Are the 90's Spider-Man/X-Men worth watching for someone who has never see them before?

[CyberCubed]

I've never watched the 90's Spiderman/X-men so I will have no nostalgia for it and no memories of watching it as a kid. Are those shows worth watching in the modern year of 2014?

For reference I loved X-men Evolution as I watched that when I was a teen, and I also enjoyed Wolverine and the X-men despite some of its problems. I loved Avengers: EMH and Spectacular Spiderman.

I never watched any of the other Marvel shows since I've heard they were poor. Yet the 90's Spiderman and X-men I know are the two "big ones" that I've never seen, as it exposed a whole bunch of 90's kids to Spiderman/X-men. People have said that unlike Batman: TAS, these shows haven't aged as well. I realize the animation is dated but I can look past that as long as it has strong writing and characters.

Have the shows aged well? Would someone who watched the more modern Marvel shows first be able to go back to the 90's versions? I grew up with the DCAU, the early 2000's Marvel shows, TMNT and the like...so what do you think?

 

[PapaGreg]

90s X men is pretty good but the 90s Spiderman with its censorship, stock footage, and hammy acting has not age well

 

[Freddy]

I didn't grew-up with 90s X-Men and I still think that it's great show. Just keep in mind that it is 90s show, so there are some hammy acting (especially from Storm) and last season doesn't have as good animation or writing as the previous seasons.

90s Spider-Man you should definitely skip. That one is just awful.

 

[Lamel2g]

I grew up watching both of those shows and I thought they were awesome at time. I plan on re-watching X-Men myself some time soon. 90's Spider-man is worth watching if you haven't seen it, IMO. It's the second best Spider-man Series after Spectacular Spider-man.

 

[Spider-Man]

If you can stomach the 80s TMNT cartoon, which had a sharp decline in quality after the first five episodes, then you can likely tolerate these two cartoons. The first season of the 90s Spider-Man cartoon is good and holds up alright, but it dips in quality once the second season starts and doesn't really recover. The animation isn't the best, the acting is kinda hammy, and the CG is laughably awful. It's not the best cartoon out there, it's definitely isn't the best Spidey toon despite what most with rose-tinted glasses would say, but it's not totally terrible. Time just wasn't kind to it. I find the 90s X-Men cartoon holds up a bit better. The animation is all over the place but the stories are pretty well done and the voice acting is better here. I'd recommend that one.

 

[Gold Guy]

I think X-Men is an awesome show. Granted, I grew up with it, but I think it holds up (although the final season is pretty bad). I also may be a bit biased since it adapts and has the feeling of the Chris Claremont Uncanny X-Men comics, which I adore.

As for Spider-Man: TAS, its....mostly good, but yeah, it has some of the strictest censorship for a CBM show. It has my favorite portrayals of many Spidey characters though, including Peter, MJ, Jameson, and more.

 

[Trevor]

The 94 Spider-Man series isn't even in the same ballpark as The Spectacular Spider-Man. TSS was garbage; the Alien Symbiote story arc of that show, when you watch the 90's show, was a poor remake of the 94 series 3-part episode --- aside from the mental battle in the episodes (and the different animation), you are watching the exact same episodes as in the 94 series.

 

[PapaGreg]

The 94 Spider-Man series isn't even in the same ballpark as The Spectacular Spider-Man. TSS was garbage; the Alien Symbiote story arc of that show, when you watch the 90's show, was a poor remake of the 94 series 3-part episode --- aside from the mental battle in the episodes (and the different animation), you are watching the exact same episodes as in the 94 series.

How was the venom arc of the 90s spiderman the same as TSS, the relationship between Eddie and Peter and how differently the suit influenced Peter aren't that similar

 

[Spider-Man]

The 94 Spider-Man series isn't even in the same ballpark as The Spectacular Spider-Man. TSS was garbage; the Alien Symbiote story arc of that show, when you watch the 90's show, was a poor remake of the 94 series 3-part episode --- aside from the mental battle in the episodes (and the different animation), you are watching the exact same episodes as in the 94 series.

That's not even remotely close to accurate. At all. Not even in the same general area code of accurate. I won't entertain a debate between the two shows (there is another thread out there for sure I think and I don't want to derail this one) but CyberCubed should definitely give The Spectacular Spider-Man a try too if he's interested in watching a quality Spidey cartoon.

But that is not the topic at hand. Based on your posting history you're a huge advocate for the Spider-Man 90s series (which is cool. I enjoy the first season but found the rest of the show just sunk like a stone, quality-wise), so maybe you can tell CyberCubed what you really liked about the show. Do you think it is better than TMNT? Seems like you'd be the right person to sell these two 90s shows.

I'm glad the 90s Spider-Man and X-Men cartoons are still on Netflix Canada, though I wish Disney would get around to some season collection.

 

[Trevor]

How was the venom arc of the 90s spiderman the same as TSS, the relationship between Eddie and Peter and how differently the suit influenced Peter aren't that similar

Have you even watched the two arcs back to back. Aside from the scene in Peter's mind, which was not in the 90's show, the way the shots are setup, the shuttle mission, Peter falling from the steeple in his underwear, the openings to each episode, they are exact duplicates of the 94 arc, just with blander animation and terrible character designs. Even the story is the same, with just the mental scene added to say "oh this show is different from the earlier show".

Both the shows were working from the same source material, in terms of stories from prior to 1993, so if why were the producers of TSS not able to tell their arc from a different angle, or even be creative and still base the story on the comics, but make it a completely new origin story for Venom. And that is what I really found annoying with TSS: it was stale. Even the origin for Spider-Man in the first episode was just a retelling of the origin from the 2002 movie; there was nothing creative and fresh about it: it was stale. The 1960's and 90's show managed to tell the origin story, but in completely different fashion to one another: the 60's show had that great motorcycle scene, and the whole episode took place, even though it aired in the second season, right when it happened. The 90's origin was a flashback, with Spider-Man/Peter Parker relating the story to the little girl, and talking about what he was going through then, and comparing it to how he was in Season 3. Same story, but told from 2 completely different angles. Overall, I found TSS to have had very little creativity, and a lot of duplication, and it was stale and old from Episode 1, with bland and poor animation.

i have the one DVD set of the new Ultimate that's been released here in Canada, and while I've only watched a few episodes, while they're cringe worthy in a few places, I find the episodes have been written with more creativity than any episode of TSS.

 

[PapaGreg]

Have you even watched the two arcs back to back. Aside from the scene in Peter's mind, which was not in the 90's show, the way the shots are setup, the shuttle mission, Peter falling from the steeple in his underwear, the openings to each episode, they are exact duplicates of the 94 arc, just with blander animation and terrible character designs. Even the story is the same, with just the mental scene added to say "oh this show is different from the earlier show".

Both the shows were working from the same source material, in terms of stories from prior to 1993, so if why were the producers of TSS not able to tell their arc from a different angle, or even be creative and still base the story on the comics, but make it a completely new origin story for Venom. And that is what I really found annoying with TSS: it was stale. Even the origin for Spider-Man in the first episode was just a retelling of the origin from the 2002 movie; there was nothing creative and fresh about it: it was stale. The 1960's and 90's show managed to tell the origin story, but in completely different fashion to one another: the 60's show had that great motorcycle scene, and the whole episode took place, even though it aired in the second season, right when it happened. The 90's origin was a flashback, with Spider-Man/Peter Parker relating the story to the little girl, and talking about what he was going through then, and comparing it to how he was in Season 3. Same story, but told from 2 completely different angles. Overall, I found TSS to have had very little creativity, and a lot of duplication, and it was stale and old from Episode 1.

How was the animation blander, the animation for the 90s one was choppy and stilited the TSS Spiderman and of course both scenes are the same since they are following the same material. As for difference the TSS had elements from Ultimate Spiderman so they added a familer bond between Peter and Eddy. And how was TSS a ripoff from the Sam Raimi movies when TSS told Peters Origin in the season 1 finale with Venom

 

[Trevor]

The animation in TSS was extremely flat, lacked depth and dimension, and felt more like the original construction-paper style of "South Park". Plus when the characters touched something or moved an object the animation did not convey the "weight" or "tactile sense". I'm reminded of the commentary track for the old 1932 Silly Symphony cartoon "Santa's Workshop", where the commentators were talking about the elf that was tossing hay into the reindeers stable: you could see the "weight" of the hay on the farm fork, as the elf was lifting it up and into the stall. With TSS there was no "weight" to objects. The animation was flat and dead. And having to "plagiarize" the design of Mr. Powers from Batman Beyond, or even the hideous Venom design. The styles and animation were poor.

 

[W.C.Reaf]

Ah, this brings back fond memories of the SSM vs. SM-TAS thread where Trevor was saying the exact same stuff and everyone disagreeing with him. Good times.

Anyway I think the 90s series are worth a watch for a few episodes to see if you like them. Be aware they are very 90s, in animation quality, writing, and borrowing from 90s comics. X-Men does it's best to adapt the comics while also making them fit into the 90s comics too. So Days of Future Past doesn't have Kitty Pryde travel back in time but Bishop and it also adds in a "we think Gambit's a traitor" story for good measure. Also Bishop and/or Cable show up at least once a season because 90s comics. There's some good episodes, there some bad ones, and things get weirder the more it goes on.

With SM-TAS bare in mind season 1 is mostly self contained episodes and from season 2 onwards there's story arcs. Just so you know the style of story you're getting in season 1 won't necessarily be the same in season 2.

 

[HellCat]

Simply put, the 90s show found a quick way to make the black costume/Venom work in a media outside the comics. It's only natural other media has emulated it, much like how the BTAS incarnation of Mr Freeze became his common default because it redefined an existing character and skyrocketed audience interest. Heck, later media has further refined it so the symbiote isn't just some space monster that comes out of nowhere.

 

[Wonderwall]

I used to blast these shows quite a bit a few years ago. I still stand by what I said then( mostly bad animation, questionable writing and VA, and in Spidey's case it got really bad post season 3 and never recovered, etc. ) but after there was a point last year up here when Disney XD was showing both( along with Gargoyles ) and I still obviously have nostalgia for them and it's not like I totally hated them. Looking at them again slightly changed things.

While X Men wasn't very good visually, it was actually somewhat better than I remember, if nothing else the colours sometimes pop. It was fun also sorta riffing on it in a way me and my siblings all enjoyed. Spider Man...yea it's kinda worse than I remember, significantly. But it's still got a weird watchable quality to it. Might just be nostalgia talking. Now that is one that is awesome to go MST3K on.

 

[KCJ506]

X-men TAS. Such a good strong plot and storyline, characters strongly built, and the X-men are truly a team here. However the quality started to drop towards the end of the series. Spider-man TAS. Season 1 was my favorite. Good strong episodes, good use of the villains who get to shine in their own episodes solo without being tied to Kingpin (who is also used only when necessary in this season and wasn't forced in any of the episodes). We rarely got that afterwards. Season 2 was good, but the decline started here with Kingpin being over used. Both shows did have poor animation at times. Especially Spider-man. Starting from the second season episodes would constantly reuse stock footage and it got worse as the show went on.

In regards to the whole TAS vs SSM thing, I like both shows. I think they excel in different areas. But from what I see most of the time, hardcore and militant fans of TAS praise that show to such a level that they automatically look down on any other Spider-man show. It's rather limiting to put a show up on a pedestal and expect all other shows in the same genre to imitate it rather than do their own thing. It frustrates me so much when some people praise one version to the point of blindly criticizing all the other creative versions (especially when those other works have their own strengths).

 

[Dj Sandex]

Give it a try, but try X-men first because that's the superior one IMHO. I rewatched these shows lately and Spider-man TAS is enjoyable (but it was my favourite show when I was a kid so maybe that's just the nostalgic factor that plays in my advantage), has a great first and third season but as a whole has a lot of exposition (Spider-man is always thinking and moaning to himself and that's the way the plot is moving) and a lot of censorship (Spider-man can't punch, no use of words like kill, laserpistols etc...). The animation is very good but sometimes re-uses the same scenes (like in the first episode a villain named The lizard strikes with his tail in the sewers and in an episode in the third season they re-uses that scene which is ridiculous cause they're fighting in a lab and not in the sewers). The series is more action based than dialog based and characters fall flat sometimes. But as a whole, I thought most of the episodes were fun.

X-men on the other hand is friggin' amazing. There is more depth in story and characters but there is off course room for the fighting scenes, censorship is okay in this one and sometimes it's really deep for a children cartoon. Season 1 and 2 are superb because there is a sort of a continuation in them and you have that mutant vs human storyline. Season 3 is amazing because it had the phoenix saga and season 4 is great too. Season 5 had a couple of episodes with different animation. I didn't care for that, but some episodes were still good (i liked Descent, Graduation Day and the fifth horsemen). I think season 5 is good. As for the animation in the first episodes I must say spider-man is a little bit more fluent but X-men hadn't problems with re using scenes and stuff like that. In my dvd collection however there is a big mistake in the episode 'Weapon X, Lies And Videotape' ; Suddenly there is a change in voiceovers and Sabretooth has Wolverine's voice and Vice verca.

Last thing i wanted to say is that when I complete watching all the animated superhero dvd's in my collection , the first cartoon i'm gonna rewatch is X-men It's just so addicting. WATCH IT !!

Try X-men first. It's really addictive Better storyline, better seasons, better characters, greater depth

 

[CyberCubed]

I asked this question in 2014 and it's now 8 years later and I just watched both recently. X-men was really good and I loved all the continuity. The animated was dated even for a 90's cartoon, but it had a lot of great story arcs. I'm halfway through Spider-man and I'm really enjoying it as well (though Morbius getting 5 eps was a drag, lol).

Can't believe it took me 8 years to get into these shows because people told me not to watch them. I should of watched them back then.

 

[Neo Ultra Mike]

(though Morbius getting 5 eps was a drag, lol).

I mean it's better then his movie at least which... yeah sad how that was the last time Morbius was truly relevant except I guess now as a stupid meme anyway.

I should note that if you are halfway through Spider Man the animated series due to the fact Marvel Entertainment was going through bankruptcy the team wasn't able to make the proposed sixth season that they really wanted to as there is a bit of a cliffhanger for how it wraps up but it is still a really solid ending for the show that's yeah really worth fully seeking out.

 

[wonderfly]

I asked this question in 2014 and it's now 8 years later and I just watched both recently. X-men was really good and I loved all the continuity. The animated was dated even for a 90's cartoon, but it had a lot of great story arcs. I'm halfway through Spider-man and I'm really enjoying it as well (though Morbius getting 5 eps was a drag, lol).

Can't believe it took me 8 years to get into these shows because people told me not to watch them. I should of watched them back then.

I'm surprised there were so many "somewhat negative" posts about 90's X-Men and 90's Spider-Man in the posts above. I think in 2014 we were all still swimming in nostalgia for the 2008 and 2009 versions of animated Spider-Man and X-Men.

Yes, they were cringey at times (especially 90's Spider-Man) and the animation could be lackluster, but they are still definitely worth taking the time to watch.