Spider-Man is one of the most successful animated characters next to Batman, with a number of animated series over the years that are still highly regarded by fans. With the launch of Disney+ bringing most of the animated Spidey's under one roof, we've had the chance to go back and revisit one of our favorites from the 90s, Spider-Man: The Animated Series.
The series aired for five seasons and adapted a number of comic storylines, some of which are still remembered as the definitive origins among mainstream fans. Of course, some episodes don't hold up as well as others or remain just as bad as the first day they aired, so today we are going to look at a few examples of the best and worst that Spider-Man: TAS had to offer.
BEST: THE ALIEN COSTUME
The first season of Spider-Man: The Animated Series focused on introducing a number of Spider-Man's greatest villains like Doctor Octopus, The Lizard, and Mysterio in fairly comic-accurate adaptations, but the series jumped ahead a few decades in the comics to bring in Venom with "The Alien Costume" three-part series.
These episodes created a new origin story for the alien symbiote that simplified it's arrival on Earth while keeping it tied into Spider-Man's history, while also keeping things fast-paced as his various enemies all fighting over the prize, which would turn into Spidey's black suit and later bond with Eddie Brock to become Venom, after Eddie's season-long fall from grace.
WORST: DAY OF THE CHAMELEON
While most of the villains' first appearances in the animated series were handled well, the Chameleon's episode that ended the first season is only slightly worse than his half-brother Kraven the Hunter's debut episode, though it did get a bit of a pass for including Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. in the episode.
Unfortunately, we just couldn't suspend our disbelief enough through the episode to believe that Spider-Man or super-spy Nick Fury couldn't pinpoint the Chameleon by his signature belt-buckle cloaking device that never changed despite whose appearance he was wearing.
BEST: TURNING POINT
The title of the episode is a callback to one of the most memorable issues from The Amazing Spider-Man, which told the story of "The Night Gwen Stacy Died." As Gwen Stacy never appeared in the 90's animated series, the episode was a little different but just as heartbreaking.
Mary Jane was instead the intended target of Norman Osborn's Green Goblin, who hadn't appeared until the third season of the series, making his fateful dark turn even more monumental. While the use of The Spot's teleporting device detracts from the overall adaptation, the loss of Mary Jane and the final battle with Norman's Green Goblin still made this one to remember.
WORST: THE IMMORTAL VAMPIRE
One of the most frequently occurring villains of the series was Morbius the Living Vampire, who had been greatly diminished by censors for his animated appearance. Morbius sucked plasma through openings in his palms instead of feeding on humans by chewing on their necks, and he would continue to play a role as other real vampires were introduced in the series.
Following the introduction of Blade as he arrived in New York to hunt down Morbius, "The Immortal Vampire" featured an odd love story between Blade and Spidey's friend on the force Dt. Lee, while Morbius was at his worst trying to turn everyone else into vampires like himself while he fought Peter over Felicia Hardy, who he had also kidnapped. Bad form, Morbius.
BEST: MAKE A WISH
The season three episode "Make A Wish" introduced a new hero into Spider-Man's world after he met Taina, who was his biggest fan. After a letter from her mother arrived at the Daily Bugle about Taina, Spider-Man made a visit to the terminally ill girl, which was inspired by a similar premise from The Amazing Spider-Man #248.
The episode not only told the events of Spider-Man's origin in full for the first time, but it also adapted another classic Spidey story that saw the character afflicted with amnesia and tricked by Doctor Octopus into becoming his criminal partner. Spidey is saved in the end by Taina who reminds him that he is her hero, but by the end of the episode, we all knew who the real hero was.
WORST: ROCKET RACER
Unfortunately, not all of the new heroes introduced into the series were as fondly remembered as Taina. The character of Rocket Racer first appeared in the comics with little acclaim, yet for some reason, he was adapted into the animated series, again with little acclaim.
It might be the terrible villain Big Wheel that doomed the episode, or the fact that no one was looking to re-explore the story of Rocket Racer, but the episode fell flat in an otherwise exciting season and the character thankfully hasn't picked up his rocket-powered skateboard in years.
BEST: THE RETURN OF HYDRO-MAN
Hydro-Man was introduced a bit differently in the animated series as he was newly connected to MJ's past as her ex-boyfriend Morris Bench. Bench had been transf0rmed into the Hydro-Man after they broke up, which unfortunately made it easier for him to stalk his former flame before he was defeated by Spider-Man.
After Mary Jane's disappearance in "Turning Point," she eventually reappeared and Peter and MJ were married, though Hydro-Man returned and attacked them on their honeymoon. "The Return of Hydro-Man" revealed that this Hydro-Man was a clone and the MJ who had returned had been created using the same failed process, so Peter was forced to watch the love of his life die again.
WORST: TABLET OF TIME
The entire second season of Spider-Man: The Animated Series was also titled "Neogenic Nightmare" and featured a number of transformation-themed episodes, like Peter's transformation into Man-Spider, the aforementioned Morbius, and a fun crossover with the X-Men as Spider-Man explored the accident that gave him his abilities.
The "Table of Time" series of episodes focused on the various crime bosses and their lackeys as they hunted down the titular tablet in the hopes of unlocking the secrets of eternal youth. These episodes were boring, made little sense and helped introduce the worst version of the Vulture we've ever seen.
BEST: SPIDER WARS
The fifth and final season of Spider-Man: The Animated Series told a couple of long connected stories that featured some of the best and the worst of the series. "Secret Wars" brought together heroes like the Fantastic Four, Storm, Captain America, Iron Man, and Black Cat together to take on a few villains and the Beyonder, putting Spider-Man in a leadership role.
This led right into the "Spider-Wars" two-parter, which served as the climax to Spidey's last few seasons of training by Madame Web, while also rewarding fans with a few alternate reality versions of Spider-Man that explored what made Spider-Man a hero, and of course, featured a face-to-animated-face meeting between Spider-Man and Stan Lee that ended the series.
WORST: SIX FORGOTTEN WARRIORS
Unfortunately, we had to sit through the bloated five-part "Six Forgotten Warriors" storyline that introduced senior Golden Age heroes like the Destroyer and Miss America as the Kingpin attempted to find and activate a doomsday weapon.
While the storyline opened strongly with the reveal that Peter's parents might have been Russian spies, the next few episodes trudged through WWII superhero stories, introduced a weird take on Captain America's origin story, and then completely altered the character of Electro to work in the storyline as Red Skull's son, which all added up to terrible episodes that are still hard to watch.