On February 21, our favorite wall-crawler swings back into our living rooms for the fourth season of Ultimate Spider-Man. This time, he’ll be teaming with his “Web-Warriors” to take down the Sinister Six. Since 2012, Ultimate Spider-Man
has told the story of a high-school-age Peter Parkeras he and other
young heroes are trained by Nick Fury to become the next generation
of Avengers. Of course, this show is not the first time Spidey has been
animated. Since 1967, there have been eight incarnations of a cartoon
Spider-Man. What are they you ask? How would you rank them you ask? You
ask good questions. Lucky for you, I have the answers. Here’s a ranking
of the different Spider-Man cartoons.
8. SPIDER-MAN UNLIMITED (1999)
In this series, scientists discover a
planet on the other side of the sun, which looks inhabitable. J. Jonah
Jameson’s son John, an astronaut, is sent on an exploration mission but
his ship is damaged from an attack by Carnage and Venom at liftoff, and
no one has heard from him since. To rescue John, Spidey steals a
nano-tech costume from Reed Richards and commandeers a government
spaceship. He lands on Counter-Earth and discovers the planet had been
created by the villain High Evolutionary for the purpose of conducting
genetic experiments. In the only season that aired, Spider-Man crashes
on Counter-Earth, locates John Jameson, and joins a band of freedom
fighters to stop the tyranny of the High Evolutionary.
While I liked the new costume and the animation, that was about it. Batman Beyond premiered around this time, and with its rich backstory from Batman: The Animated Series, combined with new original characters, it was the superior show. Spider-Man Unlimited
tried to cash in on that futuristic, techno trend, but the execution
was hokey and forced. That’s why when the series ended on a cliffhanger,
I just assumed everyone was saved by Iron Man and continued on with
life.
Best Episode: “Worlds Apart, Part 1.” Only because it was the only
time we got to see the REAL Spider-Man in his real environment.7. SPIDER-MAN: THE NEW ANIMATED SERIES (2003)
MTV took advantage of the “Spider-BOOM” of the early 2000s with this
take on Spidey. Only airing for one 13-episode season, it was set in the
same universe as the 2002 Sam Raimi film.Neil Patrick Harris, Lisa
Loeb, and Ian Ziering voiced Peter, Mary Jane, and Harry respectfully. I
know this series is ranked low, but it did have its good points. Some
of the stories were pretty good and the voice acting was top notch. We
still had a year before Spider-Man 2 (arguably the best superhero movie of all time. YES, that includes Deadpool),
so getting to revisit this world in ANY fashion was a treat. However,
the CGI animation felt unfinished. It looked as if a Spider-Man robot
was swinging through New York rather than the wall-crawler himself. The
series came up with some original villains to completement Spidey’s
diverse and interesting gallery of rogues. While most of them were of
course evil, a lot of them were just victims of circumstance. We didn’t
even get to see one until the fifth episode. Finally, a truly irritating
part of this show was how often Harry mentioned his hatred for
Spider-Man (unless you wanted to play a very dangerous drinking game).
Best Episode: “Law of the Jungle.”
Spider-Man fights the Lizard. Curt Connors’ story is always tragic
because he became the Lizard as a side-effect of wanting to help OTHERS,
not himself. I liked this take on his story. They made Connors a little
less likable than other versions, but you were still sympathetic to his
plight.
6. SPIDER-MAN (1967)
If you are reading this article, then I
am 100% sure you sing or hum the theme song to this cartoon at LEAST
once a month. This was the Spider-Man’s first foray into the animated
scene. You got see him jump off the pages and fight his usual band of
baddies. You got to see him swing through the streets of New York. In
1967, this was a brand new way to take in the wall-crawler. Well, until
you realized that there was only about 5 minutes of story and about 25
minutes of the same stock footage of him swinging on his webs over…and
over…and over…and over again. The budget for the show was so low that
they could only afford to draw the webbing on his mask, gloves, and
boots!
For nostalgia’s sake, this is fun to
watch. The reason it’s not ranked lower is the impact this cartoon had
on pop-culture. Not only is the theme song featured in the Sam Raimi Spider-Man,
but it is also on the soundtrack album, 25 years after its debut. Not
to mention the multitude of memes that use this Spider-Man as their
image. However, if you are looking for great animation and story-telling
I would definitely keep scrolling.
Best Episode: “The Origin of Spider-Man.” This was an almost shot for shot retelling of Amazing Fantasy
15, dialogue and all. If you were to only watch one episode of this
cartoon and then stop, this is it. It’s actually pretty fun. There’s
also this really cool shot at the end of him walking through the shadows
to capture Uncle Ben’s killer. It’s still a favorite of mine to this
day.
5. SPIDER-MAN (1981)
Premiering in 1981 and running in syndication throughout the rest of the decade, this 26 episode season of Spider-Man
gave fans exactly what they wanted to see out of a Spidey cartoon: web
swinging, fighting bad guys, and being funny while trying to not screw
things up as Peter Parker. There was never an “origin” episode with this
series, which was cool. This was a show that trusted its audience to
already know who the wall-crawler was. I mean, how many times, do we
need to see his origin (looking at you, Sony)? It was also one of the
first cartoons of its time to have an overarching story, as Spider-Man
helped a band of Latverian freedom fighters stop the tyranny of Doctor
Doom.
For the time, this was a great series.
While the animation wasn’t Pixar by any stretch of the imagination, it
was still well done. Its number five ranking is more on how dated the
technology within the cartoon is rather than a lack of good stories.
When the Daily Bugle is still using typewriters and people actually
talked on phones with cords (I KNOW!), it’s obvious this was a product
of its time.
Best Episode: “The Capture of Captain America.” Captain America is
kidnapped by the Red Skull, and it’s up to Spider-Man to save him. A
classic Marvel Team-Up type story.4. SPIDER-MAN AND HIS AMAZING FRIENDS (1981)
The first episode of this series was the
first cartoon I ever remember watching (I know there were others, but
this is the one I am CONSCIOUS of remembering). Spider-Man, Iceman, and
Firestar are who got me into comics and geekdom in the first place. What
made this series great for a fan like me was that they had guest stars
aplenty: Captain America, the X-Men, and Iron Man just to name a few.
For me and kids my age, this cartoon opened the door into the Marvel
Universe. Originally supposed to be Spider-Man, Iceman, and the Human
Torch, they added Firestar to appeal to female fans (So in 1981, they
knew that female fans liked characters they could relate with. Why are
toy companies having such a hard time in 2016?).
The reason this is number four and not number one is the same reason the syndicated Spider-Man show is so low, and that’s how dated the show looks from a technological standpoint.Amazing Friends
premiered on NBC the same time the syndicated Spider-Man premiered.
This is ranked higher because of its more generous use of Marvel
characters (the emotional connection it has as my first cartoon doesn’t
hurt, either).
Best Episode: “The X-Men Adventure.” The
Spider-Friends team up with the X-Men to stop Cyberiad. This acts as
first cartoon appearances of Kitty Pryde, Colossus, and Nightcrawler.
Storm and Cyclops appear in their second appearance in the series. It
was one of the first “geek-out” moments I ever had.
3. SPIDER-MAN (1994)
It was over 10 years after the end of Amazing Friends
that Spider-Man got another shot at the animated world. Airing on Fox
for five seasons, this is what I consider the first “serialized”
Spider-Man cartoon. Each 13 episode season had one or two main story
lines that lasted multiple episodes. If you missed a week you were
pretty much lost. This series retold some classic Spider-Man stories
with a 90s take. One storyline had Spider-Man growing six arms. Another
had him as part of the hero team during the first Secret Wars.
The last arc of the series had him teaming up with versions of himself
from other dimensions. This was LITERALLY the first “Spider-Verse”
storyline.
This was always part of my weekend agenda
throughout all of high school. It’s not ranked higher because of the
overuse of a Spider-Man trait, the inner monologue. Long-time fans of
the comic know that Spider-Man LOVES to talk to himself while he’s
swinging, but there were times where he would spend the first five
minutes of the episode swinging through New York yapping – GET TO THE
STORY ALREADY! Oh, and for some reason, they called the Sinister Six the
“Insidious Six.” I have no idea why they thought “Insidious” was
better, but it was stupid. Other than that, a great Spidey cartoon.
Best Episode: “The Man Without Fear.” The main villain throughout the
entire run of this series was the Kingpin, and he had always managed to
elude capture. This episode teamed Spidey with the one man who hates
Wilson Fisk more than anyone, Daredevil. This 2-part episode was so
good, the only thing that could have made it better was if it was a
3-part episode.2. ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN (2012)
This is the most current incarnation of
the animated web-slinger and the first version under the Disney banner.
It combines elements of the regular Marvel Universe, the Ultimate
Universe, and the MCU to create its own world. This cartoon is great
because they make it clear that Spider-Man is an important part of an
ENTIRE universe. When Hawkeye guest stars to help take down a villain in
Times Square, it’s because Avengers Tower is right down the street.
Disney
has done a great job of making the viewer feel like he or she gets to
watch the entire Marvel Universe. Ultimate Spider-Man lets them see it
through his eyes. It was a hard choice between this and number one. This
got the runner up spot because, while the show is pretty darn funny,
some of the jokes seem to try a little hard to be Teen Titans GO! Don’t get me wrong, Teen Titans GO! is a great cartoon, but Spider-Man was funny WAY before the Titans were. He needs to be funny in his own way.
Best Episode: “Spider-Verse (Part 3).
Spider-Man is jumping between dimensions to stop the Green Goblin from
stealing the DNA from alternate versions of him to become an even more
powerful monster. This episode has him meet Miles Morales for the first
time. This episode had Peter help Miles get over feeling responsible for
the death of his world’s Peter, but also had Donald Glover voicing
Miles. If you remember the campaign for Glover to play Spider-Man in
the Andrew Garfield movies, this is an awesome way to bring things full
circle.
1. SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN (2008)
The number one Spider-Man cartoon aired
on Kids WB for two seasons. What we got was two well written seasons
that took the best parts of the character we have loved for over 50
years and modernized it. Peter Parker was always getting into trouble
with friends and at school because of his identity as Spider-Man. What I
love the most about Spider-Man was how the hero and Peter were
portrayed as two separate entities. Peter is the shy, yet intelligent
nerd. Spider-Man is the never-shuts-up hero that’s not afraid of
anything. This show had that balance. It also had great continuity. In
one episode Peter was grounded, and it was mentioned for three episodes
straight until Ant May lifted the punishment. It also has the best
adaptation of the symbiote story to date. Rather than link to an Eddie
Brock that hates Spider-Man for ruining his career, he links to an Eddie
Brock that was Peter’s best friend. I have always loved Spider-Man
cartoons, but not since Mask of the Phantasm has a cartoon storyline (Pixar DOESN’T COUNT) gotten me that emotionally invested.
Best Episode: “Nature vs. Nurture.” The culmination of the entire
season ends with a final fight between Spider-Man and Venom. This
reminded me of some broadcast shows, watching an entire season and
receiving a payoff at the end.49 years, 8 cartoons. That’s a lot of animated web swinging to get through. What are your thoughts? Are you in agreement with this list? How would YOU rank the animated Spider-Men? Let me know on Twitter or sound off in the comments below.
Ultimate Spider-Man vs. The Sinister 6 premieres February 21 on Disney.
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IMAGE: Disney/Marvel
VIDEO: Marvel/Saban/Disney/Sony/ARP Films
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