Spider-Man TAS (1994-1998)

Started by Edd Grayson, Sat, 12 Jul 2014, 19:28

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I've been watching the first three seasons lately. I haven't watched these episodes for twenty-odd years.

I've always the episode of J. Jonah Jameson's involvement in Mac Gargan becoming the Scorpion, and how it showed his wife's murder by a masked hitman as the reason for his hatred for Spider-Man and masked people in general. Simple, but very effective, and it was the only moment that stuck out in my mind watching that show as a kid.

Like many X-Men and BTAS, you can tell Spider-Man took many storylines from the comics as far as it could go for children's television. Such as the third season finale of Mary-Jane presumably perished during Spider-Man's battle with Green Goblin, it had similarities with the death of Gwen Stacy. Most importantly, the show carried over the crucial tropes surrounding the character; despite being Spider-Man was a heavy burden to Peter Parker's personal life, it was too big of a responsibility to quit and stop protecting the greater good. If Spider-Man was a happy-go-lucky character without any personal strife like many people demand from Superman nowadays, this show wouldn't have lasted as long as it did.

Nice to hear familiar voices from BTAS star in this show. Mark Hamill did a great job to distinguish himself from Joker to Hobgoblin, you could tell the difference between each character's laughter. Efrem Zimbalist Jr's voice as Alfed was still the best cartoon role he ever did, but he did fine as Doc Ock, even if it's the top in that European accent. Little did I know he played Justin Hammer in that goofy first season of Iron Man too. I never knew he had such range.
QuoteJonathan Nolan: He [Batman] has this one rule, as the Joker says in The Dark Knight. But he does wind up breaking it. Does he break it in the third film?

Christopher Nolan: He breaks it in...

Jonathan Nolan: ...the first two.

Source: http://books.google.com.au/books?id=uwV8rddtKRgC&pg=PR8&dq=But+he+does+wind+up+breaking+it.&hl=en&sa=X&ei

Laughing Fish, I like your thoughts. Would you like to discuss the series more?

Jameson said something very important in the Scorpion episode: He hates Spider-Man because he wears a mask and thinks he's above the law. Because Jameson's wife was shot by a man in a mask. This at the time was unique to the show, not in any other one or the comics.

Yeah, Jameson took his anti-Spider-Man crusade very personally, and the show giving him such a tragic backstory provides us a good idea of where he is coming from, no matter how misguided he may be. Until the Scorpion plan backfired, Jameson thought he had to do it to honour his murdered wife and protect the city from masked criminals.

In contrast to the 2018 Spider-Man game (which I played a few weeks ago by the way, great game), Jameson admits his involvement in creating Scorpion on the air, but it's played for laughs.

QuoteJonathan Nolan: He [Batman] has this one rule, as the Joker says in The Dark Knight. But he does wind up breaking it. Does he break it in the third film?

Christopher Nolan: He breaks it in...

Jonathan Nolan: ...the first two.

Source: http://books.google.com.au/books?id=uwV8rddtKRgC&pg=PR8&dq=But+he+does+wind+up+breaking+it.&hl=en&sa=X&ei

I played Spider-Man: Friend or Foe and Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions.

The 90's show will always be "my Spider-Man".

Two years later, but I want to come back to this.

Quote from: The Joker on Sat, 26 Mar  2022, 03:34Yeah, I couldn't tell you how many times I imagined a live action Spider-Man movie in my head as a kid growing up in the 1990's. Basically fan casted (which would change regularly) not just a imaginary '90's Spider-Man movie, but a line of sequels as well.
Same. Many were the evenings where my friend and I would spend the night at each other's houses dreaming about what a Spider-Man movie COULD be.

My friend usually came up with super elaborate plots. Something happens in Movie #1 which doesn't get fully paid off until Movie #3 and so forth. He was pretty knowledgeable about Spider-Man lore (which, back then, meant that he had a pretty good idea of what happened in Spider-Man comics from the early Eighties up through the mid Nineties) so a lot of his ideas were pretty interesting. For a thirteen year old.

I was more fixated on Spider-Man himself. I wanted the character to be done RIGHT. He can't be all dark like Batman. But at the same time, he also can't be a champion like Superman. He needs to be the Everyman who can't win for losing but who also never gives up. The movie version of the character needed to retain the comic book purity.

There's the quips with his villains and all that stuff. But more than anything, I wanted Spider-Man swinging around New York to be PITCH PERFECT. I always imagined that if you do Spidey's moves in slow mo, it would look like Super Olympics mixed with ballet. Very elegant, very beautiful and very agile.

None of the Spider-Man movies have quite nailed it for me. But Mark Webb has come the closest. Raimi isn't a slouch tho.



Boy, this brings me back to when my brother first showed me Alex Ross artwork and it absolutely fueled my imagination on Marvel Comics translated to the big screen. I remember being so lit up when I first saw footage of Spider-Man web-swinging in the teaser. It looked EXACTLY like Marvels! My favorite one in the whole franchise is the final web-swing at the end of the first. Absolutely jaw dropping to this day! We're supposed to get a rerelease of the films next month in April and I can't wait to experience that scene again.

Quote from: Kamdan on Sat, 16 Mar  2024, 11:03Boy, this brings me back to when my brother first showed me Alex Ross artwork and it absolutely fueled my imagination on Marvel Comics translated to the big screen. I remember being so lit up when I first saw footage of Spider-Man web-swinging in the teaser. It looked EXACTLY like Marvels! My favorite one in the whole franchise is the final web-swing at the end of the first. Absolutely jaw dropping to this day! We're supposed to get a rerelease of the films next month in April and I can't wait to experience that scene again.
At the time Raimi's approach to the swinging seemed so innovative. The idea of the camera keeping up with Spidey to give you the feeling of swinging with him was amazing.

I also can't wait to check out the Raimi trilogy again in theaters. Haven't seen 1 and 3 like that since they were released.

Quote from: BatmanFurst on Sat, 16 Mar  2024, 18:38At the time Raimi's approach to the swinging seemed so innovative. The idea of the camera keeping up with Spidey to give you the feeling of swinging with him was amazing.

I also can't wait to check out the Raimi trilogy again in theaters. Haven't seen 1 and 3 like that since they were released.
I've been on a Spidey hit again recently so this news comes at the right time. I'll be checking out all three Raimi films in cinemas at a minimum. There's also interesting rumblings about the possibility of a fourth Raimi outing. Dunst said she'd do it for the money, which is okay with me. Tobey would do definitely do it, and Raimi said it would be "at the right time." I'd crawl over broken glass to see a veteran Tobey swinging around a fully evolved Raimiverse. At least No Way Home kept his flame alive after all this time. I'm fine with how he was handled.