CaptainCanada
Shield of the True North
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My primary introduction to Marvel comics superheroes (I didn't start reading comics until I was in my late teens) were two Marvel animated series from the early 90s, Spider-Man and X-Men; both are, stupidly, unavailable on DVD.
While the X-Men cartoon was pretty heavily contained within the X-universe (the only real appearance by another superhero that I recall was Captain America in a flashback episode about Wolverine in WWII), the Spider-Man series featured most of Marvel's big guns at some point.
Episodes 2.4-2.5: The cast of X-Men: The Animated Series drops by to play a part in Season Two's "Neogenic Nightmare" plotline, with Beast and Wolverine getting the most time devoted to them. Since I was such a fan of both shows, this one has a special place in my memory (it also introduced recurring evil scientist Dr. Herbert Landon). This episode also provided one of the first signs that I was, at heart, a hardcore fan, as I remember being very critical of Beast's rendering on the Spider-Man show in comparison to his look on his own program.
2.07-2.08: after Spidey becomes the Man-Spider, the Punisher stops by to stop the webslinger.
3.01: In a very low-key appearance, Doctor Strange teams up with Spider-Man to stop Dormmamu from escaping his prison in another dimension.
3.06-3.07: After Peter is framed by the Kingpin to cover up for a crime committed by Richard Fisk, an anonymous benefactor hires renowned defense attorney Matt Murdock to represent Peter in court. Even Murdock can't win the case, and, after Kingpin's goons attempt to kidnap Peter from a government convoy, he escapes, and Spiderman and Daredevil team up. This, I have to say, is probably my favourite; it brings the Kingpin story arc to a new level, since Fisk had been a behind-the-scenes nemesis for two and a half seasons.
Episodes 3.10-3.12: A trio of episodes involving technology at Stark Industries, so, unsurprisingly, Iron Man and War Machine turn up to aide Spidey. One of the great strengths of this show was that the appearance of other heroes weren't just "Spidey teams up with Iron Man!", but instead involved important plots for the series. In this case, the main plot involves Dormmamu manipulating Venom and Carnage to use Stark's tech to escape his dimensional prison. Another recurring feature of these crossovers is that the heroes never discover each others' true identities; War Machine prevents Jameson from unmasking Spiderman at one point, while there's an exchange between Spiderman and Iron Man:
(*Iron Man destroys the machine that Dormammu was trying to use*)
Spider-Man: Hey, that thing belonged to Stark Industries!
Iron Man: If Tony Stark has a problem with it, he can take it up with me.
Episodes 5.02-5.06: The "Six Forgotten Warriors" crossover, which eventually brings Captain America (hell yeah!) and some other 40s-era heroes into the picture. The premise is that Cap and Red Skull were frozen in a kind of time-portal since the 1940s, and the pseudo-"Invaders" who used to work with Cap have been keeping the location a secret, since it also contains a Nazi superweapon, which turns out to be a device to create the villain Electro (who is way more powerful than he normally is in this; in perhaps the most awesome moment in the series, he annihilates SHIELD's entire arsenal, including the Helicarrier). Cap and Spidey, as well as the other guys (who are all in their seventies-eighties by this point), defeat the bad guys, although Cap and the Skull are thrown back into their portal, the access to which is then destroyed, trapping them there forever.
Episodes 5.09-5.11: Probably the largest gathering of Marvel superheroes anywhere in animation: A revamped "Secret Wars" storyline, where the Beyonder and Madame Webb take Spiderman to another planet to lead a team of heroes against a team of villains, which is alter revealed to all be a part of their plan for the upcoming "Spider Wars" grand finale. Spidey is allowed to take seven (later expanded to eight) other heroes with him, so he picks:
* The Fantastic Four, the only members of the team who had never appeared until that point; they're chosen because one of the villains is Doctor Doom.
* Captain America, because one of the villains is the Red Skull.
* Iron Man, because Spiderman considers him a friend.
* Storm, because Spiderman had only choice left, and picked her out of all the X-Men because of her weather control abilities.
* Later, because another villain is added somehow, Spidey gets to add another hero, so he brings in the Black Cat. Somewhat underwhelming, given the rest of the lineup, but the Cat was a major supporting character for the show's history, and, since things were wrapping up, she deserved a sendoff.
While the X-Men cartoon was pretty heavily contained within the X-universe (the only real appearance by another superhero that I recall was Captain America in a flashback episode about Wolverine in WWII), the Spider-Man series featured most of Marvel's big guns at some point.
Episodes 2.4-2.5: The cast of X-Men: The Animated Series drops by to play a part in Season Two's "Neogenic Nightmare" plotline, with Beast and Wolverine getting the most time devoted to them. Since I was such a fan of both shows, this one has a special place in my memory (it also introduced recurring evil scientist Dr. Herbert Landon). This episode also provided one of the first signs that I was, at heart, a hardcore fan, as I remember being very critical of Beast's rendering on the Spider-Man show in comparison to his look on his own program.
2.07-2.08: after Spidey becomes the Man-Spider, the Punisher stops by to stop the webslinger.
3.01: In a very low-key appearance, Doctor Strange teams up with Spider-Man to stop Dormmamu from escaping his prison in another dimension.
3.06-3.07: After Peter is framed by the Kingpin to cover up for a crime committed by Richard Fisk, an anonymous benefactor hires renowned defense attorney Matt Murdock to represent Peter in court. Even Murdock can't win the case, and, after Kingpin's goons attempt to kidnap Peter from a government convoy, he escapes, and Spiderman and Daredevil team up. This, I have to say, is probably my favourite; it brings the Kingpin story arc to a new level, since Fisk had been a behind-the-scenes nemesis for two and a half seasons.
Episodes 3.10-3.12: A trio of episodes involving technology at Stark Industries, so, unsurprisingly, Iron Man and War Machine turn up to aide Spidey. One of the great strengths of this show was that the appearance of other heroes weren't just "Spidey teams up with Iron Man!", but instead involved important plots for the series. In this case, the main plot involves Dormmamu manipulating Venom and Carnage to use Stark's tech to escape his dimensional prison. Another recurring feature of these crossovers is that the heroes never discover each others' true identities; War Machine prevents Jameson from unmasking Spiderman at one point, while there's an exchange between Spiderman and Iron Man:
(*Iron Man destroys the machine that Dormammu was trying to use*)
Spider-Man: Hey, that thing belonged to Stark Industries!
Iron Man: If Tony Stark has a problem with it, he can take it up with me.
Episodes 5.02-5.06: The "Six Forgotten Warriors" crossover, which eventually brings Captain America (hell yeah!) and some other 40s-era heroes into the picture. The premise is that Cap and Red Skull were frozen in a kind of time-portal since the 1940s, and the pseudo-"Invaders" who used to work with Cap have been keeping the location a secret, since it also contains a Nazi superweapon, which turns out to be a device to create the villain Electro (who is way more powerful than he normally is in this; in perhaps the most awesome moment in the series, he annihilates SHIELD's entire arsenal, including the Helicarrier). Cap and Spidey, as well as the other guys (who are all in their seventies-eighties by this point), defeat the bad guys, although Cap and the Skull are thrown back into their portal, the access to which is then destroyed, trapping them there forever.
Episodes 5.09-5.11: Probably the largest gathering of Marvel superheroes anywhere in animation: A revamped "Secret Wars" storyline, where the Beyonder and Madame Webb take Spiderman to another planet to lead a team of heroes against a team of villains, which is alter revealed to all be a part of their plan for the upcoming "Spider Wars" grand finale. Spidey is allowed to take seven (later expanded to eight) other heroes with him, so he picks:
* The Fantastic Four, the only members of the team who had never appeared until that point; they're chosen because one of the villains is Doctor Doom.
* Captain America, because one of the villains is the Red Skull.
* Iron Man, because Spiderman considers him a friend.
* Storm, because Spiderman had only choice left, and picked her out of all the X-Men because of her weather control abilities.
* Later, because another villain is added somehow, Spidey gets to add another hero, so he brings in the Black Cat. Somewhat underwhelming, given the rest of the lineup, but the Cat was a major supporting character for the show's history, and, since things were wrapping up, she deserved a sendoff.
