Spider-Man: The New Animated Series Episode One: Heroes and Villains

 Heroes and Villains

First Aired: July 11th, 2003

Synopsis: Empire State University is planning to destroy the nearby Villeroy Towers building, where many students live, without any compensation. Peter Parker takes photos of a protest and discusses the issue briefly with a disgruntled cleaner, before heading off to take photos of some jewels at a museum for the Daily Bugle. They're stolen by a man in powered armour named Turbo-Jet, but are found at Villeroy Towers the next day. With the reward money for them being found going to the students' protest fund, Turbo-Jet is assumed to be a Robin Hood-esque figure. Elsewhere, Harry Osborn is asked by Oscorp to deliver an announcement about the new science centre that will be built where Villeroy Towers is, as they're the ones behind the whole thing and think that a student making the announcement will help quell the protests. They also show Harry a telescope that was owned by Galileo that will be auctioned off. Later that night, Spider-Man sees Turbo-Jet steal a rare book and tries to convince Turbo-Jet that what he's doing is wrong - partially on account of the collateral damage he's been causing - but Turbo-Jet doesn't listen and leaves.

Spider-Man: The New Animated Series: Before Watching

Like Spider-Man Unlimited, Spider-Man: The New Animated Series has kind of gone under the radar a bit. No doubt only being thirteen episodes contributes to that - it's hard to talk about a series when it doesn't have room to flex its muscles - but it also feels like it's a series that people just don't know anything about. All that I really know about it going in is that it's done in 3D, it was originally supposed to be set in the Raimi films' continuity, and it aired on MTV. Not a whole lot to use to extrapolate data - I guess it being on MTV means that it might end up having a better budget? MTV is a cable channel, right? So things on it cost more?

With such little information that I know about it, it's hard for me to speculate about it too much, but I guess I can try. The Raimi films are, in my opinion, a bit flawed and I think that people look at them through rose-tinted glasses a bit, but one thing that I think they did manage excellently was Norman and Harry Osborn - their actors, the acting, their arcs. It's doubtful that we'll get to see Norman, but depending upon how hard this show tries to stick to the promise that it's set in the same continuity as the Raimi films, Harry could end up being really interesting and enjoyable, assuming that he appears in the show. If we get any comics villains showing up, we could also end up with some really cool redesigns; the Raimi films were made in that era when movie villains shied away from the colourful costumes of the comics (I mean, superhero films still do now, but you know what I mean) but their villains generally came out looking alright, even if it wasn't and still isn't exactly my thing.

The 3D animation is something that I can see either being surprisingly good or really bad. We're in the PS2 era now, and honestly, while I do like the graphics level with video games these days, I wouldn't be complaining if we'd never advanced past there. Using that as a baseline for how the graphics could be (I know that Finding Nemo was out in the same year as this, but it's a bit much to expect the show to match the visuals of a big-budget Pixar film) I think I should be able to handle it. At any rate, it can't be awful as the 90's CGI from Spider-Man: The Animated Series.

Spider-Man Unlimited: After Watching

Before watching Spider-Man Unlimited, I commented that I wasn't very optimistic about it, and most of my praise for it was to do with the art style and with a hopes about the premise that I wanted to work out. I've finished the series now, and while it definitely isn't my favourite series, I can confidently say that overall, it's...okay.

One of my criticisms of the premise was that personally, I like my Spider-Man to be pretty grounded, and taking him into space and to another world completely wrecks that. Yeah, once he's on Counter-Earth there's an attempt at grounding him there by giving him a photography job with the Daily Byte and a place to stay with Doctor Naoko Yamada-Jones, but that doesn't change the fact that the world he's on is filled with bestials, flying cars, and machine men. I know that the Marvel Universe is itself pretty fantastic (seriously, how many alien species does it have? How many secret, hidden societies can their world fit?) but a good Spider-Man story makes you forget that without losing its ties to the wider world.

It's a bit of a pity, because the writing was pretty solid when it was focusing on the human rebellion or something unique to that world (I'll never forget you, electric eel Electro!) If Spider-Man never travelled to Counter-Earth and the story was instead just about the rebels trying to take down the High Evolutionary, I think we could have gotten a pretty decent series out of it, and there wouldn't have been that lingering sense of "okay but this isn't what I really want to see the protagonist doing." The show's at its worst when it's trying to tell Spider-Man stories - see the awkward attempt at giving Counter-Earth its own Green Goblin mystery, and pretty much everything that Venom and Carnage do - and at its best when it's focusing on its own unique aspects.

I'm feeling conflicted about whether or not to praise the show. On the one hand, when it's bad it's really not worth it, but when it's good it does feel like it's something that you haven't seen a lot of (at least, I hadn't, in terms of the premise. More cyberpunk cartoons, western culture!) It's just...Spider-Man can do so much better, and I'm honestly struggling to think of the moments where it was his actions that really had me enjoying the show and feeling excited. As I said above, this would be a great show if Spider-Man wasn't in it, but he is, so you kind of have to take the good with the bad. Sorry, Spidey; that's just the way it is.

A few final dot points, and then I'll move onto the best and worst episodes so that you, the intelligent reader, know what to look forwards to and what to avoid if you decide to check out this series.

• I didn't talk about them much, but Naoko and Shane were great characters, even if the show seemed indecisive about whether or not Naoko was supposed to be Peter's love interest. They were frequently likable and level-headed.
• I kind of forgot about Lord Tyger until the last few episodes, when he started appearing again, and I also really liked him - he was the only member of the Knights of Wundagore who was somewhat sympathetic to the humans. I realise that it would have killed a lot of the conflict, but I wish that he'd been in the show a lot more than Sir bloody Ram.
• Okay, so maybe I'm undermining myself here since I like the Venom movie's interpretation of Venom, but still, this is easily the worst version of Venom and Carnage I've seen yet. They're boring, inconsistent, significantly changed from the comics version without any sign as to what they can and can't do, and their overall plan is dumb (and also not really explained).
• If you want to do a mystery as to who a character's real identity is, the way to do it is not to drop incredibly obvious hints and then keep playing it up as a mystery. Looking at you, Green Goblin.
• This show's interpretation of Kraven is mostly what you'd expect, but I'm going to reiterate what I mentioned in the review of that episode: the idea that the herbs and stuff he takes are going to lead to an early death but he's okay with that is an amazing interpretation of the character. Seriously, someone at Marvel, please steal this idea and incorporate it into the comics.
• The cast all died in the final episode and you can't convince me otherwise
  

Spider-Man Unlimited Episode Thirteen: Destiny Unleashed

 Destiny Unleashed

First Aired: March 31st, 2001

Synopsis: The High Evolutionary is annoyed by everyone taking advantage of him and rants about it to the Knights of Wundagore, then declares that the dawning of the new world order is beginning. In the city, Spider-Man sees an army of machine men and is surprised when they don't attack him; he guesses that they have a more important mission and is proven correct when they start evacuating people from their homes and scanning their identification chips. Spider-Man can't save anyone since there are too many machine men, but when he returns home he finds Naoko being questioned by one since she's suspected of associating with Spider-Man. Spider-Man throws some bins around to create noise and distract the machine men. As Peter, he watches an announcement with Naoko from the High Evolutionary, saying that the machine men will keep searching buildings and emptying them out until the rebels and Spider-Man surrender. Peter changes back to Spider-Man and stops Sir Ram from destroying a building, but he gets attacked by machine men and buried in rubble.

Spider-Man Unlimited Episode Twelve: Sins of the Father

 Sins of the Father

First Aired: March 24th, 2001

Synopsis: Peter's taking photos when he spots Karen of the rebel underground laying flowers at some graves. She gets attacked by machine men and although Peter tries to save her while in his civilian identity, he fails and she gets taken away, which he blames himself for. As Spider-Man he updates John Jameson on the situation. In Castle Wundagore, the High Evolutionary spots a mark on her arm and decides that she should be taken to a private room rather than an interrogation room, much to Sir Ram's frustration. Lady Vermin goes in to question Karen, but Karen breaks free of her bonds and tries to escape, only to find that there's a force field keyed to her DNA which stops her from leaving. Meanwhile, Spider-Man and X-51 sneak into the machine men's central processing unit, where all data goes through, and use what limited time they have to work out where she was taken. They end up having to break out and narrowly escape from machine men. When the High Evolutionary is told of the break-in, he's dismissive and says that he anticipated something like this and so he put a little surprise in.

Spider-Man Unlimited Episode Eleven: One is the Loneliest Number

One is the Loneliest Number

First Aired: March 17th, 2001

Synopsis: Spider-Man goes after Venom when he spots him on his own, but Venom attacks him and gets away while Spider-Man is buried under a pile of rubble. When Spider-Man breaks free and catches up to Venom, he finds the symbiote separated from Eddie Brock and thinks about his own experiences with the symbiote and Venom's origin. Although Eddie's delusional and wants to fight Spider-Man, Spidey nevertheless takes Eddie to Naoko's clinic to get help. She examines him and reveals that if he doesn't get  reattached to the symbiote he'll die. Spider-Man agrees to go and find it when Eddie threatens to reveal his identity, even though he would have done so regardless. He runs into Carnage who's on a rampage looking for Venom, and Carnage ends up holding hostages to get Spider-Man to talk, while dangling the latter in front of an upcoming train. Spider-Man gets Carnage to free the hostages then tricks Carnage into getting hit by the car. He then goes to the alley where he found Eddie Brock, where he finds a tiny piece of the symbiote which wants to bond with him.

Spider-Man Unlimited Episode Ten: Matters of the Heart

Matters of the Heart

First Aired: March 10th, 2001

Synopsis: Lord Tyger is attending a game of baseball, and the human rebellion takes the opportunity to go to his box, hoping that he'll be more reasonable in helping humans compared to his fellow knights. A guard manages to activate the alarm and they're forced to flee, but Bromley's caught in the process. Sir Ram, also in the box, convinces Lord Tyger that the rebels probably wanted to kidnap him. Back home, Peter tests the sonics of his suit before going to a street carnival with Naoko and Shane, thinking about how if he didn't have Mary Jane waiting for him at home that he'd like to get with Naoko. Some guards transporting Bromley start harassing humans, and Peter changes to Spider-Man and saves Bromley. The two of them head to the new rebels' hideout but it turns out to be a trap, and Bromley betrays Spider-Man. Sir Ram and Lady Ursula are there and plan on taking him to the High Evolutionary, but not before Sir Ram will do some experiments and make Spider-Man a braindead shell which he can control.

Spider-Man Unlimited Episode Nine: Sustenance

Sustenance

First Aired: March 3rd, 2001

Synopsis: In Atlantic City, two bestials are trying to run away from what they call a "freak factory", but one of them is captured by machine men and Lady Ursula while another is mysteriously dragged underground. Back in New York, Peter decide to leave Naoko's place since she's still getting harassed by her husband and he now knows where his spaceship is - Atlantic City - but when he leaves he's attacked by the Green Goblin. Peter gets away and changes to Spider-Man, but a camera the Green Goblin set up catches this and he now knows who Spider-Man is. Spider-Man goes to Atlantic City, secretly followed by the Green Goblin, and finds a giant dome where the spaceship supposedly is. Spider-Man's attacked by the Goblin until he mentions that he's trying to leave, at which point the Goblin is happy to help him. Guards from the dome arrive and the two team up to defeat them. During the fight Spider-Man and the Green Goblin have the ground below them collapse, and they find themselves surrounded by bestial rejects.

Spider-Man Unlimited Episode Eight: Ill-Met By Moonlight

Ill-Met By Moonlight

First Aired: February 17th, 2001

Synopsis: Spider-Man returns home to find a werewolf attacking Naoko, but when he fights it she tells Spider-Man not to hurt him. Shortly into the fight the sun comes up and the werewolf turns into John Jameson. John reveals that when he first arrived on Counter-Earth, the High Evolutionary experimented on him before he was freed by the human rebels, and that he transforms when there's negative ions in the air. He normally has a chip in him which tricks his body into not transforming at night, but it's been buggy lately. At that point a group of machine men attack, called by a neighbour who saw the fight, but one of them turns out to be a rebuilt X-51, who tricks the others into leaving and then takes John and Spider-Man to a rebel base. Coincidentally, the rebels want Spider-Man to help them on a mission to shut down a power plant that's irradiating the humans' water supply, as his abilities would be best for the job. He agrees to do it, and all of the rebels go to a building where they're attacked by more machine men, who don't fall for X-51's trick this time.