him for (because that makes sense). And we're talking about a guy whose only claim to fame is building a glorified flight suit with sonic blasts.

Then in season 3 Norman comes back and gets turned into a Symbiote Dark Goblin which I guess was their take on the Red Goblin and then proceeds to need every member of the Spider-Team and his own son to beat (because Spider-Man can't win a major fight without help on this show).

The only time Josh Keaton got to actually play the Green Goblin was in a non-canon Lego special.

The show's handling of Venom and the Symbiote's is almost if not moreso as random and haphazard.