The thumbnail is talking about the widely believed misconceptions about the show facing heavy censorship, not saying this show is hated or something. Come on, it's IN the video guys I don't know why everyone's feeling so stumped and challenged by this.
Thank you for this Video! Great Job :D It was the only spiderman i knew and grew to love when i was a child, to me its the original. I never knew all of these background information.
Man, I never knew how closely the raimi movies followed this show, especially the Symbiote arc. That’s a really cool callback and makes me respect how innovative TAS really was.
Same, thanks to this video now I remembered that I had DVDs of both TAS cartoon and Raimi movies as a kid, comparing scene by scene, especially with the Symbiote and Green Goblin sagas
I didn't watch Spiderman 3 until way after it's release. I was hyped and pissed that they pretty much copied his realization with the black suit on hanging upside down just like my favorite TV show when I was a kid.
I think Christopher Daniel Barnes is really underrated as Spider-Man, he's always the voice I hear when I read the older comics from the 60's and 70's. He just has this sort of old fashioned charm that no other Spidey has.
The delivery of his quips still get me laughing. The classic, "come down here and fight like a man!" "I don't suppose I can convince you to come up here and fight like a spider?"
John Semper might be one of the most cracked writers and comic-content influencers out there, but he gets so little love for it. He's also really cool, and he's fully aware that he pioneered the first Spider-Verse arc. Dude's a legend, I hope he gets more respect in the coming years
Marvel Spider-man animated series season 6 Peter finds Mary Jane Watson after Madame Web took the Spider-man to finds real Mary Jane Watson please petition create the Marvel spider-man animated series season 6 in the Disney plus.
Well, if anyone's curious, he ended up helping out on the latter seasons of the DC Animated Universe's Static Shock, of all places, especially with making the episode "Blast from the Past", that show's take on Spider-Man: TAS' "Six Forgotten Warriors" arc.
Weirdly, the dated CGI just looks 'stylized' now, which makes the animation in general look even better imo. In combination with the hand-drawn pieces of animation, this show looks better than most animated shows today.
The Marvel Spiderman animated series season 5 episode 65 Farewell Spiderman were wrong to cancelled the Marvel Spider-man animated series season 5 episode 65 Farewell Spiderman the Madame Web took the Spider-man to finds real Mary Jane Watson so the Spider-man agree to Madame Web to finds real Mary Jane Watson in the end of the show. Peter Parker say amen to that. In 2016 like Marvel spider-man animated series season 6 episode 66 Peter finds Mary Jane Watson in youtube. I hope Marvel Spiderman animated series season 6 episode 66 Madame Web took the Spider-man to finds real Mary Jane in the Disney plus again in the tv again. Please petition create the Marvel spider-man animated series season 6.
Yeah. Something about those blaring yellow window lights against the grungy bricks, and the choppy swooping camera motion still looks pretty slick to me.
i don't have trouble watching reboot or beast wars. i would say the 3d Garfield cartoon was much worse than either of those. you can really tell the diff between heart and soulless cash grab
I never thought the final scene was a cliffhanger I always assumed that Spider-Man is finally going to be reunited pretty easily with Mary Jane and finally have a happy ending. It ending on his spider symbol on his chest was the finale for me
Same here. I mean, Madame Web is a multidimensional cosmic being on par with the Beyonder. So I always assumed that its a forgone conclusion and that was enough for me. I don't need to see it, i know it happens and they finally reunite.
Said feel of ambiguity also helped my opinion on how Teen Titans. Sure is a pity why the likes of The Spectacular Spider-Man Season 2 didn't end on such a note just in case it gotten canned (and lo and behold, it sure did).
The words of John Semper himself about the series finale. "When Peter Parker meets Stan, and finally pronounces: "I am like myself," then his story is over. He has gone beyond his creator. Now he's his own creation. Many people think that I slapped Stan into that series as a cheap trick, but the more important issue is always overlooked. Here is a guy who stands in front of his creator (in fact, in front of his god) and says: "You know what? I am beyond what you have created, with all my flaws and problems. I have faced the test that you have done for me and now I am beyond it. And I am like myself." When a hero says something like that, there is nothing more to tell about his journey, and his saga is over. And who cares if he saves the girl or not?" From myself, I will add that the finale gives search of her so that there is no doubt that she will be found. So there is no need to show it.
@@thevenom2731 As you can see, the author of the story does not want to. Semper, although he had several ideas, was glad that the series was not renewed, as he told the story he wanted. And before you say about the X-Men, there was a sequel there in many ways because the authors of the series themselves came and offered a sequel.
Semper is not necessarily close to write an ending/sequel just because he was satisfied with the actual ending at all lol. If anything, what he said implies much more that even though a full ending would be great, what we got already is. I think it's perfectly fair to believe that an ending special in Disney+ or something is possible
My first exposure to Spider-Man TAS was when my dad got me the DVD set of all the episodes in the Mutant Agenda and Morbius arcs, but from there I was hooked. Especially given the strict as hell network restrictions the show was forcibly under, they did a great job at trying to not dumb down the material and it's probably one of the absolute best Spider-Man adaptations outside comics. Spectacular barely edges it out in terms of shows, but it's still a solid show, and Christopher Daniel Barnes IS Spider-Man to me next to Josh Keaton and Yuri Lowenthal
One thing that I hope is that we get in HD remaster of this show one day since the DVD is really bad quality. But I'm not gonna hope that's, gonna happen since its Disney. They'll either not release anything or do a botched remaster.
@@CalciumChief I get that "only thinking about official adaptations" is a common thing among comics nerds, but if you count unofficial riffs? Danny Phantom, dudes. I mean, the exact ingredients there are 75% Spider-Man, 15% Fantastic Four, 10% Ghostbusters, but still. It's, by a pretty big majority, a Spider-Man riff. And that show's 34 episode peak stretch (7-40) KILLS any of the official animated takes by so much that the other 19 episodes don't really matter. (Sigh)
Almost no one praises the score behind this series. It was masterful. Villains had their own thematic score, which helped the immersion even more. The slow notes in sad moments always hit extra hard.
Honestly, I think the “deaths” being a portal gun is more impactful because every death in comics has and can be undone, but that portal gun showing up was a scary thing because you never knew if they could or can show up again. This version of Spidey was easily the standard for me for many many years and still could be somewhere subconciously. I also want it noted that Spider-Man threw 3 punches in the entire show.
The reason you didn't know whether ot not they could or would show up again is because it wasn't an ongoing monthly comic. It wasn't the fact that it was a Portal gun that mad either more impactful. It's the fact that this show was clearly set in its own continuity and didn't have to worry about returning to "the status quo."
I also think that a portal is even more horrible fate than death, since the victim like Mary Jane isn't dead nor alive; She is not in heaven nor in hell. She's just stuck in another dimension, a place where there's no escape, away from her family and friends, never knowing what is happen to them. She just cease to exist. That's more scary than dying.
@@alexandrefrauches132 Yeah. As a kid, I found the ending of "Turning Point" horrifying because I remember thinking "So...she's trapped there forever?" My sister and I simply referred to that moment as her "death". So...yeah.
So you're saying one of the three punches in the show was used...on the spot. I swear Jonathan went home and was like." I'll never wash my face again" or he'll go to the bar like "this is the cheek spiderman punched. Clearly I'm his greatest adversary"
21:34 yeah unfortunately the showrunners of the X-Men cartoon chose to edit the episodes on video tape and ditched the original film masters. That's why we don't have a remastered bluray set of it and it looks low quality. Because the showrunners weren't thinking longterm or about DVD blurays. They just wanted a cheap and faster way to produce episodes.
@@RandomBlackGamer The only way to find these film masters is perhaps maybe the companies that animated the cells? Maybe they got a possible copy at a vault somewhere. Since AKOM still exist. Otherwise, who really knows where they are. Hopefully it wasn’t destroyed like how the 1994 FF film masters was thought to be.
Curt Connors as a college professor happened in the late 70s, and he was there in one of the funniest scenes when Spider-Man saw Peter Parker got an A in his exam paper held by the head of his department. Even the bit of Peter being lab assistant for Curt Connors is a thing that happened in the comics, but not in the "He helped him with the lizard formula" bit.
Dude, this show is what made me fall in love with the character. I couldn't afford to get into the comics when I was a kid, so Spider-Man TAS is how I learned more about Spidey and his lore.
Dude, there are countries outside of America where Spider-Man is popular, specifically because of this show. Comic books were literally nearly impossible to find then
I grew up in a small town, i'm talking like, 2,000 people small, and I used to get picked on to no end because I would bring a fanny pack full of Spider-Man toys with me to school everyday. It was this version of Spider-Man that showed me the escape that Peter had from his life while being Spider-Man.
This show, Spectacular, and the Raimi trilogy were my childhood man. All of these made me a total Spider-Man fan and introduced me to marvel and comics as a whole. Christopher Daniel Barnes is one of the greatest of all time SM voice actors. This channel always produces gold, cheers.
Honestly, if it wasn't for this show and the Raimi films, I wouldn't be as big of a fan of the character, as I am now. Spider-Man The Animated Series is honestly one of my favourite Spider-Man animated shows next to Spectacular Spider-Man, because the show truly understood what Spider-Man stood for as a character. Yes, it has dumb censorship, outdated CG animation, etc. But the writing, voice acting and the characters they were able to put in a kids show like Carnage, Morbious, The Punisher, Blade, etc. is what makes this show so unique. Because they were able to bring out characters that none comic books fans never heard of and could learn more about them by watching the show. It's just a shame how insanely expensive the DVD's are for this show though. Especially if you want to buy a full series collection of this show on DVD through online.
This show is literally my earliest memory or one of the earliest memories I have. I remember being 3 years old and watching Spidey fight Venom on VHS at my uncle's house. It's what made me a Spider-man fan in the first place. So yeah, I'd say it had a gigantic impact, at least on me personally.
I remember the episode The Lizard King being on cable TV when I must’ve been three or four, it was very nostalgic and that’s actually one of my favorite episodes because of that memory, then an episode with Green Goblin came on after that, still not sure which one though, even after I’ve watched all the episodes many multiple times
We’re lucky to have two very cool Spider-Man cartoons in Spectacular and TAS. Both did a great job in telling stories about a young and older Peter Parker. I also think both of them have the best Venom adaptations that improve the Eddie Brock character’s personal connection to Peter. Great video!
To be fair, Xavier did say it wouldn't take 7 months for the next part of the retrospective to come out in the last part. It took him over a year, not 7 months, so he technically didn't lie. Just cut him a break, the dude's married now.
Spider-Man TAS is easily one of my most watched shows ever. it's easily one of my favourite animated shows, like these are my versions of the characters I hear when I read a comic's. They need to bring back the Animated Series like they did with X-Men
I grew up with this show. I used to watch reruns on TV, episodes on On Demand, and even got some DVDs of this series. I always loved Spectacular, but when I was a kid, this was my favorite Spider-Man cartoon.
I think the reason that the raimi movies are so similar to this show is because of one man. Avi Arad. Avi was a major producer on both this show and the raimi films. I think avi even has a substantial credit on the first part of the alien costume saga in this show.
I also think that this Spider-Man pioneered animated multiversal crossover specials/stories in some way. From Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Forever, to Justice League Crisis on Two Earths, to all the other multiversal Spider-Man stories etc. A lot of them seem to follow a similair formula to the finale of Spider-Man TAS Imo
'Course, this might mean a lead-up to some big deal crossover nexus storyline where some disillusioned Multiversal defense force may be forced to "pacify" TAS' Spider-Man as a means to "avenge the wrongs of Multiversal tampering" or whatever.
This show was a culmination of the core material in the care of a devoted writer. It's as important to its character as Batman TAS was. Christopher Barnes = Kevin Conroy. I think this PS1 game should be mentioned too.
This show was the series that got me into Spider-Msan in the first place and introduce me to many of his characters and villains. Despite Specatuclar being my overall favorite Spidey series, TAS really holds well in today's standards despite the censorship on violence and I personally think it has the best version of Venom in any adaptation. The coolest thing is that it had superhero crossovers before the MCU redfined it
The censorship on this show to me is a prime example of "art through adversity," the fact that Spider-Man couldn't throw a punch as mandated means that he doesn't use violence as a first resort. He feels much more heroic and kind as a result. It also made for more interesting choreography because the crew had to actually get creative with the fight scenes. I feel more superhero movies and shows should have a "no punching policy" just to see what they could come up with.
Nah I want the hero to punch. That’s why I feel Superman tas, the maxx, spawn and Batman tas did it better then this show cause they did get away with stuff
@@yowatchieAt least it’s creative to the character. Spiders don’t really throw punches so building a fighting style around grappling and wrestling makes more sense with the powers vs the comics where there’s a whole arc of him making “spider fu” which is a normal punching martial art
With X-Men TAS getting a revival, I'm actually fairly confident we can get that 6th season--if the fans can really let Disney know of the demand (although if you put a gun to my head, I'd want Spectacular back instead).
Same here man, and isn't it incredible how many of it's idea's served as inspiration for Spider-Man stories going forward? The Ultimate Spider-Man comics, the Sam Raimi Trilogy, The Spectacular Spider-Man show.
FINALLY somebody giving this show the respect it deserves. You're not the first person to speak well of this show but no one has truly discussed how this show inspired everything that came after it. No Spider-Man adaptation in any media has had a greater influence on future cartoons, video games, and movies than TAS.
Everyone wants to pretend this show doesn't exist. Whereas no matter how much they stan Spectacular, it inspired basically nothing and could only have been made on the shoulders of this show doing it first. TAS is the goat.
@@brentandrew2419 lol, no need for spectacular spiderman slander. That show took elements from other Spiderman media and made it it's own thing. In my opinion, it's the best Spiderman cartoon to date as far as writing , characterization, and voice acting is concerned. Spiderman TAS is still a classic show with influence, but another cartoon took the reigns for it. That cannot be said for other characters like say batman and the 90s animated series..
I’d be down to see another Spider Man show that takes from this show’s Black Cat, Carnage, and Electro. I mean her starting out as an Anti-Villain forced to serve Kingpin after an experiment meant to make Super-Soldiers and becoming a hero the moment she’s no longer forced to serve him, a Carnage that serves Dormammu?, and an Electro who’s the son of Red Skull, that would be so fun to see again.
This video is amazing! Spider-Man TAS is my favourite Spider-Man ever, It's what I grew up with and what I've always loved. I'm so happy that you've pinpointed exactly wat makes this series amazing, and how the Raimi films and other Spider-Man stories take from it without attributing it. No one knows about its impact on every other form of the character, and I'm glad that you shed light on it. Also Christopher Daniel Barnes is my favourite Spider=Man voice! Thanks for the great video, and I hope more people start the realize the impact this series had on Spider-Man, and hope we see more videos like this!
@@YakBat I can't remember where but I remember I used to hear people saying how this show specifically was bad and was just a ploy for action figure sales. Other than that I remember some friends saying this was one of the worst spidey cartoons.
This is my favorite Spider-man show and was my introduction to the character. Every time I think of Spider-man, this is the one that comes to my mind first. Christopher Daniel Barnes as Peter Parker was great.
I remember watching the venom saga on dvd over and over as a kid and being terrified by carnage lol I really liked spideys design in this too,overall I loved it!
That's such a cool story When the episodes were premiering everyone at school was waiting for the alien suit because we knew where it would lead and it was a hell of a wait When the saga dvd came out I bought it day one at best buy Great arch
Great Review. One thing I liked about the voice cast was Rob Paulson as Hydroman. It cool seeing him play against type and play a villain. Same thing with Jim Cummings as Shocker. Also, I liked Hydroman's connection with MJ. I know we all joke about how many villains have a personal connection with Peter Parker, but I always liked when the villain had a personal connection with one of the supporting characters like Scorpion with JJJ or Tombstone with Robbie.
17:46 Moments like these make me appreciate voice actors more and more, because I mainly know Asner and Hale from Knights of The Old Republic, so seeing them here and then doing a quick dive into their filmographies causes this massive revelation that they've been in a lot of stuff that I've seen or played. They've been in shows I watched before I could even understand English and read credits.
“Later seasons of Batman?” What? Batman literally got shot in the shoulder during the first episode of TNBA, onscreen. They were allowed to have some blood and say kill and all that. The people working on the show said that Fox would send pages of notes while KidsWB would only send a paragraph.
The best adaption of Spiderman. Peter is the responsible person Uncle ben knew he could be. Excellent voices for all the main characters, great music, wonderful designs for characters, it is timeless.
This series is the one thing that got me into liking Marvel/DC/Dark Horse, comics, the superhero genre, and that also inspired me to draw all kinds of cartoons and stuff. Watched it in the 90’s, rewatched it in 2015 and it gave me the same feeling. And am rewatching again almost at 30 years old.
This is a perfectly timed video, actually. A buddy of mine started rewatching this show himself for the first time in years recently, and is being blown away by how much better it was than he ever gave it credit for and how it surpasses a lot of other adaptations. In particular, he's praised Peter's intelligence in the show, in comparison to modern adaptations making him an idiot for the sake of comedy or relatability.
I was born in 2008, but somehow, whether my family had an old DVD or something I was exposed to this amazing show, and I also watched and loved the daredevil Spidey crossover movie which if I remember existed in the same canon. That was my first exposure to daredevil and this show was one of my first exposures to Spider-Man. At the age of 6 I could tell this old ass show was leagues better than the 2012 Ultimate Spider-Man show which I also really liked. Edit: I'm actually not sure whether the Daredevil crossover was a special film or just a normal episode.
Both maybe? Daredevil crossover’d into this show for a few episodes, but there was also an Animated Movie called “Spider-Man vs Daredevil” so, you probably saw both of those.
6:14 to 6:26 This kind of makes me see this as sort of a Proto Ultimate Spider-Man. Here is decades worth of material written by multiple teams of people. Not only are you, more or less, going to be one team adapting all of this but you're going to have have years/decades worth of hindsight allowing you to make changes where needed, be that minor alterations or whole new additions.
This series was my introduction to Spider-Man and to superheroes at all. I fell in love after first episode I saw. It was Venom Returns. My introduction to Venom and Iron Man. This show started all I am today. Made me love Spider-Man who know is my favourite hero and inspiration, even as a fictional character.
This is the show that got me into Spider-Man along with Neversoft's 2000 game, the Sam Raimi trilogy, Spectacular, MCU's and Insomniac's games. I remember watching some episodes of the '94 show on Fox Kids (though I'm born a year later), watching episodes on VHS, and I've also watched reruns of the show on Toon Disney/Jetix. As an adult, I loved it more and more. Though I've always pictured Josh Keaton as my headcanon voice for Earth-616 Spidey, I sometimes picture Christopher Daniel Barnes as my headcanon voice. John Semper Jr. and his crew crafted a great adaptation of the wall-crawler. Also, Xavier, keep up the good work with your fanmade continuation of the show along with Jacob. Plus I'd consider your fan comic canon to the show itself. 'Til next time, true believers; Excelsior!
Great video. The only part of the censorship of Spidey TAS that I find to be jarring is the inability to use the word "kill" or "die". It just always find it so hysterical when Kingpin is shouting that he'll destroy someone crushing his phone, when we all know what he means. Not that he even HAS to kill all the people he's threatening, but to just not ever be able to say the word for some reason cracks me up.
Use to love watching reruns of this show along with the 90s X-men on jetix(Which was why it was pretty cool that I got to meet Christopher Daniel Barnes at Fanexpo a few years ago)anyone else?
I grew up watching this show and I love seeing the recognition it deserves. The icing on the cake is the video is from you, the number 1 Spider-Man RU-vid channel
I remember a very specific quirk of this show's editing where dialogue would be put together in such a way that there would be no dead air where they otherwise would or should have been, and you can really hear it sometimes. It happens a good amount during the Venom Saga.
For all it's flaws this is still the best adaptation of the web head and his rogues gallery bar none, John Semper is an unsung hero that has given Marvel more recognition then they would have ever gotten without him.
I still hoped he should have gotten more leeway and budget. Imagine if X-Men: TAS and Spider-Man: TAS got the chance to have sequel series leading up to a big arc show (perhaps a Secret Invasion or a Civil War) that could have been a worthy opponent against the DCAU's Justice League+Unlimited at the time.
This is your best video yet Xavier! It’s as much a love letter to the show as your comic is. And it’s cool to know we have a similar pov on it in terms of spidey’s character and how the story was told.
This show was my introduction to Spider-Man and I love that so many stories have been taken from this show The Peter and otto Octavius teacher student relationship seen in doctor octopus armed and dangerous was used in Spider-Man 2 and Spider-Man ps4 The green goblin split personality thing seen in enter the green goblin,goblin wars and turning point was seen in the first Sam raimi movie The alien costume saga reworked venoms origin so much that they used it in spectacular Spider-Man, the comics and the venom movie And The 2 part finale laid the groundwork for everything spiderverse related Shattered dimensions The spiderverse comics Ultimate Spider-Man web warriors & return of the sinister six Into the spiderverse And Spider-Man no way home I love everything about this cartoon even the toy line up I bought all the toys including my favourite the web copter
Thank you so much for doing this retrospective, this show I came back to time and time again over my life and each time it has been timeless, when I read your comic after the ending, I was amazed by how close to the source material you were able to match the characters with both their visual aesthetic and bridging the gap from where the characters were at the end of the show. I knew a video on this show would come one day and it was worth the wait.
Wasn’t “Mary Jane as a love interest” only used because they weren’t allowed to use Gwen since her story always ends with her dead? I swear I read that somewhere before
I remember they initially used black cat as the love interest then later switched to Mary Jane because I guess that's how it is in the comics. I prefer Black over MJ in this cartoon she had better chemistry with Spiderman.
This was a wonderfully done vid. The “clickbait” thumbnail about being *wrong* is a bit off-putting, but the actual title is inviting enough. In conclusion, this post is a wealth of contrasts. Thank you.
Alot of this is down to my nostaglia but I still say this is the BEST incarnation of the character and his complex life to date with Spectacular being about equal. Christopher Daniel Barnes' voice is still what I use when reading Spidey's word balloons and Roscoe Lee Browne when it's Kingpin alongside Jonah. I credit this show with making me a fan of the wall-crawler and I never knew just how much the Rami films took inspiration from this show. I know the Spidey staring at the window upside-down after getting the black suit was a nod but not just how many. Also can attest this show was a toy factory and I loved every second of it. I remember having that old Daily Bugle playset as well when I was a kid. I'm SO glad I own this series on DVD.
Man I have so much nostalgia from this show, I was born in 98 and remember watching this with my brother when we were little. Same with the Raimi trilogy.
Great video! This show is definitely one of my favorite takes on Spider-Man. I love how it has lots of good dramatic moments while also being unapologetically goofy at times. I will have to listen to the rest of Amazing Spider-Talk's interview with John Semper Jr.
This show story telling was on a whole different level, the censorship while distracting doesnt ruined the show for me, this version of spiderman has the best versions of his cast, villain, supporting characters and even best art style. Otto octavious being peter teacher, this version of black cat, the changes to the simbyote story and the new madame web were HUGE improvements over the source material. There have been many peter parkers but for me this one is the best version, even better than the one in the comics, he can make jokes but he is not a clown, we laugh with him NOT at him, he has a rough life but is not brooding, he will always do the right thing while having those momments of weakness and mistakes that makes him human. The peter voice actor absolutely kill it doing this role, hell the entire cast did a great job, just wish Doctor doom was voice by simon templeman like in the 90s F4 cartoon. The only flaws is the soundtrack is a little weak and repetitive, the awful editing and how the budget went down forcing the producers to reuse or slowdown alot of animation. The Spiderman Xmen double episode is still one of the best crossovers ever made, up there with marvel vs capcom and the double episode "worlds finest".
In Across the Spiderverse, Jonathan Ohnn AKA The Spot was a scientist working for Wilson Fisk AKA The Kingpin before his transformation. That's something that was also taken from this cartoon.
The 90s Animated is the most influential piece of Spidey media we've had besides movies and video games. It's my first introduction to Spider-Man beyond comics.
Good writing and characters defeats those nasty supervillains Censorship and Avi Arad any day. Definitely the most iconic Spidey show ever; as you say it pretty much wrote the Raimi trilogy for him. I also thought it was a nice touch that Madame Web is voiced by Joan Lee. She and Stan even pay each other mutual compliments in the epilogue. It's hard to imagine a more triumphant finale than Season 5. Peter finally understands the reasons for all his hardship and accepts them. Iron Spider-Man is a Peter Parker with infinite luck, while Spider-Carnage has zero luck. They are both colossal jerks, though in different ways obviously. He understands that his life is actually somewhere in the middle of that scale.
This series is why Spiderman is my favorite marvel hero, it's so nostalgic, I Love watching it again once in awhile, the dub version in my country is so good, the acting is great. This is truly my favorite Spidey Cartoon
I remember seeing the arc of secret wars in spiderman and I was hyped as a kid as one of my first times seeing multiple characters and at that time, I was not able to get comics so I had no idea who a lot of them were. which made it even cooler for me as a kid.
I was already a fan of Spidey thanks to reruns of both the 60s and 80s cartoons, as well as the 70s live action show, but TAS was the first version of the character I got to see develop in real time. That first episode with The Lizard blew me away, and made him my favourite Spidey villain to this day. I still feel that first season is basically perfect, beautiful, and quite possibly the best version of the Spiderman mythos. I was still a kid, only around 11 or so, when season 2 started here in the UK, and I started noticing little quirks that bugged me then, things like the colours not being right, or reusing animation, and things generally not feeling quite right. I can now look back and recognise these elements as ways to minimise the budget where possible without making the show look, bad but at the time I didn't know anything about that and it always left a lingering feeling that the series got worse over time. But still, this was a fantastic show, and this was the first time I noticed animation quality as a thing, and it made me the nitpicking pedantic arse I am today. Also this series gave us Jennifer Hale as Black Cat. I cannot think of a better choice.
I remember first watching episodes of this show on RU-vid back in 2010 about and was so hooked on the story and action pieces. It was really clever in adapting all these comic storylines accurately while facing censorship. I’m starting to get into Spectacular Spider-Man now as I haven’t seen all the episodes, but this show will always have a special place in my heart.
Do be warned that TSSM is ruined by an awful unresolved cliffhanger. At least S-M: TAS dodged the bullet by making its series finale deliciously ambiguous.
I remember when I was younger, I watched re-runs of this show when they were on. I enjoyed every bit of it (except for the Man-Spider arc, which actually scared me into skipping it), and even after they stopped re-running it, I still kept the show in mind. I was so thrilled to be able to rewatch the show when I got Disney+, and I still think it holds up despite all of the flaws and censorship. I'm glad this show was able to have such an impact on many who watched it, and I hope people will continue to remember this as one of the best Spider-Man cartoons.
Even though I was born in 2002, this was the Spiderman cartoon I grew up with and it's still my favorite Spiderman cartoon of all time. This show alongside the Sam Raimi movies definitely made me love this character and regard him as my all time favorite super hero of all time (a spot nobody has ever overtaken for me as Spiderman was always 1#). For me he had the more impressive rogues gallery (not just a few notable rouges, but a bunch of them which is what many Marvel heroes don't have). On the topic of the Netflix Marvel jab, I will say I watched the first 2 seasons of Daredevil, the first season Punisher and Jessica Jones and just started on season 1 of Luke Cage. I will say not all of these shows have the whole give up the costume, Punisher doesn't fall in that category of soul searching given he's more of a person trying to seek a purpose after killing everyone that killed his family only to be brought back into a never ending fight.
Marvel is bringing back the original Xmen, they should bring back Spiderman. Either continue you where they left off, or start over and bring the cast back. They just have to get the tone and the art style right. This show just did so much right.
This was my first introduction to Spider-Man, and if I had watched some other version first there's a chance he wouldn't be my favourite fictional character. This show is very special, and for me this is still the definitive version of the Wall Crawler after all these years.
I grew up with that cartoon, and since no one was translating the comics for my country, they weren't being sold here. I never knew how much of it came from the comics and how much is original, so I thank you for pointing-out those original ideas.
This Show, The Raimi trilogy, and the Spider-Man PS1 game was my entire childhood. No wonder I'm a huge Spider-Man fan, thank you for covering this and informing me on things I didn't even know. You're a great RU-vidr, I'm subscribing.
Even if we never get a season 6(though I really hope that changes), I still love Spider-Man: The Animated Series. It's one of my favorite superhero shows and ended on a high note, Peter saved the multiverse and completed his character arc.
I grew up with Spider-Man The Animated Series, but the majority of my experience didn't come from watching it on TV. It actually came from some VHS tapes, and a DVD I had alongside them. Over twenty years later, I still have that DVD - The Return Of The Greeen Goblin.
This will always be one of my top iterations of spiderman, I prefer him as a young man who has had experience being a hero as well as being a respected, solo, CAPABLE superhero who is also down to do team ups like with daredevil, x-men, the fantastic four and my personal favourite, iron man. Tom holland is great and all but I never really was on board with spiderman being a smaller hero in the grand scheme of things where his character traits are being an awkward fanboy when interacting with other heroes, this theme being even more apparent in the 2014 ultimate spiderman show. That is why this show, spiderman ps4 are my most favourite representation of the character. (besides the comics)
I love Spiderman TAS! I grew up watching random episodes of it on Fox but never caught the whole series until last year, when I decided to sit down and go through all 5 seasons. Spiderman TAS isn't perfect but I adore the passion that went into the show. Every character was treated with respect, even the D listers like Big Wheel or the Spot. In spite of Avi Arad and the producers' efforts to make the show episodic toy commercials John Semper was able to weave a lot of subtle character arcs into the show, like Flash going from being a bully who couldn't back up his bravado to being a standup guy who'd protect his friends from monsters and supervillains. I also really enjoyed the portrayal of Peter. Nowadays every adaptation seems intent on keeping him in high school as long as possible in spite of that being a mere fraction of 616 Spidey's career. Seeing an older Peter deal with mature problems was a treat, and I appreciated how the restrictions on fight scenes lead to him being more of a brains over brawn fighter. Lastly, I greatly enjoyed the voice acting throughout the show. Mark Hamill, Lee Roscoe Browne, and Christopher Daniel Barnes all gave standout performances, and apart from Scorpion's girlfriend, I can't think of a single character who ever phoned it in. Even 20 years later this show still holds up and gives us a great portrayal of Spiderman!
I didn't realise you made an issue 2 of your Spider-Man TAS comic! I just finished reading it, damn that was great! You tied up some plot threads in really nice ways, the explanation of where the carnage symbiote came from at the end of Season 5 was brilliant! Art was fantastic, and I'm super hyped for issue 3, the teaser at the end for issue 3 was great! You guys have done a terrific job staying faithful to the source material. I read both issues just now, in the original cast's voices in my head, with the Spider-Man TAS ost on in the background, and it was perfect 👌 I realise the last issue was published on July 2020, that's a year and a half ago. Please tell me you guys are going to finish this fan comic series? It's incredibly cathartic to finally see an ending for this Spider-Man, and I really don't want your comic series to end on a unfinished cliffhanger forever, just like the real Spider-Man TAS...
This show was my first real introduction to Spider-Man as a kid in the 90s. To this day, the voice actors voices are the voices I associate with Spider-Man, Doc Ock, Hobgoblin, JJJ, Kingpin, etc when reading the comics.
Agreed, it's arguably the best depiction of the relationship in all Spider-Man media. Black Cat could've done better than Michael "I need plas-ma" Morbius for sure.
