New "Ultimate Spider-Man" Animated Series Coming to Disney XD For Fall 2011? - Part 2

[Zoken]

Yeah, SHEILD training again. they are in a training program. it would make sense for them to do any given exercise more than once.

The Cutaways are overwhelming. cut back on number and intensity. Peter is not showing why he was picked to lead the team, and that is finally starting to bug me. At first I was like, "okay, they're saying he's the best of the teen heroes but they're still teens", but despite him having "Made the decision" on multiple occasions to work as a team, he is still not doing it. Writing need to step up.

Also... Who is the chick in brown and black? None of the others are too obscure (mostly pretty famous actually), but who is she?

And further, in an ages when they are striving for contiuity in the box office, why won't the do any on TV. That was the nice thing that the DCAU had going for it. continuity carried for about ten years from the first Batman Animated Series all the way to JLU and BB and SS

 

[Dread]

"FLIGHT OF THE IRON SPIDER" is the 5th episode (out of 26) of the debut season of "ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN" and I can probably say it was the best of the lot so far. The problem is the lot it is beating out isn't much of one at all.

The bitter cynic in me wishes to summarize the episode like this, and I won't restrain it; the insipidly stupid Spider-Man gets a chance to meet his idol Iron Man, and he turns out to be just as insipidly stupid, only more successful at it because he's rich. They fight one of Stark's villains for 20 minutes and despite seeming invincible, said villain is ultimately beaten in a climax telegraphed so bluntly and crudely that it makes many Road Runner Looney Tunes seem nuanced and subtle. The gimmick of the episode is the Iron Spider costume, which is adapted to the small screen for the first time, which represents merely the 2nd major costume change for Spidey within 5 episodes (and the second in a row). As usual, the characters which have the least to do with Spider-Man seem to fare better than the star does. And all of the people who lamented the "unique" character designs of Cheeks Galloway on "SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN" hopefully appreciate the spot-on brilliant character models utilized in this underwhelming spider-turd of a production. Hey, the show is a dud, but don't Spidey and Iron Man LOOK awesome? Looks are all that matter to dumb kids, right? The ones who need to be beaten over the head with video game references and distracting chibi animation every few minutes? The image of Iron Man themed Cupid angels are about the most unintentionally creepy thing played off as comedy I have seen in animation in a long time.

Spoiler

The villain of the piece is Living Laser, thus ending the streak of actual Spider-Man villains being the focus of an episode in this Spider-Man cartoon at one. In fairness, Living Laser is treated as a major threat here, even if I prefer the creepier and more subdued version in "AVENGERS: EARTH'S MIGHTIEST HEROES". Spider-Man and his Ultimate Friends are unable to beat Laser alone, and when Iron Man shows up, Spidey squeals in delight while Nick Fury is dismayed. The oddity of this is Fury used Iron Man as an inspirational example to get Spidey to join SHIELD in the first place; now in this episode, Fury considers Stark an example to avoid. A throwaway line about photons convinces Stark that Spidey has potential, so he invites the hero to his lab for an upgrade - a suit of Spider-Armor ripped right from 2006. The moral is that Spidey is trying to be something he's not - in particular someone else. We know this because Iron Fist states this at least twice. Spidey is a flying disaster in an armored suit, but is convinced it is awesome because it's Stark-tech, while the rest of the team endures all they can bare. When Living Laser possesses the Iron Spider armor (with Peter Parker inside), he cons Iron Man into surrendering his own form for possession, which Laser wants to exploit for revenge and profit. Forced to recognize his hubris, Peter makes adjustments to the armor and embraces his chums for the finale...only to continue to act like a clod in the Iron Spider when Nick Fury gives him an upgraded model, because otherwise a lesson would stick. As usual, no critical scene can seem to stand on it's own without a lame attempt at a joke being made. The most clever bit is introducing alternate realities, one of which is the world of Spider-Ham, and the other is evidently "MARVEL SUPER HERO SQUAD". While there is some satiric humor here, the very notion of "ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN" occupying the center of any animated universe is probably more frightening than Dick Cheney growing to be 2000 feet tall and rampaging through a city - yet it is very much a warning of things to come. Yes, there are a few gags that work as there are in every episode, but they're often matched with the gags that don't, or the ones that pander. Also, remember how every show used to make Spidey's identity a big deal? This is non-existent here. Iron Man JUST MET Spidey, and the web-slinger unmasks for him. Heck, Living Laser's seen the hero's face, although I doubt he'd have done much with it even if he wasn't beamed to another universe. I'd argue Iron Man being the source of technology for a Spider-Man led team of TV heroes is another homage to "SPIDER-MAN AND HIS AMAZING FRIENDS" (where Stark was the source of the crazy fold-out computers they utilized at Aunt May's townhouse), but even that is far too generous.

The highlights continue to be the character models - Iron Man in particular looks very good. Adrian Pasdar (Nathan from "HEROES", which Loeb wrote for a while and killed) guests as Iron Man, and maybe playing an insipid eccentric billionaire hero is against type for him. A few villains who one would never expect to see animated - such as the Melter - get their obligatory cameos which will become edits in their Wikipedia pages. The rest of Spidey's team are far more tolerable than he is, with the exception of Sam Washington/Nova. Luke Cage, Iron Fist and White Tiger seem to be hostages in a show in which they are the sole spots of sanity and coherence in a universe which abhors it. Now, if played seriously this could be an interesting premise; a show where the lead hero is an utter moron while his partners are all far more efficient and competent - "THE TICK" played with this at times. Unfortunately, this show isn't as self aware so Spider-Man gets to be the annoying moron who wins because he's the star. Iron Fist continues to shine here; while his eastern philosophy is often stereotypical and his role is defined, he still handles it well. If anything, this show almost seems to be a tease of the great HEROES FOR HIRE series that will never be. I am amazed that in a show which has such desperate humor, such low brow bits, and such over the top attempts at comedy, Luke Cage has never once uttered his borderline corny catch-phrase, "Sweet Christmas". The annoying thing is that the spot of "annoying kid who need to learn a lesson" could clearly be played with Nova here, but Spidey rolling with it as the star endlessly exaggerates the bit to oblivion. Besides, when Spidey acts this dumb and his battles cause this much city-wide damage, it is hard to argue against J.J. here.

Overall, this is probably the best the show has offered me yet - and even THIS was a below average affair! Why do I go onward? As a fan of Iron Fist, Luke Cage, and White Tiger, their presence (which has been decent, in fairness) accounts for most of the bright spots. Like many comic book fans, I have a borderline masochistic streak where I want to see how long I can endure something terrible, just so I can mock it and say I survived. "ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN" exists to serve as a reality check whenever I go off the deep end criticizing the very good "YOUNG JUSTICE" show - which happens weekly before I've seen the latest "USM" episode. "ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN" wants to be everything to everyone with all the execution of a room full of television executives with multiple personalities and toy quotas. In theory there is a better show buried underneath all the lame jokes, desperate references and bi-polar tone shifts - but then again, it was once a theory that the "Fountain Of Youth" existed.

Next week brings on Taskmaster, and few things fill me with as much resentment as a villain this cool getting his animation debut in a show this trite. It seems "that ol' Parker luck" is symbolized by this show.

 

[Sebastos]

Preview for episode 6:

http://marvel.com/news/story/18609/ultimate_spider-man_episode_6_preview

 

[Dread]

Preview for episode 6:

http://marvel.com/news/story/18609/ultimate_spider-man_episode_6_preview

Cool clip, but unfortunately most episodes are longer than 30 seconds, and rarely able to maintain a consistent tone for much longer.

I repeat: Next week brings on Taskmaster, and few things fill me with as much resentment as a villain this cool getting his animation debut in a show this trite.

Iron Fist vs. Taskmaster could be cool, though.

 

[brainchild81]

I'd given up on this show after Venom, but I HAVE to watch the Taskmaster ep. I wish he had his UDON suit on tho.

 

[Sebastos]

Cool clip, but unfortunately most episodes are longer than 30 seconds, and rarely able to maintain a consistent tone for much longer.

I repeat: Next week brings on Taskmaster, and few things fill me with as much resentment as a villain this cool getting his animation debut in a show this trite.

Iron Fist vs. Taskmaster could be cool, though.

Yes, they should a few seconds of them fighting in the "what would it take?" segment, looked great.

 

[Pfeiffer-Pfan]

So we know that the show was received poorly... but what about the ratings?

 

[SpaceWay2009]

Nice clip. Looks like we'll be getting an action-packed episode. Hopefully this action-packed episode won't be ruined by too many cutaway scenes during the fight.

 

[Webhead2006]

How do we know its doing all poor. Sure the older fans like us may not enjoy most aspects. But the kids could be eating it up and liking it. We would have to know how kids the main demo are faring with the show. As for ratings I don't know off hand how its doing. We would have to search a few ratings sites.

 

[nygma619]

Whatever we Spidey fans did to deserve getting Spectacular Spider-Man cancelled for THIS, I'M SORRY.

 

[Dread]

Whatever we Spidey fans did to deserve getting Spectacular Spider-Man cancelled for THIS, I'M SORRY.

It's a bit petty, but a point I seem to keep getting to in reviews is character designs. I remember when the character models from Cheeks Galloway started hitting the web before the debut of "SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN", there were a lot of people hating them. I actually know friends of mine online who deliberately never gave "TSSM" a chance because they disliked them. I found them fine, and enjoyed them. After all, they were akin to the "stylized" models often used in Bruce Timm TV productions everyone knows and loves - made to animate fluidly on a TV budget while still being distinct. Yet if you read how some people described them, you'd have thought it was "THE FAIRY ODDPARENTS".

Now, "ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN" on the whole has some great character models. They're far more "mainstream" and even have some elements of John Romita Sr. in the Spidey suit. They're nowhere near as stylized as those by Galloway were. Yet the show they're in is terrible, or at best below average. Happy now, Cheeks critics? Character models never make a show, and it saddens me that anyone missed out on the best adaptation of Spider-Man's mythos to an alternate medium simply because they thought Peter Parker's head was too acorn shaped.

Yes, I said "TSSM" was the best adaptation of Spidey to another medium. It sort of hit me on the commute the other day, but it's true, at least to me. It had more air time than Raimi's films, and to be fair, it had a lot of 20/20 hindsight that Raimi did not have in 2001-2002 when he began his trilogy. And I still think those are solid films - I even don't hate "SPIDER-MAN 3" as much as some people (insane or not, it was never dull). Yet "TSSM" I felt properly mixed the drama with the humor, the action with the soap opera, and had both fluid animation and great directors and story board artists to make it dazzle. Had it continued it would have been the 21st century's "BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES" and even at 26 episodes it remains a historic work to me. I know there's another "TSSM" tribute thread and I may repeat myself there in a long winded tribute post there eventually, so see this as a sample.

The end of "TSSM" was a perfect storm of corporate synergy destroying something of quality. It wasn't something which was deliberately malicious but it still attained the result of killing an exceptional show in its prime. And yes, it is embittering that it was replaced by "ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN", a show which may stand as the most cynical animation project made for kids by "adults" who think they know them in years, if it wasn't so busy distracting itself.

A villain/anti-hero as cool as Taskmaster reduced to getting his debut here is merely the rotten cherry atop a melted sundae. I keep telling myself that I made it through 12 episodes of "SPIDER-MAN UNLIMITED", and that had furries. Yet it's definitely harder enduring the rest when you've seen the best, at least in terms of Spidey shows.

 

[optimus2861]

Long-time lurker, first-time poster.

Yes, I said "TSSM" was the best adaptation of Spidey to another medium. It sort of hit me on the commute the other day, but it's true, at least to me. It had more air time than Raimi's films, and to be fair, it had a lot of 20/20 hindsight that Raimi did not have in 2001-2002 when he began his trilogy. (...) Yet "TSSM" I felt properly mixed the drama with the humor, the action with the soap opera, and had both fluid animation and great directors and story board artists to make it dazzle. Had it continued it would have been the 21st century's "BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES" and even at 26 episodes it remains a historic work to me.

Very well said. I think it's safe to say that TSSM had the potential to be for Marvel properties what B:TAS was for DC properties. A definitive (animated, at least) interpretation. (I firmly believe TSSM's Gwen Stacy is the best version of the character ever, in any medium, and many others weren't far off or had potential to get there.) A springboard for future projects. A bar that is set very high for everything that follows. Any time Greg Weisman spoke about that show, you could hear how excited he was to be working on it and the kind of vision he had for it (which was unsurprising for anyone who was a Gargoyles fan back in the day).

Anyway, I did try watching USM. I didn't last 10 minutes. I found it an absolute mish-mash of stuff thrown at the wall in a completely immature manner, without even a hint that it aspired to be anything more. It blows my mind that guys like Bendis & Dini have their names attached to this. I keep reading the reviews here hoping against hope that it will somehow improve and at least scratch the surface of what TSSM was, but no such luck.

At least the atrocity that is USM made me go out & buy the season 1 DVD set of TSSM. May as well make someone notice what sells

 

[Webhead2006]

It was not us or marvel fault for end of tssm. Again it was just a bunch of series of bad timing for the show. First kids wb was ending the yr tssm started. Second, with kids wb ending and the long wait for a usa home for tssm and it airing in other countries killed its ratings and what not. Then we get into the whole marvel/disney merger. By this time production has wrapped up. And once dxd become us home for second season. Sony gave up the tv rights to the show. And cast and crew moved onto other projects. Also due to it was a sony produced show, sony had the rights to it. And since they gave up tv rights. They couldn't do anything else. And same with marvel since it was a sony made show, and production had packed up it was over long before that. Which then lead to marvel making a new show in house.

Now sure the style/tone they decided on wasn't the best choice. But again, they wanted to try something new and different. Then also we been told by producers we will be seeing more serious stuff down the road. So all the cheese and cutaway stuff could in a second season get tonded down more and we see things change. Or if it doesn't get picked up aand marvel takes to heart what us older fans have said on it. Maybe they will go back to something more tradtional.

 

[gkokujin]

I'd given up on this show after Venom, but I HAVE to watch the Taskmaster ep.

That clip did pique my interest!

It's a bit petty, but a point I seem to keep getting to in reviews is character designs. I remember when the character models from Cheeks Galloway started hitting the web before the debut of "SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN", there were a lot of people hating them. I actually know friends of mine online who deliberately never gave "TSSM" a chance because they disliked them. I found them fine, and enjoyed them. After all, they were akin to the "stylized" models often used in Bruce Timm TV productions everyone knows and loves - made to animate fluidly on a TV budget while still being distinct. Yet if you read how some people described them, you'd have thought it was "THE FAIRY ODDPARENTS".

Now, "ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN" on the whole has some great character models. They're far more "mainstream" and even have some elements of John Romita Sr. in the Spidey suit. They're nowhere near as stylized as those by Galloway were. Yet the show they're in is terrible, or at best below average. Happy now, Cheeks critics? Character models never make a show, and it saddens me that anyone missed out on the best adaptation of Spider-Man's mythos to an alternate medium simply because they thought Peter Parker's head was too acorn shaped.

Yes, I said "TSSM" was the best adaptation of Spidey to another medium. It sort of hit me on the commute the other day, but it's true, at least to me. It had more air time than Raimi's films, and to be fair, it had a lot of 20/20 hindsight that Raimi did not have in 2001-2002 when he began his trilogy. And I still think those are solid films - I even don't hate "SPIDER-MAN 3" as much as some people (insane or not, it was never dull). Yet "TSSM" I felt properly mixed the drama with the humor, the action with the soap opera, and had both fluid animation and great directors and story board artists to make it dazzle. Had it continued it would have been the 21st century's "BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES" and even at 26 episodes it remains a historic work to me. I know there's another "TSSM" tribute thread and I may repeat myself there in a long winded tribute post there eventually, so see this as a sample.

agreed.

The thing with Cheeks work is that if you weren't into it BEFORE the show, it would either grow on your or you'd hate it.

I've been a fan of his for years so seeing his stuff animated was GREAT for me.

 

[Mikelus]

It's a bit petty, but a point I seem to keep getting to in reviews is character designs. I remember when the character models from Cheeks Galloway started hitting the web before the debut of "SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN", there were a lot of people hating them. I actually know friends of mine online who deliberately never gave "TSSM" a chance because they disliked them. I found them fine, and enjoyed them. After all, they were akin to the "stylized" models often used in Bruce Timm TV productions everyone knows and loves - made to animate fluidly on a TV budget while still being distinct. Yet if you read how some people described them, you'd have thought it was "THE FAIRY ODDPARENTS".

Now, "ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN" on the whole has some great character models. They're far more "mainstream" and even have some elements of John Romita Sr. in the Spidey suit. They're nowhere near as stylized as those by Galloway were. Yet the show they're in is terrible, or at best below average. Happy now, Cheeks critics? Character models never make a show, and it saddens me that anyone missed out on the best adaptation of Spider-Man's mythos to an alternate medium simply because they thought Peter Parker's head was too acorn shaped.

Those people are just too superficial anyway, they got the whole "never judge a book by its cover" backwards.

If this show gets a second season, hopefully Marvel will try to please older fans, they can't be satisfied with the terrible reviews they're getting.

 

[Webhead2006]

again though most of those reviews are just coming from older/adult fans/viewers. Where like i pointed out since the show was designed more for the young ie 5-8 yr old crowd we would have to see what those demo kids really think of the show. But still ya it would be good too to listen to us older fans and fix some of the issues.

 

[TheVileOne]

Spectacular Spider-Man was still Sony's show. Marvel got the TV and animation rights back for Spider-Man. They got a new animation studio. Makes sense that they want to take everything in house and the stuff themselves. Sorry guys but them's the breaks.

Not the first time and it won't be the last.

Just saying if Marvel Studios were to say get the film rights back for Spider-Man and maybe they want to re-introduce him to the MCU maybe they would want to start from scratch again I guess depending on Amazing's performance. COMPLETELY hypothetical but just take for example Incredible Hulk. Marvel Studios set up their feature film deal and Incredible Hulk was greenlit for production, they pretty much just rebooted it right there for their new cinematic universe they were establishing. Hulk came out in 2003. But granted that was not very successful and it underperformed which I doubt Amazing will.

Also - animated Taskmaster - Ultimate Spider-Man rules. No goofy timeskips either.

 

[GamerSlyRatchet]

No goofy timeskips either.

You say that as if it excuses every single other flaw in the show.

 

[TheVileOne]

Not everything has to be HG Welles.

It's something different for Spider-Man I don't see how it's any worse than Avatar, Transformers: Animated, Teen Titans, Brave and The Bold.

Lest we not forget:

[YT]MixXnzefsBA[/YT]

Yeah this expects your audience to know 1950's sitcoms. Nothing meta, goofy, or weird about this.

 

[GamerSlyRatchet]

It's not about the tone or format. I'm fine with goofy, meta, and cartoony in superheroes.

It's that this show abuses it, is NEVER funny, Peter is an unlikeable jerk, the rest of the team are flat and one-note, ect. But I've done this song and dance before, so I better stop.

 

[dodgers2213]

Haha, they really don't give a Damn about consistency.

Remember how the lame excuse for not allowing the Iron Spider armor was lack of control (despite his fine control for the final battle), and the "you don't even have a drivers license kid"....cue spidey in todays episode driving the motorcycle..without a license....and in total control....when he previously couldn't control it, so he is capable of learning. This show stiinnkkksss

 

[Drz]

I really wish Avengers would air first alongside Marvel-Mash Up.

 

[Webhead2006]

Would have liked to watch the episode today. Bbut all morning and still currently city wide time warner cabble been screwed up. So are boxes are not working. I hope the cable is fixed before I go to work at 2 so I can at least dvr the later rerun.

 

[Nathan]

Not everything has to be HG Welles.

It's something different for Spider-Man I don't see how it's any worse than Avatar, Transformers: Animated, Teen Titans, Brave and The Bold. .

o_o

 

[Webhead2006]

Again to bring up point marvel/loebb told us the viewers they wanted to do something different. So is it that wrong of them to try something new. No is how the show is ok not 100%. But that doesn't mean the show is all bad either. It can grow in later episodes. Or if season two happens like some of us have said they can look at what viewers don't like in the show and make suitable changes.