"The Spectacular Spider-Man" News & Discussion Thread, Part 10 (Spoilers)

[Rick Jones]

I remember seeing the designs and being kind of turned off. There was just something about them that initially gave me this Fisher Price vibe and that wasn't what I hoped for at all. Pretty much since birth, Spider-Man was my favorite character and I wanted to see a great animated series or movie for him in my lifetime. The 60s and 80s cartoons were fun but they were products of their time, and before my time. I was insanely happy for the 90s show but it lost me somewhere with the dip in visual quality and other things. Unlimited just wasn't for me and the MTV show was cool but missing a lot of what made Spider-Man awesome. I just kept hoping for that dream series or movie (as a kid, I dreamed of seeing Disney making Marvel animated movies), and here we're these designs that made me think this show would be Rescue Heroes level.

When the teaser came out and I gave it a few, the visuals still weren't winning me over yet but I started noticing I was really enjoying how everything moved. I started thinking that this could possibly be on par with The Batman (a show that had finally won me over) or Kim Possible. I didn't expect that I would eventually think of it as the BTAS of Spider-Man cartoons. I knew Gargoyles and I knew WITCH but I had no idea who Greg Weisman was at the time. He and Vic Cook did such a bang up job borrowing as much cool stuff as possible from everything Spider-Man and crafting this series that still doesn't feel it's age yet. I don't even think the show is perfect (maybe 90 something percent perfect) but I love it so much that no nitpicks matter.

Seeing the series end with season 2 still stings just a little. I know people like to solely blame the buyout but the show just had so much working against it that we probably weren't ever going to see those five movies plus DTV movies. It doesn't seem as though it would have been that hard for Disney to even acquire the series but I can understand their reasoning from a business perspective. I do wish shows like this or X-Men TAS were celebrated more by official outlets during moments like these but I guess it's up to us fans to keep the love going until someone else does. This was a show I loved playing while babysitting and those kids are still die-hard Marvel fans that remember this show fondly.

Sent from my HTC6500LVW using Tapatalk

 

[PapaGreg]

I remember watching the show first in 2009 then in 2014. I liked this show it had a good teenage sensation in it and for the most part I think that It was pretty fluid in its story telling. There were some good stories in there, and the animation was okay it could have been better with the designs but yeah the colors and backgrounds were still good nonetheless.

How could the animation be better, it was really good for a saturday morning cartoon. Its no Avatar sure but with its budget it was exceptional

 

[jaylop97]

How could the animation be better, it was really good for a saturday morning cartoon. Its no Avatar sure but with its budget it was exceptional

The character designs were pretty middle in the road for me, but for the most part everything else did look really good.

 

[PapaGreg]

The character designs were pretty middle in the road for me, but for the most part everything else did look really good.

So by animation you meant artstyle, sorry for the mishap

 

[Wonderwall]

10 years, where does the time go? I remember watching that first teaser the summer before and was anticipating it something fierce. It premiered around the same time I was finishing up my studies at Art Institute so I always connect it with that time. I also connect it with that time as I had a hard time getting work after Ai which also coincided with SSM getting ultimately canceled as well...so that's fun lol. SSM ending is one of two shows in the last decade that really stung and slightly still does, the other was Green Lantern.

It's good to see it still fondly remembered, and I have the blu ray set to watch whenever I feel the need to revisit.

 

[M.O.D.O.K.]

Seeing the series end with season 2 still stings just a little. I know people like to solely blame the buyout but the show just had so much working against it that we probably weren't ever going to see those five movies plus DTV movies.

Oh yeah. If it wasn't for Sony trying to keep the movie rights by giving away the TV rights, then it would've been the buyout. If it wasn't going to be the buyout, the fact that Kids WB was ending would've doomed it. It did doom Legion of Superheroes, and that also only had two seasons in its run.

I do wish shows like this or X-Men TAS were celebrated more by official outlets during moments like these but I guess it's up to us fans to keep the love going until someone else does.

I completely agree. It's sad that this show, as well as any cartoon pre-buyout, don't really get any acknowledgement from Marvel. I mean, DC at least celebrates its past animation works, even if they mostly focus exclusively on the DCAU.

 

[spyke]

I completely agree. It's sad that this show, as well as any cartoon pre-buyout, don't really get any acknowledgement from Marvel. I mean, DC at least celebrates its past animation works, even if they mostly focus exclusively on the DCAU.

Well, if Marvel/Disney acknowledged these shows and lead people who haven't seen them to seek them out and watch them, it would show those people how vastly superior those old shows are to the current animated shows. We can't have that now, can we?

 

[TheLemsterPju]

Well, if Marvel/Disney acknowledged these shows and lead people who haven't seen them to seek them out and watch them, it would show those people how vastly superior those old shows are to the current animated shows. We can't have that now, can we?

I think it's possible for people to enjoy both. Although, I don't think someone who was really into some of the newer stuff would stop enjoying them after watching an older series, unless they were pressured into it (a la YouTube commenters.)

I agree with M.O.D.O.K. though, Marvel needs to acknowledge all their animated works, old and new, like DC. It's definitely holding them back from gaining a wider audience. Plus, a lot of people want physical releases for Marvel's animated shows again...

 

[Miyamoto Musashi]

I think it's possible for people to enjoy both. Although, I don't think someone who was really into some of the newer stuff would stop enjoying them after watching an older series, unless they were pressured into it (a la YouTube commenters.)..

The old being easily more enjoyable doesn't stop me from enjoying their new material, I just wish they'd let their new stuff give me this warm fuzzy feeling Spectacular provided in spades.

 

[Webbed-Wonder]

What I've seen of Marvel's recent animated output over the last year or two has been alright. I thought the last season of Ultimate Spider-Man was actually enjoyable. The new Spider-Man show starts off bland but gets ridiculous and entertaining as it goes on. Saw a little bit of Avengers and Guardians and it was just light fun, nothing wrong with it but at the same time still doesn't reach the heights of some of the older shows. Spectacular Spider-Man getting buried like it has is just sad, man. I enjoyed having a lot of the older shows on Hulu and Netflix way back at least, but now they're nowhere.

 

[SweetShop209]

How could the animation be better, it was really good for a saturday morning cartoon. Its no Avatar sure but with its budget it was exceptional

It's like one of those things where the animation, while good, was made much simpler in order to let the action really stand out, and of course writing.

Anyway, it's kind of interesting how influential this show is even after a decade.

 

[Rick Jones]

I enjoyed having a lot of the older shows on Hulu and Netflix way back at least, but now they're nowhere.

Both seasons of Spectacular are still on Crackle, of anyone is interested.


Sent from my HTC6500LVW using Tapatalk

 

[Joe Wagner]

I agree with M.O.D.O.K. though, Marvel needs to acknowledge all their animated works, old and new, like DC. It's definitely holding them back from gaining a wider audience. Plus, a lot of people want physical releases for Marvel's animated shows again...

The sad part is that many of these shows are still having DVD's produced outside of the US and Canadian markets. Disney has been wanting to build up it's library of entertainment for it's streaming service and has indicated in the past that they have no interest in complete season/series sets (unlike WB who have largely produced season sets of most of their more popular releases over the past decade+). It seems like Disney is missing out on a decent retail market while also harming their own toy sales and cross-promotional opportunities between the two. With the streaming service starting next year, I can see this practice continuing for content that is exclusive to the service - pushing people away from more traditional "ownership" of the content Disney produces, and forcing more and more people to only be able to enjoy the content via their service and only during those times they choose to make the content available.

 

[SweetShop209]

I found some interviews with Victor Cook, Josh Keaton, Greg Weisman, and others.


http://www.comicsonline.com/2018/04...ider-man-10th-anniversary-reunion-interviews/

 

[PapaGreg]

Its amazing how a show with 26 episodes have a fanbase this large.

 

[KCJ506]

Its amazing how a show with 26 episodes have a fanbase this large.

Firefly had 14 episodes and that has a huge fanbase as well.

 

[Fone Bone]

I think a lot of great short-lived shows that have amassed a huge fanbase are partly amassed because of the notion of what could have been. I was never really bowled over with what we were given with Firefly or this show. But part of the reason I have such fond memories for both is the untapped potential. That's probably why the series is as fondly remembered as it is.

 

[SweetShop209]

http://spidey-dude.com/Spectacularradio/Spec37.mp3

Darran Norris and Greg Weisman took part in a podcast interview.

 

[M.O.D.O.K.]

http://spidey-dude.com/Spectacularradio/Spec37.mp3

Darran Norris and Greg Weisman took part in a podcast interview.

I'm a regular listener to this podcast, and I strongly recommend it to any Spectacular fans. Every other episode brings in Greg Weisman to discuss each episode of the series, and also sometimes bring in other cast and crew members to chime in, and the "fan panel" episodes are also fun. They even share some new tidbits about the show's characters or universe here and there.

 

[TheLemsterPju]

I'm a regular listener to this podcast, and I strongly recommend it to any Spectacular fans. Every other episode brings in Greg Weisman to discuss each episode of the series, and also sometimes bring in other cast and crew members to chime in, and the "fan panel" episodes are also fun. They even share some new tidbits about the show's characters or universe here and there.

Is that the one with GregXB as the host? (Not Weisman but one of his hardcore fans whose last name starts with a "B".) Not a fan.

Mainly because I've seen him and one of his buddies be condescending towards fans of Ultimate on several occasions; including them agreeing in the idea that those fans' taste are trash and anyone who prefers Ultimate over Spectacular is objectively wrong. Dead. Serious.