Homecoming #1: Web Series
Greetings from your friendly neighborhood Ticketmaster!
Spider-Man: Homecoming came out this week, and I thought I would update my Spider-Man: Then And Now post to compile all of my reviews of Spider-Man's visual media as a lead-up to the review you already saw a dozen times from other sources when the movie came out in theaters. Or maybe you haven't. You'll just have to read to find out. It all starts with the animated series....
I have always been a big fan of all things Spider-Man, which disappoints me all the more when a beloved, long-running series like the 1990's Spider-Man animated series meets its end. Featuring a voice cast with the likes of Ed Asner (Disney/Pixar's Up) and Mark Hamil (Star Wars and Batman: The Animated Series), a full rogues' gallery of infamous Spidey villains, cameos from other Marvel animated series of the time, like the X-Men, Iron Man and War Machine, and the Fantastic Four, a sprawling narrative, and a then-revolutionary blend of two-dimensional art and three-dimensional rendering that brought the scenery to life, '90's Spider-Man was the ultimate in wall-crawler entertainment. However, it was not perfect. Many of the villains (Rhino and Shocker come to mind) were not developed well enough. Mary Jane's kid-friendly, Gwen Stacy-inspired "death" at the hands of the Green Goblin was a nice tribute to the comics, but her "return" and the cramming-in of groundbreaking moments (Peter's identity reveal, his and Mary Jane's wedding) before revealing her as a disposable clone were just insulting. There was a set-up for an adaptation of the Clone Saga and Peter going dimension-hopping for the real Mary Jane, but the series was forced to end (along with then-popular animated series like the X-Men and Silver Surfer, which both ended on major cliffhanger moments as well) by Marvel's bankruptcy and the general failure of the comic book marketplace (because multi-million-dollar companies didn't take basic economics classes back then, I guess, and didn't realize that supply and demand affect one another when they decided to flood the market with death and resurrection stories, crossover events, and special variant covers). I love this show still, but the state in which it ended knocks it down considerably.
Next came Spider-Man Unlimited, which disappointed me immensely by not being a direct continuation of the previous story line. The suit is cool and full of all manner of technological tricks (somewhat like the suit from the recent Spider-Man: Homecoming film), but suffered from its dark, gritty art style and a slow-paced, unrealistic plot that somehow managed to make Venom and Carnage into boring villains. The show barely finished its first season before being cancelled.
Spider-Man: The New Animated Series (also known as MTV Spider-Man) aimed to capitalize on the popularity of the first film in Sam Raimi's trilogy by being a canonical continuation of its story, with Peter and Mary Jane's relationship uncertain, and Harry Osborne pissed at Spider-Man for killing his father (but not really knowing that his father was the Green Goblin).
The voice cast was amazing, with Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother) as Peter/Spider-Man, Lisa Loeb (known for her one-hit wonder, "Stay") as Mary Jane, Ian Ziering (The Sharknado franchise) as Harry Osborne. Other notable guest voices included Michael Clarke Duncan (Daredevil) reprising his role as Kingpin, David Carradine (Kung Fu) voicing J. Jonah Jameson, Rob Zombie providing the voice effects for the Lizard, Ed Asner (mentioned above) as the chief of police, Stan Lee (mentioned above) doing his trademark Marvel cameo in the last episode as the guy in the cemetery, and Kieth David (Men at Work) in a one-off as an FBI agent.
The humor was on or above par with past animated and cinematic efforts, portraying Spider-Man at his quick-witted, ass-kicking best.
The 3D-rendered look of the series vacillates between bad Playstation 2 graphics and movie-quality CGI, which can either enhance the comedic aspects of a scene or nearly drag down entire episodes, though it does not ruin the viewing experience that is the series as a whole.
As in the 1990's series, some of the villains (Silver Sable and Kraven the Hunter come to mind this time) appear without any kind of establishment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe of the time. Granted, the MCU as we know it today did not exist yet in 2003, but Easter eggs were being planted, even then, to tie some of the Marvel movies together (the Punisher showed up in the background in Spider-Man 2, for example, and Michael Clarke Duncan's Kingpin appearance in this show hinted at the Ben Affleck version of Daredevil possibly existing in that universe as well), so it was strange to see well-known antagonists like Kraven and Sable suddenly show up, claiming to be established villains in the show's universe without any kind of continuity-based history to back their claims. Even the villains of the week who were made up for the show got some kind of origin story.
And speaking of origin stories, there was an episode involving an ESP machine gone haywire that gave one of Peter's classmates psychic powers. Alone, it was a stupid and unnecessary filler episode in an otherwise mostly solid season. It could have led to something in a future season, but ratings speculation and greed sealed the show's fate after only one, thirteen episode run.
Here's Lisa Loeb's one-hit wonder:
Spectacular Spider-Man was yet another re-boot (because people got tired of hearing and/or using the terms "re-imagining" and "remake") of a "failed" franchise, but actually a good effort this time around.
I had started reading the ASM comics from book one about the time the SSM series came out, and was pleased to see that (like the new ASM movie) they didn't start right in with Peter dating Mary Jane, but instead opted to begin at the beginning, with classic characters like Gwen Stacy and the Enforcers, and built whole seasons around the development of the Green Goblin and Venom.
The art was a bit clumsy, giving the characters untextured coloring and boxy edges that any amateur could capture with a paint bucket and line tool in Microsoft Paint.
The tone of the whole thing was too silly. I know Spider-Man is supposed to be this extroverted, jokey, teenage superhero, but there are some things (like the SSM incarnation of Venom--who was given the complete physiology-morphing powers he had in the SMU series and a campier breed of rage) that man was never meant to tamper with.
The series still held my interest, though, thanks in part to the awesome theme song by The Tender Box, and I was disappointed to see it cancelled like all those Spider-Shows before it, after only three seasons.
Then, from Man of Action (the people who brought you Ben 10 and Generator Rex) came--yes, another one--the excessively anime-infused Ultimate Spider-Man, the juvenile partner to the mostly straight-laced, superior Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes. In USM (adapted from a Marvel Universe that some, including myself, find to be a sacreligious mistake), a novice Spider-Man was teamed with young versions of Nova, White Tiger, and the Heroes for Hire (Luke Cage and Iron Fist) to learn leadership responsibilities and become a more consequence-aware hero.
Like almost everything else since the animated series of the late 90's, SMU was poorly drawn crap, this time "punched up" by fighting game graphics ("Spidey VS The Fearsome Four! Round 1.... Ready? FIGHT!" and "BOOM!" "POW!" "ZZZZZTTT!" "THWIP!"), anime-style chibi shouting matches, and the kind of fourth wall narration that make Saved By the Bell, Scrubs, and Seth McFarlane cartoons so childishly annoying.
By the way, the universe would be pissed to know that I've stopped time to type all these criticisms and witticisms for my own amusement, if not for yours. And now, for no reason at all, a picture of dogs playing poker:
But like any good waste of time, money, and spandex, Ultimate Spider-Man delivered serious fight scenes amid all the pies in the face and atomic wedgies, and featured some worthwhile voice talent, including Clark Gregg and J.K. Simmons reprising their movie roles as Phil Coulson (now a high school principal?) and J. Jonah Jameson (usually shouting epithets from JumboTrons around the city like some curmudgeony Hitler before Spidey kicks a villain through the monitor), Ben 10: Ultimate Alien's Greg Cipes as Iron Fist, and Wings star Steven Weber (with a British accent?) as the always sinister, self-serving Norman Osborn.
As I watched, the series did improve and up its stakes and maturity level to retain its aging fan base, adapting the Spider-Verse and Clone Saga storylines (in a good way), doing justice to iconic comic book scenes and members of the Spider Family, fleshing out all of its villains, and finally making Doctor Octopus into the credible threat that he has deserved to be for the past twenty-plus years.
The latest re-boot in the franchise, Marvel's Spider-Man, is as clunkily drawn as Spectacular Spider-Man was, but ditches the juvenile tone of Ultimate Spider-Man for a heaping pile of fan service. Depicting Spider-Man as an established hero who is still learning and improving his web shooter technology on the fly, the new series distances Peter from his demographic by taking him out of normal high school and sticking him in a prestigious science academy that is at war (scientifically speaking, not literally--yet) with Norman Osborn's private school, which he has established as a cover for acquiring super-villain swag. During any given scene at Horizon High (the name of said prestigious science academy), Peter is crammed into a room with Gwen Stacy, Liz Allen, Miles Morales (who has already become Ultimate Spider-Man nine episodes into the first season), and Anya Corazon. That's Spider-Man, Spider-Gwen, Ultimate Spider-Man, and Arana on the same show. Now all they need is for Ben Reilly, Jessica Drew, Julia Carpenter, Mary Jane Watson, and Cindy Moon to show up, and possibly for the writers to do some kind of Sailor Moon R time travel nonsense so that Mayday Parker and Miguel O'Hara can be in the show, too.
As for the villains, Spidey has already crossed paths with the likes of the Smythe family, the Vulture, Norman Osborn, the Jackal, Shocker, Clash, Black Cat, Venom, Rhino, Sandman and his daughter, Hammerhead, Ghost, Kraven, Man-Wolf, and Blizzard. That's seventeen villains in only twelve episodes so far. Overstuffing much?
However, the creators do a good job of capturing the tone of Spider-Man: Homecoming by making Marvel's Spider-Man a character-driven drama that just also happens to be a Spider-Man cartoon. The classic Spidey origin is told faithfully (with a few nods to the Homecoming pajama suit and Spidey's iconic wrestling match--using Bonesaw from the Sam Raimi film instead of Crusher Hogan as in the comics) in a series of six shorts that ultimately have a very dark and mature tone for both a Spider-Man series and a Disney cartoon, which was as shocking as it was endearing. Though it seems like the folks at Marvel are overstuffing to please fans, it makes for a great set of character dynamics that lend themselves to the modern age of serialized media. I am reluctantly hooked.
Ticketmaster,
swinging out.
Spider-Man: Homecoming came out this week, and I thought I would update my Spider-Man: Then And Now post to compile all of my reviews of Spider-Man's visual media as a lead-up to the review you already saw a dozen times from other sources when the movie came out in theaters. Or maybe you haven't. You'll just have to read to find out. It all starts with the animated series....
I have always been a big fan of all things Spider-Man, which disappoints me all the more when a beloved, long-running series like the 1990's Spider-Man animated series meets its end. Featuring a voice cast with the likes of Ed Asner (Disney/Pixar's Up) and Mark Hamil (Star Wars and Batman: The Animated Series), a full rogues' gallery of infamous Spidey villains, cameos from other Marvel animated series of the time, like the X-Men, Iron Man and War Machine, and the Fantastic Four, a sprawling narrative, and a then-revolutionary blend of two-dimensional art and three-dimensional rendering that brought the scenery to life, '90's Spider-Man was the ultimate in wall-crawler entertainment. However, it was not perfect. Many of the villains (Rhino and Shocker come to mind) were not developed well enough. Mary Jane's kid-friendly, Gwen Stacy-inspired "death" at the hands of the Green Goblin was a nice tribute to the comics, but her "return" and the cramming-in of groundbreaking moments (Peter's identity reveal, his and Mary Jane's wedding) before revealing her as a disposable clone were just insulting. There was a set-up for an adaptation of the Clone Saga and Peter going dimension-hopping for the real Mary Jane, but the series was forced to end (along with then-popular animated series like the X-Men and Silver Surfer, which both ended on major cliffhanger moments as well) by Marvel's bankruptcy and the general failure of the comic book marketplace (because multi-million-dollar companies didn't take basic economics classes back then, I guess, and didn't realize that supply and demand affect one another when they decided to flood the market with death and resurrection stories, crossover events, and special variant covers). I love this show still, but the state in which it ended knocks it down considerably.
Next came Spider-Man Unlimited, which disappointed me immensely by not being a direct continuation of the previous story line. The suit is cool and full of all manner of technological tricks (somewhat like the suit from the recent Spider-Man: Homecoming film), but suffered from its dark, gritty art style and a slow-paced, unrealistic plot that somehow managed to make Venom and Carnage into boring villains. The show barely finished its first season before being cancelled.
Spider-Man: The New Animated Series (also known as MTV Spider-Man) aimed to capitalize on the popularity of the first film in Sam Raimi's trilogy by being a canonical continuation of its story, with Peter and Mary Jane's relationship uncertain, and Harry Osborne pissed at Spider-Man for killing his father (but not really knowing that his father was the Green Goblin).
The voice cast was amazing, with Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother) as Peter/Spider-Man, Lisa Loeb (known for her one-hit wonder, "Stay") as Mary Jane, Ian Ziering (The Sharknado franchise) as Harry Osborne. Other notable guest voices included Michael Clarke Duncan (Daredevil) reprising his role as Kingpin, David Carradine (Kung Fu) voicing J. Jonah Jameson, Rob Zombie providing the voice effects for the Lizard, Ed Asner (mentioned above) as the chief of police, Stan Lee (mentioned above) doing his trademark Marvel cameo in the last episode as the guy in the cemetery, and Kieth David (Men at Work) in a one-off as an FBI agent.
The humor was on or above par with past animated and cinematic efforts, portraying Spider-Man at his quick-witted, ass-kicking best.
The 3D-rendered look of the series vacillates between bad Playstation 2 graphics and movie-quality CGI, which can either enhance the comedic aspects of a scene or nearly drag down entire episodes, though it does not ruin the viewing experience that is the series as a whole.
As in the 1990's series, some of the villains (Silver Sable and Kraven the Hunter come to mind this time) appear without any kind of establishment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe of the time. Granted, the MCU as we know it today did not exist yet in 2003, but Easter eggs were being planted, even then, to tie some of the Marvel movies together (the Punisher showed up in the background in Spider-Man 2, for example, and Michael Clarke Duncan's Kingpin appearance in this show hinted at the Ben Affleck version of Daredevil possibly existing in that universe as well), so it was strange to see well-known antagonists like Kraven and Sable suddenly show up, claiming to be established villains in the show's universe without any kind of continuity-based history to back their claims. Even the villains of the week who were made up for the show got some kind of origin story.
And speaking of origin stories, there was an episode involving an ESP machine gone haywire that gave one of Peter's classmates psychic powers. Alone, it was a stupid and unnecessary filler episode in an otherwise mostly solid season. It could have led to something in a future season, but ratings speculation and greed sealed the show's fate after only one, thirteen episode run.
Here's Lisa Loeb's one-hit wonder:
Spectacular Spider-Man was yet another re-boot (because people got tired of hearing and/or using the terms "re-imagining" and "remake") of a "failed" franchise, but actually a good effort this time around.
I had started reading the ASM comics from book one about the time the SSM series came out, and was pleased to see that (like the new ASM movie) they didn't start right in with Peter dating Mary Jane, but instead opted to begin at the beginning, with classic characters like Gwen Stacy and the Enforcers, and built whole seasons around the development of the Green Goblin and Venom.
The art was a bit clumsy, giving the characters untextured coloring and boxy edges that any amateur could capture with a paint bucket and line tool in Microsoft Paint.
The tone of the whole thing was too silly. I know Spider-Man is supposed to be this extroverted, jokey, teenage superhero, but there are some things (like the SSM incarnation of Venom--who was given the complete physiology-morphing powers he had in the SMU series and a campier breed of rage) that man was never meant to tamper with.
The series still held my interest, though, thanks in part to the awesome theme song by The Tender Box, and I was disappointed to see it cancelled like all those Spider-Shows before it, after only three seasons.
Then, from Man of Action (the people who brought you Ben 10 and Generator Rex) came--yes, another one--the excessively anime-infused Ultimate Spider-Man, the juvenile partner to the mostly straight-laced, superior Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes. In USM (adapted from a Marvel Universe that some, including myself, find to be a sacreligious mistake), a novice Spider-Man was teamed with young versions of Nova, White Tiger, and the Heroes for Hire (Luke Cage and Iron Fist) to learn leadership responsibilities and become a more consequence-aware hero.
Like almost everything else since the animated series of the late 90's, SMU was poorly drawn crap, this time "punched up" by fighting game graphics ("Spidey VS The Fearsome Four! Round 1.... Ready? FIGHT!" and "BOOM!" "POW!" "ZZZZZTTT!" "THWIP!"), anime-style chibi shouting matches, and the kind of fourth wall narration that make Saved By the Bell, Scrubs, and Seth McFarlane cartoons so childishly annoying.
By the way, the universe would be pissed to know that I've stopped time to type all these criticisms and witticisms for my own amusement, if not for yours. And now, for no reason at all, a picture of dogs playing poker:
As I watched, the series did improve and up its stakes and maturity level to retain its aging fan base, adapting the Spider-Verse and Clone Saga storylines (in a good way), doing justice to iconic comic book scenes and members of the Spider Family, fleshing out all of its villains, and finally making Doctor Octopus into the credible threat that he has deserved to be for the past twenty-plus years.
The latest re-boot in the franchise, Marvel's Spider-Man, is as clunkily drawn as Spectacular Spider-Man was, but ditches the juvenile tone of Ultimate Spider-Man for a heaping pile of fan service. Depicting Spider-Man as an established hero who is still learning and improving his web shooter technology on the fly, the new series distances Peter from his demographic by taking him out of normal high school and sticking him in a prestigious science academy that is at war (scientifically speaking, not literally--yet) with Norman Osborn's private school, which he has established as a cover for acquiring super-villain swag. During any given scene at Horizon High (the name of said prestigious science academy), Peter is crammed into a room with Gwen Stacy, Liz Allen, Miles Morales (who has already become Ultimate Spider-Man nine episodes into the first season), and Anya Corazon. That's Spider-Man, Spider-Gwen, Ultimate Spider-Man, and Arana on the same show. Now all they need is for Ben Reilly, Jessica Drew, Julia Carpenter, Mary Jane Watson, and Cindy Moon to show up, and possibly for the writers to do some kind of Sailor Moon R time travel nonsense so that Mayday Parker and Miguel O'Hara can be in the show, too.
As for the villains, Spidey has already crossed paths with the likes of the Smythe family, the Vulture, Norman Osborn, the Jackal, Shocker, Clash, Black Cat, Venom, Rhino, Sandman and his daughter, Hammerhead, Ghost, Kraven, Man-Wolf, and Blizzard. That's seventeen villains in only twelve episodes so far. Overstuffing much?
However, the creators do a good job of capturing the tone of Spider-Man: Homecoming by making Marvel's Spider-Man a character-driven drama that just also happens to be a Spider-Man cartoon. The classic Spidey origin is told faithfully (with a few nods to the Homecoming pajama suit and Spidey's iconic wrestling match--using Bonesaw from the Sam Raimi film instead of Crusher Hogan as in the comics) in a series of six shorts that ultimately have a very dark and mature tone for both a Spider-Man series and a Disney cartoon, which was as shocking as it was endearing. Though it seems like the folks at Marvel are overstuffing to please fans, it makes for a great set of character dynamics that lend themselves to the modern age of serialized media. I am reluctantly hooked.
Ticketmaster,
swinging out.
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