MTV Spider-Man: Where Did It Go Wrong?

[Stu]

Hey,

Title pretty much says it all. I know I'm one of few fans of the show, but for those of you who didn't like it, hell, those of you who did,

Where did the show go wrong in your opinion? Could it have easily been avoided?

 

[Storm]

It went wrong from day one, IMO. The designs were horrid (ex: Harry Osborne going blonde) and the "created for TV characters" were just not that interesting and the celebrity voices... I mean c'mon. I wouldn't mind the celebs voice the villains however ever episode? I knew the new Spidey cartoon was going to be less than a thrill when MTV was behind it. The only character that I didn't find bad was Peter Parker because they basically kept in the same thank God. I really had high hopes for it too and was hoping it to get renewed just for the sake of retooling the series.


- Storm

 

[EJill34]

I actually liked it. I bought the DVD and thought that the team did a good job with the series. The only real problems were the lack of classic Spidey villains and Indie (Indy?). I hated her. Besides that, I thought that it was a well-written series and the animation was great. The special features on the DVD were also quite good.

 

[Damien]

I liked it, although my detest for MTV prevented me from catching it very often. Was it even on regularly? Maybe that's where it went wrong.

I only saw a few episodes, but all the ones I saw were great. I plan on renting some of the DVDs.

 

[Ssrn53]

It went wrong? I don't think so. It's the first Spider-man to even come close to getting it right. Actually Amazing Spidey there are alot of fans of this show it just depends on where you go. Most of the former fans of the 90's series really like this one. This series is part of the reason why many of the flaws of the 90's series stood out and former fans began to hate on it.

 

[Stu]

Actually Amazing Spidey there are alot of fans of this show it just depends on where you go.

hell, those of you who did

I never forgot about them, cause I'm one of them

 

[Zebi]

MTV 2 reguarly reruns the show. Check news and views for correct dates and times.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it appears that MTV2 has dropped Spider-Man: TNAS from their schedule. When MTV2 does air the show, I include the schedule in my Marvel on TV posts for Toon Zone's News & Views. The last time that I posted a schedule for Spider-Man on MTV2 was the July 3rd - 9th schedule. Ever since then, I haven't seen it listed on MTV2's schedule.

Damien, I'd suggest getting the DVD - or at least, renting it first. The show wasn't perfect, but it was very good and I think you'd enjoy it.

 

[Spider-Friends]

It went wrong? I don't think so. It's first Spider-man to even come close to getting it right.

That's the same thing I thought when I read the title of the thread. I'm sure some people prefer the 90's cartoon to this one but that's only because the 90's cartoon had more classic villains and guest apperances from the Marvel Universe.

THIS is the best written Spider-Man cartoon ever. (I'm not too crazy about the CGI though. It's already horribly dated.)

 

[Eddie G.]

The problem with the series was that it had the chance to be something great and it wasn't. The overrated '90's Spiderman cartoon basically made the villians kid friendly and had lasers and a superhero who doesn't punch people.

This was the cartoon where we could of had Doc Oct killing people, we could of had the Green Goblin being sinister, we could have a Kingpin who acted like a real mobster. The series could have given us everything we wanted, but it ended up not giving us what at least the '90's series did.

By deciding to have loose continuity with the movie they seriously limited the number of villians on the show, they removed important characters from Spiderman's life (Aunt May, Flash Thompson, JJJ,). And still a lot of the villians were goofy for no good reason.

The series went wrong when it tried to be the movie but didn't realize what makes the movie great. The people behind the movie knew what made the Spiderman comics great.

 

[Storm]

:Gives The Blue Wolf a Cookie:

Preach it man!


- Storm

The problem with the series was that it had the chance to be something great and it wasn't. The overrated '90's Spiderman cartoon basically made the villians kid friendly and had lasers and a superhero who doesn't punch people.

This was the cartoon where we could of had Doc Oct killing people, we could of had the Green Goblin being sinister, we could have a Kingpin who acted like a real mobster. The series could have given us everything we wanted, but it ended up not giving us what at least the '90's series did.

By deciding to have loose continuity with the movie they seriously limited the number of villians on the show, they removed important characters from Spiderman's life (Aunt May, Flash Thompson, JJJ,). And still a lot of the villians were goofy for no good reason.

The series went wrong when it tried to be the movie but didn't realize what makes the movie great. The people behind the movie knew what made the Spiderman comics great.

 

[Razor]

personally, I started wondering about it when they brought in Terrordax. I thought they were pretty... um, well, a ludicrous idea. Maybe if they hadn't based their names on Pterosaurs. >_>;

 

[freezeface]

I enjoyed the mature take that they did (punching, characters dying, mild language). These things were done sparingly, and to make a scene more intense. I also liked the Indy character. I thought she had more personality than Mary Jane. The animation made for some superb action scenes as well. The only problem I had with the show was J. Jonah Jameson. Whoever did the voice was doing a terrible imitation of J.K. Simmons' J.J. from the movie. What's worse, Ed Asner, the original voice, was playing a cop.

 

[Stu]

I've found that the older audiences enjoy it more, the 18+ rather than the 13-17, based on what I've read here, and on other message boards/online reviews.

The guys from www.tvshowsondvd.com did a wonderful review on the set back when it was released in January.

The problem with the series was that it had the chance to be something great and it wasn't. The overrated '90's Spiderman cartoon basically made the villians kid friendly and had lasers and a superhero who doesn't punch people.

This was the cartoon where we could of had Doc Oct killing people, we could of had the Green Goblin being sinister, we could have a Kingpin who acted like a real mobster. The series could have given us everything we wanted, but it ended up not giving us what at least the '90's series did.

By deciding to have loose continuity with the movie they seriously limited the number of villians on the show, they removed important characters from Spiderman's life (Aunt May, Flash Thompson, JJJ,). And still a lot of the villians were goofy for no good reason.

The series went wrong when it tried to be the movie but didn't realize what makes the movie great. The people behind the movie knew what made the Spiderman comics great.

Shouldn't a series be merited on how it actually was, rather than how it should have been? It's clear they weren't allowed to use Doc Ock, when the original batch of episodes was for 26, Doc Ock was slated to appear twice. The movie put a stop to all that.

 

[Mister Intensity]

I've found that the older audiences enjoy it more, the 18+ rather than the 13-17, based on what I've read here, and on other message boards/online reviews.

The guys from www.tvshowsondvd.com did a wonderful review on the set back when it was released in January.



Shouldn't a series be merited on how it actually was, rather than how it should have been? It's clear they weren't allowed to use Doc Ock, when the original batch of episodes was for 26, Doc Ock was slated to appear twice. The movie put a stop to all that.

That's the main problem right there, the fact that it was so tied into movie continuity that they were limited in what characters they could use. While i'm not saying that they should use comic characters for the sake of using them but the villains created for the series were weak. They could have gone wild with the villains but instead the villains were mostly undistinguished techno-terrorists with unappealing personalities and abilities.

I also felt that the series could have been more "cartoony." I'm not saying that the guns should be laser pistols or the characters should not be allowed to punch but the shw tried too hard to be a 22 minute action movie with their inherent weaknesses instead of taking advantage of the advantages of animation. One thing that bugged me was the seeming demised of almost every important villain. That got annoying after the second or third time it happenned. I went into further detail about that in somewhere in the archives. Also Peter's friends had no personality. Can there be a duller group of people?

I did like the character of Indy, I also felt that the series finale was the best Spider-Man story in animation ever. If "Mind Games" was an indication of the direction the series would have gone if it continued then season two would have been amazing. However, MTV Spider-Man was more of an example of what could have been than what actually made it to the air.

Mister Intensity

 

[Zach Williams]

I loved the show. I wish I had MTV2 to watch it while it lasted. Not gonna buy the DVD, but, its a great show. The animation is where it went wrong.

 

[Discloner]

The Blue Wolf is indeed correct with his statments about the show being limited because of their inability to tap into some of the more serious and well-known characters because of a movie tie-in. HOWEVER, I also agree with Amazing Spidey, that the series shouldn't be judged on what it could have been...rather then what it wound up being.

I personally thought they did a great job dealing with what they had to work with. We all knew that the series was being created in close continutity with the movie...so I fail to see why so many people feel cheated out because the show didn't use characters that could potentially be in future movies. They created a couple of their own characters, tweeked a few of the existing ones, and made some pretty solid stories that had Spiderman more mature then we'd ever seen him in animated form (barring the Comics).

Overall I enjoyed the TNAS, I even bought the DVD when it came out. I found the more mature sense of the show was very refreshing, atleast when compaired to the 90's child-friendly series (that's not to say I don't like it).

 

[Stu]

The Blue Wolf is indeed correct with his statments about the show being limited because of their inability to tap into some of the more serious and well-known characters because of a movie tie-in. HOWEVER, I also agree with Amazing Spidey, that the series shouldn't be judged on what it could have been...rather then what it wound up being.

I personally thought they did a great job dealing with what they had to work with. We all knew that the series was being created in close continutity with the movie...so I fail to see why so many people feel cheated out because the show didn't use characters that could potentially be in future movies. They created a couple of their own characters, tweeked a few of the existing ones, and made some pretty solid stories that had Spiderman more mature then we'd ever seen him in animated form (barring the Comics).

Overall I enjoyed the TNAS, I even bought the DVD when it came out. I found the more mature sense of the show was very refreshing, atleast when compaired to the 90's child-friendly series (that's not to say I don't like it).

Very well put. You get a cookie

 

[Mynd Hed]

I think it's kind of hard to say exactly what went wrong, because with only one or two exceptions (maintaining movie contuity and Indy) most of the flaws were specific to particular episodes rather than present throughout the series. One episode would be nothing but filler until the action sequences could start, with very little plot; the next would overcompensate with too much corny melodramatic plot and not enough oomph. That sort of thing. It seems like almost every episode had at least one pretty good element and at least one staggeringly bad one, but the good never quite managed to balance out the bad. They just never really seemed to find their stride until the very last two-parter. I would've really liked to see if the show could've continued going uphill from there, but I doubt they'll ever get the chance, and we're still left without a really satisfactory animated Spidey. Oh, well.

 

[Eddie G.]

Shouldn't a series be merited on how it actually was, rather than how it should have been? It's clear they weren't allowed to use Doc Ock, when the original batch of episodes was for 26, Doc Ock was slated to appear twice. The movie put a stop to all that.

I'm not judging the show, I'm saying where it went wrong. People were excited about an adult Spiderman show but it wasn't the adult show they wanted so that was a turn off. The show did not show the characters that fans expect which is another turn off. The most of the stories and rogues were cliche and goofy, big turn off.

A lot of the people behind the show are very talented and the show was pretty good and should of had a second season. But the series was a failed and I'm just saying why I think it was a failure.

 

[Discloner]

Valid point. Although I fail to see how people were looking forward to seeing certain popular spiderman villians, when with the announcment of the show fans were informed that the series would be a close tie-in with the movie franchise...hence probably not including a lot of those villians.