The Spectacular Spider-Man (TV series)
An animated series following Peter Parker's high school balancing act.
The Spectacular Spider-Man is an American animated superhero television series developed by Victor Cook and Greg Weisman, based on the Marvel Comics character Spider-Man. It aired its first season on The CW starting on March 8, 2008, and its second season on Disney XD beginning on June 2, 2009. Despite only two seasons being produced out of a planned five, the series has received widespread acclaim and is considered one of the finest adaptations of the character.
Quick Facts
- Genre
- Superhero / Action-adventure / Drama
- Runtime
- 22–23 minutes
- Based On
- Spider-Man · Stan Lee and Steve Ditko
- Developer
- Victor Cook · Greg Weisman
- Voices
- Josh Keaton / Lacey Chabert / James Arnold Taylor / Daran Norris / Vanessa Marshall / Joshua LeBar / Alanna Ubach / Clancy Brown / Alan Rachins
- Theme Music Composer
- The Tender Box
- Open Theme
- "The Spectacular Spider-Man Theme"
- End Theme
- "The Spectacular Spider-Man Theme" (instrumental)
- Composer
- Kristopher Carter · Michael McCuistion · Lolita Ritmanis
- Country
- United States
- Language
- English
- Num Seasons
- 2
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
The series follows Peter Parker, a student at Midtown Manhattan Magnet High School, who struggles to balance his responsibilities as Spider-Man with his personal life. Each season takes place over a semester: season one runs from September to November, season two from December to March. Producer Greg Weisman stated the series' theme is 'The Education of Peter Parker', with arcs named after courses of study: Biology 101, Economics 101, Chemistry 101, and Psychology 101 in season one; Engineering 101, Human Development 101, Criminology 101, and Drama 101 in season two.
The series is based primarily on the Stan Lee, Steve Ditko, and John Romita Sr. era of The Amazing Spider-Man comics, with a similar balance of action, drama, and comedy, and a high school setting. It also blends material from all eras of the comic's run, as well as Brian Michael Bendis' Ultimate Spider-Man comics and Sam Raimi's Spider-Man film trilogy. The show was cancelled after The Walt Disney Company acquired Marvel Entertainment, giving Disney the rights to Spider-Man shows while Sony Pictures maintained the movie rights.
Reader's Guide
The Spectacular Spider-Man has received widespread acclaim since its initial airing and is considered one of the character's finest adaptations. Praise has been given for its mature writing, unique art style, modernized faithfulness to the original comics, and the voice performances, particularly Josh Keaton's as the titular character. The series' iteration of Spider-Man made an appearance in the 2023 feature film Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, with Keaton reprising his role.
The series incorporates numerous villains from different eras of the Spider-Man mythology, almost all introduced as regular characters before becoming supervillains. Key characters like Gwen Stacy, Harry Osborn, and Mary Jane Watson are depicted as characters who will eventually evolve into their established comic roles. The show concludes with loose ends due to cancellation before a third season, with characters introduced who were intended for future seasons, including Miles Warren, Calypso, Cletus Kasady, Morris Bench, and Roderick Kingsley.
Did You Know?
- The series was originally planned for 5 seasons consisting of 65 episodes and direct-to-DVD films, but only two seasons aired.
- The entire series was broadcast in Canada on Teletoon.
- The series' iteration of Spider-Man appeared in the 2023 film Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, with Josh Keaton reprising his role.
- Stan Lee voiced a character named Stan in the series.
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