| Spider-Man | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Superhero Action Adventure |
| Created by | Stan Lee |
| Based on | |
| Written by | Creighton Barnes Doug Booth Francis K. Feighan Donald F. Glut Jack Hanrahan Christy Marx Larry Parr Jeffrey Scott |
| Starring |
|
| Composer | Johnny Douglas |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of episodes | 26 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | |
| Producer | Arthur Vitello |
| Running time | 22 minutes |
| Production company | Marvel Productions |
| Original release | |
| Network | Syndication |
| Release | September 12, 1981 (1981-09-12) – March 6, 1982 (1982-03-06) |
| Related | |
Spider-Man is a 1981–82 American animated TV series based on theMarvel Comics characterof the same name.[1] It is the second Spider-Man cartoon, following the1967 series.[2]
The series featuredPeter Parker having to balance his alter ego crimefighting with his responsibilities as a university student, a part-time photographer for theDaily Bugle and caring for his elderlyAunt May Parker.
While Spider-Man fights his usual enemies, six episodes have him contending withDoctor Doom.
Note:Neil Ross would reprise his role as Norman Osborn/Green Goblin for the1994Spider-Man cartoon series.
Walter S. Burr was the voice director for the series.
| No. | Title | Written by | Original release date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Bubble, Bubble, Oil and Trouble" | Unknown | September 12, 1981 (1981-09-12) | |
Doctor Octopus commits various mysterious crimes in an effort to upgrade his mechanical arms and steal the world's oil supply. | ||||
| 2 | "Dr. Doom, Master of the World" | Unknown | September 19, 1981 (1981-09-19) | |
Doctor Doom is mind-controlling world leaders so, at the upcomingUnited Nations meeting, they will declare him the master of the world. | ||||
| 3 | "Lizards, Lizards, Everywhere" | Unknown | September 26, 1981 (1981-09-26) | |
Lizard is plotting to turnNew York City into a swampland, filled with reptiles under his control. | ||||
| 4 | "Curiosity Killed the Spider-Man" | Unknown | October 3, 1981 (1981-10-03) | |
After Spider-Man stops her from robbing aDaily Bugle party hosted byJ. Jonah Jameson, theBlack Cat announces that she plans to steal the Maltese Mouse and challenges Spider-Man to try to stop her. | ||||
| 5 | "The Sandman Is Coming" | Unknown | October 10, 1981 (1981-10-10) | |
| 6 | "When Magneto Speaks... People Listen" | Unknown | October 17, 1981 (1981-10-17) | |
Magneto uses a spacecraft to increase his powers and shut off the nation's power supply. | ||||
| 7 | "The Pied Piper of New York Town" | Unknown | October 24, 1981 (1981-10-24) | |
| 8 | "The Doctor Prescribes Doom" | Unknown | October 31, 1981 (1981-10-31) | |
Doctor Doom returns to replace the world leaders with robots under his control so they will declare him ruler of the world. | ||||
| 9 | "Carnival of Crime" | Unknown | November 7, 1981 (1981-11-07) | |
Thecircus has come to town and theRingmaster uses a special gas to rob banks while making people believe that Spider-Man is the thief. | ||||
| 10 | "Revenge of the Green Goblin" | Unknown | November 14, 1981 (1981-11-14) | |
Norman Osborn escapes from a mental institution onHalloween night. When the train he is riding in crashes and blows up, he remembers that he is theGreen Goblin and threatens to reveal to the world who Spider-Man really is and seeks revenge on Jameson for publishing stories about his chemical plant being unsafe. | ||||
| 11 | "Triangle of Evil" | Unknown | November 21, 1981 (1981-11-21) | |
The Triangle of Evil led by Stuntman forces Spider-Man to survive deadly stunts as bills start piling up for Aunt May. | ||||
| 12 | "The A-B-C's of D-O-O-M" | Unknown | November 28, 1981 (1981-11-28) | |
Doctor Doom forms a criminal partnership with Goron to pose as humanitarians to gain control of a space craft. | ||||
| 13 | "The Sidewinder Strikes" | Unknown | December 5, 1981 (1981-12-05) | |
A rodeo show has come to the city and the Sidewinder tries to steal the gold spurs. | ||||
| 14 | "The Hunter and the Hunted" | Unknown | December 12, 1981 (1981-12-12) | |
After being hired by Jameson to look for a mascot for the Daily Bugle,Kraven the Hunter comes to the city as a hero when he capturesZabu, the last survivingsaber-tooth tiger from theSavage Land.Ka-Zar comes to the city to liberate his animal companion. | ||||
| 15 | "The Incredible Shrinking Spider-Man" | Unknown | December 19, 1981 (1981-12-19) | |
A janitor, feeling that his genius is ignored, dons the identity of the Gadgeteer to steal his employer Dr. Norton's new device that can shrink anything and uses it to shrink Spider-Man. | ||||
| 16 | "The Unfathomable Professor Gizmo" | Unknown | December 26, 1981 (1981-12-26) | |
Professor Gizmo seeks to reclaim sunken treasure and requires Spider-Man's help to do so. | ||||
| 17 | "Canon of Doom" | Unknown | January 2, 1982 (1982-01-02) | |
Doctor Doom secretly uses a laser cannon to create a fault line onNew York City and then promises to fix the problem, when in fact he plans to use his laser cannon to create more earthquakes. | ||||
| 18 | "The Capture of Captain America" | Unknown | January 9, 1982 (1982-01-09) | |
Captain America is kidnapped by theRed Skull who plans to swap minds with him and take over the military. After Jameson blames him for the kidnapping, Spider-Man tries to saveCaptain America. | ||||
| 19 | "The Doom Report" | Unknown | January 16, 1982 (1982-01-16) | |
Freedom fighters fromLatveria start an underground movement inNew York City while Doctor Doom orders theUnited Nations to make him ruler of the world or else he will use his weather control device to cause chaos. | ||||
| 20 | "The Web of Nephilia" | Christy Marx[3] | January 23, 1982 (1982-01-23) | |
A scientist named Dr. Bradley Shaw transforms into a mutant spider when trying to gain Spider-Man's powers from his blood sample and due to the level raising caused by his assistant Penny who has her own agenda. Meanwhile, Peter must find a way to give blood when Jameson wants his employees to donate at a blood drive. | ||||
| 21 | "Countdown to Doom" | Unknown | January 30, 1982 (1982-01-30) | |
NASA sends a rocket into space built by Doctor Doom unaware that he has attached a device to it that will move the Earth out of orbit, sending it into a newice age, in an effort to force theUnited Nations to declare him to be the master of the world. | ||||
| 22 | "Arsenic and Aunt May" | Unknown | February 6, 1982 (1982-02-06) | |
Spider-Man catches the relative of theburglar that killedBen Parker. When in prison, he meetsChameleon which leads him to discover Spidey's secret identity. He poses as Uncle Ben's spirit and tricks Aunt May into seeing his minion Colleen posing as a medium. Colleen would give Aunt May a necklace that will hypnotize her into trying to kill Spider-Man. | ||||
| 23 | "The Vulture Has Landed" | Unknown | February 13, 1982 (1982-02-13) | |
The Vulture has been kidnapping scientists in an effort to gain control of aNASA space probe. Peter goes to see his friend Harry in his apartment, but he's not home. Vulture mistakes Peter as Harry when he borrows one of Harry's outfits after losing his civilian clothes and kidnaps him. | ||||
| 24 | "Wrath of the Sub-Mariner" | Unknown | February 20, 1982 (1982-02-20) | |
Upon calling a truce with crime lordsSilvermane (who is accompanied byMan Mountain Marko),Hammerhead, and Caesar Cicero, theKingpin shows them a powerful acid developed by Dr. Everett to unite the crime lords in a plot to pull off crimes. The subsequent chemical waste from the new chemical is illegally dumping into the water, causing sickness toSub-Mariner's cousin,Namorita. He takes her to the nearest doctorDr. Donald Blake, then begins to wreak havok on the surface world. | ||||
| 25 | "The Return of the Kingpin" | Unknown | February 27, 1982 (1982-02-27) | |
The Kingpin has his minion Hal Hunter trick Spider-Man into committing a series of crimes. | ||||
| 26 | "Under the Wizard's Spell" | Christy Marx[4] | March 6, 1982 (1982-03-06) | |
The series was created to launchMarvel Productions, successor ofDePatie–Freleng Enterprises, who had previously produced the 1978New Fantastic Four and 1979Spider-Woman animated series (where Spider-Man made two appearances) and was syndicated by ARP Films Inc.
The character design for Peter Parker (as well as other supporting characters including Aunt May and J. Jonah Jameson) was quite faithful to the comic books of the period and hearkened back to the illustrations byJohn Romita Sr. of the young hero in Spider-Man'snewspaper strip adventures from the 1970s. Due to network constraints and demands from parents, characters such as Spider-Man were not allowed to make a fist to strike an opponent, but the show's creators managed to conceal these issues with a focus on action and relatively fluid animation.
Much like theSpider-Man newspaper strip of the late 1970s, Peter Parker's character design did away with the 1960s crew cut for a more modern hairstyle during this time, which the character continued to be portrayed with through the 1980s and early 1990s. Likewise, Parker abandoned the conservative suit and tie of the 1960s comics and previous animated series in favor of dark blue straight-legged linen pants.
Peter's mask was connected to his costume at the back of the neck, like a hood which he would pull over his head when he changed into Spider-Man.
As was the case withAmazing Friends, the series was later re-aired in the late 1980s as part of the 90-minuteMarvel Action Universe, a syndicated series that was used as a platform for old and new Marvel-produced animated fare (the newer programming featuredRoboCop: The Animated Series,Dino-Riders and on occasion,X-Men: Pryde of the X-Men, which was intended to serve as a pilot for a potentialX-Men animated series). The show was last rerun in the United States in 1998 as part of theUPN Kids Action Zone block alongside several other Marvel shows.
Episodes of the series were included inPrism Entertainment'sMarvel Comics Video Library VHS series in the 1980s.
In Canada, Morningstar Entertainment released the episode "The Vulture Has Landed" on DVD in the set entitledSpider-Man vs. The Vulture. The set also contains "The Vulture's Prey" and "The Dark Terrors", both from the 1967Spider-Man TV series. Morningstar also released "Canon of Doom" (on theFantastic Four vs. Doctor Doom set, included in theVillains Showdown Gift Set that also includes "Spider-Man vs. The Vulture"), although the episode is the Bonus episode on the disc. "Arsenic and Aunt May" was also released in theHeroes box set. All the Morningstar DVDs were mastered from VHS/Betamax copies that were released by Prism Video in 1985 as part of their Marvel Video Library series.
In April 2008, Liberation Entertainment secured the home media rights to select Marvel shows fromJetix Europe in select European territories, includingSpider-Man.[5][6]
In 2009,Clear Vision took over home media rights, and released the series on DVD on four volumes in the United Kingdom, released on June 7,[7] July 5,[8] August 2,[9] and September 6 of 2010[10] respectively, with a triple pack[11] releasing in 2011, and a complete series release following on March 11, 2013.[12] The company also released the show's four DVD volumes in Germany.[13] To avoid confusion with other Spider-Man DVD titles, Clear Vision released the show on DVD under the nameSpider-Man 5000.
The series was available for streaming onNetflix from 2011 to 2013.[14] The series became available on theDisney+ streaming service at its U.S. launch on November 12, 2019.[15]