Spider-Man: Maximum Venom Broke Peter Parker 

The modern Marvel cartoons always feel like exaggerated versions of their movie counterparts.

Damm man i miss Spectacular Spiderman

I think Big Hero 6 did the "multiple science nerds on a team" really well in regards to personality. Besides Fred and Baymax, every member of the team is essentially a genius inventor, yet they all have their own voice that is distinctly theirs.

A reoccurring problem with newer Spider-Man media is that he always seems to be part of a team, or ensemble. Now, I get it in the MCU, that's its appeal, but Spidey to me has always been a loner. He has team ups every now and then, but when I think of Spider-Man, I think of a young man just trying to make a living, while also juggling his super hero work and personal life. If you mix his personal life with him being a hero, it changes the core of the character entirely. Peter's friends shouldn't be geniuses or super heroes that can bail him out of a bad situation, they should be people, with normal lives that he wants to be a part of, but ultimately fails because being a hero is HARD!

Syndrome: "And when everyone's super, (Evil Laugh) no-one will be."

It's simple: When everyone's as intelligent as Peter, it takes away from his key qualities and makes you not care as much whenever he's in a bind. Chances are Miles, Gwen, Anya, Harry, or one of the other characters could come up with a genius way to fix the problem.

"I'm fine with Peter Parker hanging out with other tech geniuses" Ned kind of fills this roll in the movies. Peter's more of an engineering and chemistry sort of guy, whereas Ned is more of a computer science guy

Honestly I just want another Spider-Man show like Spectacular Spider-Man where it’s just he’s the only Spider and there’s no one else who’s going to help him. It makes it all the more impressive when he manages to defeat the Sinister Six or Venom, because he has the pressure of having to stop all of this by himself. He doesn’t have backup, he doesn’t have other geniuses to solve it, it’s just him versus the impossible and he has to learn to overcome it by himself.

"unlike say Spectacular Spider-man." I actually chuckled when he said that. This show had no chance on Spectacular. I cared about Spectacular's characters

Spectacular Spider-Man will never be out done.

How come we don't see Anya, Gwen and Miles' lives outside of Horizon? How come we don't see them struggling with the pressures of being a superhero?!

I remember being so excited when it was announced that Peter’s intelligence would be a key part of this show. When it came out, I was so disappointed that they made him a vain, childish caricature of his personality from the comics. They took a key aspect of Peter’s character that was severely undercooked in recent media and ran with it, which is great, but they forgot to incorporate all the other aspects of his character, rendering the idea useless. Hell, even at that point, the side characters in the show are sometimes smarter than Peter, which totally detracts from that premise in the first place. PS4 Spidey got him so much better, and I’m happy to say there’s an adaption that got that idea right without jeopardizing other key aspects of the character.

I liked the brief period post-Superior Spider-Man where Peter was expelled from Horizon and had to go back to Midtown. Having him actually struggle to build a new life after Doc Ock ruined his old one felt refreshing. Too bad it didn’t last.

If you make the entire school just as much smart and as much of a science geek as Peter then what's special & different about Peter ? This is literally the stupidest concept ever.

I hope Mary Jane in this series is just a normal and popular girl who brings humanity to the show.

I just don’t get why this is a Spider-Man cartoon. It seems like underneath this could be a pretty neat cartoon about a futuristic high school for superheroes. But all the Spider-man stuff just kinda feels awkwardly tacked on, It doesn’t help make it a better cartoon or a good Spider-man property.

They turn the Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man into the Propitious Propinquity Arachnid-Man

Remember in Spectacular Spider-Man, when Aunt May being able to pay the bills was a plot point, and the dilemma of Peter wanting to help, but also being a kid who wants enough money to get a better camera which would help him pay the bills better; so he has the problem of trying to decide? Remember the spider-man show that makes you CARE about nearly everything involving everybody? Remember how Peter had to deal with people losing trust in him because he has to balance being Spidey and being Pete and you as the viewer feel bad for Pete, because you have context; but also feel for the support characters who have NO context due to the secrecy, so their disappointment is warranted? Or the friggin PS4 game, where Peter is gonna get friggin evicted. Also this show has a great voice cast, but man does the writing and directing fail them.

If you know these lyrics u are a person of culture Livin' on the edge, figthing crime Spinning webs, swinging from the highest ledge He can leap above our heads Ahhh ahh ahhh ah ahhh Ahhh ahh ahhh ah ahhh ah Villians on the rise, and the city's victimized Looking up with no surprise, arriving in the speed of time Ahhh ahh ahhh ah ahhh Ahhh ahh ahhh ah ahhh ah Spectacular, Spectacular, Spider-Man Spectacular, Spectacular, Spider-Man Spectacular, Spectacular, Spider-Man (Spectaculaaar) Crawling through the night, facing evil with his might He's a hero in our eyes, see the headlights every time Ahhh ahh ahhh ah ahhh Ahhh ahh ahhh ah ahhh ah Making villains fall, webbing rivals to a halt Racing up and down the walls, bringing justice to us all Ahhh ahh ahhh ah ahhh Ahhh ahh ahhh ah ahhh ah Spectacular, Spectacular, Spider-Man Spectacular, Spectacular, Spider-Man Spectacular, Spectacular, Spider-Man (Spectaculaaar) Spectacular, Spectacular, Spider-Man Spectacular, Spectacular, Spider-Man Better get a pin to show everyone the best theme to exist in a cartoon

I feel like the worst part was that before the show premiered, the people working on it said it was a, and I quote, “back to basics” Spider-Man show.

I love how Disney created horrible Marvel animated shows despite being a company predominantly focused on animation.

I see Disney is still incompetent in doing justice to Marvel characters in their animated shows

I honestly like this show, but mostly because of how likable Peter is compared to many of the Horizon cast. Peter had to deal with sooo much as a Horizon student and barely gets any breaks. He also did have to deal with money issues compared to all the other students. Season 2 is centered around it, but MAN was it painful to watch him struggle while everybody else doesn't seem to be breaking a sweat. Miles, Gwen, and Anya are suppose to be his friends but they are so distant that Flash Thompson seems closer to Pete than they do. When Octavius chewed Max Modell out and quit Horizon, it was well earned. Max keeps saying that he wants Peter to stay enrolled, but he doesn't seem to be fighting that hard for it. Oh. That reminds me. The scene when Peter finally has his body back and went back to school, Miles was acting like a shitty friend to him. He KNEW Peter wasn't in his body when Otto had him quit Horizon, but decides to scold Peter for it anyway. Gwen and Anya don't know Pete is Spider-Man so Miles has no excuse there. I feel that they did Miles dirty in the series. He was suppose to Peter's best friend at both Horizon and in crime fighting, but I rarely see him giving Peter much support outside the occasional team up. Most of the time, he is the dude dropping the bad news. Otto, after truly turning over a new leaf, had been more supportive to Peter on an emotional level than the rest of his Horizon friends combined. At the end of the day, those three were just his peers and his only true friend from Horizon is now dead. A true Spider-Man tragedy.

This Spider-Man feel like he could easily fit in Miraculous Ladybug.

Don't wanna sound bitter but spectacular Spiderman was the best animated Spiderman (imo) and was a great show to introduced kids into the comics. This show was ngl...bad but I enjoyed the venom moments! Hell even ultimate Spiderman was better than this show

It's ironic that all of Marvel's film, TV and even gaming success has come at the expense of their animated show becoming kidified toy-marketing fluff with little interesting story to accompany it.

Thank you for letting me know that the new season had started. Been super pumped about this series since day one. Maybe it's cause I'm looking at this show for veteran spidey fans and not as an entry point but I really like this series. It's given us a fresh direction with Spider-Man which I'm all for. This show has taken on Spider-Man stories that no other show has done like the Superior Sider-Man arc, the Goblin War, Spider Island (which was kinda done in Ultimate Spider-Man). I think wanting the character to always start the same, have the same supporting cast, be the same, is a little close-minded. After all, Spider-Man has been around almost 60 years at this point there ain't no reason not try a new spin every once in a while in other media besides the comics and video games

I really miss Spectacular Spider-man

peter porker deserved a show

I think a storyline that actually confronts these issues could be really interesting, either calling out Horizon High for being elitist and causing all the problems, or revealing some kind of conspiracy with the school, but it doesn't seem like the show is brave enough to do that (idk I haven't seen the show).

"The show fails Peter Parker at best and at worst.. fundamentally get the character and his world deeply wrong." That's pretty much how I feel about Luke Skywalker in the Last Jedi.

The shows humor definitely isn’t for me, but I like that it’s trying something different with the setting. If they purely set it in high school it would create a lot more comparisons to Spectacular, plus placing an emphasis on the science with a lot of his allies having their own powers can be a way to give more kids a POV character they can relate to (having the main characters all different backgrounds helps) while making science seem cool and fun

What really needs to happen is a renewal of Spectacular Spider-Man, but alas

One of the main problems I have with this show are the other Spider heroes. Peter has to do most of the heroic work and balance his normal life and for some reason his friends never help him take some of that burden. Don't get me wrong, they help when it's about saving the world, but I feel like they never help Peter when he's catching small crooks so he can rest. They shouldn't of added the extra heroes and still portray Peter like he can't balance his life.

I feel like Spiderverse did the whole “school for the gifted” schtick better because Miles was presented as different among the different. He had the brains, but was a man of the people at heart.

Spiderman does make bad jokes, that's his thing, but you have to be self-aware to a certain point when writing his quips, that some will never land. Peters own explanation in the comics, when talking to MJ, is:„You should try to think of good quips while your fighting, it's not easy“

I think Stretch Armstrong and the Flex Fighters is the closest we’ll get to a good Spidey cartoon this past decade. Helps that it had some Spectacular Spider-Man crew working on it.

Lazy name, lazy writing, lazy animation, lazy show. “Brilliant but lazy.”

Hopefully the addition of MJ will make this cartoon more grounded for you

It's not just this show but the current run of Marvel animation as a whole feels mediocre at best and a parody of the MCU at worst. I rewatched some of the old shows on Disney Plus (X-Men, Evolution, Spider-Man 90's, Spectacular, Earth's Mightest Heroes, etc.) and each had something unique and fun. Then I tried watching Guardians of the Galaxy, Avengers, and Spider-Man, everything felt the same. Yeah, it may be nostalgia, but they never felt cliche or boring. With the modern Marvel Animation, it all feels like an excel spreadsheet of cheapness, corny dialogue, cheap animation, lame stories, and not at all feeling of care. It's interesting to go back to like 90's X-Men and hear how they tried to get characters and storylines involved and the background of how they do things or like 90's Spider-Man where they treated it like an old-school radio drama and the cast had fun with it. You don't get the same love with this current run of Marvel animation. And it's a Marvel problem in general, DC animation is still amazing and fun and Netflix with Voltron, Castlevania, and other shows prove that animation as a whole is strong and downright fun to watch. Marvel animation needs a revamp and quickly.

One of the problems with Spider-Man in this show and the previous Ultimate Spider-Man is they keep making Peter dumb

For me, what made Peter Parker great was the fact that, unlike characters like Superman or Batman, he was kinda like "the hero of the people". He didn't had to save the world from the blink of destruction, he had to save innocent people from being robbed by some low-level criminal. He didn't had to fight against an alien invasion, he had to find some money to pay the rent. Does he have superpowered enemies? Sure, but those characters often have "normal" criminal motivation, like robbing banks or take revenge against someone. One of the reason for why Raimi's movies and Spectacular Spiderman worked was because they acknowledged that, behind the mask, Peter was just a regular teenager with regular problems, like confessing to a girl or hiding secrets from his Aunt. This is the problem that I think people have with this show and partially with the MCU movies: if you take the character out of his comfort zone, unless you do it very well (like in Infinity war), you take away what made it so appealing in the first place.

I'll always prefer spiderman the animated series from the 90s. Wish they'd let spidey grow up.

NO! I may be almost 30 and turning into a grouch all of the damn time. But NO! It will never "just be a spiderman cartoon!" NEVER! All spiderman content is precious! Even the bad stuff is cherish able, by making the good stuff that much better.

top content as always, motivates me to keep consistent

Peter Parker: Class Traitor coming to Disney XD

This show broke my heart after a mere 4 episodes. I now rely on you to talk about this show. Thanks for the video

I can definitely agree with your main criticism that Peter and the rest of the supporting cast seem a bit too homogenized this time around with Horizon being the practical center of everything. I think the ironic lack of diversity in character development is due to the fact that they chose to go this route. That being said, its really not a surprise that a lot of the plot centers around Horizon to begin with. It may seem lazy, but it doesn't seem that much of a difference from other shows having Spidey's rogue gallery being one or relationships apart from Peter;s life at Midtown High, the Bugle, or any other place he's associated with. I don't think Peter is really that far off from his counterparts though, considering the way they took the series, centering it around school life. Peter comes off as someone who fits and doesn't fit at Horizon. Yes, its not Midtown High average or diversity, but we've been down that route a bunch of times in other iterations, animated and not. I think its all about putting Peter in a school setting that seems more "suiting" for his mind, but still showing his attempts at balancing his hero life with this newer setting. He still has to work harder than others because of the responsibility he holds. The other Spider heroes are dedicated to a point too, but it may as well be a necessary hobby relative to what Peter puts into it. It also still brings money issues into play here and there, since we still have a younger Peter at the moment. Its far from perfect, but I don't think this iteration is a bad jumping off point for kids. Anything produced now will be in the shadow of the MCU and production companies will have to take that into consideration. This is especially true for anything run by Disney.

Great video, Cap. I haven't kept up with the show, but I do feel like a lot of recent Spider-Man adaptations have really forgotten the class aspect to the character. Spider-Man is a working-class superhero and the everyday struggles that Peter endures is what makes him such a relatable character, and Marvel's weird decision to omit that element of his character always makes it harder for me to connect with that version of Spider-Man.

So Horizon High is basically Oscorp to the TASM series but even more central.

Spectacular Spider-Man was fantastic and was one of the best Spider-Man shows we had in the past decade.

you have an honestly interesting take on it but my biggest problem with the show by far is that it seems to outright hate Peter Parker and want´s to humiliate and belittle him as much as possible to push those copy cat spider-people. I really miss peter being the only person with spider powers in his show. The show also always portrays Peter as an idiot and an loser especially compared to the copy cats miles, gwen and that other girl. They always make fun of him and he always get humiliated meanwhile they never fail, are in the wrong, need to apologize or need to get rescued. Only Peter needs to be rescued or apologize. In the past Peter used to be a cool and competent guy who made fun of his opponent to distract them, now he is a crinchy idiot who you are supposed to laugh at not with him. Also in the past romance used to be a big part of Spidey as well where he always ends up hurting the people he cares most about because of his superhero responsibilities. Now all the girls in the show constantly belittle and openly hate him and are always portrayed as stronger, smarter and better then him.

Me: after seeing spidey's new suit: oh cool a new one Me after realizing this is is a marvel's spiderman: wait for it.... Episodes end Me: and its gone.. Oh cool Well l didnt see that one coming God nothing ever changes in this show whats the point in giving him a new suit if your just gonna throw it away in the next episode no doubt

Miles Morales should have his own animated show theirs so much rich material with the character , even Kaine Parker post spider island would be cool having kaine be in Houston Texas doing his thing would be cool

wow, thank you. I always felt like something in the show was off to me. now I think you really helped me find what it is :)

I miss when spectacular spider-man and earths mightiest heroes were still on.

Disney needs to make another deal with Sony and find a way to bring back Spectacular Spider-Man already

I know a lot of people compare this to spectacular, but it’s hard not to because they’re trying to make this like the show we loved and it doesn’t work.

holy shit, i was thinking like a week ago that I hope someone makes a video on the newer seasons of this show and now here it is, god bless

Honestly how tf would everyone not figure out that Peter was Spider-Man due to the fact that he always appears at or around Horizon High?

You're way nicer about this show than I am. In my mind, it's just another bad Marvel cartoon in Disney's line up of bad Marvel Cartoons. Peter doesn't feel like Peter, the oversized cast and multiple spider people being introduced so early on makes Peters Character shine less, and don't even get me started on how the voice casting as always doesn't fit any of the Characters in the show (More importantly the Voice Direction is god awful). I saw a tweet a few weeks ago saying how seeing Venom in the spotlight is a breath of fresh air for a Spiderman show, but they just did a HUGE event with him in the last show. I love Venom, he once was my favourite... Well anything from Marvel. But between him being over used and just being forced into every situation shows and movies that producers can think of I can't say I love it when he shows up anymore. I miss him being more of a treat that shows up every once and a while and not... An entire army of Venom taking over every Super Hero just because. The show here feels stale and is just a boring and poor representation of Peter Parker and Spiderman. I hope someday Marvel can turn their Cartoon game up for Marvel Shows and produce something as good as their other animated line ups (DuckTales, Big Hero 6, Tangled, etc)

They need to bring back Spectacular Spider-man

Even the villains are like, and not just tech users like Shocker, Vulture, and Green Goblin. Electro and Rhino are now science majors and that bugs me since Spider-Man has arguably the best rogues gallery in all Marvel Comics but now they've lost their individuality.

Spectacular Spiderman season 3 is definitely what 2021 needs. Not this Spiderman

They couldn't find a worse voice actor to play Spider-Man. He doesn't have to be Josh Keaton, but at least be good.

Misleading title dude, I was like "how can the first episode of Maximum Venom break Peter Parker more than the show already broke him?" I was so curious that I actually watched the double episode before watching this. Obviously I would have since I reluctantly follow the show hoping for good stuff here and there, but I'm still kinda mad about that. I definitely agree with all that's been said in the video and there's very few part of the show that I would save... Except for one four-parter in season 2 : "bring on the bad guys" where Spider-man has to make his way through a never-ending line of villains in 24 hours and shit gets real 'cause he never catches a break in-between. You feel the fatigue and the pain as Spidey has to fight yet another villain while being hurt. It actually captured something I've rarely seen outside of the comics, this was peak Spider-Man to me and I wish there were more episodes like this.

Yeah this cartoon in my opinion is a complete and utter mess and proved my point marvel animation really needs better direction not bullshit like this trainwreck of a Spider-Man show which is sad because it could’ve worked but man oh man they boutch it.

Thanks for using cutscenes of Spider-Man 2: Enter Electro

Can you explain, why being "true to the character" is so important to superheroes, when in every other genre it's a given that you can experiment as much as you want and find hidden depths or alternatives, completely unrelated to original that spawned it. Like, I can't imagine two works of fiction mode different from each other, than Alice in Wonderland and American McGee's Alice, yet I love them both. Why diversifying is good for fanfiction and public domain adaptations, but superheroes must adhere to the strict yet nebulous truthfulness? It's not a criticism, I don't feel much about this position, I'm just genuinely curious and think that this topic is underexplored (at least in superhero media video essays).

I genuinely want to like this show, and Robbie Daymond is a solid Spider-Man but they do get the characterization of Peter really wrong.

The show's chance of improving is very slim, but I would love to see Knull like you suggested. Especially since he hasn't made a TV or movie appearance yet.

Loved that passive aggressive outro

Editor's Note: If you want more CaptainMidnight Spider-Man action, you should check out this video he worked on with me: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-DlRXI0KbEhU.html

Tbh I think the elitist techie element has become a part of the character ever since Peter joined the MCU. Like, FFH basically revolves around Peter receiving a massive inheritance from a deceased billionaire, and the villains of both MCU Spider-Man movies are working-class employees who that billionaire screwed over for profit. The working-class aspect of Peter is just completely gone now, and I really wish it'd be brought back

It’s simple, a lot of modern animated shows now are shallow and character-less other than the earlier counterparts such as Spectacular Spider-man that deals with deeper themes and has real character development. They prefer to be safe and fit a certian agenda and style so everyone is happy

Kids: Marvels Spider-man Boys: Spectacular Spider-man. Men: Spider-man: Animated series (1994)

I read the title and I’m like....what else is new from this stupid show?

I'd love to hear your take on the Ultimate Spider-Man show from a couple years ago. I feel like they nailed this a lot better with Peter being both at regular high school and Shield Academy. Plus the other characters were a lot more varied, while still being superheroes.

Well done. As an aside. This dovetails well with curio’s video of Spider-Man as a working class hero.

Thanks for this video, it gave me a heads up that the new season had a different name and I needed to adjust my DVR.

Can we talk about the shit backgrounds in modern Marvel shows

I'm annoyed that the Spider-Man looks worse than DuckTales and Big Hero 6. Now DuckTales and BH6 are amazing don't get me wrong. I just wish this was treated with the same care and respect.

To this day I can never comprehend why Disney canceled Spectacular Spider-Man. Bring Spectacular Spider-Man back Disney.

Dude at least in unlimited he had a motivation to get back home to mj and he’s not insufferably annoying plus some of the characters have some pretty good backstories hell I feel like crying at git’s backstory it’s got no dialogue it’s just on his face

I miss spectacular more than ever. I was kinda hoping that the Disney Sony split would go through and give me a small glimmer of hope we might be able ro get it back but, wishful thinking I guess.

This is what happens when Spiderman can't grow up. He ends up stealing Miles Morales's life.

You make excellent points. Hopefully the writers take your advice in the future

I feel like they should just give us a TV series for Kaine and/or Ben, maybe have a few Peter Parker cameos, have it PG-13. Name it Scarlet Spider and have it focus on Kaine turning away from the monster of a man he use to be and turn into an anti-hero who has learned from his past mistakes. The show ends off on a heroic sacrifice by Kaine to save his friends and family's life. It could be like Logan kind of. A man who has traveled the country trying to be a better hero and save lives.

Just bring back spectacular Spiderman for season 3, problem solved.

I didn't really take the "friendly neighborhood Spiderman" as a one-off joke, I think it was just a comparison to clue the audience in on Peter being in control of the suit. Mainly since a similar scene happened with this peter's black suit, where he was more raw raw football gargon than the show's usual technobabble gargon

A variation of personalities and different hangout settings is what this guy needs honestly.

This is why I don't like the MCU version of spiderman. Peter is the man of the people which is why he's marvels flagship character. The storylines that have been done in the 90s cartoon, spectacular and the ps4 game are excellent because it shows Peter's intelligence but also dim wittedness, his wins and losses, his greatest heroism and his greatest sacrifices. Tom holland is a good actor and he can play spiderman well........ when he's allowed to. They made him into iron man jr fanboy instead of Spiderman. Why have daddy stark pay for everything? It takes away Peter's agency as a hero and a character. Instead of running into his own villains who rose to power to fight spiderman, they're all Tony's messes that Peter happens to clean up. Not only is that not genuine but its disrespectful to the source material. Also I want to see a spider MAN, not spider boy. Have Tom holland be first year in college or fresh out of high school at least

Also every new Spidey show seems so scared to Have JUST Spidey be lead they always seem to introduce other heros and alternate spider-people. If you want to make each of these other spider folks have their own shows just do that don't just cram miles and spider gwen just because you can it just makes it feel bloated and unfocused

I haven't watched the 2017 Spiderman in a couple years , so it will be interesting to see what it's been up to.

I haven't really seen the show, but I absolutely LOVE the character designs. I'm outlining a superhero series of my own right now and I imagine my characters in more or less the same art style.

100% agree with you, this isn't Spiderman at all, they turned everyone into kids

Captainmidnight is the best around and a big reason I started my own Channel.

*So basically, this show's Peter Parker is MCU Peter Parker on steroids*

You’ve mentioned an introduction to Spider-Man in your videos on this show and I’d argue that the Spectacular Spider-Man show is THE best jumping off point for kids. It was actually my introduction to the character and he’s been my favorite superhero, if not favorite fictional character of all time, since. Like you said, Spectacular strips it down to the essentials and stays comic accurate for the most part. This way, kids can get a well rounded understanding of the most important parts of his world. I also think that the representation of Peter is better than any of the movies and is what I think of as the quintessential Peter Parker and Spider-Man.

I still miss Spectacular Spider-Man. Can't believe it was cancelled.