Spider-Man TNAS

Produced by: Mainframe Entertainment, Marvel, Sony Pictures Television, Adelaide Productions

Air Date: 2003

Lenght: 13 Episodes, 22 minutes each.

Out of all the many incarnations of this character, none better suits the old saying "it was a product of it's time" than this one. As the circumstances of it's creation could only have come about during this specific period. Part of the contract Marvel had made with Sony to adapt Spider-Man into a Live-Action film, was the creation of an animated series to tie-in with it's release. One of many things that would affect the production of it's predecessor, Unlimited. this formerly New Animated Series was originally planned to be an adaptation of the Ultimate Comics written by Brain Michael Bendis and illustrated by Mark Bagley. But instead it was decided to make it a continuation of the aforemention Sam Raimi movie. While the sequels make it impossible to reconcile with the canon of the trilogy as a whole, it is still an alternative continuity set after the death of Norman Osborn/The Green Goblin. The spanish dub saw the return of the film's voice cast to further connect them.

As an adaptation though, it also borrows from Peter Parker's time in college campus. Being Harry Osborn's roomate, their relationshipis still friendly and casual, but nevertheless complicated by the latter believing Spider-Man murdered his father. It's his romance with Mary Jane Watson that sees an interesting subversion with how it was handled in the films. As she is the one trying to re-kindle their relationship, while Peter is the one putting walls between them, sometimes without realzing or meaning to.

However, the show barely pulls from the comics large rouges gallery. The only exceptions being The Lizard, Electro, Kraven, Silver Sable and The Kingpin. Every other villain being completely original. Though Turbo Jet and Talon seem to be homages to Rocket Racer and Black Cat. I haven't been able to find a reason why they couldn't use those characters instead. Far as I know, the way Marvel adaptations usually go, legal issues on who owns what character or where they're allowed to show up might have been the reason. They're all designed taking into account (or at least assuming) how they would look like in a Live-Action film. Out of all of them, Kingpin stands out, with Michael Clarke Duncan reprising his role from the 2003 Daredevil movie starring Ben Affleck. Between that and the scrapped Hugh Jackman cameo in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man, it shows just how early Marvel had wanted to translate their shared universe concept into blockbusters.

Another thing about it's visuals is the cel-shading going to great lenghts to mask some of the dated aspects of the CG Animation. Looking very similar to the Ultimate Spider-Man videogame. The hero's design is a great combination of his first Hollywood iteration and the comics, with an expressive mask, swinging poses and webbing taking influece from the artwork by Todd Mcfarlane and John Romita Junior Jr. As for writing, it strikes a great balance between serialized storytelling and episodic chapters. Airing on MTV, it also got away with much more mature content, featuring alcoholic drinks, on-screen deaths and even a few bits of sexual humor.

Sadly, this was one of the factors for it's cancellation. MTV was losing interest in adult animation in favor of reality shows. It's audience of college aged stoners who traded a copy of Jet Set Radio Future that came with their Xbox to play Halo were probably not interested in a Spider-Man cartoon, feeling that the idea itself was too nerdy or childish, which resulted in low viewership. That incidentally led to a very depressing series finale that was suppossed to lead into a more hopeful storyline, but nevertheless remains an equally conclusive yet sad resolution.

Despite that, I highly recommend watching through it. No other Spider-Man animated show before or since has been like this and probably will never be again. Hell, I myself like it a little bit more than Spectacular, even if it's fair to feel that show is the better of the two. Regardless, TNAS is certainly something that anyone who likes Spider-Man will be interested in.