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 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 U.S. and YTV in Canada.

Spider-Man: The New Animated Series
Genre
Based on
Developed byBrian Michael Bendis
Morgan Gendel
Marsha Griffin
Voices of
Narrated byNeil Patrick Harris
Theme music composer
Composers
  • John Digweed
  • Nick Muir
  • William Kevin Anderson
Country of origin
  • United States
  • Canada
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes13
Production
Executive producers
  • Avi Arad
  • Rick Ungar
  • Stan Lee
  • Morgan Gendel
  • Audu Paden (co-executive producer)
  • Brian Michael Bendis (co-executive producer)
ProducerMarsha Griffin
Running time22 minutes
Production companies
Release
Original networkMTV
Original releaseJuly 11 (2003-07-11) –
September 12, 2003 (2003-09-12)
Related

Although the show is part of Raimi's Spider-Man film series, the events of the show were ultimately contradicted by the first film's sequel Spider-Man 2 (2004), branching off into a different timeline that contains the events of the original film and this TV series with no further continuations.[1]

Series overview

Set shortly after the events of the 2002 film,[2] 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. He faces two psychic twins that ruin everything in the wallcrawler's life, causing Peter to quit being Spider-Man and try to live a normal life.

The end of the series proves what the Green Goblin said in the 2002 Spider-Man film: "In spite of everything you've done for them, eventually they will hate you."

Cast and characters

Main characters
  • Neil Patrick Harris as Peter Parker / Spider-Man: A superhero who is also an Empire State University student and photographer for the Daily Bugle. Peter confronts with the desire to use his incredible, spider bite-derived powers to do good, he finds it hard balancing his responsibilities of being a superhero with schoolwork and his romance with Mary Jane Watson.
  • Lisa Loeb as Mary Jane Watson: A student at Empire State University and model/actress. She is the on-and-off girlfriend of Peter Parker, but also seems to still hold some affection for Peter's alter-ego, Spider-Man, who she is unaware are both the same person.
  • Ian Ziering as Harry Osborn: The son of the late industrialist Norman Osborn. He attends Empire State University along with his friends Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson. Ironically, he blames Spider-Man for his father's death and seeks revenge, but is oblivious to the fact that his father was secretly the Green Goblin, and accidentally triggered his own death; however, as the series progresses, Harry has shown to warm up to Spider-Man, as well as helping him defeat Electro and accept being rescued from the Lizard.

Recurring characters
  • Keith Carradine as J. Jonah Jameson: The Daily Bugle newspaper publisher. Consistent with his appearances in the comics and films, Jameson spent most of his appearances berating Spider-Man and adding political spin to his activities, usually in front of Peter Parker. Jameson is so passionate about this that he even appears on a competitor's news broadcast to denounce Spider-Man.
  • Angelle Brooks as Indira "Indy" Daimonji, Peter Parker's journalist girlfriend who appears in seven episodes.

Guest characters

Production

Development

Spider-Man: The New Animated Series was ordered by MTV as early as January, 2002.[3] Initially it was supposed to be a direct adaptation of the Ultimate Spider-Man comics by Brian Michael Bendis, who also worked on the series' production and wrote the original unused pilot for Sony Pictures Entertainment, who had purchased the film and television rights to the character. However, after the success of Sam Raimi's 2002 Spider-Man film, the show was reworked to follow that continuity.[2] The series was redeveloped by Morgan Gendel, best known as writer of the "Inner Light" episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation.[4] Gendel, with the team of writers he hired, was given free rein by Sony to develop several original characters who fit in with the series' more adult tone, including Indira Daimonji, Shikata and the creepily telepathic Gaines Twins.[4] The computer-generated imagery (CGI) was produced by Mainframe Entertainment.[5] Harris, Loeb, and Ziering were announced as the primary voice cast in May, 2002.[6]

Spider-Man in the 3D animated style

Peter Parker was originally supposed to wear baggier clothes to hide his superhero musculature, but cost-effective difficulties with the CGI format 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.[2] 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.[7]

The producers found that the more relaxed standards of MTV allowed them more creative freedom than usually allowed for a Saturday morning cartoon show.[8]

Cancellation

MTV decided that, even though the ratings were high compared to other shows in the same time-slot, the series did not fit in with its other programming.[4] Director Brandon Vietti stated that had the series gone on he would have used the villains Mysterio, Vulture, and more of Kraven.[2]

Episodes

Due to various production delays, the episodes aired on MTV out of the correct scripted order. This caused some confusion with audiences regarding the chronology of the series. The DVD releases feature the episodes in the correct order. Each episode has a montage at the end of which states "Next Time On Spider-Man". The order given here is that of the DVD.

No.TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air date
1"Heroes & Villains"Tim EldredMorgan GendelAugust 22, 2003 (2003-08-22)[9]
Spider-Man battles Turbo Jet, a modern-day Robin Hood armed with a homemade propulsion system, who steals from the wealthy and gives to the poor. Spidey's life gets even harder as the public rallies around Turbo Jet – and against Spider-Man.
2"Royal Scam"Vincent EdwardsRick SuvalleAugust 15, 2003 (2003-08-15)[9]
Spider-Man is duped by the infamous Kingpin into stealing the TX-1 super-chip, designed to decrypt the confidential satellite transmissions that drive the world's financial markets. Now he must find a way to get it back.
3"Law of the Jungle"Audu PadenGreg JohnsonJuly 18, 2003 (2003-07-18)
Peter's professor, Dr. Curt Connors, injects himself with reptilian DNA, which slowly changes him into the angry, vengeful Lizard. As the serum affects Connors' brain, Spider-Man must stop his beloved professor as he begins seeking revenge on those who have harmed him, including Harry.
4"The Sword of Shikata"Brandon ViettiTodd Felderstein and Morgan GendelJuly 11, 2003 (2003-07-11)[10]
The master martial artist/assassin Shikata is sent to capture Spider-Man for a wealthy man's collection of rare animals. Shikata determines that Spider-Man is too noble a foe to simply capture and they must fight to the death.
5"Keeping Secrets"Alan CaldwellMarsha GriffinJuly 18, 2003 (2003-07-18)
Spider-Man is out to catch Talon, a female thief who's behind a series of high-risk robberies in the city. Things get complicated when Spidey learns Talon's true identity - she's his best friend Harry's new girlfriend.
6"Tight Squeeze"Vincent EdwardsMorgan GendelJuly 25, 2003 (2003-07-25)
Three ex-KGB agents – now a team of mercenaries called Pterodax – take a group of people hostage, including Peter and his new crush Indy. Their demand is that they want Spider-Man. Peter will need to use his cunning and cleverness to figure out a way to appease Pterodax without revealing his alter-ego.
7"Head Over Heels"Brandon ViettiTracey ForbesJuly 25, 2003 (2003-07-25)
Peter Parker's lab partner Christina reads his mind with her new invention: an ESP crown. The crown malfunctions, jolting her own brain with electricity and altering her sanity. No longer able to distinguish fantasy from reality, Christina attempts to kill M.J. in order to limit the competition for Spider-Man's eternal affection.
8"The Party"Audu PadenStory by : Brian Michael Bendis
Teleplay by : Brian Michael Bendis, Morgan Gendel and Marsha Griffin		July 11, 2003 (2003-07-11)
Peter Parker's nerdy high-school friend Max is hazed in a deadly fraternity prank that turns him into Electro, a high-voltage villain that threatens the campus. Only Spider-Man can stop him from exacting his revenge on the students.
9"Flash Memory"Tim EldredWhip Lipsey and Scott LipseyAugust 29, 2003 (2003-08-29)[9]
Dr. Zellner tests his "smart drug" on Peter Parker foe Flash Thompson, and Flash immediately displays dramatic spikes in intellect. However, along with the IQ boost comes a potentially fatal side effect. With only minutes to find an antidote, Zellner takes Flash's suggestion that he experiment on an already intelligent candidate: Peter Parker.
10"Spider-Man Dis-Sabled"Alan CaldwellMorgan Gendel and Rick SuvalleAugust 8, 2003 (2003-08-08)[9]
Peter covers a press conference and inadvertently videotapes incriminating evidence against Silver Sable, an Eastern European assassin for hire. Now she will stop at nothing - including killing Mary Jane, Harry, and Indy - to get the tape back.
11"When Sparks Fly"Vincent EdwardsMorgan GendelAugust 1, 2003 (2003-08-01)[9]
Electro returns from his seeming death and tries to make Sally, a girl he has a crush on, become an electrical being just like him.
12"Mind Games, Part One"Alan Caldwell, Vincent Edwards and Audu PadenMorgan GendelSeptember 5, 2003 (2003-09-05)
The Gaines Twins, a brother and sister with uncanny telepathy, escape from an armored transport convoy, but Spider-Man apprehends them by overcoming their brain blasts with his own superhuman will power. Later, just as Spider-Man reveals to MJ that he's really Peter Parker, Kraven the Hunter confronts Spider-Man. As payback for the years he spent in jail, Kraven attacks MJ with one of his poison darts. Spider-Man rushes to her side too late, as her life slowly slips away. Now, Peter is out for revenge.
13"Mind Games, Part Two"Tim Eldred and Brandon ViettiSteven KriozereSeptember 12, 2003 (2003-09-12)
Spider-Man realizes that the diabolical Gaines Twins have brain-blasted him into believing that MJ has died at the hands of Kraven the Hunter. He corners the Twins, but things take a turn for the worse when they once again use their telepathy to trick Spider-Man. This time Indy is seriously wounded. The guilt causes Peter to pack his costume inside of a suitcase filled with rocks and throw it to the bottom of the harbor, quitting his career as a crime-fighter.

Reception

The series received mostly positive reviews from critics and audiences, with praise aimed at the voice acting (particularly Harris), the mature tone, writing, animation and soundtrack, though it also received criticism from fans for its divergence from the 2002 film, most notably with the abrupt cliffhanger ending contradicting the events of the 2004 film Spider-Man 2.

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.[11]

Home media

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.[12]

The series was made available for streaming on Disney+ on October 19, 2022,[13] but the episodes appear in their original air date order and not chronologically.

References
  1. Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 778–782. ISBN 978-1476665993.
  2. "Spider-Man: the NEW Animated Series episode #1-Heroes and Villains". Spider-Man Crawlspace. Retrieved 9 September 2010.
  3. "Tube Notes". The Vindicator. 25 January 2002. pp. D4. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
  4. Morgan Gendel
  5. Mainframe Animates New Spider-Man TV Series
  6. "'Doogie' to voice animated Spider-Man". Daily News. 12 May 2002. pp. 12C.
  7. "Aunt May". Comic Vine. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 9 September 2010.
  8. "Brandon Vietti – Marvel Animation Age". Archived from the original on 30 March 2018. Retrieved 12 December 2021.
  9. "SPIDER-MAN ANIMATED UPDATE". comicscontinuum.com. Retrieved 30 May 2021.
  10. "SPIDER-MAN ANIMATED UPDATE". comicscontinuum.com. Retrieved 30 May 2021.
  11. "Animated Award Nominations". About.com. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 12 December 2021.
  12. "Spider-Man: The New Animated Series (Special Edition) (2003)". Retrieved 9 September 2010.
  13. "Disney+: What's Coming in October 2022". www.adweek.com. 15 September 2022. Retrieved 16 September 2022.
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