The Spectacular Spider-Man: A Spectacular Cartoon Gone Too Soon

Courtesy of Marvel

Back in 2008, a new Spider-Man cartoon called The Spectacular Spider-Man premiered on The CW’s Saturday morning children’s block “Kids’ WB”. The cartoon was created by Greg Weisman, who was known for creating Gargoyles and was a writer for cartoons like Kim Possible and Ben 10. The voice talents involved were Josh Keaton, Lacey Chabert, James Arnold Taylor, Daran Norris, Vanessa Marshall, Clancy Brown, and others. The cartoon had a nice blend of elements from the classic Stan Lee and Steve Ditko run of The Amazing Spider-Man comics from the 1960s, Ultimate Spider-Man comics from the 2000s, and Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy.

The Spectacular Spider-Man took Peter Parker back to his original roots of starting in high school and balancing the responsibilities of Spider-Man and Peter Parker. The cartoon had two seasons, each with four arcs per season that would last from three to four episodes. For season one, the first three episodes were named and themed after biology. The next three episodes were named after economics and themed around the creation of more supervillains. The next three episodes were named in relation to chemistry and themed around the Green Goblin. The last four episodes were named in relation to psychology and themed around the black Symbiote.

For season two, the first four episodes were named in relation to engineering and themed around the Master Planner, who is revealed to be Doc Ock. The next three episodes were named in relation to human development and themed around Venom’s return. The next three episodes were named in relation to criminology and themed around a gang war between Doc Ock, Tombstone, and Silvermane. The last three episodes were named in relation to drama and the theater and themed around the return of the Green Goblin. The cartoon would also move to Disney XD for season 2 in 2009.

Peter’s friends would include Gwen Stacy, Harry Osborn, Eddie Brock, and later Mary-Jane Watson and Liz Allen. Peter’s relationships with his friends would be put to the test at times, with Spider-Man causing conflicts and tension. This would later result in his friendship with Eddie Brock ending and Brock becoming Venom, the only villain to know Peter is Spider-Man in the show. Peter would get together with Liz at first, but later realizes he likes Gwen. As Spider-Man, Peter faced various villains from Vulture, Electro, and Lizard to his most popular villains, Green Goblin, Doc Ock, and Venom. Villains who weren’t household names like Tombstone and Hammerhead joined Green Goblin, Doc Ock, and Venom as main antagonists in the series, being behind the creation of villains like Sandman and Rhino. Most of the villains appeared in more than one episode. Certain villains, like Kingpin, could not be used due to Sony not having the rights to him, so Tombstone filled in the role of Big Man of Crime for the show very well.

The Spectacular Spider-Man received great reviews for its animation style, voice acting, plotlines, characters, action, and for managing to have mature themes in a cartoon geared for kids. The show improved villains such as Tombstone, Electro, Molten Man, and others. The voice acting was top-notch, and Josh Keaton is considered one of the best voice actors to voice Spider-Man. The plot twists and cliffhangers, from the mystery of the Green Goblin to Venom nearly succeeding in revealing Spider-Man’s identity, put viewers on the edge of their seats and make them want the next episode right away. Even without other Marvel characters and unable to use the villain Kingpin, the show held its own well.

Spider-Man fans of all ages loved this cartoon and considered it the best Spider-Man cartoon, or at the very least the second best after Spider-Man: The Animated Series. It seemed like The Spectacular Spider-Man would keep going. Season two ended with Green Goblin revealed to be Norman Osborn, everyone thinking Norman is dead, Harry guilt-tripping Gwen into staying with her, Peter breaking up with Liz, and Norman surviving. Greg Weisman hoped the show would go for five seasons and sixty-five episodes. Unfortunately, it would end in two seasons.

The Spectacular Spider-Man was a cartoon produced by Sony Pictures Television. On August 31, 2009, Disney announced that it would acquire Marvel Entertainment, with the decision being official in December 2009. The day after the announcement was made, it was then announced that the television rights to Spider-Man would return to Marvel, which meant Disney had the rights to any Spider-Man shows. Shortly after the deal was finalized, The Spectacular Spider-Man was canceled as Disney moved on to a new Spider-Man cartoon called Ultimate Spider-Man, which would have Spider-Man team up with more Marvel characters. Weisman revealed that Sony gave Marvel back the television rights in order to hold onto the film rights of Spider-Man.

Before The Spectacular Spider-Man’s cancellation, Weisman shared with fans that the villains Scorpion and Hobgoblin were going to make their first appearances in the show in season 3. Characters like Cletus Kassidy and Morris Bench, who became the villains Carnage and Hydro-Man in the comics, made brief appearances in season 2 and were planned to become villains if the series continued. Weisman also planned to do direct-to-video movies for the series, with the first one meant to take place between seasons two and three. These movies would have continued after the series, covering Peter’s college years, and Peter and Mary Jane would get together and eventually get married. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse had this version of Spider-Man appear in the movie, with Josh Keaton reprising his role, and it’s revealed later on in that universe that Captain Stacy died. It’s unknown if Weisman would do that in the show if it continued.

Fans have petitioned and created hashtags like #SaveSpectacularSpiderman. Josh Keaton himself has voiced support for bringing the show back. Weisman revealed in 2022 that he would love to do it again, but doubted the show would ever return. Weisman would later move on to do Young Titans, a DC cartoon that was well-received like The Spectacular Spider-Man, but was canceled after two seasons in 2012. Unlike The Spectacular Spider-Man, though, Young Justice would later return for two more seasons. Josh Keaton continued to voice Spider-Man in video games like Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions and Spider-Man: Edge of Time.

While support for the show to continue is strong, it’s unlikely. Marvel Studios has a new Spider-Man cartoon out called Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man on Disney+, which received better reviews than the cartoons that came after The Spectacular Spider-Man and has a second season set for 2026. Also, it seems like there has been more hype recently to revive Spider-Man: The Animated Series due to the popularity of X-Men ‘97. While it hasn’t been confirmed, it would be the more likely choice to return as Marvel has the rights to that cartoon. Perhaps a comic continuation of The Spectacular Spider-Man could one day happen. Spider-Man: The Animated Series is continuing in comic form at the moment, and Marvel’s rival DC has done it with the older Batman and Superman movies in recent years.

Have you seen The Spectacular Spider-Man? What did you think of it? Would you like to see The Spectacular Spider-Man return? Let us know in the comments below.