elicopperman
Spiderman has come and gone through countless adaptations, from tv shows, to movies, to even a failed Broadway show. There have been several animated tv shows over the years, but the most underrated of them all has to be the short lived Spectacular Spiderman, from 2008-2009. A show that garnished critical acclaim and viewer approval for pushing new boundaries for the web singling hero, but was cancelled due to a failed battle for the rights between Marvel and Sony to continue the series. That being said, the show is still well regarded to this day and has been declared not just one the best spiderman show, but one of THE greatest animated TV shows of all time. To start off, the real meat of the series' premise revolves around the conflicts between Peter Parker due to his life on crime as Spiderman counterfeiting with his personal life as a junior in high school and taking care of his widowed aunt May. He not only has to protect his secret identity from everyone and remain responsible for his powers, but he must also keep his friends and loved ones from finding out. These turmoils create much suspense throughout the show, and it's hard not to anticipate what will happen to the web slinging teen hero. As for the supporting cast, there's Peter's best friend Gwen Stacy, who initially harbors deep feelings for him whilst having concern for their other friend, Harry Osborn. Speaking of which, Harry is at first seen as Peter's geeky friend, but soon goes to extreme lengths for attention at school based off his neglectful father Norman, even if it means overusing some of his equipment. There's also Mary Jane Watson, the independent girl who according to her voice actor, "plays a major part in Peter's growth and maturation she really keeps him on the straight and narrow", the stereotypical bullying jock turned charismatic dichotomy Flash Thompson, Peter's eventual love interest Liz Allen who accepts Peter as the person he really is, Peter's overprotective yet caring and sweethearted aunt May, the grouchy overly exaggerated yet child caring dad head of Daily Bugle Jonah Jameson, and the scientists unintentionally responsible for creating such disasters to say the villains and the experiments Curt and Martha Connors. Without detailing too much, they really carry the emotional and heart breaking dilemmas and plot lines for the series to build off of.The villains are also quite memorable, whether they be bad from the start or become evil through unfortunate circumstances. Some range from thugs who get a power upgrade so they can be rid of Spiderman once and for all like Sandman, Vulture, Rhino and the Enforcers to those who got the worst luck at horrible accidents like Electro, Dr. Octopus and Molten Man. While the Black Cat does feel more like a copycat Catwoman, the Green Goblin at first seems obvious, but becomes more suspicious as the series goes on down to where his reveal is the one you predicted at first becoming unpredictable. The only weak villains are Mysterio since he can get easily defeated, Kraven the Hunter since he only appears once or twice and that's it, and even Chameleon since he's the most forgettable and least interesting of all of them. And then there's Peter's childhood friend, Eddie Brock, who starts off as Peter's lab mentor around the lab he, but soon loses his trust for Parker down to growing jealousy and hatred, and soon becomes Venom from a symbiote. However, as Eddie vows more and more to kill Peter/Spiderman, he loses his sanity more and more, and let's just say that the last we see of Eddie will make you kinda relieved but mostly sad and heartbroken. Along with memorable and likable characters, the voice acting is fantastic. Josh Keaton was clearly born to play Peter Parker, James Arnold Taylor always knows how to convey Harry's dorkiness and emotional breakdowns, Lacey Chabert, Vanessa Marshall, and Alanna Ubach recreate the illusion that their characters are their own characters rather than just their voices, and they sound beautiful. Not to mention, the voices for the villains are perfectly casted as they also recreate their characters vocally and emote with great deliveries and real depth whenever they need to be dramatic or threatening.Despite obviously being tv quality, the animation shines for what it is. The character designs are pretty simplistic, but I think it works by pulling off subtle facial expressions and dynamic poses. Not to mention, the setting gives off the feeling that it's animated in the style of a comic book and I really like how it emphasizes the neutralized albeit vibrant color stroke for the backgrounds and how it displays New York City. The character animation may be kinda limited, but the poses and action scenes come with great fluidity and choreography. The only complaint I have with the animation is that most of the inking and painting isn't as impressive as it should be with pretty flat looking characters and visual effects much of the time, and the settings are pretty manufactured with most just being in New York City.In terms of issues though, many of season 2's episodes are comparably mediocre to others since most of the villains we knew from season 1 become pretty repetitive as they fight Spidey, thus giving off fewer surprises here and there. Not to mention, even Peter's personal life gets pretty cliched and underwhelming some of the time from dealing with his private responsibilities to his eventual troubled love triangle with Gwen and Liz. I can't blame the creators as they clearly planned more seasons before the show's cancellation, but this season just felt a little more convoluted and manufactured compared to season 1. Nevertheless, I still consider Spectacular Spiderman to arguably be the best adaptation of Spiderman I've ever seen thanks to its great writing, solid enough animation, likable and surprisingly complex characters, superb voice acting, and mature themes. Despite the series only being two seasons long, it is a must watch for anyone looking forward to seeing the web slinging hero on his mis-adventures in NY with some very touching and suspenseful stories that you'd love to witness on the small screen. Even with a few missteps, it proves to be one helluva smash for a TV show.
patrickmmc
I have read all 26 reviews here and I am wondering what these people are thinking and in fact, I'm wondering too what the producers of this cheesy product where thinking. Ask me, I have no doubt as to why the program was canceled. The drawing and animation are absolutely horrible and appear to be designed by someone in elementary school for kindergarteners. The drawing and animation in the 60's cartoon, when it was all done by hand, are exceedingly better than this crap. The 90's cartoon series definitely blows this away. Many of the reviews here state opinions of this show being better than any others ever produced. How anyone who is an adult or nearing adulthood could think that this tripe is better is beyond me. It's crap, plain and simple.
