Spectacular is pretty much one of these animated spidey adaptations that fully understands the character and concept of everyone's favorite web-slinger. It was a real shame this series was cancelled way too soon just as it was at the peak of its popularity and the producers had big plans which will never happen.
@@Drums_of_Liberation Speaking of Gargoyles, Michael Dorn should have had a role on in Spectacular Spider-Man, either reprising his role as Kraven the Hunter or a character even as a cameo of an X-Man. I recommend Beast.
Not only does it get Spidey right, it gets the villains right. The setup and execution of every villain makes perfect sense. Some characters are goofy cackling bank robbers while others are menacing pose a real threat to Spider-Man and Peter.
I was just shaken to my core by being reminded of how much the creative team promised with this show, how hard it actually delivered, and how unfair it is that it got cancelled.
This is one of the ONLY series I can think of where every single supporting character gets significant development. Even Sally Avril, the school snob grows up a little by the end. And Flash Thompson's growth and Harry Osborn's changes in this show were better than any other adaptation, maybe even more so than the comics. I can't even think of another superhero cartoon that pulled off writing a balanced cast half as well as TSSM did. I was most eager to see what was in store for Gwen Stacy and for Black Cat in particular. The place we left off with both of them in season 2 set up for such interesting things.
@@truffle6082 i heard that future seasons (maybe not season 3) would have had his college life and eventually focus somewhat on his marriage, not sure how true this is.
The one thing I have to disagree with you about is the shows introduction of Mary Jane. You have to keep in mind that this show was made by fans of the source material. The way she is introduced in this show is a direct adaptation of how Mary Jane was introduced in the lee/ditko/romita Era of "amazing spider-man." Peter avoids meeting her because he doesn't trust his aunts judgement then when they finally meet for the first time he opens the door and realizes that he was being stupid. It's very sit com esque and for spider-man fans the way those characters meet for the first time is just iconic. So for me I don't mind the moment because it's a slightly modernized adaptation of a story I already like. Also the reason Peter freaks out when aunt may says "she has a wonderful personality" is because for a long time there was a cultural attitude that if someone lead by talking about a potential dates "personality" when describing them then they were likely trying to hide a lot of their negative qualities. Given how the dating scene has changed over the last few decades you don't see people expressing that belief as much nowadays but this show was made in the early 2000s when it was definitely more common place.
How much they knew the material before writting the show is up for debate. Also he understood why Peter acted that way, he was just making fun of him for being a shallow dick.
@@fightingmedialounge519 Peter Parker can be a shallow dick sometimes, he's not this holy being incapable of being selfish or shallow. The whole MJ scene argument makes very little sense to me because it assumes that Peter Parker always has to have a moral dilemma with every decision he makes. It's a teenager not trusting the judgement of his aunt but then realising that he always fumbled the bag so incredibly hard.
@@SpectacularSpidey670 dude, you do understand the concept of readership right. Steady yourself. I'm not saying they didn't care about Spiderman before they started working on this show. My point ho much they knew already and how much result of them doing research for the show isn't ever made completely clear by them.
I super disagree with what you say about peter destroying the symbiote. He's pretty stuck in regards to sharing how the symbiote has been dangerous, because he can't share is double life, and he can't reveal that spider-man was compromised at a time when trust in him is critically low. And I think he was pretty confident that freezing the symbiote would destroy it.
He doesn't need to share all details to get his point across. Also knows the symbiote is unnatural durable, so you would think he be extra careful when killing it.
@@sdbzfan1 This vaccume of space argument is insane seeing as any living organism wouldn't freeze over in space do to there not being an atmosphere, you would retain all your internal heat and temperature wise be relatively fine unless exposed to the extreme cold of space for a prolonged time
I got his point, it was a little off but not as horrible as it could be since anyway if spiderman explained and the symbote scaped it would still cloud eddie's judgement as he pleased. The result would be the same but with a better execution. Still it doesn't take much from the other scenes to me.
Ur knocking Mj’s introduction but I think that “face it tiger, you hit the jackpot” is like one of the top famous lines in Spider-Man along with the responsibility speech
Regarding Otto’s lack of build up, I mostly agree, but there is one scene that makes him more sinister: When he describes the Rhino armor’s features, he rants about it in a way that seems prideful, followed by shining glasses and mad scientist music before Norman interrupts him. That seems off from someone who was supposedly sad about Flint Marko’s assumed death.
I was about to bring that up. It’s small but it’s there, Otto’s rambling about Rhino made it seem that he was enjoying making supervillain more than he let on.
I think he was naturally this meek character but being irradiated to all hell and having the assumed AI from the arms go haywire from the chip melting caused him to snap
I personally didn't think that Otto needed a sinister build up. He was a man who was constantly abused because he had no power, so when he finally did get power he snapped and used it to dominate everyone to never feel "weak" again. I think it's a perfect origin story.
@@Obi-Wan_Kenobi I much prefer this analysis! I think it's reasonable since it doesn't render his previous timid personality as insincere. He was being pushed around relentlessly, that humane quality preventing him from lashing out was totally diminished when the apparatus' AI corrupted him. Realistically he had nothing holding him back from standing up for himself anymore.
One complain I have is that not every villain needs to have an emotional connection to Peter/Spider-man. This is a tv show with at least 2 fight scenes every episode, if every fight makes Peter re-evaluate how he's handling things, then he never really grows, because then his growth would become diminished by constantly learning a new lesson. Sometimes a villain is just a hired gun without much emotional weight, that doesn't mean there can't be an emotional weight, but it doesn't mean that focus should be made right off the bat. The bigger villains like Goblin, Tombstone, and Venom have that kind of development because they're the big villains with bigger story arcs. When the show was made, they planned to go through Peter's entire High School career, then have direct-to-DVD movies depicting his College years. That's a lot of time that they were probably planning to eventually give certain development to certain characters. This isn't a movie franchise where they have to adapt all the big moments and speed through certain development to put these characters in their prime. It's a tv show with a bunch of smaller stories gradually building up an overarching plot, and those plans for future plots were sadly cut short before they had the chance to be developed. Not every fight is the ultimate battle between good and evil, not every fight has a big emotional stake, and not every villain will immediately have a deep backstory or personality that's immediately delved into, because where would you go from there? Shocker isn't immediately this super complex character because to him, it's just a job. He doesn't have a personal vendetta, he just follows the money. There is stuff that can be delved into about his character, but it would be unwise to immediately focus on that at the start of the show.
Oh, and I gotta add: this is my favorite version of Mary Jane. While she didn’t have a lot of development in what we got, I liked that she was more emotionally and socially smart compared to her peers, and that she was flirty without it being creepy. Also, that while Peter finds her attractive, she isn’t an actual love interest and her and Peter’s relationship isn’t in that level yet. Also, you could argue there’s hints in the show that she already knows Peter’s secret.
Another thing to note is that Mary Jane was an extrovert but still a good person. Too often it seems like extroverts are portrayed like Sally Avril (who MJ put in her place when she tried to talk down to her)
Yeah, there is a lot of depth with MJ in this show! Like she has a very different personality from the other characters in this show, she's very confident and independent but it's to the point where she doesn't like getting close to other characters. She's still really nice and caring (she actually tries saving people during supervillain fights which is more than most characters would do), but she's very noncommittal at an emotional level. And that's exactly the way MJ was portrayed in the early years of the comics! She was fun, nice, and a good person but lacked the ability to commit. We later learned that this was because she had a really hard home life so she distracted herself by having fun while making sure she never became so close to someone that they could hurt her. Only later did she learn to let people in and that's the moment she and Peter could begin to have a real relationship, because she stuck around in spite of her fear of being hurt. (There is a video by NerdSync called "The origin of Mary Jane and Peter's relationship", watch that if you want the full story). Spectacular directly adapted that MJ and they did it so well. MJ has an extremely strong and clear characterization, stronger than most of the supporting cast even though she entered the show later. Later we get hints of her noncommittal-ness being a problem with her relationship with Mark and I promise you that they would have explored the reason for why she was like this in a later episodes. That is phenomenal writing, to strongly establish a character and later explore the backstory of what made that character have that personality.
I actually want to defend the logic of what Peter did with possible logic he did. Peter was still in a heightened emotional state that made him focused on killing the symbiote. The symbiote is a living organism which means it is prone to be affected by changes in temperature. Most organisms won’t survive in extreme heat or cold so Peter as a scientist would know this and attempt to kill it in one of two ways: extreme cold or heat. He would have no reason to assume that the symbiote could survive either so assumed it would die based on scientific logic.
I like your argument and want to take it.......................but the fact the symbiote survived the freezing cold vacuum of space unprotected is a sign that the cold would not have worked. And too my knowledge Peter should have known this since I don't recall Jameson's shuttle ever making contact with another planet.
@@R0-83-RT The cold of space might not be as dangerous as it being a vacuum would prevent heat from being lost as easily. I believe I heard that it can be dangerous to overheat in space for this reason, as there is not a good way of removing the heat. So, the symbiote surviving in space might not indicate a resistance to cold climates. Though, you should fact check me here.
@Daniel Ma I am no astrophysicist, so I really can hardly claim to be an expert on this stuff. What I do know is the vaccum of space has tempatures far below that of freezing, around negative -455 fahrenheit. Even if heat loss is reduced I would think survival in that environment without protection show signs of cold resistance since it is a tempature far lower than 32 degrees fahrenheit, the temperature at which water freezes and the human body would freeze to death if exposed long enough.
@@R0-83-RT I understand your logic, and it makes sense. However, I think there is something important missing. From what I understand, heat is mainly transferred on contact between objects. In the vacuum of space, you will come into contact with few external objects that lower your body temperature, especially as effectively no air can remove some of the heat. When the organism does any action, including cellular functions, I believe, it should produce heat waste. With that, the symbiote shouldn't have any concern of cold, due to being in a vacuum where heat doesn't leave, meaning it will not get cold. It should be a case of space being cold, but it not resulting in you experiencing that cold. Instead, you would experience intense heat. As such, I still disagree on surviving in space being a sign of resistance to cold. Regardless, I find the discussion fun and imagine Peter didn't need to think that hard about pressing the cold button.
@@danielma7281 After what you said last I decided to do a small bit of research, and from what I can find you're right, an organic body would not be threatened by the low temperature due to the lack of an atmosphere. It is kind of funny to think about, astroids and other objects can be seen frozen, yet due to the environment or lack there of, an organism would not need protection from the cold. Very interesting.
I genuinely think Spectacular Spider-Man is one of the top 5 if not top 3 animated shows of all time. It's one of those few shows that gets *better* when I rewatch it because I notice so many more details that give the show depth.
I remember having a DVD of Spectacular Spider-Man as a kid since I didn’t really have anything to watch on TV, so I usually stayed entertained by this show as a kid. I miss those days.
The episode where Spidey is trying to get rid of the symbiote and having that internal battle with himself is one of my all time faves. It's such a great way to do the origin story and it understands the character SO well. I always dreamed about something like that making it into a movie someday.
I love this show but have absolutely no nostalgia for it. I remember when it came out I specifically avoided it because I thought it looked like a kids show. It was only in the past few years when I decided to give it a chance and it quickly became one of my favorite adaptations of all time
I would say for a kids cartoon this show puts a little more effort than expected, especially when it is primarily an action show. This makes it that much more special for fans of Spiderman and those just being introduced to Spiderman. I think that's what makes Spectacular looked upon so fondly even if it may falter at times in writing or presentation. It feels this show made a genuine effort to entertain.
Spectacular Spider-Man is one of those cartoons like Avatar that no matter how old you get it not only holds up but you get to appreciate a lot of aspects of the series you didn't as a kid.
Just want to say that I loved how they handled MJ in the show as a whole. I’m not a fan of Spidey adaptations that start early in his career that go for MJ right off the bat. I like it when they are the endgame couple and not the first one. It’s one of the reasons I love MJ in this. She is incredibly comic accurate and incredibly supportive of everyone. I do feel that we would’ve gotten to see more behind her curtain in future seasons, but what we got is still one of the best adaptations of her. I would love to have a third season of this show, and with Spider-Man hype being at an all time high, old shows being revived, and the possibility that Spectacular Spidey could appear in Spiderverse, I have high hopes we can get a continuation.
I also hardcore disagree about the venom situation. Why would petter explain in a lot of detail why he is destroying the Symbiote besides just saying it’s bad and needs to die the situation is far too complicated for him to explain. Then when it comes for waiting for it to be destroyed he isn’t supposed to be there he is technically breaking in the kill the symbiote with someone in the room. If he stays too long which he wouldn’t know how long that would be. The police could be called and the situation would get more complicated. Also from how it froze why wouldn’t he assume it’s destroyed. It makes complete sense for him to just brush it off and leave because he is doing what he thinks is best and what he did would be enough. Not him being out of character or stupid. So I’m just going to have to say this was a bad take
yeah, not to mention explaining the situation could expose his identity to a guy who was very pissed at him at that moment, and peter is a biology nerd, it's natural he would assume the symbiote would die when it was literally frozen solid (most things do)
Yeah, I agree with you too that Lowart's take on this matter is completely flawed and nitpicky. It was pretty annoying to hear him talking about it as if it was that bad as he perceived it. Like, he said it himself at the beginning of the video, most of Peter's mistake come from him having to deal with too many things at once, having to keep up with information, with other's sensibilities and situations/context on the spot, while considering many other factors, and the tiring effect that, plus the whole vigilante action takes a strong toll on him and his decision making. Also, he expects way too much fast paced progress in Peter, as if one person learns something and then never unlearns it or gets challenged based on it and fails.
I didn't need a lot of detail. Even just a simple "It's sentient, tried to possess me, and tried to hurt people" would have been enough for me. Also, while I understand he couldn't stick around for a super long time to make sure it's destroyed due to police and such, it's not like the police would get there immediately. He would at least have a little more time to make sure freezing it works. Of course, that's just my opinion though. If you thought it was fine, that's fair. Whether it's an issue or not is subjective.
I would agree about Peter's voice, but he spent a good deal of time talking with Eddie in a previous episode while dressed as Spider-Man, so I don't think that's what the show was going for in this case.
One thing that I wish had been expounded upon more with Venom is that the symbiote is *lying* to Eddie by omission. The symbiote only shows Eddie the parts of Peter's life as Spider-Man where he was the most self-seeking or opportunistic; essentially, only the parts that would feed Eddie's hatred of him. The symbiote *knows* that whole reason Eddie was angry at Peter in the first place was because he thought Peter abandoned them during the Connors arc, and it DELIBERATELY WITHHOLDS this information from Eddie to ensure its own survival and get revenge on Peter. It made it really tragic when Eddie developed a dependency due to the feeling of power and control the symbiote gave him. I wish the show would have had a chance to explore this more. It's like in Star Wars when the Emperor never tells Anakin that the Separatists are on Mustafar because he *ordered* them to be there and that he was responsible for the other side of the conflict as well. Knowing this would have affected their decision! I'm fully convinced this show would have rivaled Batman: The Animated Series if it had been allowed to continue.
Yeah the symbiote is like a drug that Eddie got hopelessly addicted to, Peter almost went down the same path too. I also like that there’s small themes of drug addiction that are explored in the show with Harry Osborn drinking that serum to make him stronger. He got so hooked on it he had to check into rehab.
The Eddie issue would have been SO easy to fix, too. Imagine Eddie tries to free the symbiote as Peter tried to kill it. Perhaps Peter hurts Eddie or simply fails to stop him. I don't think that would change much of anything and it feels both sides of this conflict.
One more rewrite could have resulted in an action taken in keeping with Peter's character, while still setting up Venom. It all comes down to not enough minutes left in the episode to implement it, so we got the ham fisted conclusion instead.
I'm of the mind trying to kill it in general is the main issue because he tries to kill it eddie thinks he cost him his job and the symbiote now has a reason to want revenge, remember getting it off didn't hurt it yeah rejecting it may have been like leaving an ex girlfriend but imagine you also tried to dump her body off a cliff I think she has every reason to now want to murder you and ruin your life since you did first
There was no issue. Eddie's hatred of Peter had been seeping out since early on in the season and once the it reached the boiling point, Brock willingly became Venom.
Its not really an issue. It's established that Eddie was already kind of a dick. The Lizard incident and Spidey seemingly destroying the symbiote is enough.
I really love Spectacular Spider-Man. I think they handle the Black Suit story arc pretty great. What I like about Spidey's black suit is that looks like Sam Raimi's version. But it slowly transforms into his original look in the comics. It is the symbolism of Pete's downward spiral of his own darkness. I kinda get with your criticism of Eddie Brock. He is essentially a combination of 616 and Ultimate versions. I think writers slowly turn Brock into a jerk to Peter, but I feel that they rush it a bit.
If I recall correctly the Doctor octopus thing was actually explained. They did it like the Spider-Man 2 movie where the microchip in the back that was controlling the arms was messed with and or broken during one of the experiments he was doing, and the AI and the arms themselves are what pushed him over the edge and changed his whole attitude.
To be honest the forced miscommunication in the venom plot didn't bother me as much as some other plot contrivances. It's still contrived, yeah, but it happens right after the symbiote giving Peter a majorly traumatic flashback to his uncle's death and he's probably still running on adrenaline after escaping it. It makes sense he'd be thinking nothing but "oh god kill it" and mess up not explaining things to Eddie cos well.. he's exhausted and just desparate for this whole thing to be over. You would think that in this situation he'd care more about making sure it was dead though. But again, he's exhausted as hell after the worst day ever and just wants to get this done and get out of there. It's still a stupid decision but it doesn't seem like an implausible mistake to make in a situation of heightened emotion. Or idk, maybe I'm just more willing to forgive one moment of bad writing when the rest of the episode was great, I dunno!
It's funny how the show tried to keep Green Goblin's identity a secret like they did in the comics, it worked there because Green Goblin was new character, but it doesn't work in an adaptation when everyone knows it's Norman Osborn.
What i like about spectacular is that it is just a Spider-Man story it doesn’t try to introduce other heroes like other Spider-Man shows do it really gives you the sense that the city would fall apart without spidey
You know would be awesome? If Batman and Spider-Man had a conversation together, and Batman tells Spider-Man not to let go of his life outside of Spider-Man. I definitely know Peter has learnt this lesson plenty of times in his own comics and films. But I think it would be cool if the two had a conversation about double lives.
Alright, I gotta say it. The vibe you're supposed to get from "Ms. Wonderful Personality" is that she's ugly. The idea goes that there are a ton of things to compliment a girl on like her face, her hair, her eyes, or her physique. If your go to compliment is her personality then you're avoiding the fact that she's ugly. That's why Peter and Harry shiver at the words "wonderful personality"; they think Mary Jane has to be ugly. That's why Peter is so astonished when he finds out M.J. is actually hot. Not that this fixes your complaint, but yeah.
Thanks for this video. I didn't see a lot of this series and teen Peter never really engaged me as much as his older and more developed, but a glad this Peter has a praiseworthy series to showcase him.
@Lowart Would you consider going through The 90s Spider-Man series after Spectacular Spider-Man. It is probably the second most praised Spider-Man series "Though that may not be saying much considering how heavily critiqued the newer shows are, and how poorly some of the really old Spider-Man shows are." Regardless it be cool to see if you take an interest. The 90s series is currently available on Disney Plus.
I just recently started watching this on Netflix. I’ve gone through the whole first season and some of season 2. As far as season one goes, it’s the best piece of Spider-Man media I’ve seen in a very long time. I think that the ending of season one was just perfect, Peter finally realizing that Spider-Man isn’t a curse. He came to terms knowing he’s going to have bad days and Spider-Man will be at fault, but he puts his friends, family, and basically everyone in New York over his own mental and physical health. I also just loved how of all people that made him realize he was turning into someone awful with the symbiote, it was Flash Thompson who helped him see that the symbiote was breaking not just Peter, but Spider-Man as well. That moment of Peter thanking Flash for essentially saving Spider-Man was everything I would’ve hoped for. Peter just being friends with everybody while at the same time being an absolute toy that everyone plays with just works because Peter is just that good of a person. The entire show is just fantastic, and don’t get me started on the title sequence. The title sequence alone should convince anyone to watch the show lol.
This is almost dream come true - your channel is perfect to analyze this cartoon. Strange that it was somehow overlooked by the popular content creators thus far.
I’ve binge watched the show over the weekend and I really wish this show had continued! I think this is one of if not the best interpretations of the character and his world
I can see why the situation with the symbiote and the transition to Venom didn't sit right with you, but to be fair, if Spider-Man did explain the situation to Eddie right at that moment, it's not like Eddie would even take his word for his right then and there. After all the stuff Eddie's been through, he probably would've just seen Spider-Man as a liar trying to hide the fact that he's cowardly thug. And I'd imagine that Peter only left in such a hurry to keep things from escalating further. He's still 15-year-old teenage who probably couldn't bear to hear his oldest friend scold him further. I personally think the scene helps to show Peter's flaws without making him come off as a complete idiot (unlike Ultimate Spider-Man), but that's just my opinion. I feel like you're being a bit too harsh on Peter making a mistake here, but it's one I can somewhat understand.
Spectacular Spider-Man is the only cartoon has ever adapted Stan Lee and Steve Dicko's 60's comic stories and tones. That's very rare to every spider-man cartoons and really wish this type of adaptation comes out more.
If memory serves me correctly about season 4 hobgoblin,and carnage were supposed to be villains in it,hence the interaction where we saw Cletus Cassidy in an asylum
I am the same. I understand and respect the Sam Rami films as this series takes inspiration from those films to do it while it was at its height. Though I find that this series does it better than the Rami films to me because it feels more closer to the comics than what Rami started doing to me.
My only one minor gripe about this review is that you’re breaking these episodes down into arcs. By doing so, I feel you’re limiting yourself to a specific portion of the narrative which means any potential complaint you would’ve had for an episode in that specific “arc” could’ve already been answered/fixed in another episode in another “arc.” Spectacular Spider-Man isn’t like, say, Teen Titans where it has some episodic episodes and some episodes that are connected. Almost every episode in Spectacular ties into each other in one way or another that makes it a cohesive narrative from beginning to end. So, splitting these episodes into arcs just doesn’t seem right to me when criticizing the show. Other then that, I really liked your analysis and appreciate you going further with criticism (even if I don’t agree with some complaints) as it feels most issues with this show are often neglected. So, it’s great seeing a different perspective in regards to what didn’t work. I especially agree with the critique regarding Electro and how the personal dilemma Peter initially faced should’ve been explored just a little bit deeper. Overall, I look forward to seeing the next part in this analysis. Great work
The arcs bleed into each other quite a bit. When you think something is wrapped up with a tiny bow, the box is opened up again. The sinister six, started off as Ock’s personal Spider-Man revenge squad, but it was the progenitor to him being a major underworld figure and mob boss by cornering the new supervillain market.
The thing you said about Eddy becoming Venom could have been so easily fixed by the producers too, just make it like Eddy was sneaking on the room or something and Spiderman didn't actually realize he was there or something similar and it woulda been better
I’m at 8 mins in but these are the mistakes Peter should be making, not the mistakes like sending a drone strike to attack him and his friends. Mistakes that effect his RELATIONSHIPs and doesn’t make him look stupid.
I never got why Eddie was so mad at Peter after he figured out he was Spider-Man. His look should’ve changed. He saved Dr. Connors. He wasn’t a cheap bailer, he was a hero.
It was always a internal hatred and partially jealousy. While Eddie got fucked over Spiderman accidentally stealing the symbiote and Gwen liking Peter more, his main motivation deep within seems to be the fact that Peter still had his aunt and uncle while Eddie didn't have any family members
yeah Eddie's whole villainous motivation in this show is kind of flimsy to me. As we speak, I'm actually writing my OWN review on the Spectacular Spider-Man. As of now, I'm thinking of calling it: "The Spectacular Spider-Man (Animated Series) Review | Was it really THAT Good?"
@@brucebanana4486 Yeah, once Disney owned the merchandising, video game and television rights of Spider-Man, Sony had to drop this show and Disney made Ultimate Spider-Man instead.
Your reaction to the wonderful personality line made this entire video worth it even beyond your normal analysis. Also your point about venom is an interesting one. I thought you were going to bring up what I noticed when I first saw that scene. Eddie hates Peter and Spiderman because of several misunderstandings do to their shared identity . So him getting and learning their the same person should eliminate most of Eddie's hostility. Now you could assume the symbiote is clouding Eddie's judgment and hiding information, but that's not really confirmed until much later.
Eddie hates Peter because deep down, he resents him for supposedly having more breaks than him. That's why when those misunderstandings come up, Eddie quickly becomes bitter and vindictive.
The thing about the nice personality was making fun of the fact that girls described as having a “nice personality” and nothing else, was usually interpreted as them being ugly. They of course flipped this trope and made Peter’s date Mary Jane, which is why he was surprised. He thought aunt may was telling him she was ugly, or at least that’s what he gathered from it
Man, that was it!! I cannot wait to see the next part of this review of the next season!! Spectacular Spider Man was a great show for me. I still remember it to this day. I cannot wait to rewatch it sometime. And I cannot wait to see your next review about the show!!
this show works so well because of the effort they took to set up the characters so the conflict often felt unavoidable also, one of my favourite little details in the show is the gradual change in the venom suit between episodes, it's so cool
I watched this as a kid but I only remembered like one or two scenes when i rewatched it recently. So, free of nostalgia, it still held up really well and all of the characters were handled super well.
Regarding the Symbiote, I do agree PARTLY with how Peter handled the situation when it came to Symbiote and Brock. However, one thing that I thought was fairly obvious was that if he explained what the symbiote actually is, the first question that would come up is "how do you know this" and at that point, he would have to admit to stealing the symbiote INTENTIONALLY (he was framed for it originally) which could've caused some more issues and questions. "So you ARE A menace!" "If you want me to believe you, show me your face." Brock already believes that Spider-man stole the symbiote. I do think that trying to freeze the fucking alien from the cold vacuums of space was a little bit of big brain moment though.
so i love the final episode of season 1 BUT i think it would of worked better if venom attacked peter in the school, during the school hours and peter has to try to go dress up as spiderman while also helping out everyone from venom, with the end of the season eddie brock tells the world that peter parker is spiderman, leading to season 2 being more focused on bad guys effecting peter parker and an entire investigation going on about him.
Yep I always hated that Peter never reflected on that, instead I wanted him to try to speak then fight, however he always fight then maybe talk😂😂, that happened multiple times
The shocker and tombstone quotes were the best in the series imo. Tombstone straight makes Peter understand he's fighting a war he can never win and tombstone is Peter learning that he has to continue to fight that war because it's his responsibility
13 years later and only now I notice that newspaper that reports on Chameleon-Spidey crime spree also mentiones Venom... who has yet to even appear. Then again, only now I noticed that there's an actual cohesive text in that article, so cudos to the team for attention to detail, even if some mistakes happened along the way.
I might be gravely mistaken but I do recall Spectacular being praised highly for the fight scenes it has, not so much for the plot or developments back in the day. The show was indeed a spectacle.
can we talk about the small things that i love about this take on peter/spider-man. like when he was fighting the sinister 6 one of them broke out the web & spider-man makes a quip out loud but in his head he says “man i gotta start making that stuff stronger” or when his suit got too big in the winter & he had to change it. i love the small details.
👏👏👏 great review dude! Watched the whole thing and agree with it all. Spider-Man is one of those heroes that would never do anything mean or against his friends. Even if they were mind controlled or something Spider-Man would rather find a way to immobilize instead of hurting them. So this Spider-Man not even explaining why you’re about to destroy someone’s career right in front of them is ridiculous. Eddie Brock is his friend so him doing that is not in his character.
He does handles killing the symbiote in the ultimate spiderman comic run the same way. These are moments I just have to chock up to him being an emotional kid who gets angry or overserious and neglects to consider his friend's emotion. At the same time, killing the symbiote would be better in the long run for everyone. Still rubbed me the wrong way though so its good to see others think so too.
I think part of why some of the aspects of the spectacular spiderman were a bit less developed is the fact that disney ripped it out of the creator's hands. you can tell they had a lot planned, especially from the last episode. i think this show would have absolutely taken off if it got the third season it so richly deserved.
Petition for a season 3. Season 2 finale finished on a cliff hanger with so many loose ends that have yet to be tightened. I feel like whenever a series gets cancelled, they should at least make a half season 5-7 episodes to wrap it up and attempt to make the it whole. They should never just end it abruptly.
"With great power..." Has almost become as much a part of the lexicon as referring to an Achilles Heel as Kryptonite. (And Spidey-sense probably is as common)
Respectfully disagree regarding the whole thing about the villains, Dr Octopus especially. Personally the contrast between his meek nice attitude pre-transformation and his insane egomaniac self after it is what sold this as one of my favourite Doctor Octopus ever, because it made it all the more shocking. The transformation might lack build-up, but to me it helped make him creepier.
What Peter supposed to tell Eddie? “Yeah I stole the thing and used it for my benefit but I’m going to kill it now” like would that have worked out any better for him?? I’m sorry that just feels silly that is such an unforgivable “mistake’
This was the best version of spidey, and the animation kicked ass. But one thing about this Spiderman universe is.. The characters in this spiderman cartoon glasses stay on their faces without the bar the go on the ear. Because I notice all the character's that "wear glasses", Aunt May, Gwen, Doc.Otto, Peter when his gets his powers etc glasses are just sitting on their face which is impossible without the bar on the ear.
I appreciate the critique on the needless needless miscommunication on Eddie. Fortunately I still enjoy the arc regardless. But yes, it is definitely a common thing I've noticed, when writers are kinda in a narrative corner (or sometimes just lazy/time constraints), they end up making the characters do whatever it takes to progress the plot. Kinda sucks, cause there were definitely better ways to handle it. Anyway, this is still my favorite animated Spider-Man. Didn't like the art style at first, but the fight choreography and storytelling caught me off guard, in the best way possible. Still got my Blu Ray from several years back.
the issue I had with venom in Spectacular Spider-Man is that, after Eddie gets the symbiote back from the lab he has no justifiable reason to hate peter anymore. His reason for hating peter was that peter was taking pictures of lizard and making money easy and that he didn't call the police when he "saw" the suit almost get stolen but after he gets the suit he should know that peter was there helping the lizard and tried to stop the suit from being taken, in addition he should that the suit was corrupting peter and making it where he wanted to keep it from capture. i know the suit was corrupting Eddie mind and I would be fine with that logic, BUT!! in season 2 Eddie of his own free will tried to mess with peter's life and distract him from saving lives when he should know that peter wasn't a bad guy and in season 2 he gets his job back easy and has no reason to go after peter anymore. I like venom in the comics because Eddie was trying to do something good but was punished for it even if was farming the wrong guy for the sin eater thing, and in the comics Eddie has admitted he was being stupid and dumb and was looking for an outlet for his problems. I love this show more than any other Spider-Man show and maybe if it went on longer we would have seen this happen in the future and Eddie would have had regret, since we did see him get sent to a psych ward and carnage was met to appear because we see Cletus in the show, maybe if show went on longer we would have seen this but we may never know
Great idea for a video series! I hope you someday go back to analyse seasons 2 and 3 of Avatar, and I also hope to see you tackling all classic 2D Mario games! Cheers, and Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year!
I know the joke's lost on you younger kids, but back then describing a girl as "she has a nice personality" meant she wasn't a looker, or she wasn't pretty. Peter read that as people making a backhanded remark versus Aunt May saying it earnest. That's the setup and the payoff is its Mary Jane Watson. It turns out Peter misread Aunt May's remark because there's an age difference and Aunt May didn't know what she said may have had negative implications.
The 1997 spider man is still the goat x men blade punnisher morbious venom dr strange and many more a fantastic amazingly well made show that still holds up
I do think this series isn't perfect but it's honestly really great and probably the best Spider Man show so far, and I really hope future shows continue taking notes from it
lowarts is the type of guy that would get annoyed at the scene of Peter washing the pan with the soft side of the sponge
Why'd you have to call me out like that?
The title of this video should've been if this series was as spectacular as we remember
wait your not suppose to do that? im being fr right now
I don't want to damage the pan, you know?
@@supersonicsamuelbeyond223 true
Spectacular is pretty much one of these animated spidey adaptations that fully understands the character and concept of everyone's favorite web-slinger. It was a real shame this series was cancelled way too soon just as it was at the peak of its popularity and the producers had big plans which will never happen.
i hope a season 3 can come in some years on disney plus, we need the show back!
The curse of Greg Weissman strikes again like Gargoyles and the original Young Justice run before it.
@@Drums_of_Liberation Speaking of Gargoyles, Michael Dorn should have had a role on in Spectacular Spider-Man, either reprising his role as Kraven the Hunter or a character even as a cameo of an X-Man. I recommend Beast.
Not only does it get Spidey right, it gets the villains right. The setup and execution of every villain makes perfect sense. Some characters are goofy cackling bank robbers while others are menacing pose a real threat to Spider-Man and Peter.
Idk if they can give us a sequel to the OG Xmen cartoon they can give us season 3 of TSSM
I was just shaken to my core by being reminded of how much the creative team promised with this show, how hard it actually delivered, and how unfair it is that it got cancelled.
This is one of the ONLY series I can think of where every single supporting character gets significant development. Even Sally Avril, the school snob grows up a little by the end. And Flash Thompson's growth and Harry Osborn's changes in this show were better than any other adaptation, maybe even more so than the comics. I can't even think of another superhero cartoon that pulled off writing a balanced cast half as well as TSSM did. I was most eager to see what was in store for Gwen Stacy and for Black Cat in particular. The place we left off with both of them in season 2 set up for such interesting things.
I wouldn't say every character. Kong the big football player and his girlfriend don't really grow, but I get the sentiment.
@@fightingmedialounge519
They didn't get a chance too grow season three would been graduation for Peter Parker.
@@truffle6082 That is a possibility.
@@truffle6082 i heard that future seasons (maybe not season 3) would have had his college life and eventually focus somewhat on his marriage, not sure how true this is.
Avatar the last Airbender tho
The one thing I have to disagree with you about is the shows introduction of Mary Jane. You have to keep in mind that this show was made by fans of the source material. The way she is introduced in this show is a direct adaptation of how Mary Jane was introduced in the lee/ditko/romita Era of "amazing spider-man." Peter avoids meeting her because he doesn't trust his aunts judgement then when they finally meet for the first time he opens the door and realizes that he was being stupid. It's very sit com esque and for spider-man fans the way those characters meet for the first time is just iconic. So for me I don't mind the moment because it's a slightly modernized adaptation of a story I already like. Also the reason Peter freaks out when aunt may says "she has a wonderful personality" is because for a long time there was a cultural attitude that if someone lead by talking about a potential dates "personality" when describing them then they were likely trying to hide a lot of their negative qualities. Given how the dating scene has changed over the last few decades you don't see people expressing that belief as much nowadays but this show was made in the early 2000s when it was definitely more common place.
How much they knew the material before writting the show is up for debate. Also he understood why Peter acted that way, he was just making fun of him for being a shallow dick.
@@fightingmedialounge519 Peter Parker can be a shallow dick sometimes, he's not this holy being incapable of being selfish or shallow. The whole MJ scene argument makes very little sense to me because it assumes that Peter Parker always has to have a moral dilemma with every decision he makes. It's a teenager not trusting the judgement of his aunt but then realising that he always fumbled the bag so incredibly hard.
@@fightingmedialounge519 dude they knew everything from the comics from 1962 to 2007 at least, it was made by fans for fans
@@ItsDee_ that wasn't the argument, and I really don't think there was an argument. He was just making a joke at Peter's expense.
@@SpectacularSpidey670 dude, you do understand the concept of readership right. Steady yourself. I'm not saying they didn't care about Spiderman before they started working on this show. My point ho much they knew already and how much result of them doing research for the show isn't ever made completely clear by them.
I super disagree with what you say about peter destroying the symbiote.
He's pretty stuck in regards to sharing how the symbiote has been dangerous, because he can't share is double life, and he can't reveal that spider-man was compromised at a time when trust in him is critically low.
And I think he was pretty confident that freezing the symbiote would destroy it.
He doesn't need to share all details to get his point across. Also knows the symbiote is unnatural durable, so you would think he be extra careful when killing it.
which is funny because a symbiotes weakness is heat and sound so freezing it would do next to nothing since it lived in the vacuum of space
@@sdbzfan1 This vaccume of space argument is insane seeing as any living organism wouldn't freeze over in space do to there not being an atmosphere, you would retain all your internal heat and temperature wise be relatively fine unless exposed to the extreme cold of space for a prolonged time
I got his point, it was a little off but not as horrible as it could be since anyway if spiderman explained and the symbote scaped it would still cloud eddie's judgement as he pleased. The result would be the same but with a better execution. Still it doesn't take much from the other scenes to me.
Well for one do you really think that Peter would know that it’s fire and not ice. He knows one is sound but that’s about it
Ur knocking Mj’s introduction but I think that “face it tiger, you hit the jackpot” is like one of the top famous lines in Spider-Man along with the responsibility speech
Regarding Otto’s lack of build up, I mostly agree, but there is one scene that makes him more sinister: When he describes the Rhino armor’s features, he rants about it in a way that seems prideful, followed by shining glasses and mad scientist music before Norman interrupts him. That seems off from someone who was supposedly sad about Flint Marko’s assumed death.
I was about to bring that up. It’s small but it’s there, Otto’s rambling about Rhino made it seem that he was enjoying making supervillain more than he let on.
I think he was naturally this meek character but being irradiated to all hell and having the assumed AI from the arms go haywire from the chip melting caused him to snap
I personally didn't think that Otto needed a sinister build up. He was a man who was constantly abused because he had no power, so when he finally did get power he snapped and used it to dominate everyone to never feel "weak" again. I think it's a perfect origin story.
@@Obi-Wan_Kenobi I prefer him having a connection to Peter before his fall, but okay.
@@Obi-Wan_Kenobi I much prefer this analysis! I think it's reasonable since it doesn't render his previous timid personality as insincere. He was being pushed around relentlessly, that humane quality preventing him from lashing out was totally diminished when the apparatus' AI corrupted him. Realistically he had nothing holding him back from standing up for himself anymore.
One complain I have is that not every villain needs to have an emotional connection to Peter/Spider-man. This is a tv show with at least 2 fight scenes every episode, if every fight makes Peter re-evaluate how he's handling things, then he never really grows, because then his growth would become diminished by constantly learning a new lesson. Sometimes a villain is just a hired gun without much emotional weight, that doesn't mean there can't be an emotional weight, but it doesn't mean that focus should be made right off the bat. The bigger villains like Goblin, Tombstone, and Venom have that kind of development because they're the big villains with bigger story arcs.
When the show was made, they planned to go through Peter's entire High School career, then have direct-to-DVD movies depicting his College years. That's a lot of time that they were probably planning to eventually give certain development to certain characters. This isn't a movie franchise where they have to adapt all the big moments and speed through certain development to put these characters in their prime. It's a tv show with a bunch of smaller stories gradually building up an overarching plot, and those plans for future plots were sadly cut short before they had the chance to be developed.
Not every fight is the ultimate battle between good and evil, not every fight has a big emotional stake, and not every villain will immediately have a deep backstory or personality that's immediately delved into, because where would you go from there? Shocker isn't immediately this super complex character because to him, it's just a job. He doesn't have a personal vendetta, he just follows the money. There is stuff that can be delved into about his character, but it would be unwise to immediately focus on that at the start of the show.
THANK YOU. Omg you put thoughts into text exactly , and more.
Thank you. Could never have worded it better
Bro, I cannot abide by the level of MJ slander in this video! Saying she was a one note character was like a bullet through my heart!
Oh, and I gotta add: this is my favorite version of Mary Jane. While she didn’t have a lot of development in what we got, I liked that she was more emotionally and socially smart compared to her peers, and that she was flirty without it being creepy. Also, that while Peter finds her attractive, she isn’t an actual love interest and her and Peter’s relationship isn’t in that level yet. Also, you could argue there’s hints in the show that she already knows Peter’s secret.
Another thing to note is that Mary Jane was an extrovert but still a good person. Too often it seems like extroverts are portrayed like Sally Avril (who MJ put in her place when she tried to talk down to her)
I like how she and Gwen are friends and she knows she has a think for Peter and tries to help her out.
I heard that Peter and MJ would've ended up together had the show not been cancelled
@@youngclueless7364 If the show had gotten post-high school movies, maybe. But their relationship was a VERY slow burn.
Yeah, there is a lot of depth with MJ in this show! Like she has a very different personality from the other characters in this show, she's very confident and independent but it's to the point where she doesn't like getting close to other characters. She's still really nice and caring (she actually tries saving people during supervillain fights which is more than most characters would do), but she's very noncommittal at an emotional level.
And that's exactly the way MJ was portrayed in the early years of the comics! She was fun, nice, and a good person but lacked the ability to commit. We later learned that this was because she had a really hard home life so she distracted herself by having fun while making sure she never became so close to someone that they could hurt her. Only later did she learn to let people in and that's the moment she and Peter could begin to have a real relationship, because she stuck around in spite of her fear of being hurt. (There is a video by NerdSync called "The origin of Mary Jane and Peter's relationship", watch that if you want the full story).
Spectacular directly adapted that MJ and they did it so well. MJ has an extremely strong and clear characterization, stronger than most of the supporting cast even though she entered the show later. Later we get hints of her noncommittal-ness being a problem with her relationship with Mark and I promise you that they would have explored the reason for why she was like this in a later episodes. That is phenomenal writing, to strongly establish a character and later explore the backstory of what made that character have that personality.
I actually want to defend the logic of what Peter did with possible logic he did. Peter was still in a heightened emotional state that made him focused on killing the symbiote. The symbiote is a living organism which means it is prone to be affected by changes in temperature. Most organisms won’t survive in extreme heat or cold so Peter as a scientist would know this and attempt to kill it in one of two ways: extreme cold or heat. He would have no reason to assume that the symbiote could survive either so assumed it would die based on scientific logic.
I like your argument and want to take it.......................but the fact the symbiote survived the freezing cold vacuum of space unprotected is a sign that the cold would not have worked.
And too my knowledge Peter should have known this since I don't recall Jameson's shuttle ever making contact with another planet.
@@R0-83-RT The cold of space might not be as dangerous as it being a vacuum would prevent heat from being lost as easily. I believe I heard that it can be dangerous to overheat in space for this reason, as there is not a good way of removing the heat. So, the symbiote surviving in space might not indicate a resistance to cold climates.
Though, you should fact check me here.
@Daniel Ma I am no astrophysicist, so I really can hardly claim to be an expert on this stuff. What I do know is the vaccum of space has tempatures far below that of freezing, around negative -455 fahrenheit.
Even if heat loss is reduced I would think survival in that environment without protection show signs of cold resistance since it is a tempature far lower than 32 degrees fahrenheit, the temperature at which water freezes and the human body would freeze to death if exposed long enough.
@@R0-83-RT I understand your logic, and it makes sense. However, I think there is something important missing.
From what I understand, heat is mainly transferred on contact between objects. In the vacuum of space, you will come into contact with few external objects that lower your body temperature, especially as effectively no air can remove some of the heat.
When the organism does any action, including cellular functions, I believe, it should produce heat waste.
With that, the symbiote shouldn't have any concern of cold, due to being in a vacuum where heat doesn't leave, meaning it will not get cold. It should be a case of space being cold, but it not resulting in you experiencing that cold. Instead, you would experience intense heat.
As such, I still disagree on surviving in space being a sign of resistance to cold. Regardless, I find the discussion fun and imagine Peter didn't need to think that hard about pressing the cold button.
@@danielma7281 After what you said last I decided to do a small bit of research, and from what I can find you're right, an organic body would not be threatened by the low temperature due to the lack of an atmosphere. It is kind of funny to think about, astroids and other objects can be seen frozen, yet due to the environment or lack there of, an organism would not need protection from the cold. Very interesting.
I genuinely think Spectacular Spider-Man is one of the top 5 if not top 3 animated shows of all time. It's one of those few shows that gets *better* when I rewatch it because I notice so many more details that give the show depth.
One of my favorite aspects is that with a few exceptions almost every character is established and/or introduced before they become a costumed villain
I remember having a DVD of Spectacular Spider-Man as a kid since I didn’t really have anything to watch on TV, so I usually stayed entertained by this show as a kid. I miss those days.
The episode where Spidey is trying to get rid of the symbiote and having that internal battle with himself is one of my all time faves. It's such a great way to do the origin story and it understands the character SO well. I always dreamed about something like that making it into a movie someday.
Good idea to cover this now, while Spidey is on everyone's minds.
I hope this series works out well for ya!
I was gonna make a series about this show inspired by your other "as great as we remember?" videos, but now you've done it for me!
god i love this show. greg weisman did a SPECTACULAR job.
I love this show but have absolutely no nostalgia for it. I remember when it came out I specifically avoided it because I thought it looked like a kids show. It was only in the past few years when I decided to give it a chance and it quickly became one of my favorite adaptations of all time
I would say for a kids cartoon this show puts a little more effort than expected, especially when it is primarily an action show. This makes it that much more special for fans of Spiderman and those just being introduced to Spiderman. I think that's what makes Spectacular looked upon so fondly even if it may falter at times in writing or presentation. It feels this show made a genuine effort to entertain.
Spectacular Spider-Man is one of those cartoons like Avatar that no matter how old you get it not only holds up but you get to appreciate a lot of aspects of the series you didn't as a kid.
Just want to say that I loved how they handled MJ in the show as a whole. I’m not a fan of Spidey adaptations that start early in his career that go for MJ right off the bat. I like it when they are the endgame couple and not the first one. It’s one of the reasons I love MJ in this. She is incredibly comic accurate and incredibly supportive of everyone. I do feel that we would’ve gotten to see more behind her curtain in future seasons, but what we got is still one of the best adaptations of her.
I would love to have a third season of this show, and with Spider-Man hype being at an all time high, old shows being revived, and the possibility that Spectacular Spidey could appear in Spiderverse, I have high hopes we can get a continuation.
I also hardcore disagree about the venom situation. Why would petter explain in a lot of detail why he is destroying the Symbiote besides just saying it’s bad and needs to die the situation is far too complicated for him to explain. Then when it comes for waiting for it to be destroyed he isn’t supposed to be there he is technically breaking in the kill the symbiote with someone in the room. If he stays too long which he wouldn’t know how long that would be. The police could be called and the situation would get more complicated. Also from how it froze why wouldn’t he assume it’s destroyed. It makes complete sense for him to just brush it off and leave because he is doing what he thinks is best and what he did would be enough. Not him being out of character or stupid. So I’m just going to have to say this was a bad take
yeah, not to mention explaining the situation could expose his identity to a guy who was very pissed at him at that moment, and peter is a biology nerd, it's natural he would assume the symbiote would die when it was literally frozen solid (most things do)
Yeah, I agree with you too that Lowart's take on this matter is completely flawed and nitpicky. It was pretty annoying to hear him talking about it as if it was that bad as he perceived it. Like, he said it himself at the beginning of the video, most of Peter's mistake come from him having to deal with too many things at once, having to keep up with information, with other's sensibilities and situations/context on the spot, while considering many other factors, and the tiring effect that, plus the whole vigilante action takes a strong toll on him and his decision making. Also, he expects way too much fast paced progress in Peter, as if one person learns something and then never unlearns it or gets challenged based on it and fails.
I didn't need a lot of detail. Even just a simple "It's sentient, tried to possess me, and tried to hurt people" would have been enough for me. Also, while I understand he couldn't stick around for a super long time to make sure it's destroyed due to police and such, it's not like the police would get there immediately. He would at least have a little more time to make sure freezing it works.
Of course, that's just my opinion though. If you thought it was fine, that's fair. Whether it's an issue or not is subjective.
I would agree about Peter's voice, but he spent a good deal of time talking with Eddie in a previous episode while dressed as Spider-Man, so I don't think that's what the show was going for in this case.
@@Lowart I get that, your opinion is valid too :)
Spectacular Spider Man Is One Of The Greatest Spider Man Animated Series Of All Times 🧡
One thing that I wish had been expounded upon more with Venom is that the symbiote is *lying* to Eddie by omission. The symbiote only shows Eddie the parts of Peter's life as Spider-Man where he was the most self-seeking or opportunistic; essentially, only the parts that would feed Eddie's hatred of him. The symbiote *knows* that whole reason Eddie was angry at Peter in the first place was because he thought Peter abandoned them during the Connors arc, and it DELIBERATELY WITHHOLDS this information from Eddie to ensure its own survival and get revenge on Peter. It made it really tragic when Eddie developed a dependency due to the feeling of power and control the symbiote gave him. I wish the show would have had a chance to explore this more. It's like in Star Wars when the Emperor never tells Anakin that the Separatists are on Mustafar because he *ordered* them to be there and that he was responsible for the other side of the conflict as well. Knowing this would have affected their decision!
I'm fully convinced this show would have rivaled Batman: The Animated Series if it had been allowed to continue.
Yeah the symbiote is like a drug that Eddie got hopelessly addicted to, Peter almost went down the same path too. I also like that there’s small themes of drug addiction that are explored in the show with Harry Osborn drinking that serum to make him stronger. He got so hooked on it he had to check into rehab.
The Eddie issue would have been SO easy to fix, too. Imagine Eddie tries to free the symbiote as Peter tried to kill it. Perhaps Peter hurts Eddie or simply fails to stop him. I don't think that would change much of anything and it feels both sides of this conflict.
One more rewrite could have resulted in an action taken in keeping with Peter's character, while still setting up Venom. It all comes down to not enough minutes left in the episode to implement it, so we got the ham fisted conclusion instead.
@@chrisosborn6401 yeah that's exactly what I was thinking. I remember that scene being VERY fast.
I'm of the mind trying to kill it in general is the main issue
because he tries to kill it eddie thinks he cost him his job and the symbiote now has a reason to want revenge, remember getting it off didn't hurt it yeah rejecting it may have been like leaving an ex girlfriend but imagine you also tried to dump her body off a cliff I think she has every reason to now want to murder you and ruin your life since you did first
There was no issue. Eddie's hatred of Peter had been seeping out since early on in the season and once the it reached the boiling point, Brock willingly became Venom.
Its not really an issue. It's established that Eddie was already kind of a dick. The Lizard incident and Spidey seemingly destroying the symbiote is enough.
I really love Spectacular Spider-Man.
I think they handle the Black Suit story arc pretty great. What I like about Spidey's black suit is that looks like Sam Raimi's version. But it slowly transforms into his original look in the comics. It is the symbolism of Pete's downward spiral of his own darkness.
I kinda get with your criticism of Eddie Brock. He is essentially a combination of 616 and Ultimate versions. I think writers slowly turn Brock into a jerk to Peter, but I feel that they rush it a bit.
If I recall correctly the Doctor octopus thing was actually explained. They did it like the Spider-Man 2 movie where the microchip in the back that was controlling the arms was messed with and or broken during one of the experiments he was doing, and the AI and the arms themselves are what pushed him over the edge and changed his whole attitude.
Yup. Someone uploaded the epsiodes on youtube. Hd as well. Shows the chip melting.
yeah, admittedly it hasn't aged super well since the show seems to assume people watched the movie
To be honest the forced miscommunication in the venom plot didn't bother me as much as some other plot contrivances. It's still contrived, yeah, but it happens right after the symbiote giving Peter a majorly traumatic flashback to his uncle's death and he's probably still running on adrenaline after escaping it. It makes sense he'd be thinking nothing but "oh god kill it" and mess up not explaining things to Eddie cos well.. he's exhausted and just desparate for this whole thing to be over. You would think that in this situation he'd care more about making sure it was dead though. But again, he's exhausted as hell after the worst day ever and just wants to get this done and get out of there. It's still a stupid decision but it doesn't seem like an implausible mistake to make in a situation of heightened emotion.
Or idk, maybe I'm just more willing to forgive one moment of bad writing when the rest of the episode was great, I dunno!
It's funny how the show tried to keep Green Goblin's identity a secret like they did in the comics, it worked there because Green Goblin was new character, but it doesn't work in an adaptation when everyone knows it's Norman Osborn.
What i like about spectacular is that it is just a Spider-Man story it doesn’t try to introduce other heroes like other Spider-Man shows do it really gives you the sense that the city would fall apart without spidey
You know would be awesome?
If Batman and Spider-Man had a conversation together, and Batman tells Spider-Man not to let go of his life outside of Spider-Man. I definitely know Peter has learnt this lesson plenty of times in his own comics and films. But I think it would be cool if the two had a conversation about double lives.
That would be interesting to see?
Alright, I gotta say it. The vibe you're supposed to get from "Ms. Wonderful Personality" is that she's ugly. The idea goes that there are a ton of things to compliment a girl on like her face, her hair, her eyes, or her physique. If your go to compliment is her personality then you're avoiding the fact that she's ugly.
That's why Peter and Harry shiver at the words "wonderful personality"; they think Mary Jane has to be ugly. That's why Peter is so astonished when he finds out M.J. is actually hot. Not that this fixes your complaint, but yeah.
It is unfair that this show got 2 seasons and Ultimate got 4 seasons. Darn legal disputes...
Ultimate was trash compared to this.
@@derrickdaniels3955 true
@@derrickdaniels3955 yeah it kinda was. but ultimate was kinda good
@@coringamoo3534 on its own yes
Thanks for this video.
I didn't see a lot of this series and teen Peter never really engaged me as much as his older and more developed, but a glad this Peter has a praiseworthy series to showcase him.
Yikes, that's full of typos. But I can't destroy the heart now ;) .
@Lowart
Would you consider going through The 90s Spider-Man series after Spectacular Spider-Man. It is probably the second most praised Spider-Man series
"Though that may not be saying much considering how heavily critiqued the newer shows are, and how poorly some of the really old Spider-Man shows are."
Regardless it be cool to see if you take an interest. The 90s series is currently available on Disney Plus.
The dude josh literally brought his A material as lines such as “ no, in fact my fans demand a certain number of quips in a battle”
I just recently started watching this on Netflix. I’ve gone through the whole first season and some of season 2. As far as season one goes, it’s the best piece of Spider-Man media I’ve seen in a very long time. I think that the ending of season one was just perfect, Peter finally realizing that Spider-Man isn’t a curse. He came to terms knowing he’s going to have bad days and Spider-Man will be at fault, but he puts his friends, family, and basically everyone in New York over his own mental and physical health. I also just loved how of all people that made him realize he was turning into someone awful with the symbiote, it was Flash Thompson who helped him see that the symbiote was breaking not just Peter, but Spider-Man as well. That moment of Peter thanking Flash for essentially saving Spider-Man was everything I would’ve hoped for. Peter just being friends with everybody while at the same time being an absolute toy that everyone plays with just works because Peter is just that good of a person. The entire show is just fantastic, and don’t get me started on the title sequence. The title sequence alone should convince anyone to watch the show lol.
truly yes the best spiderman cartoon ever
Agreed
I don't think that's saying much, considering it's competition. Still a pretty good show though!
This is almost dream come true - your channel is perfect to analyze this cartoon. Strange that it was somehow overlooked by the popular content creators thus far.
I’ve binge watched the show over the weekend and I really wish this show had continued! I think this is one of if not the best interpretations of the character and his world
I can see why the situation with the symbiote and the transition to Venom didn't sit right with you, but to be fair, if Spider-Man did explain the situation to Eddie right at that moment, it's not like Eddie would even take his word for his right then and there. After all the stuff Eddie's been through, he probably would've just seen Spider-Man as a liar trying to hide the fact that he's cowardly thug. And I'd imagine that Peter only left in such a hurry to keep things from escalating further. He's still 15-year-old teenage who probably couldn't bear to hear his oldest friend scold him further. I personally think the scene helps to show Peter's flaws without making him come off as a complete idiot (unlike Ultimate Spider-Man), but that's just my opinion. I feel like you're being a bit too harsh on Peter making a mistake here, but it's one I can somewhat understand.
Aww yeah my favorite Spiderman cartoon of all time. Also great to see this series returning on your channel.
The fights are absolutely phenomenal and the characters are all really clearly developed
without watching the video: yes, absolutely. i recently re-watched the entire series, and i only do that with series i think are magnificent.
How fitting I just finished season 1 yesterday. 😁 Love seeing your videos. Been here ever since the FMA comparisons.
I just Finished binging this show today, that is the biggest coincidence i’ve ever been apart of
Spectacular Spider-Man is the only cartoon has ever adapted Stan Lee and Steve Dicko's 60's comic stories and tones.
That's very rare to every spider-man cartoons and really wish this type of adaptation comes out more.
If memory serves me correctly about season 4 hobgoblin,and carnage were supposed to be villains in it,hence the interaction where we saw Cletus Cassidy in an asylum
Yes, it’s Spectacular. Heck, I love this cartoon more than the Live Action films.
I am the same. I understand and respect the Sam Rami films as this series takes inspiration from those films to do it while it was at its height. Though I find that this series does it better than the Rami films to me because it feels more closer to the comics than what Rami started doing to me.
Spectacular sucks. watch S.K.’s video about it.
@@nmlego how about…
no. Seems to me that you mostly just watch negative videos and all.
how about what?
My only one minor gripe about this review is that you’re breaking these episodes down into arcs. By doing so, I feel you’re limiting yourself to a specific portion of the narrative which means any potential complaint you would’ve had for an episode in that specific “arc” could’ve already been answered/fixed in another episode in another “arc.” Spectacular Spider-Man isn’t like, say, Teen Titans where it has some episodic episodes and some episodes that are connected. Almost every episode in Spectacular ties into each other in one way or another that makes it a cohesive narrative from beginning to end. So, splitting these episodes into arcs just doesn’t seem right to me when criticizing the show.
Other then that, I really liked your analysis and appreciate you going further with criticism (even if I don’t agree with some complaints) as it feels most issues with this show are often neglected. So, it’s great seeing a different perspective in regards to what didn’t work. I especially agree with the critique regarding Electro and how the personal dilemma Peter initially faced should’ve been explored just a little bit deeper. Overall, I look forward to seeing the next part in this analysis. Great work
The show is broken down into Arcs though that's why the episode gave certain names
The arcs bleed into each other quite a bit. When you think something is wrapped up with a tiny bow, the box is opened up again. The sinister six, started off as Ock’s personal Spider-Man revenge squad, but it was the progenitor to him being a major underworld figure and mob boss by cornering the new supervillain market.
The thing you said about Eddy becoming Venom could have been so easily fixed by the producers too, just make it like Eddy was sneaking on the room or something and Spiderman didn't actually realize he was there or something similar and it woulda been better
I’m at 8 mins in but these are the mistakes Peter should be making, not the mistakes like sending a drone strike to attack him and his friends. Mistakes that effect his RELATIONSHIPs and doesn’t make him look stupid.
I never got why Eddie was so mad at Peter after he figured out he was Spider-Man. His look should’ve changed. He saved Dr. Connors. He wasn’t a cheap bailer, he was a hero.
It was always a internal hatred and partially jealousy. While Eddie got fucked over Spiderman accidentally stealing the symbiote and Gwen liking Peter more, his main motivation deep within seems to be the fact that Peter still had his aunt and uncle while Eddie didn't have any family members
Good point
yeah Eddie's whole villainous motivation in this show is kind of flimsy to me. As we speak, I'm actually writing my OWN review on the Spectacular Spider-Man. As of now, I'm thinking of calling it: "The Spectacular Spider-Man (Animated Series) Review | Was it really THAT Good?"
I haven’t seen any of the spectacular Spider-Man, but I love Ultimate Spider-Man. That episode with Deadpool still kills me whenever I watch it.
Spectacular is a lot better you'd probably like it
It was a great show. It’s a shame that they never made a season 3.
They were going to introduce the Hobglobin and Carnage in season 3. But you know legal issues arise between Sony and Disney.
@@brucebanana4486 Yeah, once Disney owned the merchandising, video game and television rights of Spider-Man, Sony had to drop this show and Disney made Ultimate Spider-Man instead.
Yes, it absolutely is I just finnished it. it is just as good as everyone remember. Geez there are so many good things about it it’s phenomenal
This is like, the most upbeat you've ever been, and I'm just SO HERE for that.
this show is so perfect to me i've watched it 5 times over and it gets better every time.
Your reaction to the wonderful personality line made this entire video worth it even beyond your normal analysis. Also your point about venom is an interesting one. I thought you were going to bring up what I noticed when I first saw that scene. Eddie hates Peter and Spiderman because of several misunderstandings do to their shared identity . So him getting and learning their the same person should eliminate most of Eddie's hostility. Now you could assume the symbiote is clouding Eddie's judgment and hiding information, but that's not really confirmed until much later.
Eddie hates Peter because deep down, he resents him for supposedly having more breaks than him. That's why when those misunderstandings come up, Eddie quickly becomes bitter and vindictive.
@@parkerboy795 Yeah, that's what the whole clouding Eddie's judgment and hiding information part of my comment was reffreing to. At least in part.
The thing about the nice personality was making fun of the fact that girls described as having a “nice personality” and nothing else, was usually interpreted as them being ugly. They of course flipped this trope and made Peter’s date Mary Jane, which is why he was surprised. He thought aunt may was telling him she was ugly, or at least that’s what he gathered from it
Man, that was it!! I cannot wait to see the next part of this review of the next season!! Spectacular Spider Man was a great show for me. I still remember it to this day. I cannot wait to rewatch it sometime. And I cannot wait to see your next review about the show!!
this show works so well because of the effort they took to set up the characters so the conflict often felt unavoidable
also, one of my favourite little details in the show is the gradual change in the venom suit between episodes, it's so cool
I watched this as a kid but I only remembered like one or two scenes when i rewatched it recently. So, free of nostalgia, it still held up really well and all of the characters were handled super well.
Regarding the Symbiote, I do agree PARTLY with how Peter handled the situation when it came to Symbiote and Brock. However, one thing that I thought was fairly obvious was that if he explained what the symbiote actually is, the first question that would come up is "how do you know this" and at that point, he would have to admit to stealing the symbiote INTENTIONALLY (he was framed for it originally) which could've caused some more issues and questions. "So you ARE A menace!" "If you want me to believe you, show me your face." Brock already believes that Spider-man stole the symbiote. I do think that trying to freeze the fucking alien from the cold vacuums of space was a little bit of big brain moment though.
so i love the final episode of season 1 BUT i think it would of worked better if venom attacked peter in the school, during the school hours and peter has to try to go dress up as spiderman while also helping out everyone from venom, with the end of the season eddie brock tells the world that peter parker is spiderman, leading to season 2 being more focused on bad guys effecting peter parker and an entire investigation going on about him.
Yeah, that might have made things flow a little better.
I prefer the 1994 cartoon, but this was still a great show. It's as spectacular as we remember.
Every cartoon you look back on is in my top 10 cartoons of all time and I love it. Need samurai jack next
Yep I always hated that Peter never reflected on that, instead I wanted him to try to speak then fight, however he always fight then maybe talk😂😂, that happened multiple times
What do you mean?
@@djmeagaaim17 he usually assume the person with power evil and did it on purpose, but for example Mark was being controlled, other villains too
The shocker and tombstone quotes were the best in the series imo. Tombstone straight makes Peter understand he's fighting a war he can never win and tombstone is Peter learning that he has to continue to fight that war because it's his responsibility
This Mary Jane pays the best homage to the comic book and the visual reference is real too!
13 years later and only now I notice that newspaper that reports on Chameleon-Spidey crime spree also mentiones Venom... who has yet to even appear.
Then again, only now I noticed that there's an actual cohesive text in that article, so cudos to the team for attention to detail, even if some mistakes happened along the way.
I might be gravely mistaken but I do recall Spectacular being praised highly for the fight scenes it has, not so much for the plot or developments back in the day. The show was indeed a spectacle.
Even just that small nod to carnage in the group therapy scene which doc ock and electro was soo cool
can we talk about the small things that i love about this take on peter/spider-man. like when he was fighting the sinister 6 one of them broke out the web & spider-man makes a quip out loud but in his head he says “man i gotta start making that stuff stronger” or when his suit got too big in the winter & he had to change it. i love the small details.
Missed opportunity to say "maybe it'll even be SPECTACULAR" at the end there XD
Eddie screams out to spider-man that the temperature will kill the symbiote or something and spidey has to take his word for it.
👏👏👏 great review dude! Watched the whole thing and agree with it all. Spider-Man is one of those heroes that would never do anything mean or against his friends. Even if they were mind controlled or something Spider-Man would rather find a way to immobilize instead of hurting them. So this Spider-Man not even explaining why you’re about to destroy someone’s career right in front of them is ridiculous. Eddie Brock is his friend so him doing that is not in his character.
True and then he'll sell his marriage to the devil for good measure
Spider-Man is still human. He makes mistakes.
@@Drums_of_Liberation You can thank the executives for that.
@@parkerboy795 nah. Just Joe the Hack Quesada. Even JMS hated writing One More Day.
He does handles killing the symbiote in the ultimate spiderman comic run the same way. These are moments I just have to chock up to him being an emotional kid who gets angry or overserious and neglects to consider his friend's emotion. At the same time, killing the symbiote would be better in the long run for everyone. Still rubbed me the wrong way though so its good to see others think so too.
Whether it is as great as we remember is up for debate, but no doubt it deserves more than 2 seasons, at least in my opinion.
I think part of why some of the aspects of the spectacular spiderman were a bit less developed is the fact that disney ripped it out of the creator's hands. you can tell they had a lot planned, especially from the last episode. i think this show would have absolutely taken off if it got the third season it so richly deserved.
And now Josh Keaton, The Spectacular Spider-Man himself is back in Across the Spiderverse!
Petition for a season 3. Season 2 finale finished on a cliff hanger with so many loose ends that have yet to be tightened. I feel like whenever a series gets cancelled, they should at least make a half season 5-7 episodes to wrap it up and attempt to make the it whole. They should never just end it abruptly.
Also floating heads is an iconic Spider-Man iconography
"With great power..." Has almost become as much a part of the lexicon as referring to an Achilles Heel as Kryptonite. (And Spidey-sense probably is as common)
Respectfully disagree regarding the whole thing about the villains, Dr Octopus especially. Personally the contrast between his meek nice attitude pre-transformation and his insane egomaniac self after it is what sold this as one of my favourite Doctor Octopus ever, because it made it all the more shocking. The transformation might lack build-up, but to me it helped make him creepier.
What Peter supposed to tell Eddie? “Yeah I stole the thing and used it for my benefit but I’m going to kill it now” like would that have worked out any better for him?? I’m sorry that just feels silly that is such an unforgivable “mistake’
This was the best version of spidey, and the animation kicked ass. But one thing about this Spiderman universe is.. The characters in this spiderman cartoon glasses stay on their faces without the bar the go on the ear. Because I notice all the character's that "wear glasses", Aunt May, Gwen, Doc.Otto, Peter when his gets his powers etc glasses are just sitting on their face which is impossible without the bar on the ear.
Never got around to watching this series, kind of cool to see it as an outsider looking in
I appreciate the critique on the needless needless miscommunication on Eddie. Fortunately I still enjoy the arc regardless. But yes, it is definitely a common thing I've noticed, when writers are kinda in a narrative corner (or sometimes just lazy/time constraints), they end up making the characters do whatever it takes to progress the plot. Kinda sucks, cause there were definitely better ways to handle it.
Anyway, this is still my favorite animated Spider-Man. Didn't like the art style at first, but the fight choreography and storytelling caught me off guard, in the best way possible. Still got my Blu Ray from several years back.
These type of moments are pretty common in Spiderman stories.
the issue I had with venom in Spectacular Spider-Man is that, after Eddie gets the symbiote back from the lab he has no justifiable reason to hate peter anymore. His reason for hating peter was that peter was taking pictures of lizard and making money easy and that he didn't call the police when he "saw" the suit almost get stolen but after he gets the suit he should know that peter was there helping the lizard and tried to stop the suit from being taken, in addition he should that the suit was corrupting peter and making it where he wanted to keep it from capture. i know the suit was corrupting Eddie mind and I would be fine with that logic, BUT!! in season 2 Eddie of his own free will tried to mess with peter's life and distract him from saving lives when he should know that peter wasn't a bad guy and in season 2 he gets his job back easy and has no reason to go after peter anymore. I like venom in the comics because Eddie was trying to do something good but was punished for it even if was farming the wrong guy for the sin eater thing, and in the comics Eddie has admitted he was being stupid and dumb and was looking for an outlet for his problems. I love this show more than any other Spider-Man show and maybe if it went on longer we would have seen this happen in the future and Eddie would have had regret, since we did see him get sent to a psych ward and carnage was met to appear because we see Cletus in the show, maybe if show went on longer we would have seen this but we may never know
Great idea for a video series! I hope you someday go back to analyse seasons 2 and 3 of Avatar, and I also hope to see you tackling all classic 2D Mario games!
Cheers, and Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year!
I know the joke's lost on you younger kids, but back then describing a girl as "she has a nice personality" meant she wasn't a looker, or she wasn't pretty. Peter read that as people making a backhanded remark versus Aunt May saying it earnest. That's the setup and the payoff is its Mary Jane Watson. It turns out Peter misread Aunt May's remark because there's an age difference and Aunt May didn't know what she said may have had negative implications.
NUMBER 1- LOVE THE INTRO, ITS NOT CHEESEY AT ALL
The 1997 spider man is still the goat x men blade punnisher morbious venom dr strange and many more a fantastic amazingly well made show that still holds up
“Tell mama, who’s the big man~” SIR????
This show has easily my favorite version of Shocker. He's smart and an actual threat.
Too much spiderman fights?? It's like saying you have too much ice cream. I never get tired about this amazing fight scenes
Danny phantom has amazing fight scenes too 😊❤
I do think this series isn't perfect but it's honestly really great and probably the best Spider Man show so far, and I really hope future shows continue taking notes from it