Spider-Man: The New Animated Series

Spider-Man: The New Animated Series, or simply Spider-Man, is an animated superhero television series based on the Marvel Comics character Spider-Man and produced by Mainframe Entertainment, Marvel Enterprises, Adelaide Productions and Sony Pictures Television. Initially intended to serve as a continuation of Sam Raimi's film Spider-Man (2002), as well as a loose adaptation of the Ultimate Spider-Man comic books by Brian Michael Bendis, the show was made using computer-generated imagery (CGI) rendered in cel shading. It ran for only one season of 13 episodes, premiering on July 11, 2003, and was broadcast on cable channels MTV in the United States and YTV in Canada.
Initially connected to the Spider-Man film series, the series' events were contradicted by Spider-Man 2, rendering it a separate universe.
Set shortly after the events of the 2002 film, Peter Parker, and his friends Mary Jane Watson, and Harry Osborn start attending Empire State University together. Peter and Mary Jane try to establish a relationship without much success. Peter's superhero duties, and later his involvement with Indira Daimonji, interfere with his romance with Mary Jane, while Harry continuously blames Spider-Man for the death of his father Norman Osborn. Peter faces an assortment of other villains including the Lizard, Kraven the Hunter and Electro while trying to maintain a job and his studies.
Spider-Man: The New Animated Series was ordered by MTV as early as January 2002. Initially, it was supposed to be an adaptation of the Ultimate Spider-Man comics by Brian Michael Bendis. However, after the success of Sam Raimi's 2002 Spider-Man film, the show was reworked to follow its continuity. The computer-generated imagery (CGI) was produced by Mainframe Entertainment. Michael Rosenbaum was approached for the lead role, but he didn't auditioned. Neil Patrick Harris, Lisa Loeb, and Ian Ziering were announced as the primary voice cast in May 2002. The producers found that the relaxed standards of MTV allowed them more creative freedom than usually allowed for a Saturday-morning cartoon.
Peter Parker was originally supposed to wear baggier clothes to hide his superhero musculature, but cost-effective difficulties with the CGI prevented folds from being put into his everyday attire. As a result, Peter's street clothes were redesigned to be close-fitting and contemporary, while still managing to hide his physique (and the costume he wore under his clothes) as Spider-Man. The character of Aunt May was not included in the series (except for a photograph in Peter's bedroom), because MTV executives feared that the appearance of any elderly people would deter their target youth audience from watching.
The series was canceled after only 13 episodes, reportedly due to low ratings. Director Brandon Vietti stated that had the series gone on he would have used the villains Mysterio, Vulture, and more of Kraven.
The episodes aired on MTV out of the correct scripted order. The DVD releases feature the episodes in the correct order.
In 2004, the series was nominated for an Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Animated Television Production while "Keeping Secrets" got a nomination in Outstanding Storyboarding in an Animated Television Production.
The complete series was released on DVD as Spider-Man: The New Animated Series: Special Edition on January 13, 2004. Four separate DVD volumes containing three episodes each were also released from 2004 to 2005. The entire series was licensed by Marvel and Sony to DigiKids/Sentimental Journeys, who re-edited the footage from many episodes into one feature, which is sold as a personalized DVD in which the purchaser's face is revealed under Spider-Man's mask.
The series was made available for streaming on Disney+ on October 19, 2022, but the episodes appear in their original air date order and not chronologically. On December 4, 2023, it was removed. The series is available for streaming on Amazon Prime Video through purchase.