MovieChat Forums > The Spectacular Spider-Man (2008) Discussion > Tell me there's something better

Tell me there's something better


Go ahead. Try.

Spidey's first lines say everything about this show, the best of its time, no question about it. Seeing this cancelled made me lose faith in new cartoons (again!)

Go ahead! Make my millenium!

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lol Good line, indeed. We'll have to wait and see if "Ultimate Spider-Man" can prove that wrong.

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For me it won't. I enever liked the Ultimate universe so much, but I sure hope I'll be surprised.

Say my name and I magically appear!

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There isn't... This one was simply the best. I have seen some preview footage from the new cartoon and I would not even want to name it in the same sentence...

Just League Unlimited has far better action sequences but this show has everything else. (Except an extremely ugly style - But that's a most personal opinion that has nothing to do with the quality of the show.)

I don't think that I will ever be able to get over the fact that it was cancelled. I mean 65 episodes and a couple of direct to DVD PG-13 films for the darker stuff. That's what we could have had... I get depressed just thinking about it.

Although for newer shows you could try Young Justice. It's hardly in the same league and I thought that the the first 9 episodes sucked (Hey you might like them!) but I'm really starting to like it now as well, I think the show gets better and better what every episode.

The reason that no show can touch this one is that it started on the top and stayed there until it was cancelled...

When the choice is between a American and a Russian film, always choose the latter.

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The ONLY ep from Spec Spidey that I didn't like that much was the one with Kraven, but even so I can't say I didn't like the action scenes and the parts with Flash, just Kraven being dumb and fooled by Warren.

Young Justice, you say? Is Greg Weisman in charge? If so, then it goes to my watchlist.

Go ahead! Make my millenium!

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My least favorite episode was the one with Mysterio, action wise that is. I LOVE how they handled the Peter and Gwen.

Greig Weisman is in charge of Young Justice, he was recruited as producer when the Spectacular Spider-Man was cancelled. Although he works together with Brandon (The man who directed "Batman: Under the Red Hood") Vietti this time.*

*Read: Everyone on the Internet gives Greg Weisman all the credit for the show whilst he himself being a nice and modest person (Ok I don't know him but that's how he comes off in interviews) does his best to remind people that Vietti deserves just as much credit as he does.

When the choice is between a American and a Russian film, always choose the latter.

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I know, I won't give Gene Roddenberry all the credit for Star Trek either ;)

Yeah I thought Mysterio claiming to be a sorcerer was a bit silly, but I loved those imps he had (or whatever they're called). JJ: I love these guys! lol

Still Ed Asner is Jameson for me. Josh Keaton was just as good as Chris Barnes as a younger Spidey.

I grew up with Spider-Man TAS but in some areas it was nowhere near as good as Spec Spidey, even with three seasons more you can't compare them.

Go ahead! Make my millenium!

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[deleted]

I grew up with Spider-Man TAS as well and I still love it because of the nostalgia. I rewatch it about once a year and I have spotted all the plot holes, stock animation, continuity errors, cringe worthy fights etc but I love it despite all that.

I agree complete with you on the fact that Ed Asner is Jameson, I thought the "new" voice actor did a good job but it's really no comparison. No one will ever be able to replace Ed Asner as J Jonah Jameson. Another voice actor I think is irreplaceable is Jennifer Hale as Felicia Hardy. It was the same with her new actress, she did a good job but could never compare to the "real" voice of Felicia Hardy. I really like Christopher Daniel Barnes but I do prefer Josh Keaton, although it might be a bad comparison seeing that they play Peter Parker during different years of his teens.

The one voice actor were I really like Spectacular Spider-Man better is Mary Jane Watson. I was never fond of Saratoga Ballantine but I guess I accepted her after a while. I was on the other hand simply blown away when I first heard Vanessa Marshall. All I could feel was: "That's it! That what Mary Jane Watson's voice sounds like!" I have sincere doubts about the ability to ever enjoy any other voice actress portraying her in the future cartoons.

Spectacular Spider-Man is simply superior on every single level though except for single voice actors. I would had loathed that cartoon if I would have watched it for the first time as an adult.

I think I might have stated it on this forum earlier but the Spectacular Spider-Man is for me what Elsa Bannister (Rita Hayworth) is for Michael O'Hara (Orson Welles) in "The Lady From Shanghai."

"Maybe I'll live so long that I'll forget her. Maybe I'll die trying."

Just change her for Spectacular Spider-Man. I'm seriously not exaggerating there...

When the choice is between a American and a Russian film, always choose the latter.

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@ Scrite

Yeah, friend, when we were kids we weren't bothered by those mistakes in TAS. I only thought like, hey, Scorpion should learn new moves lol! I still love the series from the bottom of my heart.

Both Chris and Josh were perfect for their respective Spidey, college and high school. I think they even sound alike at times.

Jen Hale is one of best voice actresses ever IMO.

Vanessa was too cool and they finally got MJ's personality right. I thought Gwen after the makeover looked too much like Sally Avril, didn't you?

The Green Goblin was more like the Joker, not that that's a bad thing, I think I prefer Steve Blum to Neil Ross.

For Dock Ock, sorry about the Master Planner, but I like Efrem Zimbalist Jr better (the voice, not the way they handled the character later on in TAS).

Venom, well...I thought Hank Azaria was spot on even with all the censorship. The newer Venom was kind of gross when he opened that big mouth in his body lol, but he did fine.

I LOVE what Spec Spidey did with Tombstone and Hammerhead.

Electro in Spec Spidey reminds me of Danny DeVito's Penguin (I dunno anyone named Max/ My name's not Oswald! I am not a human being!) but he was better than the Red Skull's son. I loved how he always looked up to the Doc lol.

For the Shocker I have to say no one, and I mean no one, can top Jim Cummings as the voice. I didn't mind Montana at all though, I thought it made him more interesting.

And I loved how they gave every villain the backstory and origins without feeling dragged on. Spec Spidey was simply better put together than TAS for the most part.

I wish we saw Roderick Kingsley becoming Hobgoblin, Bench becoming Hydro-Man, Gargan becoming Scorpion and Cletus...but enough of this, I don't want to get us both depressed.


Pardon me, I saw your sig, u like Russian films? I saw Stalker, A Cruel Romance
and A Railway for Two and I loved them more than most Hollywood flicks.


Go ahead! Make my millenium!

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I'm still not sure if I like the way they handled Gwen near the end or not. I thought that she was boring for the first couple of episodes but she became a favorite after the scene were she tries to hint to Peter that she want's to go to the dance with him. I reevaluated her after that scene. (Although to be fair I went back and re watched the episodes before that later and she was great from the start, it was I who missed it until that point.)

I liked the fact that they made the nerdy girl. I find it really interesting to compare this Gwen with the one in the Ultimate Spider-Man comic books. The tabula rasa personality of the Earth-616 incarnation really makes her open for interpretation. I remember listening to a podcast were Weisman said that specifically wanted to make a High School version of the earth-616 incarnation. His words were in the lines of "We all know that she was really both a science nerd and really hot as well as collage student, so what we wanted to come up with was how she would have been back in High School." The series Gwen was an obvious ugly duckling just waiting to mature into a beautiful swan. So the transition was logical. I'm still not sure about it though because of the fact that it made her look like Sally Avril as you mentioned above. When Gwen just became another hot girl she lost what made her unique. I also think that it's sad that it took until she turned into a swan for Peter to confess his love for her. It's obvious that he would have gotten around to it sooner or later even if she had stayed the nerdy girl with glasses but this still made it come off a little like Gwen needed to be hot for Peter to finally comes to term with his emotions which was a shame.

I hated how Spider-Man TAS Doc Ock who started out great turned into a pathetic henchman of the Kingpin rather than a criminal mastermind of his own. Efrem Zimbalist Jr will always be the his voice for me as well though, and I can't believe that I forgot to mention him in my previous post!

Whilst I liked how they did Venom in Spider-Man TAS. (I still remember how scared I got as a kid when the symbiote attacked the astronauts.) I loved how much of a threat he really was in the Spectacular Spider-Man. The first encounter was OK and served a good purpose in making Peter realize his feelings for Gwen but the second encounter was in my opinion fantastic. Venom was going to first expose Peter Parker's secret identity to the whole world and then take away his powers. Peter would not have lasted a day in prison should the plan have succeeded. I don't think that Peter faced a single foe more dangerous than that in the entire cartoon.

Amen to the fact that they finally got Mary Jane's personality right. The Spider-Man TAS incarnation never felt anything like the Mary Jane Watson character I love from the comics*. She felt more like 616 Gwen with a different name and appearance. Spectacular Spider-man simply nailed her personality perfectly.

*I'm in love with that woman and I have been since I was a little kid. It's just a shame that she's a fictional character...

I wish we saw Roderick Kingsley becoming Hobgoblin, Bench becoming Hydro-Man, Gargan becoming Scorpion and Cletus...but enough of this, I don't want to get us both depressed.


It's sure is depressing to think about it. Hobgoblin has always my favorite Spider-Man villain and Carnage could actually have killed something if he had made it into one of the direct to dvd movies... Ok, I'll just stop there...

Although I have to say that it's great discussing this with someone who was as passionate about the show as I was. I have usually stayed away from discussing it to often because of the worry that it would depress me, but that was simply silly of me. I get depressed thinking about it anyhow, I might as well make something good about it.

Yes I'm a huge fan of the cinema from the USSR. I think the main reason (except for the fact that they are dark and depressing) is Mossfilm. Hollywood has always been about competition. Different studios needs to compete with each other for the potential movie goers. I was almost about to write a huge essay about the rise and fall of the Hollywood studio system to explain my point but I'm saving that for some other time.) Thus movies needs to be as attractive as possible to as many moviegoers as possible. Cue the brainless blockbusters.

Since the USSR was a dictatorship their was no competition. The government production company of Mossfilm produced and distributed all the film. Film making was also seen as much more serious art form than in Hollywood where it was seen mostly as entertainment. The problem in the USSR was that you're film could get banned it if went against the government's policies which could seem insane at times. Although it would be a lie to say that all Soviet cinema was great, whilst it was not meant for money much of it consisted of patriotic war movies that glorified the red army and the second world war. The good thing is that all those films are forgotten today whilst the art house classics that were hailed as masterpieces at international film festivals are available.

For example: The director Elem Klimov made a black comedy about a dentist who discovered a completely painless method for pulling out his patients tooth's. After a while he puts every other dentist out of business since everyone wants it to be painless. The film was banned because it went against the "every worker is equal" ideals.

The good thing is that the banned films are usually available today and most of them were banned for a good reason. (They are mostly fantastic films that would easily have drawn lots of movie goers and thus spread their message, which explains why they were banned in the first place.)

I guess I strayed very far from our original topic but if theirs one thing that I never get tired about talking/writing about it's Soviet cinema.

When the choice is between a American and a Russian film, always choose the latter.

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Okay then, Scrite. Tell me about Soviet cinema. What films do you especially recommend if I liked Stalker, Railway for Two and A Cruel Romance?

I'd love to talk more about SSM but we can only guess how season 3 would've been like. I'll tell you one thing, it would have been awesome, but that's not a hard guess.

Making John Jameson find the symbiote in Spidey TAS was a stroke of genius from John Semper and co.

You didn't say anything about Tombstone and Hammerhead in SSM, what do you think of them?

Go ahead! Make my millenium!

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I regret to inform you that I have not seen Railway for Two or A Cruel Romance but I added them to my to watch list. Based on Stalker and what I read about them I really recommend:

The rest of the films by Andrej Tarkovskij.
Come and See by Elem Klimov - It is pretty much is visually perfect as Stalker.
Ballad of a Soldier - Its also among the most beautiful films I have ever seen.
The Ascent - This one is my personal favorite, not only among Soviet cinema but overall. I recommend it to everyone and especially to someone who liked other Soviet films.
My Friend Ivan Lapshin - It contains some of the best tracking shots ever accomplished.

I would also like to recommend a few modern Russian films.

The Return and The Banishment by Andrej Zvjagintsev. Some critics have hailed him as "the new Tarkovskij" and whilst I hate "his the new X" comments they are not too far off. (I think that X film general topics called "Is Nolan the new Kubrick?" killed it for me...)
The Ugly Swans - This film is probably as closest you can ever get to Stalker without watching it. The film is based on a novel by the same authors that wrote the novel that was used for Stalker and the visual style is extremely influenced by the film Stalker as well.

If we go back to SSM... I think I collected every comment Weisman made on how the 3rd season would be and yes it would have been awesome. I was about to copy paste the text (just in case) but then I remembered that I had switched computer since then and forgotten to copy the document. It might have been for the best though because I would probably just have gotten depressed re reading it.

I did forgot to comment on Tombstone and Hammerhead but I can tell you that I liked them. It's a true shame that we never got to learn the true nature of the relationship between Hammerhead and Silver Sable. I would have liked it if Keith David had stayed as Tombstone but the other voice actress worked fine as well.

That will always be the problem with these kind of story lines. They can be fantastic if you get to complete you're story but you will leave a lot of unanswered questions around if it gets cancelled before that. (I wish everyone could opt for this, I personally hate it when people feel the need to give the audience a complete closure after every season just in case the show will get cancelled.)

Letting John Jameson find the symbiote was indeed the stroke of a genius, Semper was probably the one thing that kept Spider-Man TAS floating despite being screwed over by the producers all the time. I remember watching Iron Man TAS years later and it was not a show it was a toy commercial that was 20 minutes long every week. Iron Man and his superhero team faces the same villains every episode for thirteen episodes in a row.

The second season of the Hulk cartoon forced the She-Hulk to appear in every episode etc.

I think Spider-Man TAS would have been on the same level as Iron Man if it weren't for Semper fighting the producers at every turn and in the end getting fired for it. I mean they threatened to sack him after the second season when he made a season arc, since executive producers seem to hate season arcs more than anything... I love how Semper made season 3-5 into one big arc just to rub it into the face of the executive producers.

Although SSM did it even better, If I would have watched the whole thing back to back today I would probably never have realized that it was two seasons I watched. I would have been fully convinced that the series lasted for one 26 episode season because of the fantastic continuity.

When the choice is between a American and a Russian film, always choose the latter.

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That's what makes SSM superior even to Batman TAS un my eyes: the continuity. For me, that's what really matters.

I think Semper liked to exaggerate in his interviews, but I can bet Avi Arad and co made his life a living hell. So when people will quit bashing Spidey TAS they should know that if wasn't for Semper, they'd have far more things to complain about.

For the record, I'd say that the Alien Costume 3-parter and the Green Goblin episodes (like Turning Point) were the closest TAS ever got to matching Spec Spidey's quality.

Iron Man season 2 wasn't bad at all, amazing what the right people can do to resurrect a show, if you haven't seen it yet I recommend you give it a try.
Incredible Hulk S1 was very very good but it went downhill with She-Hulk, such a shame...

Fantastic Four was a mess, in S2 it got better but I never liked the FF so much, I think they're my least favourite Marvel superheroes.

What'd you think of the X-Men cartoons? I liked TAS and Evolution but haven't seen Wolverine & the X-Men yet. Have you? Steve Blum's in it so it can't be that bad I guess.

I watched all 3 films I mentioned based on my dad's recommendation. You won't find ANY of the Hollywood romance cliches in A Railway Station for 2 or A Cruel Romance. Plain superior movies and what I liked most about them, they were realistic. At times I thought there weren't actors there but people dealing with a real situation. And I'm not a huge fan of romance films.

Go ahead! Make my millenium!

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That's what makes SSM superior even to Batman TAS un my eyes: the continuity. For me, that's what really matters.


I never thought that I would live to see the day! I have said the same thing ever since I first saw SSM. I liked Batman TAS but I could never get over the fact that there is no continuity, no character development, no arcs. It sure have some fantastic episodes but continuity is the most important trait of every series for me. I have just never heard anyone agree that the lack of continuity is a problem, most people are too busy praising it.

I think Semper liked to exaggerate in his interviews, but I can bet Avi Arad and co made his life a living hell. So when people will quit bashing Spidey TAS they should know that if wasn't for Semper, they'd have far more things to complain about.


My sentiments exactly, Semper did everything he could to save it and I would have liked to see what anyone else could have done "no glass breaking", "no deaths", "no use of words such as kill and die", no punches, no realistic weapons, no kids being put in danger, no birds allowed to be damaged whilst Spider-Man lands on rooftops*... It's obviously impossible to make action scenes that will hold up with those kind of rules.

*That was sadly an actual rule the producers gave Semper...

I'm not sure which episode I like best but I would place season 3 as my favorite. Turning Point is also an episode that really shook me up as a kid. When Mary Jane "died" it really touched me. I had watched that show since the first season (not every episode I did in fact not finish the series until a couple of years ago and that was thank to YouTube) and I had gotten used to the fact that Spider-Man always saved the day. It still remember how shocked I got when he failed to save Mary Jane from The Green Goblin.

I watched Iron Man season 2 and I agree that it was like watching another cartoon rather than a new season. My favorite episodes was the shows version of Armor Wars.

I did like the first season of the Hulk to an extent but I guess it got overshadowed by my hatred for the second. I actually used to like She-Hulk, then I watched the second season...

I'm not fond of the Fantastic Four either but for some strange reason I did not hate the first season as much as everyone else did. The second was way better though but I don't really like the Fantastic Four anyways. They have always felt like a crappier version of X-Men to me.

X-Men TAS is my second favorite of the 90s Marvel cartoons. I refer to that as the Hamlet of cartoons sometimes because of all the memorably quotes that came out of it. I still quote that show on a weekly basis, at least! I liked Evolution as well but I do think that the show went completely downhill in the later seasons. I felt that they forced ideas directly from the comics onto the show without realizing that they wouldn't work.

I hated the romance between Scott and Jean. Unlike the comic I did not feel that they had any chemistry in the show. Rogue could obviously never had gotten Scott but it still felt really forced to make him fall in love with Jean all of a sudden.

I did like Wolverine and the X-Men. Whilst it did a bad job with some of the characters (Jean, Scott and Storm especially, although gets butchered in every cartoon so it's not like a care too much anymore**.) It contained a couple of great episodes. I can recommend it and Steven Blum is as great as always.

**Remember the time when Jean tripped and fell for no reason what so ever during the first fight against Apocalypse in X-Men TAS? I always smile think back about that. It's probably the best example of how that show screwed the character over at every turn.

Now that I look at you're list I see that it lacks Silver Surfer and Avengers: United they Stand. Did you watch them?

I thought Silver Surfer was quite good but it ended with an unfortunate cliffhanger due to the show being cancelled after one season.

Avengers: United They Stand is probably the worst marvel cartoon since Iron Man TAS season one. If you haven't watched it my advice is to let it stay that way. (It's Avengers without Captain America, Iron Man and Thor. I guess that says it all...)

Plain superior movies and what I liked most about them, they were realistic. At times I thought there weren't actors there but people dealing with a real situation. And I'm not a huge fan of romance films.


That will definitely move them upwards on my to watch list! I love the Italian neo-realism style of using real people rather than actors. Actors can play different characters but real people can only play themselves but themselves being in special/extreme/uncommon situations. I don't doubt for a second that it works great for the films you mentioned judging from reading a little info about the stories.

I'm not for romance films either, their reputation has been ruined by two many cheesy romantic comedies from Hollywood but I can assure you that I will get around watching the two you mentioned ASAP.

When the choice is between a American and a Russian film, always choose the latter.

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Yeah I even liked Batman Beyond better than TAS because of the storyline. Even comic books have them. I can't say Batman TAS wasn't great, but it lacked something essential.

No I haven't seen Surfer and Avengers, and I'm glad I didn't from what I hear from you.

I also LOVE the poetry in X-Men TAS. yeah I also thought the romance was kinda cheesy and I prefered Rogue and Wolverine and Beast as my favourites.

I also conside SPidey TAS season 3 as my fav because of the story arc, even if it had some stinkers the conclusion was awesome.

Iron Man season 2 is one of my favorite seaons of any show. Everything goes together almost perfectly. Too bad it never had a third one, just like our Spec Spidey, although you can't really compare them, season 2 of IM was pretty awesome and made me forget the first quickly.

Even Greg Weisman couldn't have done much if he was put in John Semper's place, I'm pretty sure.

We seem to agree on a lot of points. I wish we could go and have a drink someday lol.


Go ahead! Make my millenium!

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Yeah I even liked Batman Beyond better than TAS because of the storyline. Even comic books have them. I can't say Batman TAS wasn't great, but it lacked something essential.


I think that i prefer Beyond as well. it was not close to SSM in the terms of continuity but it was far beyond Batman TAS. The first season was especially great. My complaint against the show is Dana, she accepts Terry's rude behavior all the time only to get mad at him when the plot requires it. (Melanie and Terry going out, Rat boy getting a crush on her.) My favorite part of the show was Terry vs The Royal Flush Gang. I was genuinely surprised by how great the continuity was between Terry and Melanie. I still think that he should have chosen her over Dana...

No I haven't seen Surfer and Avengers, and I'm glad I didn't from what I hear from you.


It was such a huge disappointment to watch the Avengers cartoon! I was so happy when I first learned that their was an Avengers cartoon. I had watched every single 90s cartoon or so I thought since I suddenly discovered the Avengers. It only took a couple of minutes of the first episode to realize that I had been tricked, I still finished the it though. (I have a problem with that, If I start a book/film/tv show/etc I have to finish it no matter how much I hate it.) I tend to stay very far away from long tv shows unless I'm fully convinced that I will like them. I even finished that godforsaken Batman Beyond rip off that was Spider-Man: Unlimted... Did you watch that? If I'm going to be extremely nice too it I would summarise it as: "The first ten minutes of the first episode are pretty good and it goes downhill from there." (The easy explanation for that is that Mary Jane Watson is included voiced by Jennifer Hale and you can never go too wrong with either of those women.)

I also LOVE the poetry in X-Men TAS. yeah I also thought the romance was kinda cheesy and I prefered Rogue and Wolverine and Beast as my favorites.


I fell in love with Rogue when I first watched that. There was just something about that southern belle accent. She's probably the only Marvel woman ever to be able to compete with Mary Jane Watson.

Even Greg Weisman couldn't have done much if he was put in John Semper's place, I'm pretty sure.


I guess not and the man could probably save almost anything. It's just a shame that I don't like Young Justice too much, or well I hated it for the first couple of episodes but it has really grown on me as the series progressed. I think a big problem is that I will always connect it with "replaced SSM" even though I know fully well that Weisman was recruited because of the cancellation. The biggest problem is the characters though, I'm not as knowledgeable when it comes to DC as when it comes to Marvel so I have no connection to characters such as Superboy, Kid Flash, Ms Martian, Aqualad etc. Unlike in SSM were I had loved the characters for years and was eager to see how Weisman would portray them.

Now that I mentioned DC have you watched the Justice League/Justice League Unlimited cartoons? Those are among my absolute favorites and I think that the Joaquim Dos Santos directed action sequences in Unlimited makes almost all cartoon action seem cringe worthy in comparison. (Fans have even given the man the nickname "Dr. Fight" because of his skill when it comes to these scenes.)

We seem to agree on a lot of points. I wish we could go and have a drink someday lol.


That would have been great! I have a feeling that it would be hard to accomplish in person though, I'm Swedish by the way, where are you from?

When the choice is between a American and a Russian film, always choose the latter.

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You know what? I hated Dana too and loved Melanie. I guess I have a thing for blondes, though, lol. A shame that Beyond didn't get a real conclusion, just like SSM and TAS...

I watched Spidey Unlimited expecting to see something close to Spidey TAS. Big surprise, and not in the right way. It was all wrong. What's Spidey doing going inter-galactic and fighting guys like Sir Ram and Lord Tiger? My God...

I'll give Young Justice a go as soon as I finish re-watching Batman Beyond AND TSSM.

I LOVED Justice League. Batman and Green Lantern were my favourites, which were yours? I'm afraid I didn't watch Unlimited consistently so I got lost during the stories. Man all those evenings, watching JL... such good memories.

I am from Romania. If you like football, you'll know that your team defeated ours on penalties in 1994, but I was barely born then so no hard feelings from me.

Also, some of my relatives went to Sweden on vacation and they said it was very different but still a great country. Me, I'd love to go to Berlin next summer and maybe someday in Stockholm...

Go ahead! Make my millenium!

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You know what? I hated Dana too and loved Melanie. I guess I have a thing for blondes, though, lol. A shame that Beyond didn't get a real conclusion, just like SSM and TAS...

Someone who loved Melanie, at last! No one ever seem to understand the fact that she was the best female character in that show! It's a shame indeed that it was cancelled after three seasons.

The DCAU team really gave a continuing story a tried for the first time and what did the executive producers do? They told that they would get four seasons only to say "Sorry guy, we changed our mind and you will only get three seasons." after season three was done... They did use Justice league Unlimited to repair some of the damage (the episode "Epilogue" in the first season of Unlimited served as an ending for not only Batman Beyond but the whole DCAU.)

I watched Spidey Unlimited expecting to see something close to Spidey TAS. Big surprise, and not in the right way. It was all wrong. What's Spidey doing going inter-galactic and fighting guys like Sir Ram and Lord Tiger? My God...

I thought that it would be close to TAS as well... From what I have heard later on the idea was to cash in on Batman Beyond by ripping it off. It's needless to say that it didn't work out that well...

I need to rewatch TSSM too... I have avoided it because I felt that it would be too depressing but just before Christmas a female friend (who is an animation buff like me) more or less forced me to rewatch the first episode as a part "we watch the first episode of several cartoons" and when I watched it for a second time I realized that it might just be the best opening episode ever in a cartoon. I have never seen any pilot introduce so many characters in such a good way. I used to think that the opening episodes of Batman Beyond were the best ones in that area. (They did such a great job introducing Terry - The way he defended the woman on the subway showed that he's brave and that he has it in him to stand up for what's right, the way he punched the guy that spat in his face showed that he has problems with his anger management etc) I did not think that the first couple of episodes were anything special the first time around but now I guess will just have to rewatch the whole cartoon, I would not be the surprised at all if I end up loving it even more the second time around. (I did rewatch single episodes now and then before it got cancelled but I have never re watched the whole thing from 1-26.)

I LOVED Justice League. Batman and Green Lantern were my favourites, which were yours? I'm afraid I didn't watch Unlimited consistently so I got lost during the stories. Man all those evenings, watching JL... such good memories.

I can fully recommend you to re watch Justice League Unlimited in the future. It's first season has the best continuity of all the DCAU cartoons so I can really understand that you got lost, whilst all the episodes are stand alone ones they really have an almost perfect continuity (obviously not as perfect as Spectacular Spider-Man but still as near as you can get.)

I am from Romania. If you like football, you'll know that your team defeated ours on penalties in 1994, but I was barely born then so no hard feelings from me.

I can't remember if I watched that game seeing that I was four years old at the time but I'm glad that we don't have to put that between us.

Also, some of my relatives went to Sweden on vacation and they said it was very different but still a great country. Me, I'd love to go to Berlin next summer and maybe someday in Stockholm...


I guess we have to take a rain check on that drink then. Was almost about to write that I have been to Berlin but I realized that I haven't... I have been to Germany (and it was really nice!) but never to Berlin.

I don't live in Stockholm at the moment but If you get around visiting Stockholm some day give me a notice in time and we should hopefully be able to go out drinking.

When the choice is between a American and a Russian film, always choose the latter.

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I too grew up with Spider-man TAS. It introduced me to Spidey's world and I still enjoy it, but it was heavily flawed in many areas.

- The constant recycling of footage. It become so obvious that it's cringe worthy sometimes. Especially when you see Spidey or other characters in environments that look nothing like the setting they were just in. For example in the Daredevil team up episode, Spidey fights the Kingpin, and Kingpin throws Spidey across the room. The footage they then use is Spidey landing in front of Doc Ock's reactor in Ock's first episode.

There's also in the second season finale where Spidey is fighting Scorpion, they reused that same shot of Scorpion charging at Spidey about three times and that shot was not only from Scoprion's debut episode, but after he started to mutate into looking like a monster instead of a man in a scorpion costume.(which seems to have been dropped)

- The over use of Kingpin. Ok, I get that he's the Kingpin of crime, but that doesn't mean he has to be in nearly every episode and have affiliations with nearly every villain. It really hurt the other villains, especially the likes of Doc Ock, always taking orders from Kingpin. Ock is a leader of men, not a follower. And Norman Osborn would never live in fear of him.

- The over use of Morbius. He got more exposure than the likes of Norman's Green Goblin, Venom, Hobgoblin, Mysterio, Vulture, etc. and I don't think vampires and Spider-Man just feel right together.

- The censorship of the show. Such as Spider-man rarely being able to throw a punch and not being able to use the word "Sinister",. etc. It's ridiculous considering what the other shows got away with.

- Electro being Red Skull's son. Yes I know that he and Sandman were gonna be in James Cameron's Spidey movie(which thankfully never happened), but that's still no reason for them to bastardize Electro.

- Bad writing such as Vulture getting the Spider disease in the second season finale which results in him getting stuck as a Man/Spider/Vulture, but the next time we see him, he's back in his normal self, but now couldn't control changing from old to young and vice-versa.

Despite all of this I do still enjoy the show. Not as much as SSM though. And it still had some things going for it. Animation in episodes like Night Of The Lizard was great. The character designs were good, the voice acting was great(although CDB did overact at times), and there's some real quality episodes in there. Especially from the first three seasons. And I actually like that Black Cat better than the one from SSM. Can't go wrong with Jennifer Hale.



Sick of threads "Megan Fox should play this!"

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You just did a perfect summary of almost all of the major flaws.

There is just one flaw I would like to add to your list. In the episode "The Lizard King" Spider-Man brings a bomb that will disable all neogenically engineered creature in the vicinity. When the bomb goes off (right next to Spider-Man) The Lizard turns into Dr Connors and his "children" turns into regular lizards again but Spider-Man is somehow unaffected and gets to keep his powers. It's not like the show stated X times that Peter Parker is a neogenically engineered creature or anything...

I might also be in a minority here but I would have loved to say James Cameron's Spider-Man film. It would have been like a Uwe Boll film or The Room, namely so bad that it would have been good. The fact that it would have ruined Spider-Man for a whole generation of movie goers would have been a problem though.

As I stated in an above post I enjoy the show as well when I give it it's annual re watch. Mostly for nostalgia reasons but their are a few things that still holds up. Especially the voice acting and the dialogue, I can understand that some people find it cringe worthy but I usually find it hilarious. (Except for the occasions when sentences in the lines of "It's Spider-Man, Destroy him!" breaks the illusion.)

You can never go wrong with Jennifer Hale (does that woman have the sexiest voice ever or what!?) and the Black Cat of Spider-Man TAS was better than the one used in SSM. Although I think they gave her better lines in SSM. I would have loved for Jennifer Hale to reprise her role. Whilst I love MJ (based on the comic book) I think that Peter should have chosen Felicia. It's like they forced MJ on him because of the fact that they were married in the comics.

I have to say that I have been really inspired by all this talk about it. I just might do my annual rewatch early this year. (I usually save it for the fall/winter)

When the choice is between a American and a Russian film, always choose the latter.

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The Dana romance was generic. Melanie was what I liked to see, even Maxine could've been better than Dana. I thought the "Rats" episode was pretty dumb.

Yeah it would be great if we could be face to face and chat a little, especially since you're not that much older and everyone tells me I look older than I really am lol. However I don't think it will be possible for me to go to both Berlin and Stockholm in the summer, we'll see.

KCJ506 summed up our feelings about TAS pretty well I'd say, expect that I don't mind all the mistakes, I still watch the show with the eyes of a child.

Go ahead! Make my millenium!

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I would also have preferred him to choose Maxine over Dana. Hell I would have seen him chose anyone over her. She was the among the most generic and boring characters in the entire cartoon.

Yeah it would be great if we could be face to face and chat a little, especially since you're not that much older and everyone tells me I look older than I really am lol. However I don't think it will be possible for me to go to both Berlin and Stockholm in the summer, we'll see.

I can't blame you for that considering today's prices but don't worry I will just leave the offer to go out drinking if you ever come buy Stockholm open.

When the choice is between a American and a Russian film, always choose the latter.

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I Love ABBA and Roxette from Sweden, different styles but both great, even if they don't sing in Swedish lol. I heardd Marie from Roxette has some songs all in Swedish, should I check them out? I am a fan of older music in general.

By the way, what are some traditional Swedish foods? And do you have comic books there? Here I only managed to read ONE Spider-Man story that I got from a rich kid years ago. Thank goodness for the fall of communism. Not saying the Soviets didn't show cartoons but they never would've let us see Spidey or Batman.

I think I hate Dana more with her every appearance, I can't wait till Maxine becomes a more proeminent character later on.

I didn't mean literally drinking as I only drink beer and soft drinks but I'll drink what you want to. I really hope we'll have that meeting someday, our preferences in superheroes are very much alike.

There's no room for pity in this business, babe.

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I like Roxette and the Swedish songs Marie has done without Per. You should definitely check them out and see if you like them.

Well Swedish food culture has been taken over by pizza, hamburgers, sushi, Thai food, tacos etc just like everywhere else but a very Swedish meal is meatballs with potatoes. We have Swedish comics in regular supermarkets but for you need to go to designated comic book stores for everything else and those stores are quite rare. I buy all my American comics as trade paper backs from online bookstores. I usually let a trade go along when I buy new textbooks for my studies. (I'm a film student working my way to a bachelor degree at the moment.)

Maxine was simply a much better character, it's a shame because Dana could have been interesting if they had made an actual effort. She could be compared to the Gwen Stacy of the 1960's comics, just plain and boring.

I thought you meant it literally but soft drinks is no problems for me. I consider my self a flexible enough person to adjust myself to what others want's to drink. (Going out with real drinkers - I get drunk as well.) Going out with someone who doesn't drink alcohol - I drink coca cola instead.)

When the choice is between a American and a Russian film, always choose the latter.

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Coke is fine. I'll listen to Marie's songs too. I like meatballs and potatoes, but I'll also eat pizza and other stuff, no problem.
I like Roxette better cos they have some really emotional ones, ABBA is fine too, I think I like "The Winner Takes it all" best from ABBA and "It Must HAve been love" from Roxette.

I agree Max was great like the female Robin, sort of... also Kevin Conroy was AWESOME even if he wasn't Batman but just Bruce and a lot older.

There's no room for pity in this business, babe.

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Kevin Conroy is AWESOME! He's will always be the "real" Batman for me. :)

I can't say that I ate too much Swedish food, I live just a few minutes (by foot) from a great and extremely cheap pizza place as an example so I eat pizza every Friday. :)

When the choice is between a American and a Russian film, always choose the latter.

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Cool, I eat pizza every Sunday or Sat. myself.

And yes I would've loved to see that J Cameron Spidey film too, I never liked Raimi's that much.

There's no room for pity in this business, babe.

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I couldn't stand Raimi's version at all. I find it funny and sad at the same time how people would praise Raimi as a god only to start calling him a hack after the release of Spider-Man 3. I loathed the films from the very beginning.

I could probably rant for days but a few of the highlights in my hatred includes:

Raimi did not "get" Peter Parker as a person at all which is clearly shown in his origin. In the 616 universe Peter has a chance to stop a robber and he doesn't. The reason is that all the years of bullying has made him a selfish person who only looks out for himself thinking that he is all alone in the world. That cost him Uncle Ben, the man who had been like a father to him ever since his parents died. I think the most important and overlooked trait when it comes to Peter is guilt. The guilt he feels could probably compare to that of my house god Franz Kafka. Or as Mary Jane summaries it in "Soul of the Hunter" (Awful comic, but it had a few really good scenes.)

Mary Jane: Peter Parker-- You were born guilty! Kraven may have been your enemy-- but by god, the man killed himself! And somewhere inside you is a voice saying: "I could have stopped him. I could have saved him."

Peter: No. Never.

Mary Jane: Yes. Always.

That's what's makes you you. That's one of the reasons why I love you. There's a part of you that wants to save the whole world. That want's to take all the suffering out there and magically... web it all away.

But it doesn't work that way Peter. And if you don't get some help with this-- it's going to eat away at you. At us.

Man... No one understood Spider-Man like DeMatteis... Why did he ever quit the title!?

The film on the other hand gave Peter a chance to stop a robber that robbed a man who just screwed Peter over half a minute before, the fact that Peter did not stop him had nothing to do with selfishness but with him being a human being...

And don't even get me started on how the trilogy took a huge dump all over my girl Mary Jane...

Aunt May did not help either. "How Spider-Man 3 should have ended" summarised her role in the films perfectly:

Peter: I'm gona ask MJ to merry me.
Aunt May: Oh, this reminds me of a long and boring story of you're uncle Ben and I which will only make you feel miserable and make the wrong decision.

When the choice is between a American and a Russian film, always choose the latter.

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Let's quit talking about Raimi, please. He's in the same league as Spidey Unlimited for me. Even Nick Hammond was more likable and had charisma as Peter Parker than Tobey Maguire.

- Gothamite #4

There's no room for pity in this business, babe.

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I will gladly do that. :) I'm just happy to know that their are others who can't stand his hackwork either.

When the choice is between a American and a Russian film, always choose the latter.

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By the way, did you ever watch the kids' horror-drama-family series Eerie, Indiana in Sweden? Starring Omri Katz and later Jason Marsden. It was pretty good and now it's just how I remembered it. Topbey had a guest appearnce in one of those and I liked him better than his role in Raimi's films.
Raimi was never right for Spidey IMO. he should've stuck to Xena and Evil Dead.

- Gothamite #4

There's no room for pity in this business, babe.

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No I'm afraid I haven't watched that. The popular "foreign" series in Sweden were all for some reason Australian.

Raimi should definitely have stuck with Evil Dead, I wouldn't dislike him today if he had done that and he wouldn't have ruined Spider-Man for a whole generation of kids. (The worst part is that Spectacular Spider-Man used his crap for Peter's background. I'm sure that it was the executive producers at Sony who forced it on the story editor but it's just as bad anyways...)

When the choice is between a American and a Russian film, always choose the latter.

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They shouldn't have copied Alfred Molina's Doc Ock look to a tee in TSSM, I liked Efrem Zimbalist, Jr better, even with the armor he had the classic haircut and goggles.

If you ever have the time and like comedy-horror-kids shows, you should give Eerie, Indiana a closer look. Like I said before it's not just about nostalgia in my case, the show holds up well.

When I heard that Sam Raimi directed Spider-Man I was like "What??? the guy with the evil dead and Joxer from Xena??" I wonder why did he get the job anyway, no disrespect to him or his work.

- Gothamite #4

There's no room for pity in this business, babe.

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Efram Zimbalist Jr was the real Doc Ock. I guess Alfred Molina worked in a live action movie but it was a mistake to copy him to a cartoon. (People really need to learn the fact that things that work in one story telling medium doesn't necessarily have to work in the others.)

I'll keep them name of Eerie, Indiana in mind for later. I'm watching Avatar: The Last Airbender right now but I'm always looking for more shows with that episode length. (I might haven mentioned it in an above post but If I didn't...) I start every morning with drinking a cup of hot chocolate and watching an episode from an usually) animated series. That's how I got through the whole DCAU one episode at a time, one cartoon at a time. (It's actually a really fascinating way to watch, before I started doing it I would usually just watch X episode here and Y episodes there.)

When the choice is between a American and a Russian film, always choose the latter.

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I'm currently going to school, playing various games, writing, reading and watching Batman beyond. Not all at the same time of course. . Like I said I'll go for TSSM and then maybe Young Justice.

I've noticed the difference in quality between seaons 1 and 2 in BB almost immediately, but it's still good.

- Gothamite #4

There's no room for pity in this business, babe.

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I remember when I went to school every day... I'm glad that's over. :P I'm having lectures twice a week at most these days, I have probably forgotten what it's like to be in school from 8 to 15:30 five days a week.

Batman Beyond season 1 is sure better than season two. My favorite episode of season two is without doubt Once Burned since Melanie returns, another episode I really liked was Zeta. (I'm a huge fan of robot philosophy.)

When the choice is between a American and a Russian film, always choose the latter.

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I kinda liked that robot episode in Spidey unlimited too (again sorry for bringing it up)

- Gothamite #4

There's no room for pity in this business, babe.

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I can't remember a robot episode so for a second there I almost considered looking it up again but then I came to my senses. I think I might have blocked it all out. (Well except for Jennifer Hale doing MJ, Karen (she was hot!) and the milf who's house Peter rents a room in.

I have blocked the cartoon out other than that though! :P

When the choice is between a American and a Russian film, always choose the latter.

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I just saw the second Melanie episode and liked it. But why did Terry have to throw the note just because he was with DANA? Ugh!

- Gothamite #4

There's no room for pity in this business, babe.

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I think it's the most interesting episode of the cartoon. A problem with most episodes is that they are extremely easy to follow and that everything is black and white. This one makes a huge exception from that rule.

Yes Melanie screws Batman (not Terry!) over but she does it for her family. Not because of profit but because she despite everything that happened still loves her parents for being her parents.

Dana realize her mistake seeing that everything was a "test" and gets really mad but Terry (Batman) arrives just in time to miss this. I think this is what it all comes down too. The story might have turned out differently if Terry could understand Melanie fully but he arrived at the scene too late and he blew his second chance as well by throwing away her note.

The last scene is extremely predictable but it still saddened me. (I kept thinking "I don't want to be right, don't you dare throw it away Terry!" - Which quickly turned into "No! I hate it when I'm right!") In the end it boils down to the whole "femme fatale vs the girl next door" dilemma.

Melanie is hotter, more exciting and she can keep up with Terry's life as Batman in a way that Dana never could but she has the huge drawback of having betrayed Terry in the past as well as being part of a family of villains.

Whilst Dana is extremely boring she is nice, reliable and safe as well. She's the kind of woman a man usually want in the long run.

You had seen the complete cartoon before right? Because I was about to write about his third and final encounter with Melanie but I stopped myself for the moment.

That said I will always think that he should have chosen Melanie. My usual comment when people ask me about Batman Beyond is "Terry should have chosen Melanie and that's all I have to say about that."

When the choice is between a American and a Russian film, always choose the latter.

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Umm, stop yourself please. I last watched it several years ago, I really want to see all of them like it's something new

What do you think of TSSM's FInal Curtain?

- Gothamite #4


I've learned that it's OK to be flawed - Winona Ryder

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I'll hold future comments about Batman Beyond back for the time being then.

I LOVED Final Curtain! That episode is in my opinion one of the all time great season finales when it comes to cartoons. (The best one on a technical level is obviously "Epilogue" - The season finale of the first season of Justice League Unlimited but that's another story.)

I heard a fantastic thing once, there was according to the people who watched Final Curtain when it premiered an error with the sound so most of the viewers had to watch the episode without the dialogue or perhaps without any sound at all. (I never figured that out and I watched the whole cartoon on YouTube.) The incredible fact is that the episode was said to work almost perfectly as a silent one. Some viewers even believed that it was meant to be silent. Now when I do think about it it would be amazing to see a completely silent episode in a future cartoon. I mean Marvel writers had a silent month once were no dialogue was allowed. The silent Ultimate Spider-Man comic was among my favorites of the whole run. The problem is obviously the target audience, I don't think that most 10 year old boys the executive producers want to target have the patience and concentration required to enjoy a silent episode. Hell many adults don't*...

*This is my being Swedish according to some people. It's said that Swedes understand silence in a way other people don't. The Swedish director Tomas Alfredson was hired to direct "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" because of being Swedish. The producers wanted a director who would understand silence. I'm not sure if I can believe it though, I think it's an unfair generalization to claim that Swedes should have some sort of better understanding of silence just because of their nationality. I think that preferences like this are completely individual.

The interaction between Peter and Gwen was incredible and I could easily see how it would work out great even without sound but the best part was without any doubt Peter breaking up with Liz Allan. It felt so... realistic! Liz is a popular girl who lowered her social status by dating a nerd like Peter. If she get's dumped by Peter her reputation will be ruined for life. She has no choice but to pretend that it was she who got tired of him to save her reputation.

I had a very similar experience back when I was 18. I was having a public fling with this girl I meet. I think I was at least mildly interested in trying out a relationship with her but she made it clear a few days later that she had regrets about what we did and that she wanted it to stay as a one time thing. It was thus pretty clear that she meant that she would be happy if we spent the rest of our lives without ever interacting again. I spent a lot of time afterwards making sure that all my friends "knew" that it was I who did not want her and not the other way around. I'm definitely not proud of it but I did what I had to do in order to save my social status in the group.

The scene were Liz cries really saddened me. I always wanted for (and knew that) Peter to (would) end up with Gwen. It's still sad to see Liz because she's not evil, she was a totally great girl who was undeserving of the heartbreak. That was what made it so great! A very common problem (especially in awful romantic comedies) is that the person who is going to get dumped always needs to be a cheater or a unsympathetic person in general as to justify it. Spectacular Spider-Man did a fantastic job steering clear of the route, the only character who were plain evil was Sally Avril and even she showed hints of a little humanity near the end.

The best episode to capture the social rules of a teens life is the one were Peter takes MJ to the dance. I don't think that I have ever seen any other scene even closely as realistic as that. The problem is that I always fail to explain who the scene is so great. It's like I have too much to say about it and I usually end up screwing up because of it.

When the choice is between a American and a Russian film, always choose the latter.

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I agree I greatly enjoyed Final Curtain and MJ and Pete at the dance before that. Norman here was a sly fox not a good man who did things badly like the Neil Ross version. MJ also was more like the comics, a partygirl who is nice to everyone.

Tombstone also was one of my favourites "what we grown-ups call irony", the Goblin "We all wear masks..." and the big fight with opera music playing in the gangwar episode was too cool, one of my favorite fight scenes from any series.

- Gothamite #4


I've learned that it's OK to be flawed - Winona Ryder

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Norman Osborne was great! I think that he was on the level with John Houston's villain in Chinatown. He was so cold about everything that it was almost scary to watch, in a good way. Just like in Chinatown.

I have said it before but I can't repeat it enough this version of MJ was incredible. Unlike every previous incarnation of the character this one actually captured the girl of the original comics. I would really have loved to see her background in this show though, I think they could have stuck with her comic origin of having an abusive alcoholic for a father. What I love so much about MJ is that she is just as damaged as Peter Parker. They just show it in different ways and that's why they work so well together.

Peter has the trauma of losing his parents and he gets bullied in school every day for being a nerd. When he finally got his reward (Spider-Powers) he got to cocky and lost Uncle Ben. He always be reminded that he lost his uncle because of his own selfishness hence overcompensating on empathy and caring much more about other people than himself. He blames himself for everything that's wrong in the world and needs the constant feel of guilt and responsibility.

MJ grew up in a broken home with an abusive father who turned to the bottle. When she couldn't take it anymore she simply shut all emotions off. All she wanted was to be loved and cared about but when she couldn't have that she choose plan B, to live completely without emotions for other people. Hence the facade of the careless party girl who only want's to have fun and who ignores all responsibility.

They are both deeply damaged and traumatized individuals but they face their problems opposite ways which I find extremely interesting.

I do love how "nice" MJ comes off, she rejects guys left and right but she does it in such a nice way that it's impossible to get angry with her. I wish more girls could be like that in real life.

I thought the action sequences were the worst part of the show, perhaps it's the style but I can't help thinking that they used up all energy on the characters and story instead of saving some for the action. I do love the Gangland fight though, it might be the best one of the show (although I think I prefer symbiote Spider taking down the Sinister Six.)

When the choice is between a American and a Russian film, always choose the latter.

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I can watch any animated series now, but I'll always feel the urge to compare it with Spec Spidey. BTW, did you see Beast Wars?

I guess we didn't find the fights so appealing because of the art style, it was kinda weird to see them fighting.

care to discuss Cameron's idea? Electro and Sandman done properly could've worked, I would've wanted Scorpion too and not Marko.

- Gothamite #4


I've learned that it's OK to be flawed - Winona Ryder

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I have said it before but I can't repeat it enough this version of MJ was incredible.


Same thought here. I never liked the MJ in the Raimi movies, but I loved the MJ in this series although it's too bad we never got to learn more about her life. She's such a charismatic individual. What I really love is how she has her own mind and breaks social conventions and expectations. That only made her more awesome. I loved how Sally was getting frustrated with the 'normal' social rules being broken. In her mind: Peter = nerd. MJ = hot popular girl. Peter + hot popular crowd is impossible. Then MJ came along and screwed up that entire system instead of following Sally's simplistic narrow-minded social system. MJ knew she was an individual with her own thoughts and interests and that she belonged in a category of her own.


I miss this show so badly.




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I can't help the fact that I hate the continuity and character depth of almost every show I watch these days... All thanks to Spectacular Spider-Man! I have not seen Beast Wars but I guess I could look it up, I'm always looking for new interesting series.

Yeah I hated the art style of Spectacular Spider-Man, I have obviously not listed it as a flaw since it's entirely subjective but it took me several episodes of hatred before I could focus all my attention on the rest of the show rather than being busy hating the style. I do think that the style causes a major problem when it comes to my attempts to get people to watch it. Most people see the style and says "That's just for children" before even giving it a chance.

I love Cameron's idea! It's butchers the whole Spider-Man mythos on such a fantastic level. Whilst I hated Raimi's films for doing just that Cameron brings it into such a new level that it would have been so bad that it's good, such as the films of Uwe Boll or Ed Wood or the simply The Room. (That's my favorite "so bad it's good" film.)

Here is the treatment.

Let me summarize the best parts if case you don't have the energy to read the whole thing:

Peter harbors a secret crush on Mary Jane but she's together with Flash who is verbally and physically abusive. One day when Peter sees Flash hitting her he goes berserk and it's time for a brutal and sustained beating. Flash get's smashed against his car X times and Peter proceeds to pick up a signpost and smash the car to pieces with it. He then tells Flash to stay away from Mary Jane. (No "With great powers, there must also come great responsibility speech here!)

Elector (Called Carl Strand in this version) has a girlfriend who he electrifies since he can't touch people. (Cameron portrayed him kind of like Rogue, a man with the Midas touch.)

Sandman has sex with a hooker and she complains that about sand in the bed.

Peter spies on Mary Jane and discovers that her life is a living hell and that her party girl image is just a facade. (Hey! Cameron actually understood Mary Jane! That's awesome!)

Peter get's screwed over by his manager and Uncle Ben dies because of it. (Yes, this is were Raimi got that stupidity from!)

Mary Jane is about to get raped by some punks and Peter (as Spider-Man) saves her. (Yes, this is were Raimi got that from as well...)

Strand (Electro) tries to get Peter to join him saying that they are superhumans and that they should stick together. Peter refuses and they become mortal enemies. (Very *beep* original!)

Here comes to best part...

Peter (as Spider-Man) takes Mary Jane to the top of the Brooklyn Bridge, he hold a monologue about the mating rituals of the Spider and proceeds to lift her shirt and have sex with her. Mary Jane is beaming in school the next day so Peter was apparently a fantastic lover, despite the fact that it was his first time...

Strand comes back with a monologue about how regular people hates heroes and how you are either a predator or a victim in the evil world. He has kidnapped Mary Jane to get Peter's attention. Strand kills Mary Jane by kissing her. Peter's reply?

"I'll kill you! Motherfvcker! You hear me?! You're dead, you sick bastard!"

Strand brings Mary Jane back to life with a defibrillator and the final battle begins. Both Strand and Sandman dies. Mary Jane tells Spider-Man that she loves him having no idea of his real identity.

Mary Jane proceeds to tell Peter that she loves him during the next day of school. Peter reveals to her that he's Spider-Man and they kiss. (How lucky for Mary Jane that the two men she was in love with at the same time ended up being the same person!)


When the choice is between a American and a Russian film, always choose the latter.

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Face it tiger, we fans had hit the jackpot with this show!

- Gothamite #4


I've learned that it's OK to be flawed - Winona Ryder

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I loved how MJ just screwed up the social system! I would have added something myself here but I don't feel any need, you'r text nailed it perfectly! I would probably only be able to repeat what you have already written.

When the choice is between a American and a Russian film, always choose the latter.

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Let's talk a bit about Cameron's idea... so what do we know about it except Electro and Sandman as potential baddies?

- Gothamite #4


I've learned that it's OK to be flawed - Winona Ryder

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^

- That they weren't gonna be Max Dillon and Flint Marko.

- That Electro would end up being Kingpin and Sandman being his henchmen.

- Spidey would end up taking MJ to a bridge and banging her.

- Spidey says "motherf cuker!" at some point.

- That he would have had organic webbing. Which is where Raimi got the idea to use for his films. So people would have been given him flak for this just like they did Raimi.

- That he wanted to make Doc Ock Austrailian played by Ahnold.

Yeah, this would have not flown well with the fanbase at all. Cameron can probably make a good Spider-man film as long as he just directed and didn't write anything. But with his ego, that'll probably never happen.


Sick of threads "Megan Fox should play this!"

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But I just did? Or did my post get lost? Unless you mean covering the few things that could have been good. I do realize that I forgot to attach a link to the treatment:

http://www.teako170.com/cameron.html

When the choice is between a American and a Russian film, always choose the latter.

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Thanks guys. Arnold Ock? Heck why not? Seriously, no.

What did you think of Sandy in TSSM? I loved Marko's last episode especially the part when he helps the litle girl and she asks "Mr.Sandman?"

Sorry, I know you said it before Scrite, but I'm right after my big birthday party you understand .

- Gothamite #4


I've learned that it's OK to be flawed - Winona Ryder

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No problems then, I hope you had a fabulous birthday party!

I thought Sandman was great. Of all the villains not included in Spider-Man TAS, he was probably the one I missed the most. He is really not among my favorite villains but he just needs to "be" there. I mean he's the goddamn Sandman! (Pun intended.)

They started him out as a running gag (getting beaten by Peter over and over again) kind of like Shocker in Ultimate Spider-Man but I loved how he (like every other character on the show) turned out to be a deeper person as it progressed. I have always liked the anti hero side of Sandman in the comic as well and I thought the show did a good job. It would have been interesting to see if they would have been done with him or if he would have returned during a later season. (Bah, now I'm depressed again!)

When the choice is between a American and a Russian film, always choose the latter.

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We had a ball, no exaggeration, and I did not consume any alcoholic beverage, if champagne doesn't count

Cameron, Donner, Burton, heck even Schumacher or Nolan would've been better than Raimi.

- Gothamite #4


I've learned that it's OK to be flawed - Winona Ryder

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Sounds like a great celebration then! I haven't been to a ball since I finished school. I guess champagne does count but it would take a lot of money to get drunk on that. :P

Cameron's film would at least have been hilarious to watch.

I'm not a fan of Burton but I think that he could have done a better job.

I'm doubtful about Schumacher though... Although if the producers would cut him some slack it could potentially work out to the better.

Nolan would have been really interesting, whilst I dislike almost every superhero film I do like what Nolan did with Batman. The hype that The Dark Knight gets is just ridiculous but it's still solid. Except for the awful comic relief parts. ("Is that a bazooka!?" "I did not sign up for this!" etc and Rachel Dawes is the worst Batman character since Dana...)

Raimi should just stick to low budget horror comedies, I might not be the worlds biggest Evil Dead fan but it comes of as a masterpiece when compared to Spider-Man...

When the choice is between a American and a Russian film, always choose the latter.

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Yeah they made TDK look like The Godfather. But it was pretty good. I am a Burton fan and I kind of liked Batman Forever too even with the ridiculous campy villains.

Even the Ice Princess was better than Rachel...

Back to Spidey, I'd like to watch even the 70's show with no actual villains, I liked that Nicholas Hammond who played Peter Parker.


- Gothamite #4


I've learned that it's OK to be flawed - Winona Ryder

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Rachel was simply awful and filled no real function other than the obligatory "The hero always needs a female love interest who can anchor him into society" I wish more films would just drop the worthless love stories. Hollywood has always been "love stories for the sake of love stories" and it was unfortunately the same in the say 50s as well.

I have about watching that show too, It sounds hilarious. I can't stand animated shows from that decade but Live Action might be more fun. From what I have heard it's a true "so bad it's good" show.

When the choice is between a American and a Russian film, always choose the latter.

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Efram Zimbalist Jr was the real Doc Ock.


A doormat who runs errands for the Kingpin? The only time Efrem's Doc Ock had dignity was in his first episode, Armed and Dangerous.

I guess Alfred Molina worked in a live action movie but it was a mistake to copy him to a cartoon. (People really need to learn the fact that things that work in one story telling medium doesn't necessarily have to work in the others.)


The only thing they copied was a similar visual look. McNicol's Doc Ock was the Doc Ock of the comics through and through. In a mere two seasons they did several of Doc Ock's best stories from the comics. The Sinister Six, The Master Planner and the Gang War.

Amazing accomplishment and more than TAS ever did with Doc Ock in their full five seasons.

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I said I liked Ock's look in TAS not his later appearances. I love what TSSM did with ock and Tombstone, what'd you think?

- Gothamite #4


I've learned that it's OK to be flawed - Winona Ryder

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I do think that TAS Ock had the better voice, but I didn't like the way he was treated and it's one of the criticisms I have with the show.

Doc Ock being Kingpin's butt monkey. No just no. Now if they shared a similar interest, sure they would work with each other. But Doc Ock would never cow tow to Fisk. Hell Kingpin stole Ock's thunder in TAS by creating the Sini....err I mean Insidious 6. That was Ock's work of genius at work in the comics which SSM fortunatly acknowledged. Not to mention the two parter where Ock brainwashed Spidey into helping him could have been a good way for him to claim his arch nemesis status but was once again ruined by the fact that he was working for Kingpin. Kingpin didn't even attribute to anything other than showing Ock wasn't acting on his own. This is the episode where Ock got beat by a little girl. And then there's the Black Cat two parter. Ock at first starts off on his own looking for that formula then all of a sudden Kingpin shows up. Brings Ock back to his base and after some fancy talking points Ocks back to being Kingpin's lackey for another two parter.




Sick of threads "Megan Fox should play this!"

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Stone walls do not a prison make, nor iron bars a cage... Not against the genius of DOCTOR OCTOPUS... that;s what I didn't see at Alfred Molina or the TSSM one.

Broken promise? Sounds familiar...

- Gothamite #4


I've learned that it's OK to be flawed - Winona Ryder

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I meant "real" as in his voice. I ranted about how the show butchered the character through his actions in another post.

Spectacular Spider-Man did a far better job with doing the character justice, (well it did a far better job doing every single character justice) you will never hear me argue against that.

When the choice is between a American and a Russian film, always choose the latter.

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Well I really wasn't too fond of the whole lion Kraven thing, but other than that yeah, the characterzations were much better here. This was the first time Gwen was part of the main cast. MJ was the the cool party girl finally. Flash develops into a person, and many characters shine. Spidey has the supporting cast and this show is the first to use them. Each character is likeable and developed enough Peter doesn't even have to be there for there to be a story.

Even Sally Avril who served the same purpose Anna Watson did in TAS had her human moments. She didn't go overboard with the Peter bashing and actually felt sad when she thought he died. Whereas Anna Watson's screentime was entirely dedicated to acting like Peter was the spawn of Satan. She even bought into the idea that he was a US traitor and if Peter had died or was at least thought to be dead, she most likely would have been cheering for his death.

Now as the villains, SSM Norman was a much more enjoyable character. In TAS he scares pretty easily, especially when confronted by the Vulture. In SSM he's being held 100s of feet in the air by Vulture and not only is he not afraid of him, he insults him. Even when he got dropped he still didn't scream. Not to mention he broke HIS OWN SON'S leg, so he could frame him.

I also liked how Rhino was portrayed here. Other adaptions just had him as a big dumb brute. In SSM, he's still not the brightest bulb, but at least he's not a COMPLETE idiot. He was actually the one who figured out if he wanted to find Spider-man, he would have to find Peter Parker. I also liked in that one episode when he and Spidey are fighting under a garage, Rhino breaks down a pole, Spidey goes "Missed again!" and Rhino goes "Not aiming at you!" and the place starts falling down on Spidey.

Venom was also more sinister and actually came closer to accomplishing his goal here. Whereas all the 90s one did was chase Peter around, this one actually used the info he had.

And it still hurts considering that Roderick Kingsley's Hobgoblin has never been adapted outside the comics and this show was very close to doing so.






Sick of threads "Megan Fox should play this!"

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I said I liked Ock's look in TAS not his later appearances.


That post wasn't aimed at you, Edd.

I love what TSSM did with ock and Tombstone, what'd you think?


I concur. I think they did a first rate job on all of the villains, except for Shocker. I'd rather he had been Herman Schultz.

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I liked Eddie Brock in TSSM, you just wouldn't think he'd end up as a bad guy.

TSSM tops TAS and nearly every other superhero show but nostalgia is sweet...

- Gothamite #4


I've learned that it's OK to be flawed - Winona Ryder

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Okay, just wanted to make it clear that I do not endorse Ock being anyone's lackey.

And Kraven in TSSM wasn't that great to me. He was not very smart taking that formula from Warren...

- Gothamite #4


I've learned that it's OK to be flawed - Winona Ryder

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Is there any word about them releasing the season 2 episodes on DVD? I have all the season one DVDs.

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I got them on DVD's with Romnaian subs, not that I needed those. And why not admit it, I want DVD's of 94 too, sweet nostalgia... Unfortunately some anime got in the way of my DC/Marvel re-watching plans but I'll surely watch TSSM before The Amazing Spider-Man hits teathres.


- Gothamite #4


I've learned that it's OK to be flawed - Winona Ryder

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No words on a season two DVD. Unfortunately, I doubt we're going to get one. :(

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What is the problem with a season 2 DVD set when they did season one?

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Bump.

- Gothamite #4


I've learned that it's OK to be flawed - Winona Ryder

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