Did You Miss Sandman in Spider-Man: TAS?

[Stu]

Hey,

Back when Spider-Man: The Animated Series was in full swing back in the mid 1990's, I remember getting into the comics at the time and knowing who a few of the villains and such were before they came on TV. One of the villains I was looking forward to seeing on TV was Sandman, but it was never to be. As John Semper explained in the interview I conducted with him a while back, Sandman and Electro were under an embargo, due to James Cameron planning to use them in his upcoming Spider-Man movie.

Given his upcoming appearance in Spider-Man 3, I was wondering if any of you guys missed seeing him in Spider-Man TAS. What would you have liked to see from the character?

Image Courtesy of Marvel Animation Age​

 

[Spider-Friends]

...Sandman and Electro were under an embargo...

It just seems wrong to NOT have used Sandman, yet to have used Hydro-Man. Blech.

How were they able to eventually use Electro, Stu? Was the embargo lifted but they ran out of time to use the Sandman?

 

[Stu]

It just seems wrong to NOT have used Sandman, yet to have used Hydro-Man. Blech.

How were they able to eventually use Electro, Stu? Was the embargo lifted but they ran out of time to use the Sandman?

From the sounds of it, yes. By the time the Electro episode aired, James Cameron's Spider-Man movie was a pipe dream. Originally, Spider-Man: The Animated Series was supposed to act as a tie in to the movie similar to how The Batman started airing and Batman Begins arrived at cinema's the following summer. I can only assume Sandman wasn't used because it was too late in the show's run to use him by then.

This is all just an educated guess of course, but I'd wager it's a good educated guess.

 

[AdamYJ]

Y'know, I didn't really miss him too much. Then again, I didn't really know he was considered to be such a "classic" villian at the time. According to what I've seen, the villians that make up Spidey's most "classic" rogues tend to be the ones that appeared in the first couple years, sometimes even first few issues, of the series. Chameleon, Vulture, Doctor Octopus, Sandman, Lizard, Electro, Mysterio, Green Goblin, Kraven the Hunter and Scorpion. Only the Enforcers and a couple others from those days aren't considered to be part of the "big time".

I actually like Hydro-Man more than Sandman a little. I mean, the sand thing is cool, but controlling and transforming into water seem like a really awesome power.

 

[Spider-Man]

I actually didn't miss him not being there although I did find it odd that considering his status in the Spider-Man's rogue gallery why he wasn't there. He was always considered a big bad guy and to have him not in the animated series seemed odd. I didn't see it as a big loss though. I wonder with Sandman in Spider-Man 3 if we'll even see him in the next Spider-Man cartoon!

 

[Nightwing]

I actually didn't miss him not being there although I did find it odd that considering his status in the Spider-Man's rogue gallery why he wasn't there. He was always considered a big bad guy and to have him not in the animated series seemed odd. I didn't see it as a big loss though. I wonder with Sandman in Spider-Man 3 if we'll even see him in the next Spider-Man cartoon!

.....hmm. THEORY!!

It started off as Sandman not being able to be in SpidermanTAS because of the legal junk (blech to all legal related junk, by the way...big blecky props). Maybe by the time that was over he couldn't be used for the opposite reason. SpidermanTAS couldn't use Sandman, because at that point the show's continuous plot was so involved that Sandman wouldn't be able to get the focus and screentime he deserved.

Sandman not being able to be in SpidermanTAS, then SpidermanTAS not being able to use Sandman.

I see him as more of a season 1 stand-alone episode, like Doc Ock's first, or Chameleon's first. Know what I mean? A whole story about him, for him, showing you who he is and what's going on.

 

[stephane dumas]

Yup Sandman should had been used in TAS, he fit more then Hydro-man

Btw, I wonder if Marvel still hold the rights on vilains used in the Ralph Bakshi seasons like the Master Technician, Dr Manta and Infinita? (the last 2 who came from the series Rocket Robin Hood) imagine how they could fitted them in TAS.

 

[Spider-Man]

Yup Sandman should had been used in TAS, he fit more then Hydro-man.

In the comics did Hydro-Man have the same past with Mary Jane. I didn't read many comics featuring Hydro-Man in them. I thought he fit well into the series. Sandman is just a common thug who got blasted with radioactive sand so I don't know what makes him better than Hydro-Man.

 

[Nightwing]

Sandman is just a common thug who got blasted with radioactive sand so I don't know what makes him better than Hydro-Man.

Hydroman's origin uses more vague wording though. It makes as much sense as it needs to though, what with the nuclear sub testing site and all.

And at the same time it's still goofy. "Something from deep inside the Earth changed me." and some purple ooz had some sort of effect on his body.

So basically he got changed somehow by the purple stuff from the Sunny Delight commercials.

 

[RAINMAN]

In the comics did Hydro-Man have the same past with Mary Jane. I didn't read many comics featuring Hydro-Man in them. I thought he fit well into the series. Sandman is just a common thug who got blasted with radioactive sand so I don't know what makes him better than Hydro-Man.

http://www.samruby.com/Villains/HydroMan/hydroman.htm