Spider-Man: The Animated Series ran from 1994 to 1998 on the Fox Kids Network block and is often held up as one of the best Spider-Man cartoons. However, it has a major black mark and it came with the final season.
Are We Talking About the Movies as Episodes?
OK, there are two major black marks because the final season was a mess. Every season featured some of a movie and this series pumped out a number of them.
Then you have season five which had several arcs which were basically movies and didn’t flow as well as other seasons.
It was similar to when Dragon Ball Z ran out of episodes during the Vegeta and Frieza Sagas between 1996 and 1997.
To fill out the blocks, Dead Zone and Tree of Might were aired before the series reset a couple of episodes to allow Funimation to catch up with dubbing for broadcast television.
In The Animated Series, Fox Kids ran several films to fill out the final season but chopped them into multi-part sagas. We’re looking at the final two-part saga The Spider Wars.
The More Important Black Mark on Spider-Man: The Animated Series
Now, The Animated Series—like X-Men: The Animated Series—had several continuity and writing issues throughout its run. However, it remained true to the comics.
It also established what the majority of Spidey toons would do going forward by constantly showcasing iconic old-school Spider-Man story arcs.
You’ll always get a Venom arc, the Sinister Six will always appear, The Lizard must be in the house, and you might—might—get “The Death of Gwen Stacy” and “Maximum Carnage” if the studios are feeling spicy that season.
All of that aside, The Animated Series ending on a cliffhanger always bothered me. Madame Web guided Spidey throughout the middle and end of the series.
When it’s revealed that Peter Parker married a clone—the cartoon ended 21 years ago, I feel no shame in this spoiler—he sets off with Madame Web to find the real Mary Jane Watson.
Then the series just ends. Mind you, the series’ production was done at this point and we would get Spider-Man Unlimited the following year.
It’s just that the way the series ended begged for a sixth season to really close out the whole thing. That wasn’t the case as the last thing we see is Spidey diving into another existence—or the beyond—to find M.J. What in the hell?
At nine years old I merely thought it was strange and figured we’d get a conclusion to this. I had no concept of TV show seasons or what a cliffhanger was outside of the 1993 Sylvester Stallone film.
It wasn’t until I re-watched it years and got to the end that it clicked: “This isn’t how a story should end is it?” No, 12-year me, it isn’t.
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