The Spectacular Spider-Man

The Spectacular Spider-Man is an American superhero animated television series based on the superhero character published by Marvel Comics and developed for television by Greg Weisman and Victor Cook. In terms of overall tone and style, the series is based principally on the Stan Lee/Steve Ditko/John Romita Sr. era of The Amazing Spider-Man comics, with a similar balance of action, drama and comedy as well as a high school setting. However, it also tends to blend material from all eras of the comic's run and other sources such as the Ultimate Spider-Man comics by Brian Michael Bendis and Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy.

The Spectacular Spider-Man premiered on March 8, 2008, during the Kids' WB programming block of The CW. The series aired its second season on Marvel's sister network Disney XD in the United States and ended its run on November 18, 2009. The entire series was broadcast in Canada on Teletoon. Although a third season was initially planned, the series was cancelled before production could begin due to legal problems between Disney (who purchased Marvel during the show's run) and Sony Pictures Television (who created the series).

The series received widespread acclaim from both critics and fans, with praise being aimed at the exploration of surprisingly mature themes, the faithful modernization of the titular protagonist and supporting characters along with the vocal performances from the cast, the unique character designs and art style, and the use of clever writing while paying homage to classic stories from the comics. IGN named The Spectacular Spider-Man #30th in the Top 100 Best Animated TV Shows in January 2009. The series was also awarded Best Animated Series in both 2008 and 2009 with the series' version of the main character being named TV's Best Hero in 2008. Subsequently, it was placed second in the Top 25 Comic Book TV Shows in 2011 (behind Batman: The Animated Series). TV Guide listed the series as one of the sixty greatest animated series of all time.

## Synopsis

The two seasons of the series are each set during a semester of Peter's high school years, with season one running from September to November and season two from December to March.

Producer Greg Weisman has stated that the show's theme is "The Education of Peter Parker." In keeping with this theme, each of the series arcs is named after courses of study: season one's arcs are Biology 101, Economics 101, Chemistry 101 and Psychology 101, and season two's arcs are Engineering 101, Human Development 101, Criminology 101 and Drama 101.

### Season 1

The first season features Peter Parker beginning his junior year at Midtown Manhattan Magnet High School, having only been bitten by the genetically-modified spider and acquired his powers and alias as Spider-Man in recent months. While harassed at school, particularly by football star Flash Thompson, he is close friends with classmates Gwen Stacy and Harry Osborn. In order to help support his Aunt May after the death of his Uncle Ben, Peter gets a job as a freelance photographer at the Daily Bugle, owned by the loudmouth, irascible, egotistical, and gruff publisher J. Jonah Jameson, by obtaining pictures of his alter-ego in action so he could carry out a smear campaign against Spider-Man that has, at least temporarily, turned much of the city against the hero.
Peter and Gwen are also given junior lab assistant positions under Dr. Curt Connors at Empire State University, where they join their friend and mentor Eddie Brock. As Spider-Man uses his powers to fight against petty crime, he gains the attention of the Big Man who orchestrates crime in New York City, with attention initially drawn to his fights with the Enforcers, Vulture, Electro and the Lizard.
With the help of Norman Osborn, his chief scientist Dr. Otto Octavius and criminal Hammerhead, the Big Man (alias of crime lord Tombstone) oversees the development of a project to create "supervillains" designed to distract Spider-Man from other crimes and stop damaging his profits. These new enemies include Sandman and Rhino, both petty criminals who regularly fell victim to Spider-Man. However, the Big Man's plans become greatly complicated when the mysterious Green Goblin enters the picture. Throughout the first season, the other opponents are introduced are Black Cat who has a crush on him, Shocker and Chameleon. Quentin Beck and Phineas Mason appear as Chameleon's associates. After the Green Goblin is vanquished, Spider-Man's symbiote black suit makes an appearance, eventually leading to Eddie Brock's transformation into Venom.

### Season 2

Peter Parker's life becomes significantly more complicated as he finds himself torn between both Gwen Stacy and Liz Allan, both of whom have confessed their feelings for him; he eventually chooses Liz. Norman Osborn takes on the role of Peter's mentor, pulling strings to re-establish his job as Dr. Connors' lab assistant, as well as overseeing the installment of the conniving Dr. Miles Warren into the ESU Labs.
Meanwhile, as Spider-Man, Peter encounters new villains Mysterio and Kraven the Hunter, leading him to investigate the activities of a mysterious new crime lord known as the "Master Planner". When the Master Planner's first scheme fails, Spider-Man is faced with a three-way gang war between the Planner's super-villain forces, the Big Man's established order, and the old guard of Silvio "Silvermane" Manfredi's family. Peter's search for Eddie Brock also leads to the return of Venom, who attempted to expose Spider-Man's secret identity and remove his powers. Finally, when the three major crime lords are arrested, Spider-Man once again goes up against the Green Goblin, who is once again bent on eliminating the wall-crawler once and for all. The series ends with a cliffhanger due to the show being cancelled before a third season could be produced.

Other new characters introduced in the second season include Calypso, Sha Shan Nguyen, Silver Sable, Roderick Kingsley and Molten Man. Quentin Beck and Phineas Mason return as Mysterio and the Tinkerer respectively.

## Characters

The timeline of the original Spider-Man story-arcs has been condensed and reconfigured in order to include classic and important characters who originally appeared much later. Characters such as Mary Jane Watson, Gwen Stacy and Harry Osborn are depicted not completely as direct equivalents to their older counterparts from the comics, but rather as characters who evolve into their established roles from the comics. The series also sports a very wide supporting cast. Every named character who appears in the series, even very minor characters, is based on a character who appeared in the original comics, *Ultimate Spider-Man* series (such as Kenny Kong), or film series (such as Bernard Houseman). The series also incorporates a number of villains from different eras of the Spider-Man universe, almost all of whom are introduced as regular characters in first episodes before they transform into established villain identities (an example is Eddie Brock, who was introduced at the very beginning of the series, but only became Venom in the season 1 finale).

## Cast

### Main cast

* Josh Keaton - Peter Parker / Spider-Man
* Benjamin Diskin - Eddie Brock / Venom
* James Arnold Taylor - Harry Osborn, Fredrick Foswell / Patch
* Lacey Chabert - Gwen Stacy
* Alanna Ubach - Liz Allan
* Kevin Michael Richardson - L. Thompson Lincoln / Tombstone / Big Man (subsequent episodes), Principal Davis
* Daran Norris - J. Jonah Jameson, John Jameson
* Vanessa Marshall - Mary Jane Watson
* Steven Blum - Green Goblin, Chameleon, Blackie Gaxton, Dillbert Trilby, Seymour O'Reilly
* Joshua LeBar - Flash Thompson
* Andrew Kishino - Kenny Kong, Ned Lee
* Clancy Brown - Alex O'Hirn / Rhino, George Stacy, Ox (first episode)
* Alan Rachins - Norman Osborn

### Additional voices

* Thom Adcox - Phineas Mason / Tinkerer
* Ed Asner - Ben Parker
* Deborah Strang - Aunt May
* Dee Bradley Baker - Dr. Curt Connors / Lizard
* Irene Bedard - Jean DeWolff
* Jeff Bennett - Montana Brice / Shocker, St. John Devereaux, Bernard Houseman
* Xander Berkeley - Quentin Beck / Mysterio
* Angela Bryant - Calypso
* Max Burkholder - Billy Connors
* Robert Costanzo - Sullivan Edwards
* Nikki Cox - Silver Sable
* Jim Cummings - Burglar (1st Time), Crusher Hogan
* Keith David - L. Lincoln Thompson / Tombstone / Big Man (first episode)
* Grey DeLisle - Betty Brant, Sally Avril
* John DiMaggio - Flint Marko / Sandman, Hammerhead
* Charles Duckworth - Hobie Brown
* Robert Englund - Adrian Toomes / Vulture
* Bill Fagerbakke - Morris Bench
* Miguel Ferrer - Silvio Manfredi / Silvermane
* Crispin Freeman - Max Dillon / Electro
* Elisa Gabrielli - Ashley Kafka
* Brian George - Aaron Warren, Miles Warren
* Dorian Harewood - Dr. Bromwell
* Tricia Helfer - Felicia Hardy / Black Cat
* Kelly Hu - Sha Shan Nguyen
* Clyde Kusatsu - Ted Twaki
* Phil LaMarr - Fancy Dan / Ricochet, Robbie Robertson, Randy Robertson
* Stan Lee - Stan
* Eric Lopez - Mark Allan / Molten Man
* Jane Lynch - Joan Jameson
* Peter MacNicol - Dr. Otto Octavius / Doctor Octopus
* James Remar - Walter Hardy/Burglar (2nd Time)
* Kath Soucie - Dr. Martha Connors, Anna Watson
* Cree Summer - Glory Grant
* Danny Trejo - Ox (subsequent episodes)
* Courtney B. Vance - Roderick Kingsley
* Eric Vesbit - Sergei Kravinoff / Kraven the Hunter
* B.J. Ward - Mayor Waters
* Greg Weisman - Donald Menken
* Thomas F. Wilson - Stan Carter

## Crew

* Greg Weisman - Supervising Producer/Story Editor/Writer
* Victor Cook - Supervising Producer (Season 2)/Supervising Director
* Diane A. Crea - Producer
* Eric Vesbit - Associate Producer
* Wade Wisninski - Associate Producer
* Dave Bullock - Director (four episodes)
* Kevin Altieri - Director (four episodes)
* John Diaz - Production Manager
* Kevin Hopps - Writer
* Matt Wayne - Writer
* Andrew Robinson - Writer
* Randy Jandt - Script Coordinator/Writer's Apprentice/Writer
* Jennifer Coyle - Director (six episodes)
* Sean "Cheeks" Galloway - Lead Character Designer/ Character Supervisor
* Mike Inman - Background Painter/Visual Development
* Jamie Thomason - Voice Casting Director and Dialogue Director
* Meagan Healy - Production Art Supervisor
* Brian G. Smith - Production Art Supervisor
* Ben Maloney - Production Assistant
* Sherrian Felix - Production Coordinator
* Jennifer L. Anderson - Post Production Assistant
* Sean Herbert - Animation Clerk

## Production

A new Spider-Man animated series was announced in August 2006 along with Sony Pictures TV's new direct-to-DVD division, Culver Entertainment, that would produce it with 13 half hour episodes. The series was planned for a 2007 release on DVD while international distributing to TV channels including Sony's. The DVD format was to be four discs with three episodes each. Greg Weisman and Victor Cook developed the show.

*The Spectacular Spider-Man* was announced by Kids' WB Senior Vice President and General Manager Betsy McGowen on June 18, 2007 as being picked up and slated for an early 2008 premiere by the Kids' WB! on The CW. Weisman and Cook were assigned to the series at the time as supervising producer and producer/supervising director, respectively. The art style of the series is more simplified than in previous incarnations but retain their iconic elements. This choice was made to ensure Spider-Man would move as he should and replicate the fluidity from Sam Raimi's movie incarnation.

The series was produced by its television animation studio, Adelaide Productions (due to Sony's holding of the *Spider-Man* film franchise rights) with Hanho Heung-Up Co., Ltd., Dong Woo Animation and MOI Animation, Inc. contributed some of the animation for this series. The title sequence for the show was directed by Victor Cook with the theme song written and performed by The Tender Box.

Weisman has explained that in adapting the comics for the show, the producers "tried to follow what [they] came to call "The Five Cs": Contemporary, Cohesive, Coherent, Classic and iConic." "The advantage of hindsight" allowed the show to be "more coherent and cohesive than the original" comic continuity, which contains "considerable duplication, a false start here and there, [and] conflicting interpretations." Weisman studied all of the characters to find their "core essence," and the show often combined characters and storylines when necessary for the sake of coherence. For example, Flash Thompson was found to be "a bully, who deep down is actually an honorable guy," while Shocker was found to be an "iconic costume" with no character, so he was combined with Montana.

*The Spectacular Spider-Man* debuted on March 8, 2008 with back-to-back episodes, "Survival of the Fittest" and "Interactions", under the banner "Spectacular Saturday". The series debuted under a cloud as The CW had just indicated that the network would end its kid's block for a brokered outsourced block. While Culver had already started producing the second season.

## Cancellation, future plot details, and possible revival

Greg Weisman was hoping for the series to reach 5 seasons consisting of 65 episodes in total. Only 2 seasons and 26 episodes of *The Spectacular Spider-Man* were produced in total.

The series stopped production with a renewal dependent upon the ratings for season 2 on the U.S. Disney XD channel and the sales of the DVDs. On September 1, 2009, the television rights for Spider-Man were returned to Marvel by Sony. At the time, President of Marvel Animation Eric Rollman further stated that "no decisions have been made either way" regarding the fate of the series. November 1, 2009 Newsarama reported that the series' cancellation occurred just after The Walt Disney Company acquired Marvel Entertainment in December 2009.

On April 13, 2010, Marvel announced that a new series loosely based on the *Ultimate Spider-Man* comic book storyline would air on Disney XD in the fall of 2011, which actually aired on April 1, 2012. The same day the new series was announced, Weisman told IGN: "I've heard nothing directly from Marvel, but I think the *Ultimate Spider-Man* announcement makes it fairly clear that *Spectacular* is over." Marvel Animation and Sony also commented on this to Marvel Animation Age, confirming that the series had ceased production.

Weisman would later write that in 2009, in exchange for concessions on the movie rights, Sony had relinquished to Marvel its license to produce television works that used *Spider-Man* and associated characters, but had retained ownership of *The Spectacular Spider-Man* series and all of the production elements created specifically for it, such as character designs and storylines. Therefore, neither Sony nor Marvel could continue production of the series, as each lacked some of the essential rights to do so. Additionally, at approximately the same time that Sony returned the *Spider-Man* television rights to Marvel, Marvel was acquired by The Walt Disney Company.

Due to the show's cancellation, many storylines were abandoned. In season three, Curt would have moved in Florida and begun working on a cure for Electro and a planned DVD Spring Break movie would have also been set in Florida between season 2 and 3, as well as movies between season 3 and 4, and between season 4 and 5. Scorpion, Hydro-Man, and Hobgoblin were confirmed to be major villains for season three, in addition to Carnage and Mister Negative.
After the initial 65 episode series plan and movies, Weisman had wished to produce DVD sequels covering Peter's college years and his eventual marriage to Mary Jane.

Despite the legal troubles between Sony and Marvel, fans have continued to voice their support for the series more than a decade after its cancellation, in the hopes for more episodes to be produced someday. An online petition on Change.org requesting for a possible third season has managed to gather more than 12,000 signatures.

## Reception

*The Spectacular Spider-Man* was released to widespread acclaim, with praise being aimed at the exploration of surprisingly mature themes, the faithful modernization of the titular protagonist and supporting characters along with the vocal performances from the cast, the unique character designs and art style, and the use of clever writing while paying homage to classic stories from the comics. Before the series premiere, Matt Sernaker of ComicsOnline interviewed some of the *Spectacular Spider-Man* development team at WonderCon 2008 after a preview screening and stated: "This new Spider-Man series truly is SPECTACULAR... surpasses all of the previous incarnations with ease. If you are a Spidey fan you will not want to miss this."

Early in the series' run, Alan Kistler of ComicMix called the series "one of the best superhero adaptations I've ever seen (and trust me, I've watched more than anyone will probably consider reasonable). It's fun, it's smart, it's mature, it's witty and every episode leaves me wanting more."

In an article entitled "8 Reasons to Watch *Spectacular Spider-Man*", Reggie White, Jr. from Spiderfan wrote: "If you aren't watching *The Spectacular Spider-Man* on CW Kids' WB, you are missing out on what is quickly becoming one of the greatest Spidey cartoons of all-time."

Stu from Marvel Animation Age writes in his review of the series: "At time of writing, *The Spectacular Spider-Man* stands as Marvel's finest animated effort and surpasses most of DC's finest efforts – the only shows in *Spectacular'*s league really, is *Batman: The Animated Series* itself. With more episodes, it may just surpass it."

IGN stated that Greg Weisman "has only cemented his reputation for quality television animation with his work on Spider-Man." IGN also named *The Spectacular Spider-Man* #30th in the Top 100 Best Animated TV Shows in January 2009. The series was also awarded Best Animated Series in both 2008 and 2009 with the series' version of the main character being named TV's Best Hero in 2008. Subsequently, it was placed second in the Top 25 Comic Book TV Shows in 2011 (behind *Batman: The Animated Series*).

Outside of comic resources, *Variety* highlighted that "although seemingly conceived largely to push a new line of Hasbro toys... the soon-to-fadeout Kids' WB (on the CW!) delivers a credible new version of 'Spider-Man,' emphasizing his relatable headaches as a 16-year-old superhero."

TV Guide listed the series as one of the sixty greatest animated series of all time.

## Home media

The series was initially developed so that each three to four episode arc could be edited together into a feature-length home video release. The first DVD for the show, entitled "Attack of the Lizard", followed this plan with the first three episodes edited together to form a stand-alone story with additional footage. The region 1 version was released on September 9, 2008.

This release strategy changed with the region 1 release of the second and third DVDs of the series on March 17, 2009. Originally promoted with the titles "Rise of the Supervillains" and "The Goblin Strikes" respectively, these releases were revised to feature the televised versions of the episodes and were ultimately released as numbered volumes. Since then, retailer stores have stopped releasing "Attack of the Lizard", and have replaced it with volume 1. Volume 4 was released in region 1 on April 28, 2009, in the same format.

"*The Spectacular Spider-Man: The Complete First Season*" DVD was released in region 1 on July 28, 2009.

DVD volume 5 was released in region 1 on November 17, 2009. DVD volumes 6 and 7 were released on February 16, 2010. DVD volume 8 was released on April 27, 2010.

The first 4 volumes that comprise season 1 for region 2 have been released with volumes 3 and 4 having been released on August 23, 2010. The remaining 4 volumes comprising season 2 have not been released on DVD in the U.K.

Seasons 1 and 2 of the series are available to buy/stream in the U.S. and U.K. from the iTunes Store (360p), the PlayStation Store (480p), Google Play (SD), Amazon Prime Video (SD/HD), and Vudu (SD/HDX). The series is also available on Netflix, but only in several international locations outside the U.S., such as the U.K., Canada, and South America.

In promotion for *The Amazing Spider-Man 2*, it was announced that *The Spectacular Spider-Man* would get a Blu-ray release containing all current 26 episodes. It was released on April 22, 2014.

The complete series was later rereleased once more, but in standard DVD format on October 18, 2016.

## Syndication

On June 14, 2013, Saban Brands announced that they had acquired the broadcast rights to air the series on Vortexx on The CW for the Fall 2013–14 season, marking its return to The CW since the conclusion of the first season aired on June 14, 2008.

The series officially started airing on Vortexx on August 17, 2013 and it ended on September 27, 2014.

The Series Premiered On Toon Disney & Jetix On September 25, 2020.

## Toys and merchandise

Hasbro released a toy line of action figures in March 2008.

McDonald's Happy Meals celebrated their 30th Anniversary with *The Spectacular Spider-Man* toys in February 2009.

In February 2010, Burger King included *The Spectacular Spider-Man* toys in its Kids' Meals toys range.

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 The Spectacular Spider-Man's Past and Future (en) (June 27, 2008).
2. ↑ SDCC 07: The Spectacular Spider-Man July 27, 2007
3. ↑ Ask Greg June 3, 2009
4. ↑ Template:Cite news
5. ↑ Template:Cite news
6. ↑ Template:Cite news
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Ask Greg: Spectacular Spider-Man 101 credits (March 9, 2008).
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Ask Greg May 14, 2009
9. ↑ Template:Cite news
10. ↑ Template:Cite news
11. ↑ Ask Greg (Weisman): May 03, 2008
12. ↑ Press Release For Upcoming "The Spectacular Spider-Man" DVDs, Season Two Updates by James Harvey: January 30, 2009
13. ↑ Update as of January 2009. S8.org (2009-01-29).
14. ↑ Pepose, David. "ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN: The Animated Series, Disney XD 2011". Newsarama. April 13, 2010.
15. ↑ Marvel Animation Age. Marvel.toonzone.net (2010-04-13).
16. ↑ SuperHeroHype (2010-04-13). Animated Ultimate Spider-Man Coming to Disney XD. Superhero Hype.
17. ↑ Goldman, Eric. "Ultimate Spider-Man Comes to TV". IGN. April 14, 2010.
18. ↑ Marvel Animation Age. Marvel.toonzone.net (2010-04-15).
19. ↑ Ask Greg (Weisman): February 09, 2012
20. ↑ Ask Greg (Weisman): August 31, 2009.
21. ↑ Search Ask Greg : Gargoyles : Station Eight.
22. ↑ Search Ask Greg : Gargoyles : Station Eight.
23. ↑ Search Ask Greg : Gargoyles : Station Eight.
24. ↑ Search Ask Greg : Gargoyles : Station Eight.
25. ↑ Search Ask Greg : Gargoyles : Station Eight.
26. ↑ Jung, Michael. "Spider-Man Fans Want To Bring Back His Most FAITHFUL Cartoon". Screen Rant. May 31, 2020.
27. ↑ WONDERCON COVERAGE: Spectacular Spider-Man.
28. ↑ Review: 'The Spectacular Spider-Man' Animated Series. *ComicMix*.
29. ↑ White, Reggie (2008-04-15). Rave : 2008 : 8 Reasons to Watch Spectacular Spider-Man. SpiderFan.org.
30. ↑ Marvel Animation Age - Spectacular Spider-Man (2008). Marvel.toonzone.net (2009-11-18).
31. ↑ 30. The Spectacular Spider-Man. *IGN*.
32. ↑ IGN TV: Best Animated Series 2008.
33. ↑ TV Best Animated Series 2009 - Spectacular Spider-Man.
34. ↑ IGN TV: Best Hero 2008.
35. ↑ IGN's Top 25 Comic Book TV Shows (December 14, 2011).
36. ↑ Template:Cite news
37. ↑ TV Guide Magazine's 60 Greatest Cartoons of All Time. TV Guide (September 24, 2013).
38. ↑ TVshowsonDVD.com by David Lambert: Template:Webarchive June 28, 2008
39. ↑ TVshowsonDVD.com by David Lambert: Template:Webarchive June 18, 2009
40. ↑ TVshowsonDVD.com by David Lambert: Template:Webarchive September 8, 2009
41. ↑ [1] February 25, 2010
42. ↑ Play.com. Play.com.
43. ↑ Vortexx on The CW Unveils New Action Adventure Programming for 2013-'14 Slate - Business Wire (14 June 2013).
44. ↑ Comics Continuum by Rob Allstetter: December 2, 2007
45. ↑ McDonald's Happy Meal website. Happymeal.com (2010-02-22).
46. ↑ India Infoline News Service: Template:Webarchive February 09, 2009
47. ↑ McDonald's Advertisement @ Dailymotion.
48. ↑ BK Kids' Meals Toys. *Club BK*. Burger King Corporation.