On January 29, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, the latest cartoon based around Marvel’s most famous arachnid-themed character (yes, there are several!) hits Disney+. What originally began as a sort of prequel story to the young Peter Parker we first met in Captain America: Civil War has evolved into an alternate-universe series that flips much of what we know about the MCU Spider-Man on its head. In this series, for example, it isn’t Tony Stark who becomes Peter’s mentor. Instead, it’s Norman Osborn, the guy who’s usually his arch nemesis in this kind of thing.
Regardless, riding high off the success of recent animated series like X-Men ’97, Disney is likely banking on Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man pulling some pretty big numbers. But it’s only the latest in a long line of Spidey cartoons, as the web-slinger has found more representation in the medium than any other comic-book character who isn’t Batman. And in that cartoon history, we find a character who has seen travesty and majesty, faithful comic-book retellings and bizarre what-were-they-thinking misfires, and everything in between.
These 15 episodes chronicle that uncertain path, but they don’t start with a radioactive spider bite. Instead, they begin with a cartoon that’s now more recognized for the modern-day memes it’s produced than for its stories …
Spider-Man (1967–70)
“Where Crawls the Lizard” (Episode 2A)
There’s a good chance that you’ve seen the “Spider-Man pointing at Spider-Man” meme, which has become so popular that it made its way into a gag in Spider-Man: No Way Home. There’s less of a chance that you’ve seen a full episode of the cartoon that it spawned from the infamously cheap ’60s Spider-Man show. Built off the back of the popularity of the comic, the ’60s Spider-Man is about as blatant a cash grab as one can find. The animation is crude, the plotlines are paper thin, and the voice acting is hilariously outsize.
But if you watch enough of it, like Episode 2A (the first season’s episodes all consisted of two shorter stories), “Where Crawls the Lizard,” you’ll find something that’s often oddly reverent to the source material. And while it lacks a lot of the melodrama that Stan Lee and Steve Ditko infused into the original comics, it captures their hyperactive spirit of adventure. This episode is the closest thing you’ll likely ever find to a straight adaptation of the sixth issue of Amazing Spider-Man, one that shipped Peter down to Florida on the trail of a mysterious “Lizard.” Even if you only watched the TV show and never came within a whiff of a comic-book rack, it would make sense if you immediately felt the need to dub Spider-Man your No. 1 superhero.
“The Origins of Spider-Man” (Episode 21)
Long before he became known as the iconoclastic force behind films like Fritz the Cat, Wizards, and a truly dreamlike adaptation of Lord of the Rings, Ralph Bakshi took the reins on the second season of the ’60s Spider-Man. With an even lower budget than before, it didn’t take long for Bakshi to exercise his creative freedoms. He’d nix most of the regular villains and send Spider-Man on journeys that were more epic and far more bizarre than his usual trips around NYC tussling with Doc Ock and the Rhino. And yet, his best Spider-Man episode happens to be the one that stays closest to the comics.
Despite the series’ overall reputation, “The Origins of Spider-Man” is probably the best version of Spider-Man’s beginnings and the death of his uncle Ben that we got outside the comics until the Sam Raimi film in 2002. It’s beautifully moody, especially the backgrounds, which aid in lending the show an emotional heft that it would never attempt to find again. It’s also the first time non-comic readers got to figure out what made Peter Parker tick — under the wish fulfillment of the Spider-Man mask, he was racked with angst and nerdy insecurity. It’s a reflection of why so many found the character relatable. He was more than just his feats of derring-do. Rather, he was quite a bit like us.
Spider-Man (1981–82)
“Revenge of the Green Goblin” (Episode 10)
The ’60s Spider-Man showcased a lot of classic villains, but it’s arguable whether or not it did right by any of them. Least of all Green Goblin, Spider-Man’s greatest foe and one that was reduced to a sort of goofy wizard whenever he showed up in the first series. Its successor, a 1981 cartoon that is typically overlooked in the grand scheme of Spidey animation, had a much more stable hand in realizing the potential of the rogues gallery. Sure, six of the 26 episodes had him contending with Dr. Doom, a guy who’s only kind of a Spider-Man baddie, but at least you understand why someone would be a fan of Doom.
The same goes for Green Goblin, who gets an oddly threatening plot with “Revenge of the Green Goblin.” In it, Norman Osborn escapes from a sanitarium and recovers from the amnesia that made him not only forget he was the Green Goblin but that he knew Spider-Man’s secret identity, too. (He apparently lost his memory a few years earlier, so the story line feels a bit like an adaptation of a similar plot from the comics in the late ’60s). He warns that he will reveal this to the world, giving “Revenge of the Green Goblin” some personal stakes not yet confronted in Spider-Man cartoons, and finally showing the TV audience why Goblin had leapt to the head of the pack.
Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends (1981–83)
“The Origins of the Spider-Friends” (Episode 21)
Essentially a Spider-Man/Marvel take on DC’s popular Super Friends franchise, Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends was serviceable entertainment for the afterschool crowd. But what it lacked in pathos it made up for in popularity, exposing its audience to a toy box’s worth of Marvel heroes and villains, many of whom stop by regularly to either fight or support Spider-Man. Iceman, one third of the team’s main trio, provided a personal link to the wide world of the X-Men, which itself was an open conduit to the deep end of the Marvel world.
This wasn’t the first time we dove into the extended-comics canon; the 1981 series had frequent Marvel guest stars. But Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends turned the whole expanded universe into its selling point. Spider-Man wasn’t alone in the world, and “Origin of the Spider-Friends” was built on that idea, detailing how he learned to be a team player with Iceman and Firestar, the latter of which was created for this show. By Civil War in 2016, live-action fans had waited for so long to see Spider-Man pal around with his peers. Cartoon lovers had gotten it for decades.
Spider-Man (1994–98)
“The Alien Costume” (Episodes 8–10)
Thanks to shows like Batman: The Animated Series and X-Men, superhero animation experienced a renaissance in the ’90s. In 1994, Spider-Man would join them, pushing the character into the future. Previous adaptations had been distinctly Bronze Age (the generation of comics that first saw Marvel’s rise to pop culture ubiquity) in their stories and themes. The 1994 Spider-Man cast a wider net, incorporating fairly recent developments — famously the symbiote story line that had not only been a massive hit but had introduced the world to one of the most famous new villains of the modern era, Venom.
Venom is distinctly of his time — he isn’t just an outrageous ne’er-do-well but tries to openly reflect Spider-Man’s potential hubris. And he didn’t just show up; he was the climactic product of the kind of event-level story line that typified Marvel’s output at the time. “The Alien Costume,” a three-parter that took Peter from symbiote victim to passenger to fighter, neatly framed this story line for the millions of kids at home. Shaving off the rough edges of the sprawling comic narrative, it successfully launched the Venom saga into pop-culture notoriety, making its inclusion a Spider-Man adaptation necessity.
“I Really, Really Hate Clones” (Episode 64)
Thanks to the critical and box-office success of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (and numerous corporate acquisitions that turn studio IP into nostalgic ingredients), modern superhero cinema has been sent into a multiverse frenzy. And though most of these efforts are remarkably cynical, both Spider-Verse films have retained their charm through themes that examine how we can grow to feel lost in the world and how we approach our own destiny as opposed to the destiny that’s seemingly been laid out for us.
But it’s not the first time that these themes have been explored, nor is it even the first onscreen Spider-Verse. That honor belongs to Spider-Man and “I Really, Really Hate Clones,” the penultimate episode of the series that saw Spidey team up with multiple alternate versions of himself. The show approaches this history-making moment with surprising nonchalance — after all, it had played with dimension-breaking concepts for a few seasons now — and Peter was already in the mood of questioning his purpose and why he was “created.” But in retrospect, it does feel like a eureka moment, one that the superhero industry at large wouldn’t latch on to for at least another decade.
Spider-Man Unlimited (1999–2001)
“Worlds Apart” (Episode 1)
At the turn of the millennium, we were obsessed with the future and all of the technological and cultural changes that might come with it. That probably explains why we were so eager to see characters like Batman and Sherlock Holmes thrown into it (Batman Beyond is a really great show. Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century has a … really silly theme song). Spider-Man was not immune to these projections and as such we got Spider-Man Unlimited, a show that is not very good but did reveal insight into the character’s conflicted future.
For the show was only concocted after the original plan, an adaptation of the first 26 issues of Amazing Spider-Man, was turned down thanks to Marvel and Sony working on a new movie that covered some of the same bases. Thus most of Spider-Man’s villains are alternate-reality versions of the classic ones. It also couldn’t technically be set in the future, so as not to compete with Batman Beyond, thus the “Counter-Earth” that Spider-Man heads into just happens to be really futuristic and bizarre. Spider-Man wasn’t the only character to face these problems; in a few years, Batman would face similar creative complications. But it was, at this point, the most open example of the legal hurdles at play when a bunch of companies own the rights to different aspects of a character and the ball is in everyone’s court.
Spider-Man: The New Animated Series (2003)
“When Sparks Fly” (Episode 11)
Creating an animated series to share at the watering hole of a live-action film’s hype isn’t uncommon, but rarely does the show directly tie it back into the world of the film. Spider-Man: The New Animated Series attempted that, airing after the release of the 2002 film and loosely adhering to what it had already set up. It’s not a bad show, just a frequently underwhelming one — thanks to its constructs as a tie-in, it rarely feels like it’s going anywhere. However, it does make a grand swing with a certain character, Electro, who feels right out of the films.
One thing about each Raimi film is that the villain is meant to represent where Peter is at in his emotional journey. (Norman Osborn arrives just as Peter is about to lose his father figure, successful scientist Otto Octavius has his life together while Peter struggles through adulthood, etc.) Electro in The New Animated Series serves the same purpose as a nerdy friend of Peter, one who has entered college and is grasping for companionship and meaning to his own life. An accident after a fraternity hazing turns him into Electro, and at the end of this second appearance, he meets a watery grave. It’s a pitiful story, one that proved Spider-Man’s thematic potency can connect across mediums.
The Spectacular Spider-Man (2008–09)
“Survival of the Fittest” (Episode 1)
By 2008, Spider-Man had been around for four-and-a-half decades and had amassed quite the mythology. His supporting cast and villains are by far the best known in the entirety of Marvel Comics, but if you wanted to introduce a newcomer to that world, you’d likely be delivering a big stack of books and a lecture at the same time. This makes the first episode of The Spectacular Spider-Man quite an achievement. It’s a balancing act that not only kicks off the story of a new incarnation of the character but immerses you in what is, essentially, a one-stop shop for his legacy.
Though it does an admirable job of opening the rising plot of the villains, a mostly gangland institution that quite literally mutates in order to match this new Spider-Man character who keeps taking them out, the real feat of “Survival of the Fittest” is the rhythm it attains in establishing Peter’s friends and peers. Mainstays like Harry Osborn and Gwen Stacy are there, but there’s also Midtown High classmates like “Flash” Thompson, Liz Allan, Sally Avril, Rand Robertson, Kenny Kong, and more, some of which weren’t introduced until decades after Stan Lee’s original run on the comics. It all goes to creating a full ecosystem in a single episode, which is why many fans point to this cartoon as their immediate go-to.
“The Uncertainty Principle” (Episode 9)
How do you re-create a classic story line from the comics but make it so that established fans aren’t able to predict every move? The Spectacular Spider-Man, obviously owing a lot to early Spider-Man creators like Lee, Ditko, John Romita Sr., and Gerry Conway, decided to pull the trigger on two Spider-Man standbys — the reveal of the Green Goblin and Harry Osborn’s drug addiction. And to keep people on their toes when they felt like they could spot the twist a mile away, the team behind Spectacular combined them into a story that feels surprisingly seamless (and still leaves twists to come).
SPOILERS AHEAD: After a tussle with the Green Goblin, Spider-Man follows him back to the Osborn apartment, where he expects to find Worst Father of the Year Norman Osborn under the mask (like in the early comics!). But it’s Harry, the pal that’s grown distant thanks to his addictive reliance on a secret, Oscorp-developed formula called Globulin Green. When Norman expresses shock, Harry reacts violently, telling Norman that he only started taking it to improve his athletics and his grades and, hopefully, reel in the affection of his distant dad. It’s a harrowing scene that grasps the true intent of all good adaptations — not by-the-numbers replication but a recapturing of emotional relevance.
“Shear Strength” (Episode 17)
One thing that many Spider-Man cartoons miss is the fact that Peter Parker’s story, especially in the early years, is a soap opera. The reasons for this are obvious — these are shows made for kids, usually young boys, and historically, studios and advertisers have taken an “Eww, cooties” approach to that demographic. The 1994 Spider-Man and Spectacular make up for lost time, though, with the latter thriving on Peter’s romantic relationships with the same intensity it brings to the evolving villain plotlines.
So yeah, “Shear Strength” includes the conclusion of Doc Ock’s Master Planner plot and features an image pulled straight from the comics. (There are few bits of Spider-Man iconography more prominent than the visual of him lifting that heavy piece of machinery off himself.) But more importantly, it ends with a kiss from Liz Allan, a former bully who’s grown to crush on Peter. But wait, didn’t nerdy gal pal Gwen Stacy deliver a smooch on him in the same spot just a few episodes earlier? And all while it seems like he might have a future with this Mary Jane Watson girl? Drama! If Spider-Man has shown us anything, the only thing more complicated than dealing with Green Goblin is dealing with Peter’s many, many girlfriends.
“Final Curtain” (Episode 26)
For a while, it seemed like Spider-Man could not catch a break. The “One More Day” story line in the comics had received unanimously bad press for wiping away much of Peter and Mary Jane’s history. After being dissatisfied with Spider-Man 3, Sam Raimi had been unable to deliver a story for a Spider-Man 4 that he liked in Sony’s allotted time frame and he dropped out. Then, two films later, the new Amazing series ended unceremoniously as well. And in the midst of this, The Spectacular Spider-Man was abruptly canceled thanks to television-rights issues between Sony and Marvel.
It’s a decision that’s all the more troubling thanks to the poignant ending of the show. Spider-Man stops the Green Goblin (turns out it was Norman all along! He injured and framed his own son in “The Uncertainty Principle”! That dude sucks!), but Gwen and Peter can’t reconnect thanks to her guilt about Harry, so Peter is left alone with a murky future. But not all Spider-Man stories are meant to end happily. Sometimes that “old Parker luck” strikes and you’re left with a bad hand. And there are few things more relatable than that.
Ultimate Spider-Man (2012–17)
“Great Power” & “Great Responsibility” (Episodes 1 & 2)
By 2012, the Marvel Cinematic Universe had devoured most of the company’s cinematic efforts, with the prime selling point being that, at last, all of these heroes could team up like they had for decades in the comics. Ultimate Spider-Man reflects this growing need for expanded-universe synergy; within the first episode, Nick Fury shows up to offer Spider-Man a spot in a new supergroup that he’s forming. In the next one, Spider-Man takes the plunge and soon, he, Power Man, Iron Fist, Nova, and White Tiger are fighting crime and, more importantly, learning to work together.
If it sounds like kind of a mess, that’s because it is. Ultimate Spider-Man was often a show without an identity. While Spectacular Spider-Man tried to drive home a coherent emotional arc, Ultimate is eager to barrel into villainous groups, superhero team-ups, and big-event plotlines in order to fit more guest stars in the picture. It can be fun — the first two episodes in particular are loaded with gags for younger viewers. But it ultimately wants to be both a Spider-Man show and a grand Marvel family reunion and doesn’t have the patience to accomplish either.
Spider-Man (2017–20)
“My Own Worst Enemy” (Episode 40)
Emerging quietly and ending without much fanfare, the 2017 Spider-Man series had the deck stacked against it. Its animation bore little in the way of personality, its first few story lines mainly felt like milquetoast retreads from previous Spider-Man outings, and it aired on pay channel Disney XD just as the monumental shift toward streaming services, even when it came to children’s television, was in full swing. It seemed especially tired when it featured Dr. Octopus, Spider-Man’s No. 2 bad guy and someone whom Ultimate had all but exhausted.
However, things started to look up in the second season, especially when the show’s creators decided to take the big swing of pseudo-adapting the “Superior Spider-Man” story. In it, Otto Octavius/Octopus puts his consciousness inside Peter Parker’s body and has to not only grapple with his own ambition but also navigate the balance between his and Peter’s senses of morality. While many series beforehand had to tangle classic story lines from the past with more recent angles, the “Superior Spider-Man” arc is definitively modern and refreshed the show’s aims. As it turns out, what a Spider-Man show needed was a guy who … wasn’t quite Spider-Man.
Spidey and His Amazing Friends (2021–present)
“Doc Ock’s Super Octopus” (Episode 3)
Though it is certainly made for the preschool set, Spidey and His Amazing Friends offers a revealing peek into Spider-Man as an onscreen brand. Spider-Man doesn’t just fight crime with other Marvel heroes but with Miles Morales (comic-book star and now a major movie character) and Ghost Spider (who’d shown up in cartoons past but was now a leading lady thanks to the Spider-Verse films). Considering the success of both Spider-Man: No Way Home and the Spider-Verse series, the idea that there’s a bunch of Spider people has been quickly turned into a foundational feature rather than a niche spinoff.
“Doc Ock’s Super Octopus” gives you an idea of what to narratively expect from the show — Doctor Octopus captures a cute baby octopus and makes it grow really big, forcing the “Amazing Friends” to figure out how to save it from itself. But even if that’s not quite your cup of tea (again, this series is built for toddlers), it does show us that, in the nearly 60 years since Spider-Man made his TV debut, he’s come quite a long way. Gone is the low-budget solo show that was deeply indebted to the comics. Instead, we now have a highly promoted series on a streaming service owned by the world’s most powerful entertainment company, with a concept that mostly ties into the blockbuster movies (and has a theme song by Fall Out Boy!). With great power comes great franchisability.