Summary
Despite being heavily serialized,Spider-Man: The Animated Serieshas some episodes that provide some endlessly entertaining re-watch value. Largely considered to be one of the best animated Spider-Man series ever made, the cartoon takes place inthe same universe asX-Men: The Animated Series.Known for its incredible voice acting, faithful adaptations of comic storylines, and popularization of lesser-known Spider-Man characters, the show has quite a few episodes that stand up to repeat viewings.
LikeX-Men: The Animated Series,Spider-Man: The Animated Serieswas often heavily serialized, divided into many arcs and chapters that continue telling cohesive stories. While this can make it challenging to jump back in to after some time away, some episodes buck this trend with great standalone stories worth coming back to for one reason or another. Whether it’s showing off amazing Marvel hero team-ups, engaging self-contained stories, or simply fantastic action scenes,Spider-Man: The Animated Seriesstill holds upto this day.
Spider-Man’s New Webs Have Their Very Own Anti-Vampire Superpower
Vampires are pretty dangerous, but Spider-Man just got a major upgrade that allows him to easily defeat certain vampires during Marvel’s Blood Hunt.
10Spider-Wars Chapter II: Farewell, Spider-Man
Season 5, Episode 13
The finale of the entire series,Chapter II:Farewell Spider-Manmight not seem like the best candidate for a re-watch, being the culmination of five seasons worth of setup. That being said, the episode is essential enough to be worth revisiting for its quality alone, being an epic superhero event that doesn’t lose the weight of its significance.The final episode concludes the dimension-hopping terror of Carnage,as Peter must navigate a strange parallel world that makes him question his place in the multiverse.
The appearance of Madame Web also sets up the search for Mary Jane
The episode has so many great moments that are significant enough in a vacuum to be interesting enough to come back to even without the context of Carnage’s previous actions, as Peter gets to talk to Uncle Ben, an alternate version of himself, and even his real-world creator, Stan Lee. The appearance of Madame Web also sets up the search for Mary Jane, resolved inthe season finale ofX-Men ‘97.Even if this particular entry in the series requires some of the most knowledge going in, it has many standalone aspects that make it worth at least another glance.
9Neogenic Nightmare Chapter I: The Insidious Six
Season 2, Episode 1
The season 2 premiere ofSpider-Man: The Animated Seriesquickly proved why the 90s cartoon would have such cultural staying power. After setting up a hefty chunk of Spider-Man’s rogue’s gallery in season 1, the series wasted no time in introducing its own version of the comics’ famous villain group, the Insidious Six. Consisting of the Rhino, the Shocker, Doctor Octopus, Mysterio, the Scorpion, and the Chameleon,the Insidious Six’s first appearance is a true high point of the series.
Once again, the decent amount of set-up that goes into this episode somewhat bogs down its re-watchability with questions of who was doing what when season 1 ended. But as a premiere, the episode at least makes an effort to re-establish information that’s already been presented earlier. All that’s left is to enjoy the hilarious dynamics of Spider-Man’s villains as they work both with and against each other.
8The Sins Of The Fathers Chapter XIV: Turning Point
Season 3, Episode 14
True to its name, the season 3 finale ofSpider-Man: The Animated Serieswas indeed a turning point, both for the tone of the show and in Peter’s own mind. A loose adaptation of the infamous Spider-Man comic,The Death of Gwen Stacy, the episode gets as tragic as the 90s cartoon was allowed to get. When Green Goblin discovers Peter Parker’s identity,he goes after Mary Jane, resulting in a dramatic battlebetween himself and Spider-Man.
Once again, a fair amount of set-up went intoTurning Pointthat may be lost when re-watched on its own. However, the strong elements, especially Peter going all-out on Norman after he thinks Mary Jane dies, make it well worth multiple viewings. The episode also played an instrumental role in explainingMadame Web’s connection to Spider-Man, perhaps explaining why the obscure character was deemed fit to carry a solo live-action movie by Sony. This could be a point both for and against a revisit of the episode.
7The Sting Of The Scorpion
Season 1, Episode 6
Made before the series became fond of labeling its seasons and episodes with chapter titles, the sixth-ever episode ofSpider-Man: The Animated Seriesis a fantastic bottle episode. The entry serves as the origin story of The Scorpion, describing the small-time crook Mac Gargan making a deal with J. Jonah Jameson to take out Spider-Man once and for all, despite Jameson himself unknowingly working with the wall-crawler himself. Along the way, Gargan stumbles into the lab of Dr. Farley Stillwell, becoming another arachnid-based vigilante.
The delicious irony of Jameson working with a criminal in order to eliminate Spider-Man while also having him as an employee makes for some of the most tense moments in the series. The episode also does a great job explaining why J. Jonah Jameson hates Spider-Man so much, giving a rare glimpse into the media mogul’s own tragic past.The Sting of the Scorpionmight not be considered one of the most important or overallbest episodes ofSpider-Man: The Animated Series, but it’scertainly one of the easiest to re-watch.
6The Sins Of The Fathers Chapter XI: Carnage
Season 3, Episode 11
Of all the elements of Spider-Man lore the 90s cartoon was able to handle the best, its treatment of the symbiotes outshines nearly any other media adaptation. The introduction of Carnage in his eponymous episode is one of the most compelling origin stories in the entire series. The episode begins with Venom’s previous villainous employers, Dormammu and Baron Mordo, creating a monster with Carnage to secure the former’s return to Earth.
Admittedly, Carnage’s initial appearance in the series might raise some of the most questions yet when watched on its own, as two prominent Doctor Strange villains show a strange investment in the users of the symbiotes for no particular reason. However, this confusion quickly falls by the wayside as the episode introduces Carnage for the first time in all his bleeding-red glory, quickly selling the threat of the feral Cletus Kasady. The cherry on top is a three-way team-up between Spider-Man, Venom, and Iron Man to tackle the new villain.
5Spider Wars Chapter I: Really, Really Hate Clones
Season 5, Episode 12
If there’s one thing Spider-Man can’t seem to escape, it’s running into multiple versions of himself. The premiere episode of the Spider Wars arc presented a loose adaptation of theClone Sagaof Marvel Comics infamy, in which Peter Parker has to team up with several bizarre alternate versions of Spider-Man in order to defeat the maniacal Spider-Caranage, a Peter Parker variant who bonded with the Carnage symbiote. What follows is the start of an all-out war as theteam of Spider-Men assaults a demolished New York City.
What this episode lacks in cohesion, it makes up for in sheer spectacle, with seven different Spider-Men swinging into action against a cabal of villains headed by the most evil version of Peter Parker ever. After the success ofSpider-Man multiverse team-up movieslikeNo Way HomeandSpider-Man: Into The Spiderverse, it’s fascinating to see a prototypical version of their stories via 90s animation. Comic fans can also appreciate the nods to the infamousClone Saga, with the episode’s very title being a tongue-in-cheek diss.
4Neogenic Nightmare Chapter IV: The Mutant Agenda
Season 2, Episode 4
TheNeogenic Nightmarearc ofSpider-Man: The Animated Seriesis a dizzying chapter in the show, but does present an interesting throughline – The idea of Spider-Man’s powers becoming unstable. Before Sam Raimi’sSpider-Man 2explored the idea, the 90s cartoon featured several instances of Peter briefly losing his powers. Looking for answers on mutation, Spider-Man seeks the aid of the X-Men, who regard him wearily.
The unstable dynamic between the X-Men and Spider-Man makes this episode endlessly re-watchable, as the two fight both physically and verbally over Spider-Man’s status as a mutate, who developed powers later via science, versus the X-Men’s mutants, who were born with them. Seeing the two timelines ofX-Men: The Animated SeriesandSpider-Man: The Animated Seriesis enough of a joy to watch on its own,being one of the few instances of a Spider-Man and X-Men crossover outside the comics.A harrowing Hobgoblin appearance helps keeps things tense and moving, as well.
3The Sins Of The Fathers Chapter XII: The Spot
Season 3, Episode 12
Dr. Jonathan Ohn goes on a crime spree in an attempt to fund his research
Long beforeSpider-Man: Across The Spiderverseintroduced The Spotto general audiences,Spider-Man: The Animated Seriesdid its part to champion the relatively obscure comic villain. Approaching the end of season 3, The Spot’s titular episode introduces him into the canon of the animated series, establishing him as Kingpin’s assistant. After being turned into the space-distorting villain via scientific mishap, Dr. Jonathan Ohn goes on a crime spree in an attempt to fund his research.
Interestingly enough, this episode features Spider-Man himself relatively little, being a fascinating dissection of the C-List villain instead. The episode is a great character study, going through Ohn’s tribulations in romance, science, and criminal activities, culminating in a memorable fight with Spider-Man. If nothing else,this episode is a great one to revisitas one of the few other adaptations of The Spot outside ofSpider-Man: Across The Spiderverse.
2Night Of The Lizard
Season 1, Episode 1
The premiere episode ofSpider-Man: The Animated Seriesstill holds up as one of its best. At the same time,Night of the Lizardbalances the origin stories of Peter Parker’s Spider-Man and Dr. Curt Connors' The Lizard, one of the more tragic villains of the Spider-Man mythos. It’s easy to see why the 90s cartoon was able to quickly make such a big impression after giving the first episode another try.
The narrative doesn’t hyper-fixate on Spider-Man’s origins, not bogging down familiar fans while still giving enough background details to fill in the rare few viewers who might not know the specifics. Peter Parker’s race with Eddie to capture a photo of the mysterious Lizard running alongside Spider-Man’s efforts to stop him creates a fun"Monster of the Week" formatthat the series would sadly not go on to follow. Requiring zero background knowledge and being a great Spider-Man story in its own right, the animated series' first episode is one of the best to re-watch.
1The Sins Of The Fathers Chapter IV: Enter the Green Goblin
Season 3, Episode 4
Despite being one ofSpider-Man: The Animated Series’best villainsand Peter Parker’s most famous nemesis, the Green Goblin gets shockingly little screentime relative to the entire run of the series. It’s instead the Hobgoblin that’s given the brunt of the antagonistic appearances. That being said, when the Green Goblin does appear, it’s always a memorable episode, and his debut is no exception.
The episode begins with Norman Osborne’s geniuses as the Goblin, escalating into a series of battles with the maniacal cackling supervillain that culminates with Spider-Man ascertaining his identity. Norman’s amnesia and questionable agency in his actions as the Green Goblin makes for a deliciously tense and dramatic dynamic that even the live-action films can’t match. With excellent action, exciting drama, and a relatively self-contained narrative, the Green Goblin’s first appearance is the most re-watchable episode ofSpider-Man: The Animated Series.
Spider-Man: The New Animated Series
Cast
Spider-Man: The New Animated Series follows Peter Parker (voiced by Neil Patrick Harris) balancing college life and his responsibilities as Spider-Man. This animated series reimagines classic characters in a modern setting while Peter faces various villains and personal challenges.
