Opening in theaters this week, The Amazing Spider-Man is the fourth motion picture about Marvel's famous superhero. But on television, Peter Parker has a history that goes back much further. From a ton of animated series with radically different approaches on the character to three different live-action incarnations, Spider-Man has shown up in many forms on TV. Let's take a look back at what we've seen so far...
Spider-Man (1967)
Five years after his comic book debut, Spider-Man came to TV for the first time in this nostalgia-packed series. While more impressive than the barely-animated Marvel Super Heroes series of the same era, Spider-Man was still a very low-budget show, prone to re-using shots and backgrounds. And check out the detail on Spidey’s costume, or lack thereof, which only had the web pattern on his mask, boots and gloves – and was missing a pair of legs on the spider-logo on his chest and back. Unfortunately, things got worse after the first season, when the show’s initial animation studio, Grantray-Lawrence, went out of business. While future animation legend Ralph Bakshi was now guiding the series, he was given a shoestring budget that resulted in the episodes having multiple web-swinging sequences that simply used the same shots of Spider-Man swinging over and over and over again (kids really don’t mind repetition, huh?!). Things got so bad that a couple of episodes consisted mainly of material from a previous Bakshi series, Rocket Robin Hood, with Spider-Man thrown into the pre-existing animation.
Still, kids loved the show and it only helped Spider-Man grow more popular. And of course, this is the series that gave us the incredibly memorable theme song – “Spider-Man, Spider-Man, does whatever a spider can” – that would go on to be covered by the likes of the Ramones and Aerosmith. And while the show went to more generic criminals (and even aliens) in the later seasons, the first year also included fairly comics-accurate depictions of Lizard, Electro, Doctor Octopus and more, introducing them to a wider audience for the first time.
The Electric Company (1974)
Sure Tobey Maguire may be better known, but it's a guy named Danny Seagren who first played a live-action Spider-Man. Seagran was the man wearing the costume on The Electric Company in their "Spidey Super Story" segments. These segments ran from just a couple of minutes long to several minutes, and featured Spider-Man facing off -- though not actually fighting, this being a children's educational show -- against a bevy of odd villains such as Eye Patch, The Tickler (Game of Thrones crossover!), The Wall and The Thumper, not to mention a woman dressed in an Easter Bunny costume. There was a bad guy named the Sandman in one episode, but he had no connection to the Spider-Man comic book villain, nor did any familiar comic book characters besides Spidey himself show up here.
These were silly, kid-oriented stories that are fairly bizarre to watch now. Certain scenes cut back and forth between live-action and comic book panels, and Spider-Man himself never speaks out loud, though all the other characters do. Instead, when he "talks" a comic book style word balloon appears next to him, which he and those around him often awkwardly stop to look at. The show hardly had any budget for special effects, so Spider-Man never showed off any discernible powers or abilities except for his web, which amusingly would always begin as a crudely animated effect (as he shot it forward) before cutting to a shot of a bad guy caught in a net.
Some fairly unintentional (or so we assume) camp enjoyment is certainly found here, as this version of Spider-Man never takes off his costume, but does spend his time jogging, going to baseball games, and other mundane activities. And it's hard not to laugh at seeing the respected, Academy Award-winning Morgan Freeman, then an Electric Company regular, ham it up in various roles -- including Count Dracula and a moronic cop -- throughout the "Spidey" shorts.
The Amazing Spider-Man (1977)
A decidedly un-amazing version of our hero, The Amazing Spider-Man was the first live-action, dramatic take on the character, but lacking all of the energy and wit we expect from the character. The dated FX were simply all that could be done during that era (and on a TV budget), but much worse is that this show made their grad student-age Peter Parker (Nicholas Hammond) and his alter-ego incredibly bland, despite his fairly accurate costume and abilities.
Of Peter’s supporting cast from the comics, only Aunt May and J. Jonah Jameson were regularly included and not a single supervillain showed up – instead Spidey mostly fought one generic thug after another. Well, there was one pseudo-familiar foe for Spider-Man, as in one episode, Spidey fought his own... wait for it… clone!
The Amazing Spider-Man was actually a decently-performing series, but CBS cancelled it and Wonder Woman when they feared becoming too associated with superheroes (as if that’s a bad thing!), only keeping the better-rated The Incredible Hulk.
Spider-Man (AKA Supaidāman) (1978)
What if Spider-Man were Japanese? And had a completely different origin? And used a giant robot to fight monsters? Thankfully, a TV series answered these questions.
In one of the strangest comic book adaptations ever, Marvel licensed Spider-Man to Japanese company Toei for a show done in the Tokusatsu style – a style best known in the US thanks to Power Rangers, and its inclusion of Japanese footage.
This Spider-Man was a motor-cross champion, Yamashiro Takuya, who gets his powers from an alien from the planet Spider (stay with me here, folks), who gives Yamashiro a bracelet that gives him the powers of… Spider-Man! And the ability to summon a giant robot named Leopardon! But watch out, Spider-Man – Professor Monster and his Iron Cross Army are coming to cause trouble!
It really does look and feel like Spider-Man meets Power Rangers and is undeniably fun in that regard, in a super campy, cheesy way. It in no way is faithful to Spider-Man beyond the costume, but hey, it’s not boring!
Spider-Woman (1979)
The 1970s are the only decade since his creation where Spider-Man didn’t have his own animated series (though as you can see by the three previous entries, he still was plenty busy in live-action), but he did make a guest appearance in this series. This short-lived show about Jessica Drew and her alter-ego gave Spider-Woman an origin and powers that were more similar to Peter Parker’s than in the comics.
Beyond that influence, Spider-Man himself made two notable guest appearances in Spider-Woman, including the very first episode of the series, "Pyramids of Terror," which opens with Spidey on a solo adventure that he'll eventually need Spider-Woman's help on -- what Spider-Man is doing going through Egyptian pyramids we're left to speculate about. This Spider-Man certainly captures some of the corny wit of his comic book counterparts, as he cracks several jokes before getting captured by a Mummy.
Spider-Man (1981)
While many children of the '80s fondly remember Amazing Friends (more on that in a minute), this Spider-Man series is sometimes either totally forgotten or mistakenly believed to be the exact same series as the one that debuted simultaneously to it. It's understandable, as the two series shared the same production company, Marvel Productions, and the same character designs -- Peter Parker, J. Jonah Jameson, Aunt May and the animated world they live in all look exactly the same here as they would in the more popular Amazing Friends. In addition, the Green Goblin episode of this series would be used as the template for a very similarly plotted episode of Amazing Friends.
While not directly adapting Spider-Man comic book issues, this series did a decent job of portraying the character in a way that was very familiar to fans and did a good job of capturing the basic feel that Spider-Man stories contained, if not much of the drama. It also featured some fun guest stars over the course of its 26 episodes, including Captain America and the Sub-Mariner, and the first animated appearances of such notable Marvel Comics characters as the Black Cat and Ka-Zar. There were also many familiar Spider-Man comic book villains, and a few, such as Magneto and the Frightful Four, from other Marvel books.
Continue to Page 2 for some Amazing Friends, a 1990s animated favorite and Spider-Man having some Spectacular and Ultimate adventures.
Source : ign[dot]com
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