Spider-Man: The New Animated Series

Spider-Man: The New Animated Series (also known as MTV Spider-Man) is an American animated television series based on the Marvel comic book superhero character Spider-Man, which ran for only one season, and only 13 episodes, starting on July 11, 2003. It is a loose continuation of 2002's Spider-Man film directed by Sam Raimi. The show was made using computer generated imagery (CGI) rendered in cel shading and was broadcast on MTV, and YTV. Eight months later after the series finale, episodes aired in reruns on ABC Family as part of the Jetix television programming block.

Series Overview
The story follows the events of the first Spider-Man film, as Norman Osborn is dead. Peter Parker, Mary Jane Watson, and Harry Osborn attend Empire State University. Peter and Mary Jane try to establish a relationship together though without success. At first it is because of Peter's superhero duties, but later it is because Peter begins dating Indira Daimonji. Meanwhile Harry craves revenge on Spider-Man, whom he blames for the death of his father. Peter faces the usual assortment of villains such as Lizard, Kraven the Hunter and Electro while trying to maintain a job and his studies. However, he faces two psychic twins that ruin everything in the wallcrawler's life, causing Peter to give up being Spider-Man and try to live a normal life.

Main Voice Talents

 * Neil Patrick Harris provided the voice of Peter Parker/Spider-Man, a superhero, an Empire State University student and photographer for the Daily Bugle. Peter confronts with the desire to use his incredible, spider bite-derived powers to do good, he finds it hard balancing his responsibilities of being a superhero with schoolwork and his romance with Mary Jane Watson.


 * Lisa Loeb provided the voice of Mary Jane Watson, a student at Empire State University and model/actress. She is the on-again off-again girlfriend to Peter Parker, but also seems to still hold some affection for Peter's alter-ego, Spider-Man.


 * Ian Ziering provided the voice of Harry Osborn, the son of deceased industrialist Norman Osborn. He attends Empire State University along with his friends Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson. He seeks revenge on Spider-Man, whom he blames for his father's death.

Recurring Voice Talent

 * Angelle Brooks provided the voice of Indira "Indy" Daimonji, an original character created just for the series, she often acted as a foil for Mary Jane and Peter's romantic interest at the Empire One Television Studio. The character showed an intense, flamboyant, and unabashed affection for Peter Parker, pursuing him publicly to MJ's consternation.


 * Keith Carradine provided the voice of J. Jonah Jameson, the Daily Bugle newspaper publisher. Consistent with his appearances in the comics and films, Jameson spent most of his appearances berating Spider-Man and adding political spin to his activities, usually in front of Peter Parker. Jameson is so passionate about this that he even appears on a competitor's news broadcast to denounce Spider-Man.


 * Ethan Embry provided the voice of Max Dillon/Electro, a geeky high school friend of Peter Parker who attends Empire State University. He is a different version of the comic book villain. Peter tries to save Max from both his overly-aggressive desire for recognition and acceptance, as well as his own self-hatred recognizing aspects of these tragic flaws within himself.

Guest Voice Talents

 * Stan Lee provided the voice of Frank Elson in the penultimate episode "Mind Games". His character appeared for one scene in the next episode but did not have any dialogue, except grunts.
 * Rob Zombie provided the voice of Dr. Curt Connors/Lizard in the third episode "Law of the Jungle".
 * Eve provided the voice of Cheyenne/Talon, a villain possibly based Black Cat in "Keeping Secrets".
 * Kathy Griffin provided the voice of Roxanne Gaines in the finale "Mind Games" (Parts 1 and 2).
 * Jeremy Piven provided the voice of Roland Gaines in the finale "Mind Games" (Parts 1 and 2).
 * Michael Dorn provided the voice of Kraven the Hunter in "Mind Games" (Parts 1 and 2).
 * Michael Clarke Duncan provided the voice of Kingpin in "Royal Scam". Duncan previously played the character in the Daredevil film.
 * Keith David provided the voice of FBI Agent Mosely in "Royal Scam". David later voices Tombstone in The Spectacular Spider-Man.
 * Jeffrey Combs provided the voice of Dr. Zellner in "Flash Memory".
 * Clancy Brown provided the voice of Raymond (Richard Daimian's bodyguard) in "Sword of Shikata". Brown later voices George Stacy, Ox and Rhino in The Spectacular Spider-Man.
 * Virginia Madsen provided the voice of Silver Sable in the episodes "Spider-Man Dis-Sabled" and "Mind Games" (Part 1).
 * James Marsters provided the voice of Sergei, the leader of a high-tech gang of mercenaries called Pterodax in "Tight Squeeze" and "Mind Games" (Part 1).
 * Harold Perrineau Jr. provided the voice of Turbo Jet, a villain possibly based on Rocket Racer or Blue Streak in "Heroes and Villains".
 * Edward Asner (the voice of J. Jonah Jameson in Spider-Man: The Animated Series and Uncle Ben in The Spectacular Spider-Man) provided the voice of Officer Bar in the episodes "Heroes and Villains", "Sword of Shikata", "Law of the Jungle" and "Mind Games" (Part 2).
 * Gina Gershon provided the voice of the ronin Shikata in "Sword of Shikata".
 * John C. McGinley provided the voice of Richard Daimian in the episode "Sword of Shikata".
 * Ethan Embry provided the voice of Max Dillon/Electro in "Head Over Heels", "The Party" and "When Sparks Fly".
 * Devon Sawa provided the voice of Flash Thompson in "Flash Memory".
 * Tara Strong provided the voice of Christina in "Head Over Heels". Strong later voices Mary Jane Watson in the Ultimate Spider-Man series.
 * Cree Summer provided the voice of Professor Williams in "Law Of The Jungle" and "When Sparks Fly".

Development
Spider-Man: The New Animated Series was initially supposed to be an adaptation of the Ultimate Spider-Man comics. However, after the success of 2002's Spider-Man film, the show was reworked to follow that continuity. The series was produced by Brian Michael Bendis, who wrote on Ultimate Spider-Man comics, for Sony Pictures Television, who had purchased the film and television rights to the character. The computer-generated imagery (CGI) was produced by Mainframe Entertainment.

Peter Parker was originally supposed to wear baggier clothes to hide his superhero musculature, but cost-effective difficulties with the CG format prevented folds from being put into his everyday attire. As a result, Peter's street clothes were redesigned to be close-fitting and contemporary, while still managing to hide his physique (and the costume he wore under his clothes) as Spider-Man. The character of Aunt May was not included in the series (except for a photograph in Peter's bedroom), because MTV executives feared that the appearance of any old people would deter their target youth audience from watching.

The producers found that the more relaxed standards of MTV allowed them more creative freedom than usually allowed for a Saturday morning cartoon show.

Cancellation
MTV decided that the ratings for the series were insufficient to warrant a second season, leaving the series to end on a cliffhanger. Director Brandon Vietti stated that had the series gone on he would have used the villains Mysterio, Vulture, and more of Kraven.

Episode List by Sequence of Events



 * 1) The Party
 * 2) The Sword of Shikata
 * 3) Law of the Jungle
 * 4) Keeping Secrets
 * 5) Tight Squeeze
 * 6) Head Over Heels
 * 7) When Sparks Fly
 * 8) Spider-Man Dis-Sabled
 * 9) Royal Scam
 * 10) Heroes and Villains
 * 11) Flash Memory
 * 12) Mind Games, Part One
 * 13) Mind Games, Part Two

Episode List by Airdate
(MTV aired the episodes out of order.)

Reception
In 2004, the series was nominated for an Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Animated Television Production while "Keeping Secrets" got a nomination in Outstanding Storyboarding in an Animated Television Production.

The series has an 8.5 on TV.com, 7.0 on IMDb, and four stars on Amazon.

Home Video
The complete series was released on DVD as Spider-Man: The New Animated Series: Special Edition on January 13, 2004. Four separate DVD volumes containing three episodes each were also released from 2004 to 2005. The entire series was licensed by Marvel and Sony to DigiKids/Sentimental Journeys, who re-edited the footage from many episodes into one feature, which is sold as a personalized DVD in which the purchaser's face is revealed under Spider-Man's mask.