This show had some weird relationships
The dysfunctional relationships of the 90s Spider-man cartoon.
I recently revisited the 1990s Spider-man animated series. and I like how, despite it's censorship, it gives a condemned and consolidated version of the comic book storylines. And yes. Many of Peter's interpersonal relationships in the comic books were dysfunctional but as I watched the TV series and the particular couplings that were invented particularly for TV I came to realize that one of the writers seems to have a very questionable view about relationships. Here are some examples.
Item 1: Michael Morbius and Felicia Hardy. I'm starting with him because at least two weird relationship issues spring from this. Felicia was an unashamedly promiscuous character. They even did a good job of showing that a lot of her flirting and constant dating was because she was lonely.
She dates Flash Thompson and Peter Parker and finally Michael Morbius. When Michael Morbius becomes a vampire and flies off into the night Felicia goes into rebound mode.
She dates Flash (again), flirts with Spider-man, dates a man named Jason and ends up engaged to him. (He turns out to be Hobgoblin), after him comes some random person named Clay. Finally Morbius comes back.
Now at this point Felicia is Black cat and this version is a sort of super soldier like a cross between the original Black Cat concept and Black Widow only sans the homicide. During a scene between Morbius and Felicia Morbius confides in Felicia that he does not know if he can survive on the serum (that was suppressing his hunger) indefinitely. She says "What if you had someone like me at your side?" He asks "You would do that for me?" and she says "I will do that for you." This seems like a sweet way to end their storylines but no.
My first issue with this is it becomes a relationship more about dependency rather than actual love. There should be a defined difference between love and pity. And this didn't do a good job to show that considering she showed obvious feelings for Spider-man.
Felicia returns twice as Black Cat and each time she flirts with Spider-man and or kisses him. In fact the very last time we see Morbius and Blade the two don't know where Black Cat is. And Blade mentions fearing for her. Morbius assures him "She and I have a spiritual connection. I sense that she is in good hands and will be returned to us." And almost as a deliberate irony we cut away to Spidey and Black Cat in the Secret Wars Storyline still going on off world and they are making out with each other. Black Cat had also flirted with Captain America in that episode and it was Spider-man who got jealous. Later Black cat is returned to Morbius and Blade.
I know in the comic books Black Cat is NOT a monogamous character but it's unclear if Morbius knows this. And it certainly seems odd to indicate an open relationship in a TV series that had trouble saying "Kill" or "Blood."
In Return of Hydro man Part 1 and Return of Hydro Man Part 2 Black Cat comes back. She mentions needing a break because of Morbius and Blade's obsession with ridding the world of vampires. By the end of the episode Black Cat tells Spider-man that he's reminded her of her commitments. "You reminded me of how important our commitments are as heroes. I made a promise to Morbius and I intend to keep it. I'm going back to Europe."
Less than a year after promising to spend eternity with Morbius she indicates that she nearly abandoned him and had to be reminded of her obligation to him. ...This is not signs of a relationship that can last. And sadly when we next see Morbius he refers to her as "My love."
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Item 2: Deborah and Flash Thompson = Deborah Whitman was a science major at ESU. Deborah has a serious crush on Michael Morbius. A flash back in Awakening shows Morbius gently trying to shoot her down when she admits her love to him. "You are a wonderful woman, Deborah but my heart belongs to Felicia." This seems perfectly fine until you go back to season 2 and realize Morbius took her out to dinner after telling her this. Was he leading her on? Were they just going out as colleagues? No matter. Here's where things get weird...
During the Morbius storyline Deborah meets Flash Thompson. In fact Flash gets fed on by Morbius while trying to protect Deborah from Morbius. Shortly after Morbius's disappearance Flash briefly dates Felicia again but then admits his feelings to Deborah in a very sweet moment while she was temporarily aged by The Vulture. But then Morbius returns...
When Morbius comes back Deborah's obsession comes to the surface. It was always there, even Flash noticed it, but it reaches a head and Flash asks "Have you forgotten he almost killed me? Is Michael Morbius more important to you than me?" And she replies with "I can't answer that, Flash." Later Flash apologizes to her. And all I could think is "WTF?!" She chose the vampire who almost killed her lover (her lover who was willing to kiss her when she was a frail old woman), the vampire who had no romantic feelings for her, and yet Flash was the one who apologizes? Why?
After Morbius and Black Cat leave Deborah goes into a self-destructive spiral. "Partying too much" even for Flash. Though glossed over it's indicated that she became a drunk. After she's reminded of how much good science can do (in the Return of Kraven episode) she suddenly cleans herself up and she and Flash return to their relationship. Never once addressing that she chose her lover's would-be murderer over him or how Flash is choice number 2.
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Item 3: Blade and Terri Lee. Terri Lee is a detective who ends up involved with Blade. The relationship is fast paced. They meet during the Morbius storyline and she talks Blade down from killing Morbius. Blade leaves her because he feels his life is too dangerous for her. Later when Morbius returns Terri is no longer so sympathetic toward him. Instead she's pretty homicidal. Or as homicidal as you could be in a show that forces the writers to use "destroy" instead of "kill" as if it's somehow better. The indication is that because Blade left her she ended up bitter and kind of... um... unhinged. Ironically during the storyline where she's more incline to kill Morbius he is starving himself rather than feeding on people. When she first pleaded for his life, he had been feeding at random all over The City.
Blade dumps her yet again to proceed with his obsessive hunting of his vampire mother, accompanied by Black Cat and Morbius.
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Item 4: Peter and Mary Jane.
Peter and Mary Jane always had a dysfunctional relationship. When Mary Jane disappears a clone returns but that clone has her memories and personality. Clone Mary Jane reveals some unpleasant traits about Mary Jane's personality. First, after The Haunting of Mary Jane when Mysterio and his love interest die together in a firey explosion there's no sense of sympathy for the duo. Instead Mary Jane's only statement is "There goes my film career!" Then when Peter confesses his identity to her and proposes marriage Mary Jane throws herself from several stories up just so Spidey would save her "To prove to myself that you will always be there for me".
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Item 5: Liz and Harry Osborne. Harry was recovering in a psychiatric hospital, still obsessed with Mary Jane he crashes hers and Peter Parker's wedding. While there though Liz admits her love to Harry and Harry is just happy someone loves him. No real indication he had any feelings for her at all, just his contentment that someone loves him.
None of these relationships seem quite healthy or sane. They are dysfunctional at best and dependency messes at worst. I fear that someone working on the show must have had some serious interpersonal relationship issues that they seemed to consider these healthy and or romantic endings for these characters.
I like the 90s Spider-man animated series but I'm a little surprised at the awkward perceptions of love on such a heavily censored TV series.