By Jonathan Klotz
| Published
X-Men ‘97 Season 2 is in the middle of its run on Disney+ and its improved on the first season by so much, fans are now offering up suggestions for other Marvel classics that should get the same revival treatment. These range from Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes to one person suggesting the 90s Iron Man series, but if anything deserves a second chance, it’s Spider-Man: The Animated Series from 1994. Next to the X-Men, it was the most successful animated adaptation but rules for kids show in the 90s kept it from reaching its full potential, and besides, who doesn’t want to see a modern retelling of the death of Dr. Octopus, Green Goblin vs. Hobgoblin, or a second take at the full Clone Saga?
Spider-Man Never Reached Its Full Potential
Alright, so Spider-Man’s run of 90s stories don’t have the same sort of historical value as X-Men ‘97 diving into “Inferno”, “Age of Apocalypse”, “Fatal Attractions”, and Onslaught (Who has to be coming up, right?), but dipping back into the 80s a bit would allow for “Kraven’s Last Hunt,” while “Maximum Carnage” and anything with the Sinister Six deserves a better adaptation. Go back and watch the Fox cartoon now, and you’ll notice a few things that you didn’t pick up on during its original run.
For starters, “sinister” couldn’t be used, so the writing team replaced it with “Insidious” which doesn’t have the same ring to it. Secondly, Spider-Man doesn’t punch anyone. That one was, oddly enough, not a note from the network or the studio, but a choice made by Lead Writer John Semper, who felt Peter Parker was smart enough to find other ways to solve his problems. That makes sense, as Fox was showing Batman: The Animated Series and on that show, Batman’s fists were rated E for Everyone.
No blood, no vampires (Morbius had butthole hands instead), no death/killing (hence the line, “Shocker’s blast should have creamed me”), no blades even though they did include Blade, no realistic guns outside of flashbacks, and the list goes on and on. In interviews, Semper said fans have blown the censorship out of proportion and that it was standard for kids shows at the time, though all you have to do is again, point to Batman.
90s Spider-Man Deserves A Redo
Spider-Man: The Animated Series was such a success that the world it established for Spider-Man was adapted into its own comic book, video game, and ride at Universal Studios Orlando. Like the X-Men, it’s what a whole generation thinks of when they think of Spider-Man. Younger kids had Ultimate Spider-Man and Spider And His Amazing Friends, once they’re old enough that getting out of bed hurts, expect a push for them to be revived as well.
X-Men ‘97 managed to pull off the impossible and adapt “Inferno” for Season 1, while in Season 2, it turned Apocalypse into the baddest villain in history, while giving Kang a better moment than he had in his entire MCU run. Imagine how horrible the Jackal and Hobgoblin (Kingsley version) could be in an updated Spider-Man ‘98, or how cool seeing Spider-Island would be. Now that Marvel has a winning formula, it should go beyond the X-Men to the 90s other most popular hero.
