The premier for ‘The Avengers’ movie is less than a month away, and Marvel Studios has wasted no time solidifying their name inside the minds of potential movie goers through a variety of means. One such outlet was the premier of ‘Ultimate Spider-Man’ on Disney XD last Sunday morning. In the realm of comics, Marvel has multiple Spider-Man stories to tell, but there are two story-lines that stand out above the rest. In Marvel’s “Ultimate Universe” Peter Parker is still in high school, while in “The Amazing Spider-Man” series, he’s an adult. ”Ultimate Spider-Man” is influenced by the former, as young Mr. Parker has yet to join The Avengers, and is still learning what it means to be a superhero. All of these elements possess the possibility for an enjoyable series, and with lead writer Paul Dini (Batman: Arkham City, Justice League) leading the charge, how could it fail? Sadly, it does falter, and it’s surprising that a show with such a talented development team could stumble so badly in its execution.
The problem I have with Ultimate Spidey lies in the decision of the developers to make the show overly comedic, and lacking in any real substance in terms of story. Unlike Batman, Spider-Man is not a character who should brood and sulk over the state of his existence, yet there still needs to be a story for the viewer to enjoy. What Marvel has given us is a Family Guy-esque style of comedy that’s over the top and completely unwarranted. I do realize that Disney XD is a children’s network, and that the show airs during the afternoon, but think about Cartoon Network’s Young Justice and Green Lantern: The Animated Series, which air at similar times on Saturday. Bruce Timm and his writing staff have made two wonderful shows that can appeal to both adults, and children. Another example of this can be found in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, which can be dark at times, but also keeps in mind that the audience is PG. I know there are many people that find ‘Ultimate Spider-Man’ immensely entertaining, which I can understand, because the show is fast paced, and doesn’t slow down for a second. If that sounds like something you’d be interested in, then I suggest you give the show a try.
Being that this is a subjective matter, I’m curious to see what you all think. As you can probably tell, it’s difficult for me to remain objective due to my fondness of Bruce Timm’s (Batman: The Animated Series, Justice League) approach to storytelling over at Warner Brothers Animation. For those of you who watch our “Ink Hero” segments, you’ll know that I tend to read more DC than Marvel, so please let me know what you thought of ‘Ultimate Spider-Man’ in the comments section below.
-David Griffin (Follow @griffinde on Twitter)
They canned Spectacular Spiderman to make way for this?
DOES. NOT. COM. PUTE!
I'm all for a lighter, wise crackingand generally more fun Spiderman. But this is pushing it.
Good point! I forgot to mention Spectacular Spider-Man, which I really enjoyed. I wish that was still on instead of this…
I agree completely with your review and have to force myself to enjoy the show because it's so childish! Another big turnoff for me is the character designs. It should look more like Hulk vs IMO.
They had to give up Spectacular Spiderman because Disney wasn't in on it! I really wish the buyout wouldn't affect the programs we love but it clearly did! I would anything to get shows like Spectacular Spiderman and Wolverine & The Xmen back but it just doesnt work that way in hollywood…
DC is really outperforming Marvel in the animation department right now and I'm loving their shorts! I madea quick list of shorts I would like to see Marvel animate, let me know what you think…
1. Marvel Knights Present: The Confederates
Black Panther leads a team of him, Bucky Barnes as USAgent, Michael Pointer as Major Mapleleaf, Captain Britain & Red Guardian. Together they tackle real global issues! This team doesn't actually exist in the Marvel U but I sure wish it did. Kinda like International Avengers or the UN's Task Force…
2. X-Babies
Must have an series of shorts featuring mutants… I went through all the teams and out of all of them the x-babies would be the funniest to watch… not to mention it's one of the few X teams that still haven't been animated yet!
3. Power Pack
Absolutely mandatory if making animated shorts for kids!
4. Daughters of the Dragon
Misty Knight and Colleen Wing prove themselves to Marvel's best detectives and bounty hunters. I know most people want to see the Heroes for hire but Luke Cage and Ironfist are both gonna be recurring characters on the new Spiderman show. A "Daughters of the Dragon" series of shorts could give DC's "Super Best Friends" some competition and really appeal to the girls!
5. Cloak & Dagger
I have no clue what direction I would like to see this take but I know that I would enjoy seeing it on tv and kids probably would too.
6. Rocket Raccoon & Groot
How can you have Marvel shorts without space adventures. My first idea was the Annihilators but the name of the team didn't seem very child friendly… then my thoughts came accross The Guardians of the Galaxy, finally I decided just to go with Groot and his good ol pal Rocket Raccoon. This could prove quite entertaining if writen well and if done in stop motion!
7. Her-oes
We might have to change the Wasp for someone else but another full girl team really helps balance out the menu!
8. Journey Into Mystery
I was thinking if it's for kids we need at least one magic based series. So I thought of Doctor Strange but decided he was too old as a main character. He gained his powers as an adult so we couldn't make him younger. Then I thought of Journey into Mystery and figured it would work perfectly and could feature different characters from Asgard!
9. Captain Marvel
Featuring a teenage Noh Varr performing superman-like gestures all over the Marvel U but with the ability to communicate to previous or deceased captains kinda like Aang does in "the last airbender" but without having to change plane or like Firestorm used to be able to!
10. The Inhuman Blackbolt
I doubt him or his family will be making many appearances so it's perfect to raise awarness of the character… not to mention short adventures about a superhero who can't use his voice has the potential to be pretty epic! Personally I think it swould look best in full CGI like the new Green Lantern show!
So that's my top ten wish list for Marvel animated shorts. What's yours? Would you or your kids watch any of mine?
I would definitely watch "Journey into Mystery," due to my love of Thor and all things Asgardian. I finally started watching Wolverine & The X-Men via Netflix, which it's a great show, and unlike Ultimate Spider-Man, stays away from gimmicks.
Haters gonna hate, but this show is awesome!!!
I think the show is great! I think they will do well re packaging (re imagining) the story. I've lived through 7 or 8 spiderman cartoon and have no problem with this new direction, since it seems all the other shows last about 2 seasons each and meant we had to have the origin story over and over again. It follows the model of Teen Titans from around 8 years back. They have the right people involved on the creative side so I can let go of the fact that it deviates from the source material (which were the best comics of all time).
Glad you like the show, and I wish I could get into the story, but I can't. Are you watching any of the DC Nation shows on Cartoon Network, like Young Justice or Green Lantern: The Animated Series. Thanks for checking out the review
While Ultimate Spider-Man is not nearly as serious as the Young Avengers I rather liked the show. If I was 11 I don't think I see anything wrong with the show. Since I'm not 11 I would like to see a few changes. The comedy fits Spider-Man perfectly in my opinion I just wish it had some serious moments. There were hints of deeper emotions throughout the first episodes but they never explored them. Hopefully they balance the show out as it goes on.
The show is very silly…NYSE avengers shows which is also for kids and is also marvel is so much better andwell rounded. And the voices don't go together at all