The showrunner of “Spider-Man: The Animated series” is weighing the chances of a revival of the series. “Spider-Man: The Animated series,” which aired on the Fox Kids block from 1994 to 1998, lasted five seasons and was the first introduction to the web for an entire generation. This series was one of many Marvel animated series that aired at the time, including X-Men: The Animated Series, The Incredible Hulk, and Iron Man: The Animated Series, which were all connected in their shared universe.
Since then, Spider-Man has had several other animated series, including a direct sequel to Spider-Man: Unlimited, a CGI series called Spider-Man: The New Animated Series, a short-lived but critically acclaimed Spectacular Spider-Man. Man, the long-running Ultimate Spider-Man, the Disney XD Spider-Man series and most recently the children’s series for preschoolers Spidey and His Amazing Friends. Nevertheless, “Spider-Man: The Animated series” remains a fan favorite, and many hoped that one day he would return to complete the unfinished storyline with Mary Jane Watson, lost in the multiverse. With the announcement that “X-Men: The Animated Series” will return to Disney+ with a revival series called “X-Men ’97”, hope for the return of Spider-Man quickly followed.
John Semper, the showrunner of Spider-Man: The Animated Series, recently spoke with Comicbookmovie.com in an interview dedicated to his latest film “Green Lantern: Beware of My Power”, the theme of the revival of “Spider-Man: Animated series” arose. Semper says he would love to do it, but only if he had the same level of creative freedom as in the original series. He notes that he doesn’t think a revival is likely to happen, citing the studio’s policy between Disney and Sony, as well as the fact that another Spider-Man series is in development. Semper said:
“I think they’re making an updated Spider-Man right now. They did a few shows after mine, and they’re doing another one right now, I don’t think the political situation will allow to revive the Spider-Man series of the 90s. If they revived it, I do not know if I would participate. I was in a very good position because I really had a lot of creative control over this show after the 13th or 14th series. I do not know if I will ever have such a situation again, so it would really make a difference. I don’t know if I’ll get it on Spider-Man Rebirth, considering it’s now a property owned by two studios and there’s a lot of politics involved, but hey, if anyone wants to call me and say, “Hey, we’re going to do more episodes and we’re going to leave you alone, I I’d be there in the blink of an eye.”
Another Spider-Man series that Semper refers to is Spider—Man: The Year of the Freshman, which takes place in the MCU and will be a prequel to the films The First Avenger: Standoff and Spider-Man: Homecoming, exploring Peter Parker’s origins as Spider-Man. . The rights issue is a little less complicated, since Sony controls the rights to the Spider-Man film adaptation and the television rights to “Spider-Man: The New Animated Series” and “The Exciting Spider-Man,” but not the original series of the 90s. Theoretically, Disney could release a sequel to the series, unlike Spectacular Spider-Man, which was ruled out by series creator Greg Weisman.
Although the revival of “Spider-Man: The Animated Series” may not happen, this does not mean that the universe cannot continue in some way. There is a chance that Spider-Man from the series may appear either in “Spider-Man: Across the Universes” or in its sequel “Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Poems”. The sequel is already due to introduce a Japanese Spider-Man, and there are rumors that live Spider-Man actors will appear in the film. Although the spider-verse concept wasn’t introduced to Marvel Comics until 2014, the idea of multiple Spider-Men crossing from different universes first appeared in Spider-Man: The Animated Series, so showing the universe in one of the films would be a great way for the films to pay homage to the legacy of the series.
