Spider-Man: The New Animated Series: After Watching

In spite of the claim that this series was set in the same universe as the Sam Raimi movies, there's enough evidence there - the most damning being, somehow, hair colours - that it's not, and so I find it easier to consider this to be set in a universe inspired by the Raimi movies. (Side note: the Marvel wiki agrees with me and lists them as different universes). It's an apt claim, however, as like those films, it's inoffensive, but most of the time isn't what I'd consider to be a great or essential Spider-Man experience.

I can absolutely understand the desire to ground the series a bit more, as even without the influence of the movie, it gives the show a bit more of its own identity, and could in theory be used to show a side of Spider-Man we haven't seen before. Heck, if it makes the show more appealing to people outside the usual superhero demographic, that's a bonus too. Most of the time, however, the efforts are a bit lackluster - is there anyone out there that prefers Talon to Black Cat? Did anyone think that Christina, the antagonist of Head Over Heels, is more realistic or relatable because she's a young adult who's yandere towards Spider-Man, as opposed to being a villain in tights? Most of the original villains are fairly forgettable, and the classic ones more often than not had at least one or two problems. Grounding a work can definitely be successful, but in my personal opinion, I usually find that superhero works are more enjoyable when they embrace the fantastic and quirky.

I will gladly say that while most episodes had a few questions or complaints from me that weren't adequately addressed, I don't think that there was a single episode here that I'd call abysmally bad, which might be a first out of all of the series I've watched. The plots flowed along fairly well and usually had decent enough pacing. This might sound like I'm damning the show by faint praise, but I honestly do appreciate it; it's the little things that can sometimes make or break a work. The CGI, which I was a little worried about, usually worked pretty well too; some shots of the city could definitely do with some work, but overall everything looked pretty smooth and natural.

If I had to time travel back and give some advice to the writers, it'd be to embrace more of the show's premise. We've got Peter, Harry, and Mary Jane all being friends and going to the same college, and when the show did focus on them just hanging out and watching people make out talking, it was pretty enjoyable. I'm not saying that this needs to turn into a slice-of-life show, but this is a good group of characters we've got - especially once you factor in Indy - and I think there was some good potential there. (The other pieces of advice that I'd give, of course, is to add in more comic book villains and to make up their minds on what Peter and Mary Jane want from one another).

Some final, miscellaneous thoughts before going through my top three and bottom three so that you, the intelligent reader, know what to look forwards to and what to avoid if you decide to check out this series:

• With the exception of a few times when he used his Oscorp connections for the plot, Harry mostly just hung around, made some quips, and day drank (that's what all the hip young adults we want to watch the show do, right? Day drink?) And you know what? It worked quite well. Harry is Peter's friend, and he acted like a normal person. A lot of mediums - I'm looking at you, certain periods of the comics and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 - tell us that Harry and Peter are best friends then don't show them living up to it. Here they honestly did feel like two people who enjoyed each others' company.
• If Harry's the surprisingly enjoyable civilian friend, then Mary Jane is his dark reflection. Holy crap. First she and Peter are making out; now they're not; now she wants him to show up to her play; now she's going out with her coworker; now she's kissing Peter. This is just in the first three episodes, by the way. And then Peter somehow ends up casually doing stuff with both her and Indy? The show really, really needs to decide what it wants to do with the two of them and stick to it.
• I never really commented on it in my reviews, but the place where Harry and Peter live in has a weird, clock tower-esque structure towards one end, which Peter usually exits as Spider-Man. I sort of see what they were going for, but it feels kind of bizarre at the same time.
• I realise that this is a thing for most superhero stories (heck, for most adventure stories), but I feel like in this series more than any other Peter was constantly right around the corner whenever a crime or something that required him to be Spider-Man was going on. I can't recall a single sequence of him having to actively search for someone or something in the city.

Spider-Man: The New Animated Series Episode Thirteen: Mind Games, Part Two

Mind Games, Part Two

First Aired: September 12th, 2003

Synopsis: The Gaines twins discuss whether or not Spider-Man will be up to the task of killing Kraven the Hunter, and while they do Mary Jane slips out of her bonds and escapes...but it's all a psychic illusion, and she's still trapped. Spider-Man manages to reach Kraven, who is confused when Spider-Man says that they fought several hours ago. Spider-Man starts hanging Kraven with his webbing when he notices the construction site damaged by Pterodax nearby is undamaged. When Kraven confirms that they haven't fought for a while, Spider-Man delivers him to the police, who also confirm that the other foes Spider-Man fought recently are still missing or in jail. Since Mary Jane is missing and Peter vaguely recalls the warehouse where the Gaines twins were, he uses Indy to help him find it, discovering in the process that it's owned by one Frank Elson, the old man who spoke to him in the graveyard. Spider-Man heads for the warehouse, and the Gaines twins call him up and threaten Mary Jane unless Spider-Man goes and kills Kraven. He stalls for long enough to get into the warehouse, not knowing that Indy is also heading there to see why he was so keen on discovering where it was.

Spider-Man: The New Animated Series Episode Twelve: Mind Games, Part One

Mind Games, Part One

First Aired: September 5th, 2003

Synopsis: The psychic Gaines twins, a brother and sister, are being transported to a new prison. They somehow manage to get rid of the sedatives keeping them under and control a guard into shooting the driver and taking over their transport. Spider-Man shows up and they use their psychic powers on him, but he manages to resist it and sedates the two of them. Later, Spider-Man's looking over the city with Mary Jane, and after a discussion about what you should do and what you want to do, he heads off to stop a crime. Later, Peter has lunch with Indy and Harry, and Indy reveals that Pterodax and Silver Sable were sprung from prison by the Gaines twins before they were stopped. Pterodax have taken hostages on top of a construction site being run by Oscorp, but Spider-Man shows up and is able to defeat them, although Harry, watching from the ground, is injured in the process. Returning home as Peter, though, he finds Mary Jane and Indy there, who have found out that he's been seeing both of them, and neither of them are happy about it.

Spider-Man: The New Animated Series Episode Eleven: When Sparks Fly

When Sparks Fly

First Aired: August 29th, 2003

Synopsis: Two teenagers are hanging around an empty warehouse when a giant fan turns on with blue electricity and they're nearly sucked into it before Spider-Man saves them. They tell him that a ghost was behind it but he's understandably sceptical. The next day, Mary Jane and her friend Sally are attending a lecture about electro-negativity when Sally's screen starts displaying creepy messages to her. It prompts her to ask who got the highest score in class, and on Sally asking the lecturer she says it was Max Dillon. Sally is disturbed by this, and when she's studying later that night her TV displays a picture of Max's head and text appears saying that he's getting stronger. Later, the professor is heading home when Electro appears and starts electrocuting her, with a generator assisting. Spider-Man appears and uses his webbing to shut down the generator, which drives Electro off. While Peter, Mary Jane, and Harry watch an ambulance take away the lecturer, Sally shows up rants about how Max has returned, before giving Mary Jane a recording of her study notes, dictated.

Spider-Man: The New Animated Series Episode Ten: Spider-Man Dis-Sabled

Spider-Man Dis-Sabled

First Aired: August 22nd, 2003

Synopsis: A visiting European diplomat, Tremaine, is at a press conference with the mayor of New York, and their limousine is shot with a bomb by Silver Sable. Peter Parker, videoing the conference, detects it with his spider-sense and goes after it as Spider-Man, stopping the limo, getting everyone out, then driving it into the water to save everyone. As Peter he soon visits Indy and asks her out. At the same time, his footage goes on the news which catches Silver Sable's attention, and she's soon got Peter as a target. When Peter talks about Indy to Mary Jane and Harry, Mary Jane suggests that the four of them go out to dinner to become friends. Before that, though, Silver Sable and her mooks break into Peter and Harry's place looking for Peter and fire some bullets around, though he hides from them. At dinner Indy says that most of what Peter shoots isn't broadcast, and they all realise that Sable must have broken in to access some of the extra footage. Using the auto-sharpen functionality on the footage, they see that Sable is visible in it and discover what her deal is. They assume that she's trying to assassinate the mayor.  Using one of the bullets lodged in the wall, Peter works out where Sable gets her ammo, and goes to confront her as Spider-Man. They briefly fight and she says that things aren't what they seem.

Spider-Man: The New Animated Series Episode Nine: Flash Memory

Flash Memory

First Aired: August 15th, 2003

Synopsis: Two motorcyclists rob an armoured truck, but Spider-Man goes after them. Although they're able to do some complex mathematics on the fly to get past some trains, Spider-Man stops them nevertheless. They act as their own lawyers and are released as there are no eyewitnesses. Elsewhere, Flash Thompson goes to see his tutor, who turns out to be a scientist who injects Flash with a serum which makes him smarter. He soon starts seducing Mary Jane and her friend Sally, and Peter reluctantly admits to Harry that he's better off with Indy, as they have mutual interests whereas he and Mary Jane just have good chemistry. He doesn't want to be monogamous with her though, but doesn't get a chance to explain it to Indy as she tells him that the motorcyclists were previously recorded as having IQ in the double-digits; therefore something is up. The motorcyclists turn out to be working with Flash's scientist, and are committing crimes to fund him but are finding themselves getting weaker over time. While committing a crime Spider-Man fails to stop them, but notes a mark on their necks from the serum.

Spider-Man: The New Animated Series Episode Eight: The Party

The Party

First Aired: August 8th, 2003

Synopsis: University student Max Dillon is blindfolded and unable to hear in the back of a limousine by some jerks from a fraternity, led by Doug Reisman.When they stop for hot dogs he breaks free and manages to drive the limousine, but since he can't see it's chaotic, and he's only saved from landing in a pile of wet cement by Spider-Man. Later, at university, Peter Parker is late for a lecture and scolded, and when he gets asked to a party by Harry Osborn and Mary Jane, says he'll be late but they're sceptical that he'll show up. Peter talks to Max Dillon who tells him about what happened with the limo, then tries talking to Reisman, since he wants to join their fraternity. Max is invited to the party that's going on that night. That evening, Peter tells Harry that he doesn't think he can come to the party since he was scolded in class, and Harry reveals that and Mary Jane have a bet as to whether Peter will show up - Harry doesn't think that he will. 

Spider-Man: The New Animated Series Episode Seven: Head Over Heels

Head Over Heels

 

First Aired: August 1st, 2003

Synopsis: Peter Parker shows up late to class since he's catching a crook, and for the assignment on the relationship between thought and action is partnered with Christina, a slightly off-beat classmate with a crush on Spider-Man. She tries using a homemade device she has to read Peter's mind, but it overloads and afterwards she starts hearing a voice which she thinks is Spider-Man talking to her from her scrapbook. The next day, Peter meets up with Mary Jane, and she says that she and Peter never share their thoughts with each other, so suggests that each day they share a small secret with the other. When Peter tells Harry this, Harry suggests that Peter either get out while he can or tell Mary Jane how he feels about her. Christina, meanwhile, gets visions of Spider-Man telling her to find him, and jumps off a building so that he'll save her. Spider-Man does so, but scolds her for being an idiot. While stopping crimes later, Spider-Man keeps stressing over what he'll share with Mary Jane. In the end, when he meets her she tells him about her coping mechanism for when her parents used to shout at each other, while he claims that he's allergic to grouper.

Spider-Man: The New Animated Series Episode Six: Tight Squeeze

Tight Squeeze

First Aired: July 25th, 2003

Synopsis: At the board meeting of a generic company, a group of mercenaries armed with jetpacks and high-tech suits calling themselves Pterodax burst in, intending on breaking into the company's vault and selling the diamonds within. Elsewhere, Peter, Harry, and Mary Jane are using binoculars to spy on people making out, but Harry makes excuses and leaves, thinking that Peter and Mary Jane should get together. They start flirting when Peter spots Pterodax and heads off to be Spider-Man. He manages to fairly easily defeat most of Pterodax but their leader, Sergei, throws one of the company members out a hole in the wall, and while Spider-Man's saving her Pterodax get away. Later, Peter sells photos of the incident to J. Jonah Jameson, and since Jonah undersells him, he tries selling video footage to another media company, Empire One. They don't take it, but Peter runs into a researcher named Indy who he hits it off with, and is able to convince her to take his footage. She manages to get it run on the news. Peter makes her a custom CD to thank her and tells Harry Osborn, but Harry still thinks that Peter and Mary Jane should get together. Mary Jane runs into Peter shortly afterwards and they arrange a date.

Spider-Man: The New Animated Series Episode Five: Keeping Secrets

Keeping Secrets

First Aired: July 25th, 2003

Synopsis: A cat burglar named Talon steals a television show award from a skyscraper, but Spider-Man catches her in the act. Their fight leads them to a construction site, where Talon causes a girder to fall which gives her enough time to get away. The next day, Harry Osborn is at a bridge when someone goes bungee jumping off it, leading him to declare that he's in love. At university later, Peter and Mary Jane are discussing that they find it odd how little they've seen of Harry recently when he shows up and explains that he's met someone and has been spending a lot of time with her. He invites them to have dinner at his place the next evening and meet her, and upon doing so, it turns out that Harry's girlfriend is Talon in her civilian identity, Cheyenne. Peter is suspicious of her only being with Harry so that she can rob him, but she mentions that she's a trust fund child as well. She leaves after dinner as she has a flight early the next morning, but Peter heads out as Spider-Man and finds her scoping a building. Although he tries talking to her about why she's doing what she is, she's evasive. Talon does, however, agree to meet with Spider-Man again at nine o'clock the next night.

Spider-Man: The New Animated Series Episode Four: The Sword of Shikata

The Sword of Shikata

First Aired: July 18th, 2003

Synopsis: Spider-Man stops some crimes and saves some people from accidents, all the while reported on by a two mysterious men and a woman in a bodysuit, wielding a sword. Later, Peter attends Mary Jane's audition for a film by director Richard Damian and she's told to come back the next day. Damian heads to his mansion, where the sword-wielding woman is waiting, as she's been hired to capture Spider-Man for Damian's animal collection. She proves herself by cutting bullets in midair with her sword. That night Spider-Man goes to stop a mugging but it turns out to be a trap by the woman, who fights him. The cops show up and her two assistants try to help her, referring to her as Shikata in the process. She cuts off the index finger of one of them, then escapes using a smoke bomb with the other one. When the cops take away the remaining assistant, Spider-Man grabs his phone which was dropped, and the next morning uses it to track down Shikata. She explains that she's not going to fight him now, but that she does want to fight to the death with him since she respects his skill. Elsewhere, Mary Jane meets with Harry and is annoyed because the movie script is terrible, so he makes a call for her to meet with Damian to discuss it.

Spider-Man: The New Animated Series Episode Three: Law of the Jungle

Law of the Jungle

First Aired: July 18th, 2003

Synopsis: Peter is working for Professor Connors, who is a jerk, on a serum for regeneration using reptile DNA. Connors is pleased by the test result and shoos Peter out, then injects himself with the serum. Peter catches up with Harry and Mary Jane, who are planning to go through Norman Osborn's things on the anniversary of his death. Peter realises that he forgot to give Connors some test data so tracks him down, where Connors is witnessing a carjacking. Spider-Man stops the criminal and then goes to see Connors as Peter, but the cop questioning Connors about the carjacking is suspicious of Peter and tells him to come to the precinct the next day. As a result, Peter is only briefly able to help Harry and Mary Jane go through Norman's things. The cop is a jerk to Peter, but the power goes out and fighting noises are heard, leading to Peter changing to Spider-Man. He fights a mysterious figure who gets away, leaving behind only a shred of clothing, and the photos he takes of it show it to be something reptilian. Peter goes to see Connors, who has uncharacteristically cancelled his class, and Connors tells Peter that he lost his arm working on explosives for the military. Peter finds some strange scales on Connors' desk and takes them, along with a coat, on his way out.

Spider-Man: The New Animated Series Episode Two: Royal Scam

Royal Scam

First Aired: July 11th, 2003

Synopsis: Peter Parker is trying to work out a budget when a helicopter flies past chasing a limo. He investigates as Spider-Man and discovers that it's piloted by federal agents who wanted to reach him. A special chip has been developed that can decrypt bank transactions, and they're worried that it could break the world's economy and want Spider-Man to get it so that they can work out how to neutralise it. Unbeknownst to Spider-Man, the agents are actually working for Kingpin, who wants the chip for his own nefarious purposes. Later at university, Mary Jane drops the bombshell on Peter that she's going to ditch class, since she's got an acting showcase, and wants him to come and see it. He says he can't as he has class, but when he goes off as Spider-Man to get the chip and has to wait for it to be unguarded, calls her up and says he'll come after all. He successfully steals the chip and delivers it directly to Kingpin, but is suspicious. His suspicions are heightened when he sees the "federal agent" he talked to is an actor in Mary Jane's play, and he realises that he's been duped. Spider-Man goes after Kingpin's limo and fights him, but is naturally taken aback by Kingpin's strength and the villain escapes. He calls up the local FBI branch and puts in an anonymous tip about what's happened.

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.