Spectacular Spider-Man Series Review

DIEGO'S NOTE: The 7 year anniversary of The Spectacular Spider-Man was yesterday so I thought I should give my thoughts on this matter.

This is a SPOILER FREE  review/analysis of Spectacular Spider-Man. You can read this and then go buy the series later. Just trust me on this.

Through the dark reign of mediocre to flat out awful Spider-Man movies from 2007-2014, there was little in the way of good Spider-Man entertainment(1). The post Civil War story 'One More Day' literally crashed the economy (look at the timeline), The Amazing Spider-Man movies were so bad, they had to reboot into another franchise to keep Spidey afloat. But in 2008, there was a glimmer of hope. Sadly, I didn't fully involve myself with the series until early 2014. Rarely do I find myself filled with such regret.

This is first and foremost a television series. Spectacular Spider-Man tells better written stories than a large majority of TV shows currently being broadcast. It being an animated series is just a way to make it inexpensive, with fights that are choreographed as well as anything in the Raimi films. The seemingly simple artistic style lets the artists work on an easy template of character designs and structure while allowing them more time to work on that fun punchy stuff we love so much. 

Creator Greg Weisman is a big fan of Shakespeare and you can tell from the structure of this series (also checkout his Gargoyles series).  It becomes blatantly (not in a bad way) inspired in the final arc of the series as DRAMA becomes the focus of it. The duology of season's implement a 4 act structure, with every 3-4 episodes containing an over-arching theme that relates to the course studies Peter and his friends are struggling to get through in high school. 

Weisman and company break it down even further by allowing episodes to take on their own stories, so every episode becomes vital, and a larger piece of a puzzle. Especially when the series takes on the identity of the Green Goblin. An episode in the arc of CHEMISTRY culminates with on Halloween and the concept of masks, and who these characters truly are.

I wish most shows would go with this direction, as a full length season isn't always able to sustain itself on such a large number of episode requirements (See: Arrow this season). 

What gives the thematic arcs more weight is the dual focus on the life of Peter Parker as Spider-Man and his personal life outside the suit. The friends and enemies he makes as Peter Parker expire his emotional strengths and weaknesses while the friends and enemies he makes as Spidey impact his physical core. It's a virtue many Spider-Man iterations forget to focus on. Spider-Man 3 falls under the weight of heavy focus on Parker melodrama and The Amazing Spider-Man movies forget who is beneath the mask (physically and literally). 

What makes Peter Parker continue to resonate with people of all ages is his struggle as an up and coming superhero while going through life as a teenager. He fucks up. He unintentionally cuts people out of his life, some even turn against him and his Spider-Man persona. 

We see his initial status quo with his initial group of friends and family (which evolves as the series continues) comprising of Gwen Stacy, Harry Osborn, Eddie Brock, and Aunt May as they were his foundation prior to becoming a superhero. Peter begins growing more confident as the series progresses, sometimes more cocksure than anything, and it causes a ripple effect with how people around him treat him. Peter can be an asshole once in a while, but the series recognizes this and gives him consequences for his actions. He's remorseful for how he wrongs people or puts them into a position to be wrong, it doesn't try to posture him as an infallible wannabe James Dean. 

Weisman understands what makes the world of Spider-Man so great on the page and influences the character in a way that makes for a good adaptation: No shot-for-shot, copy and paste bullshit. Spectacular Spider-Man sticks to the thematic conceit of Spider-Man, honoring the great web-tales of old, while updating them for a more contemporary feel, and even changing things to help tell the story Weisman wants to tell (2).

A favorite change of mine is an instance with Black Cat (who is marvelous here, btw) where a part of her past coincides with Peter's history as Spider-Man, but nothing ridiculous like "genetic DNA made you Spider-Man."

On the subject of women surrounding Spider-Man's life: They're not women in Spider-Man's life, they're women in this world where Spider-Man just swings around. Their agency isn't a byproduct of their relation to Spider-Man. 

Gwen Stacy in particular finally gets to be more than a blonde bombshell/magic pixie dreamgirl (3). Her will they/won't they romance is pulled straight out of the best romantic comedies as they grow from friends to potentially something more.

Mary Jane Watson just fucking rocks in this show. She's a lively, flirtatious girl who has no intention of settling down anytime soon. Her friendship with Peter, Gwen, and the rest of Midtown High feels natural, as she's a social butterfly not afraid to flutter her wings.

Though the relationships are serious, the simple, but memorable, animation isn't a detriment to the moments when the series needs to buckle down on its emotional moments. The characters deal with a slightly varied of drug abuse, addiction, power, and responsibility. The animation is used to make these characters age appropriate, but given the nature of thematic intent, the outcomes have resounding weight to them. Peter and his friends look like they're in high school, so when a younger character may or may not start dressing up like a supervillain, you feel more empathy for them than the full on criminal masterminds.

There's a lot to say about this show, and I'll probably discuss the show until the day I die. By some grace of a higher power, maybe I'll be lucky enough to sit with Greg Weisman to know where the show would have gone had it not been canceled in the middle of Marvel being bought by Disney. Clear and cut: Spectacular Spider-Man is spectacular in every fashion.

TLDR; Spectacular Spider-Man isn't just the best TV version of the web-head, it's the best version of the character outside of the comics. It's the best type of adaptation: one honoring past stories while changing elements that gave a positive input to the overall story. If the Marvel studios version of the web-swinger takes any inspiration from this version, we'll be in good hands.

(1) Dan Slott's run on The Amazing Spider-Man, Superior Spider-Man, and back to Amazing Spider-Man is seriously all-timer stuff. Read everything with his name on it.

(2) Weisman is such a good writer he made me like Eddie Brock as a character. I've never liked Eddie Brock. Okay, well… almost never… 

(3) Gwen Stacy got fridged off a bridge for man pain. We can all admit she was only improved as a character after her death. Her characteristics up to that point were more 2 dimensional than the animation on this series.