From Fox Kids we were gifted an epic Spider-Man iteration in the '90s. We all fondly remember starting off Saturday mornings with some web-slinging crime fighting, but does the show still hold up today?
Characters
Peter Parker: Our smack-talking hero. Takes great pictures. Imagine what he could do with an iPhone and selfie stick.
Aunt May: The heart and soul of the show. You know the feels were coming when she was a maybe player in the episodes plot.
Mary Jane Watson: Peter was originally crushing on Felicia Hardy, but he eventually said "bye Felicia" and found his love for MJ.
J. Jonah Jameson: The only person on Earth who can’t comprehend that Spider-Man is a hero. Beautifully voiced by Edward Asner (Carl Fredricksen from Up).
Kingpin: Constantly a thorn in Spider-Man's side. Kingpin is the brains of many evil operations and always finds a way to put himself in a win-win situation. Another epic voice, this one done by Roscoe Lee Browne.
What Do You Remember?
This is probably one of the few childhood cartoons to perfect the "To Be Continued...". One does not simply watch an Insidious Six team up and not tune in the next week to see how it plays out. It was torture as a kid waiting a whole 7 days to check out the next episode. Also, any episode that included a Marvel superhero cameo definitely jumps out when you reminisce about the show.
Art Style/Quality (25%)
Honestly, half the reason I wanted to do this for a Nostalgia Rewind was so I could incorporate Spider-Man memes.
Aside from that, this show gave us iconic versions of these characters that are still at the forefront of our minds when we think of them today. My personal favorite is the impossibly terrible bowl haircut of Doctor Octopus.
Score: 8.5/10
Theme Song/Music (15%)
Have you ever wondered what a Spider-Man theme song by Daft Punk would be like? This is how I would imagine it. I guess we went through a techno phase in the ‘90s. The best part of the theme song is that they made subtle changes to it throughout the shows run. A seasoned fan could immediately tell what part of the series the upcoming episode would be in based on the intro.
Score: 8/10
Nostalgia Feels (20%)
Don't you hate how we have to wait through 10 years of build up to see awesome superhero team-ups? Or how certain team-ups aren't even possible because of feuding movie studios? Let's go back to the days when we could get an epic hero collaboration every Saturday morning. Remember that great X-Men animated series? They did crossover episodes with Spidey. Fantastic Four? You bet. Iron Man, Daredevil, the Insidious Six. Plenty of top comic storylines brought right to your television set. Do we even know how good we had it?
Score: 9/10
Adult Humor (40%)
Everyone likes a witty Peter Parker. You have to pay close attention whenever Peter speaks because you never know when he will drop a subtle quip. The interactions between Jameson and Parker are always great as well.
Score: 8/10
Final Score
When every other kids cartoon was turning out procedural episodes, Spider-man was throwing multi-episode heaters every season. Even though the plots got a little outrageous towards the end, it led it us some great cameos and even a storyline that closely resembles Into the Spider-verse. Between the witty spider-man, iconic characters, and complex storytelling, this show was a treat for every young fanboy.
8.33/10
Speaking of into the Spider-verse...
Image Credits: Disney
