The Spectacular
Spider-Man (titled The Spectacular
Spider-Man Animated Series) is an American
animated series
based on the Marvel Comics character,
developed for television by Victor Cook
and Greg Weisman. It premiered
on March 8, 2008 during the
Kids' WB!
programming block of
The
CW. The series currently airs on
Disney
XD in the United States.
In terms of tone and style,
The Spectacular Spider-Man is
based primarily on the original stories by
Stan
Lee and
Steve Ditko, with a similar
balance of action, drama, and comedy as well as a high school
setting. However, it also utilizes material from all eras of the
comic's run, as well as other sources such as the
film series and the "
Ultimate Spider-Man" comics.
Synopsis
The first two seasons of the series are set during a semester of
Peter's high school year with season one running from September to
November season two from December to March.
Season 1
The first season features Peter Parker beginning his junior year at
Midtown Manhattan Magnet High School, having only acquired his
powers and alias as Spider-Man in recent months. While harassed at
school, primarily by
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 is able to get
freelance work at the Daily Bugle, run by
J. Jonah
Jameson, by obtaining pictures of his alter-ego in action. He
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 the help of
Norman
Osborn and
Dr. Otto Octavius, the
Big Man oversees development of a project to create "supervillians"
designed to distract Spider-Man from other crimes and stop damaging
his profits. However, these motives become greatly challenged as
the mysterious
Green Goblin enters the
picture. Throughout the first season, other opponents are
introduced, including
Vulture,
Hammerhead,
the Enforcers,
Electro,
Lizard,
Sandman,
Rhino,
Tombstone,
Doctor Octopus,
Black Cat and
Chameleon.
Quentin
Beck and
Phineas Mason appear as
Chameleon's associates. Spider-Man's
symbiote black suit also makes an
appearance, eventually leading to
Eddie
Brock's transformation into
Venom.
Season 2
Peter's personal life becomes significantly more complicated as he
finds himself torn between Gwen Stacy and Liz Allan, both of whom
have confessed their feelings for him. 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
investigates the activities of a mysterious new crime lord known as
the "Master Planner", whose actions gradually escalate, leading to
a three-way gang war between his own 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.
Other new characters introduced in the second season include
Kraven the Hunter,
Calypso,
Sha
Shan Nguyen,
Silver Sable,
Roderick Kingsley, and
Molten Man. Chameleon's associates Quentin Beck
and Phineas Mason return as
Mysterio and
the
Tinkerer respectively.
Future
The series has currently 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. If a third season does go ahead,
producer Greg Weisman has stated that
Scorpion and
Hobgoblin will make their
appearance.
On September 1, 2009, the television rights for Spider-Man were
returned to Marvel by Sony, presumably in conjunction with Disney's
purchase of the comics company. The effect this will have on
The Spectacular Spider-Man's future is unknown at this
time. Eric Rollman, president of Marvel Animation, has further
stated that "no decisions have been made either way" regarding the
fate of the series.
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 as direct equivalents to their older
counterparts from the comics, but rather as characters who evolve
into their more established roles.
Main Characters
The main characters featured in the opening credits:
Peter Parker: Bitten by
a genetically altered spider, Peter donned a spider themed costume
and sought to fight crime after allowing a burglar to escape, only
to have that same criminal later kill his
Uncle Ben. He learned that "with great power comes
great responsibility", a phrase that now drives him to act as a
super hero. Peter is voiced by
Josh
Keaton.
Gwen Stacy: Gwen is the
daughter of police chief Captain George Stacy, and is one of Peter
Parker's best friends and intellectual equal. Although initially
fairly shy and unconcerned with her appearance, she gradually
evolves into a more confident and attractive character more closely
resembling her comic book counterpart. Gwen is voiced by
Lacey Chabert.
Harry Osborn: Harry is
Peter's friend and is the son of industrialist
Norman Osborn. He constantly lives in his
father's shadow and considers Peter a good friend, though at times
also resents him for earning Norman's respect, which Harry has
never been able to do. He appeared as the Green Goblin in Season 1.
Spider-Man suspected the Goblin was Norman until he followed the
Goblin home. Harry is voiced by
James Arnold Taylor.
J.
Jonah Jameson:
Jameson is the loudmouth, egotistical publisher and editor of the
Daily Bugle, a major tabloid newspaper.
Showing excessive pride in his son,
John Jameson, he is obsessed with
exposing fraudulent claims to heroism, and is therefore always
demanding pictures of Spider-Man so that he can continue his smear
campaign against the vigilante. Jameson is voiced by
Daran Norris.
Mary Jane Watson:
Mary Jane is the niece of Aunt May's friend, Anna Watson. She
attends the Fall Formal as Peter's date before ultimately switching
schools to be at Midtown. Mary Jane befriends Peter and Gwen, and
is initially determined to stay single, desiring to be a 'free
agent'. Mary Jane is voiced by
Vanessa
Marshall.
Flash Thompson:
Flash is a star football player at Midtown High. While he idolizes
Spider-Man, he frequently bullies and harasses Peter Parker,
believing him to be a "stuck-up egghead," despite the fact that
they had originally been friends when they were much younger. Flash
is voiced by
Joshua LeBar.
Liz Allan: Liz is a
cheerleader at Midtown High. She is initially the girlfriend of
Flash Thompson and shows great
resentment towards Peter. As the series progresses, her true
feelings become apparent as she demonstrates a much more open and
accepting side. Liz is voiced by
Alanna
Ubach.
George Stacy: George
is Gwen's protective father and a police captain. He is
open-minded, believing in Spider-Man when others like J. Jonah
Jameson dismiss his vigilante activities. George is voiced by
Clancy Brown.
Norman Osborn: Norman
is Harry's father and the head of OsCorp. A ruthless businessman
who believes himself incapable of failure and never apologizes,
Norman is involved in many shady dealings with the Big Man. Norman
is voiced by
Alan Rachins.
Supporting Characters
The series sports a very wide supporting cast. Every named
character who appears in the series, even very minor characters, is
at least loosely 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).
Villains
The series incorporates a number of villains from different eras of
the Spider-Man universe, almost all of whom are introduced as
regular characters before they transform into established villain
personas.
Production
The Spectacular Spider-Man was announced by Kids' WB
Senior Vice President and General Manager Betsy McGowen and
Sony Pictures Television
Co-President Zack Van Amburg in March 2007. The series is produced
by Sony Pictures' direct-to-video label
Culver Entertainment and its television
animation studio,
Adelaide
Productions (due to Sony's holding of the
Spider-Man film franchise
rights). It premiered on March 8, 2008 on
Kids'
WB on The CW, one week after it was originally scheduled to
premiere.
The series is developed for television by supervising producers
Victor Cook and Greg Weisman; Victor Cook is the series supervising
director and Greg Weisman is the series story editor. The lead
character designer for the series is Sean Galloway. 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 show's creators are striving to reach 65 episodes. 26 episodes
of
The Spectacular Spider-Man have been produced so far.
The commission for further episodes relies solely on Disney XD's
season 2 ratings.
The title sequence for the show was directed by Victor Cook with
the theme song written and performed by
The Tender Box.
Reception
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 Spectacular Spider-Man the 30th in the Top 100 Best Animated
TV Shows in January 2009, outranking both
Spider-Man: The Animated
Series and
Spider-Man and His Amazing
Friends. The Spectacular Spider-Man was also awarded Best
Animated Series 2008 with the series' version of the main character
being named TV's Best Hero in 2008.
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."
Home video
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 9th, 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 on July 28, 2009.
DVD volume 5 was released in region 1 on November 17, 2009.
Season 1 and 2 of the series is available in the iTunes store in
the U.K. and season 1 was recently made available in the U.S.
iTunes store.
Toys and merchandise
Hasbro released a
toy line
of
action figures in March 2008.
Happy Meal will have its 30th Anniversary
with The Spectacular Spider-Man Toys at
McDonald's.
Crew
- Greg Weisman - Supervising
Producer/Story Editor/Writer
- Victor Cook - Supervising Producer/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
- Jaime Thomason - Voice 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
References
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