(The Disneycember logo is shown, before showing clips from The Spectacular Spider-Man)
Doug (vo; singing): It's the spectacular, spectacular Spider-Man. (Resumes speaking) Man, how do all these Spider-Man shows have such catchy theme songs? Much like X-Men: Evolution, I did not grow up watching this show, but a lot of people said, "Man, this is one of the best, you have to check it out. If you're a Spider-Man fan, it's absolutely required viewing". For years, I'd often go on about, "Oh, only Into the Spider-Verse really gets the Spider-Man comics", and then, "Okay, Spider-Verse and No Way Home understand the Spider-Man comics", and then, I'm like, "Okay, Spider-Verse, No Way Home and the video game understand the comics". And now, I have to add Spectacular Spider-Man to the list. And I have to admit, it's kind of nice knowing a lot more people understand Spider-Man than I originally thought. Now like I said before, I like the Maguire movies and the Garfield movies fine...well, one of those, but I've always said I feel like both of them are missing certain pieces to the puzzle. Well, I feel like a lot more Spider-Man properties are those pieces, and it's creating a much more clear picture, while also having a very distinct style that's all its own.
Premise[]
Doug (vo): The show begins at an all too familiar point in his life, in high school. Like I've said before, I'm kind of sick of always seeing him in high school. I'm sick of Spider-Boy, I want to see Spider-Man. But the stage in his life it starts out at is very interesting. We drop in on him the summer after he gets bitten by the spider, so he's already Spider-Man. He has a lot more confidence than before, and he's literally going back to school to show off his brand new confidence. But he can't be that confident, because, well, people might figure out why, so he's still kind of awkward, but kind of charming at the same time, and trying to figure out how much of Peter Parker does he hold on to and how much of Spider-Man does he hold on to, the usual stuff.
Review[]
Doug (vo): The show is very smart in assuming we already know the origins of this character. Very similar to Batman: The Animated Series, we don't need to start off seeing his parents get killed. But even this, from a storytelling perspective, has more layers to it than you would think. I'll get to that in a minute.
(Footage focusing on Harry Osborn, Gwen Stacy and Mary Jane is shown along with footage of Black Cat, Liz Allan and Flash Thompson)
Doug (vo): Peter has two close friends, Harry Osborn and...Gwen this time. All right, that's kind of interesting, focusing more on that than Mary Jane. I guess we don't always need to have Mary Jane in a Spider-Man property...oh, there she is. Huh, that's...interesting. Okay, yes, there have been several Spider-Man properties where these two do know Peter at the same time. Hell, that's actually how the original comics went. But for what's supposed to be a family show, I'm kind of shocked they have these two existing at the same time. Like, I could see them having Gwen and then if...pfft, something happens, bring in Mary Jane. But the fact that they're both there, they make Gwen kind of geeky as well, and honestly keep it open who he's going to get together with. I mean, there's also Black Cat in the series and this other girl (Liz Allan) who's attracted to him. Like, this suddenly makes things a lot more interesting than, "Oh, Mary Jane is there, we know he's going to get together with her". In fact, most of the stuff in high school is very, very interesting. I had the exact same reaction to this as I did with X-Men: Evolution. I really thought I wasn't going to like them being thrown back in high school, and, oh, my God, just the teen drama and everything. But they not only focus on making these characters very likable and very charming, I even like Flash in this show. Like, sometimes, he's my favorite character. But they also once again understand the real emotions of that age and what kids go through and the confusions, and, man, also going through these confusions while also having a secret that also ties into your identity, that it does make sense why a lot of shows, particularly aimed at young people, keep doing this.
(Footage focusing on the villains is shown)
Doug (vo): When it does get into the superhero stuff, that's all done relatively well, too. Like any good Spider-Man property, there's a ton of villains in this, and they all have very good personalities and distinct powers. And some of them, they do play around with the lore in the background a little bit, but it's kind of refreshing, because it does give its own spin on it, and they are still very enjoyable to watch. I was really surprised how many times this show kept me guessing what was going to happen. Sometimes, they'll build up something's going to happen and then lead you down another path and make it look like it's going to go there, but then they don't, it was actually the first path, but then you might find out a season later, it was the path you thought it was before. They're really good at throwing in all these different twists and turns. And every one just makes the character so much more interesting.
(Various footage resumes showing)
Doug (vo): The voice acting is also wonderful. Everybody sounds like they're in high school, but very easily could be older, too. If this show kept going, I could very easily see all these characters growing up and just altering their voices a tiny bit. But I have no problem believing they're going through all the dilemmas and emotions that people this age go through. They'll even mix things up, like they'll have Eddie Brock actually be a smart friend in this. Yeah, he, like, gets along with Peter Parker and he works with Dr. Connors, and he's actually kind of a nice guy, but that just makes the inevitable transition into Venom all the more tragic. You don't want to see these two as enemies, you like that they get along, but you also understand where both are coming from. Peter is really pushed to the limit in the show, and I like the fact that he doesn't always make the right choice. There are some people he clearly shouldn't be making promises to or going out with, because he knows he's not going to be able to be there all the time, but he still does. And, yeah, at that age, most people think that they can do everything and they discover their limitations.
(Footage focusing on the episodes "Intervention" and "Nature vs Nurture" is shown)
Doug (vo): When the alien suit saga does get going and he has the black suit and everything, this is the point where they actually choose to show Spider-Man's origin. For the most part, they don't reference Uncle Ben or anything, but when the suit is making him cocky and mean and starting to lose a little bit of his soul, that's suddenly when we get a flashback to him deciding he's going to be a superhero because he let Uncle Ben down. That...is masterful writing. I always talked about I hated how in most of these Spider-Man properties, we never got a proper dream sequence. I love that page in the Spider-Man comic where, like, the suits are fighting each other, and it's just such a great image, and this one doesn't even quite do that, it takes it a step beyond. The suit takes Peter inside his mind and tries to play mind games with him, but Peter's subconscious represented by Uncle Ben comes out and reminds him of what a good guy he is, and this is where we find out everything that happened with him and Uncle Ben in that tragic night. it's not only killing two birds with one stone, but it dives deep into the root of what this character is about. This show is so good at compartmentalizing everything it needs to get across in a tight, efficient way, even if sometimes, it is maybe trying to get across a little too much.
(More various footage is shown)
Doug (vo): Okay, here is where I get into the one or two cons of the show, and again, they're very, very minor. The show does what the original X-Men: The Animated Series does, where it tries to cram a lot of information into each episode, at the very least in terms of the villains and the crime stuff. If I was a kid, I would love that. As an adult, I do want them to take more of the Batman animated series route, where maybe every episode is kind of just about one villain, and once in a while, they team up, but usually, they throw in, like, two or three at a time. But again, I do acknowledge this is made for kids, too, so I think that makes sense. I think that would keep them more focused. I know if I was a kid, I would be more focused just the more villains I saw.
(Footage focusing on the animation style is shown)
Doug (vo): I'm also not the biggest fan of the style. And don't get me wrong, every Spider-Man property worth its salt has to have a unique style, something that separates it from the others, I get that. But this look just doesn't scream Spider-Man to me. They all kind of look like characters from The Critic. With some of the younger leads, that can work, it definitely makes them look a lot more big-eyed, youthful, and everything, but sometimes, their pupils are so big, it just looks like there's two big holes in their eyes. It's kind of distracting, sometimes. But I will admit, I got used to it pretty quick, and the backgrounds and the CG when they have to do the web swinging and everything still looks good.
(Footage focusing on various seasons the show takes place in is shown)
Doug (vo): I also think it's really cool that this show has seasons. Well, okay, outside of just two, we'll get to that in a second. It isn't like they just have a Thanksgiving episode and then jump to a Christmas episode, and then suddenly, it's summer, they actually do have winter and summer and spring. Like, you actually feel time progression in this show, and that's really refreshing. But sadly, like a lot of shows this poor Greg Weisman guy works on, it was taken off way too early. From what I understand, there was supposed to be something, like, three other seasons after this, but then, I guess Disney got a hold of it and put it in a bad time slot, and it was pulled off after two seasons, at least that's what I heard. Because of this, it does end on a cliffhanger, and I mean, okay, not a major one, but one that you would love to see more seasons around and developing and seeing what unique spin they give to these characters and these stories, because like I said, it isn't just panel for panel the Spider-Man comic. It is its own thing, but it still sticks true to what the spirit is. It's very frustrating, and honestly, with all these rebooted shows popping up, I would love to see them give a lot of money to this and at least give them one more season to wrap up everything.
Final thought[]
Doug (vo): But at the same time, I got to be thankful for what we got. This show finally got me to say there's a lot more Spider-Man properties out there that understand the character than I originally thought. I don't think I can really say just one or two movies and shows really get it, there's a lot more than that. For me, I never got into the Fox Kids Spider-Man animated series. It was just a little too much, too quick, and it never felt like anything that was said or done really had time to sink in. This one, despite also throwing a lot at you, gives the time for characters to react and see the impact that all these choices have. It is sad I'm not going to see what happens with Peter and Gwen or Peter and Harry or even Flash and that one girl who finally decided to go with him. All you had to do was be yourself, man! That was all! Oh, my God, it's so cheesy, but I just ate it all up. I really got into it! Everybody's pretty much right when they say, "If you're a Spider-Man fan, you have to check this show out". It's not going to be exactly like the comics, but that's a good thing. It isn't just repeating what you've already seen, it's calling back to things you recognize, but then giving a new spin that still sticks true to what the story and characters were all about. I hope one day, the show gets a reboot, or at the very least, one more season to wrap up everything, but until then, there's a really great series to rewatch.
(The end of The Spectacular Spider-Man theme song is shown)