Spider-Man Unlimited "Worlds Apart, Parts 1 & 2" Talkback (Spoilers)

[Stu]

Discuss the two-parter Spider-Man Unlimited series opener!

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Episode #1: Worlds Apart, Part 1
Original Airdate - 2nd October 1999

While covering the launch of John Jameson's one man mission to Counter-Earth, Spider-Man attempts to stop symbiote adversaries Venom and Carnage from boarding a shuttlecraft and fails in front of millions of people watching the event. Blamed for the failed launch and disappearance of Jameson, Spider-Man becomes a target of persecution by the media and public. Believed to be dead after saving a life in a fire, Peter Parker uses this shroud to embark on a mission to retrieve John Jameson on Counter-Earth!


Episode #2: Worlds Apart, Part 2
Original Airdate - 9th October 1999

Spider-Man reaches his destination on Counter-Earth and finds out that John Jameson survived the crash. He has become a member of a rebellion fighting against the forces of the High Evolutionary, a figurehead who hates humans and creates animal-mutant hybrids called the Beastials.

Comments?

 

[Spider-Man]

I loved the animation on the "regular" Spider-Man, before he hoped over to the other side of the universe. It looks really sharp. Overall, the premiere episode was alright. It didn't make any real promises of quality, but it started out fair enough. I stuck through this entire series and found that it was a good show. Nothing great, but not terrible either. It did have some moments.

 

[Stu]

Well, the pilot was one of the better episodes of the show, with some nice pre-stupid alternate universe stuff. Paticullary the guitar riff as he first turned into Spider-Man, however, Spidey's end was just damn stupid. He got crushed by rocks, and all of a sudden, it's 6 months later, and Reed Richards created a new suit for him. They didn't think to show this, as it may have given the explantion that he has to find Jameson some more passion.

Also, Venom and Carnage together, with no explanation as to why they no longer hate each other?

The main problem with these 2 episode is that it all felt rushed, it should have been a 3 parter like the Silver Surfer origin story. This episode, and the series as a whole had good elements, but the original scenario was too stpid to do anything great with. They tried, hiring Micheal Reeves, who wrote some of the better episodes of the Batman cartoon everyone loves to compare this to, proved that, but not even he could have done anything with most of it.

 

[Jon T]

I loved the animation on the "regular" Spider-Man, before he hoped over to the other side of the universe.

That's my favorite bit of the ep too! They actually went to the trouble of including his under-arm webs as well, the only real time this has ever been done in any Marvel toon!

 

[Weibart]

i forgot what a weird episode this really was. the opening sequence plunged both us and spidey right into a situation where neither of us know what's going on. spidey's rescue attempt seemed laughable, as he struggled to fight venom and carnage, all the while barely clinging to the spaceship. and then as he fell from it, he beats himself up about not saving connors. the scene with the firefighters seemed a little contrived and certainly not worthy as a last straw for spidey. if they concocted these scenarios to make this "old costume" of spiderman seem ill-equiped and obsolete, they did a great job. suping up venom and carnage, with spiderman equipping himself to match up to them, definately sends the wrong message. gives me the impression that they didn't really think this intro thru, which is foolish, because this set-up has to lay the ground work for the rest of the series, and low and behold, there wasn't much of a series after this important establishing pilot. a prime warning for any other clever executives who want to put a fresh spin on a property.

i loved that he said in passing that he borrowed the suit's technology from reed richards, and just left it at that... moving right along then, he's off to the space ship, right on schedule, he's gotta get to the planet before the ep ends you know. out of all the nick fury appearances i've seen, this one's come closest to satisfactory, sadly. i loved as fury flew away, he said something to the effect of "if anyone can do this, spiderman can." great, makes sense to me, but would he have made that statement it if it were the f4, or hulk, or any other character in spidey's situation, of course. that line by fury was a less than clever accolade for the star of this series. aggravating. and then when spidey arrives at the planet, entering it's atmosphere, he's totally unprepared as the shuttle hurtles toward earth, with spiderman actually making some last words to mj's photo,... these writers are killing me. spiderman should definately be quirky, but this spiderman must've gotten a more severe head trauma than we think he did in the building collapse. even spiderman didn't think this through. and then when he arrives on the planet, after being saved by some robots, he encounters the beastials and the events neatly lead to the cliff hanger ending, where no surprise, he's taken captive. he's got a new suit, yet it hasn't really helped him any. none of the four beastials were likeable in this ep, and that rings true throughout the series.

the art direction is a little hit and miss. i really loved the mechanical designs on the parralel earth, straight out of a kirby comic, not sweat there. i can't understand why they gave the original costume's eye pieces a yellow tint, which, coupled with the black shadow, delivers a gross costume color scheme. how they could manage to make that costume slightly unappealing just urks me. what's really interesting is the use of the black shadows, which they use in any lighting enviornment, regardless of the color. mj was sitting in a well lit room wearing yellow pants <----which have black shadowing on them!!! it's mind boggling, they put this black shadow on all sorts of colors and clothing, and then sometimes forget to apply it in scenes. the backgrounds didn't really bother me, though, the style looks much better on the parralel earth than the actual one.

this episode was very important stepping stone for the rest of the series, and it certainly started this troubled concept of a show off on the wrong foot. well, at least it had a catchy theme song...

 

[Sketch]

It's really a shame that this series never got an ending. I thought it was pretty good. Here's hoping they are going to air it in order... doubtful but I can hope.

 

[oranthal]

It's really a shame that this series never got an ending. I thought it was pretty good. Here's hoping they are going to air it in order... doubtful but I can hope.

Right now, Gargoyles and Spiderman (1994) seem to be airing in order, so I'm thinking Spiderman Unlimited will probably do the same.

I saw this series when it first aired on Fox and I didn't really took a liking to it. I had a chance to see again today, but I was walking in and out of the room, so I'm still rather indifferent about it.

 

[Nick K.]

It was goo until he got the new costume and then left to meet some beast people. They should've continued on with the regular spiderman series which was much better.

 

[Fone Bone]

I'm annoyed that this is taking up an hour a week that could be devoted to Spider-Man '94. What's the point of running this anyways? Do kids today really like unsatisfying cartoons that end on cliff-hangers? I'd rather see the '60s or '80s Spidey than this peice of junk. (I'm sorry, I just hate unresolved endings. Blame it on Twin Peaks.) I really don't understand the logic of airing this when there are so many Spider-Man '94 episodes that have yet to air on ABC Family. What kind of kids are they trying to reach? How will this make people want to see Spider-Man 2 this summer? Score:*1/2

 

[Sketch]

The art style is a whole lot like X-Men: TAS. With the shading and the general style.

That was Felicia Hartey's VA for MJ wasn't it? As well as Lady Vermin.

 

[Spider-Man]

Is the entire Spider-Man Unlimited series airing on ABC? Even though it's pretty much hated by every fan, I'd actually like to see this series on DVD. Given it's short 13 episode run, it could make a nice cheap DVD set.

I actually really liked the look of the show, especially when it focused on Peter and MJ before he went dimension hopping. I thought the animation, though far from great, looked pretty good.

 

[Bones Justice]

I've never seen this series before. The two-part pilot story was okay, I suppose. I was always disappointed by the censored violence in the 90's Spider-man show and this series looks to be more of the same. And I'm not a fan of Venom and Carnage so it was disappointing to see tag along to the new story setting. I guess this means that SMU is supposed to take place in the same continuity as the previous series. They even played the theme music from the old show when Peter was changing into the original costume.

As for the new costume, I don't know what to think. I don't mind the nano-tech design but what's with the web cape? I liked it on Spidey 2099's costume but not on this one. I guess I wish they had just made 2099 instead of SMU, now that I think about it.

The artwork is okay, I suppose, but after BTAS, it's hard to look at this without being disappointed. Back when I read comics, before BTAS, I was always more of a Marvel fan. But since BTAS, DC has become my favorite. I only get superheroes in the animated for these days.

Based upon TiVo's schedule, the next three episodes from SMU will be "Where Evil Lives", "Deadly Choices", and "Steel Cold Heart". I will probably continue to watch them. It sounds like a short series and everything else is reruns for me right now.

 

[Bones Justice]

Just and update: it looks like they changed the schedule at the last minute. Instead of more Spider-man Unlimited, they aired two old Spider-man and his Amazing Friends episodes. They still have the third episode I mentioned on the schedule at this point but I guess that's subject to change, too.

I know there are fans of the old Spidey Friends show but I'd really rather see Unlimited. SF wasn't bad for it's day and SU isn't the best show based upon the pilot but I've never seen it before. And I thought SU was better than either SF episode they showed over the last two weekends.

 

[Stu]

Spider-Man: Unlimited will return at the weekend.

 

[Spider-Man]

Spider-Man: Unlimited will return at the weekend.

It's coming back this weekend? I can't tell becuase the Toon Zone schedule doesn't list the different series - they are all labelled as just Spider-Man. It would be cool to have a talkback for the whole series. Maybe a site, too.

 

[Bones Justice]

It's ba-a-ack!

Updated:

Okay, it looks like Spider-man Unlimited is back on. I only caught half of the episode "Where Evil Lives" this weekend. Not bad, though not stellar, either. I liked the Goblin character, too, not a bad idea to try him as a good guy for a change. And that's one maneuver I've never seen a superhero use before!

I think the main thing I don't like about this series is Venom and Carnage. I've never really liked morphing villains and having two is really overkill.

I do like the comic-book style they put on this series. Hopefully, ABC Family will run the rest and maybe even repeat this episode for those of us that missed it (or half of it).

 

[Stu]

I thought Spider-Man And His Amazing Friends "Swarm" was on at the weekend?

I'd best get a talkback up for Where Evil Lies then.

The schedule said Unlimited was going to air this time...but episodes 8 + 9. Might have to contact ABC Family...

 

[Spider-Friends]

I thought Spider-Man And His Amazing Friends "Swarm" was on at the weekend? I'd best get a talkback up for Where Evil Lies then.

"Swarm" aired on Saturday at 10:30; "Where Evil Lies" aired Sunday at 10:30.

 

[dmxx116]

Marvel.com just put Spider-Man Unlimited out on it website today:
http://marvel.com/videos/1202.spider-man_unlimited%2c_episode_1

 

[Trevor]

Marvel.com just put Spider-Man Unlimited out on it website today:
http://marvel.com/videos/1202.spider-man_unlimited%2c_episode_1

Nice! Thanks for the link. But hopefully we'll get a DVD Region 1 release of this series soon.

I just finished watching it. Really great and a lot more intersting than the 2003 Spider-Man or Spectacular Spider-Man. I loved the joke towards Kellog's Frosted Flakes and Tony The Tiger (was Kellog's a sponsor of the show?).

The animation was great, although coming over the internet and being blown to full screen it was rather pixelated, so I'l be glad when a DVD is released to get rid of the major compression issue.

Can't wait for Part 2 to get uploaded next week.