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American animated television series From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Spider-Man Unlimited is an animated television series produced by Saban Entertainment[4] which features the Marvel comic book superhero Spider-Man and serves as a reboot of Spider-Man: The Animated Series, which ran from 1994 to 1998. Unlimited premiered in 1999, and though it had fair ratings, it was overshadowed by Pokémon and the newly debuted Digimon, and canceled after airing only a few episodes.[5] Fox Kids later resumed airing the show from 1999 to 2001, airing 13 episodes, the last ending on a cliffhanger.[6]
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Spider-Man Unlimited | |
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Genre | |
Based on | |
Developed by | |
Written by |
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Directed by | Patrick Archibald |
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Country of origin | |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 1 |
No. of episodes | 13 |
Production | |
Executive producers | Avi Arad Eric S. Rollman |
Producer | Will Meugniot |
Running time | 22 minutes |
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Original release | |
Network | Fox (Fox Kids) |
Release | October 2, 1999 – March 31, 2001 |
The specific incarnation of Spider-Man who serves as the focus of Spider-Man Unlimited made a return in the 2023 feature film Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, depicted as a member of Miguel O'Hara's Spider-Society.[7]
Initially, the goal was to do a low-budget adaptation of the first 26 issues of The Amazing Spider-Man comic book, but Sony and Marvel had already engaged in a deal to produce the Spider-Man movie, and so Saban was cut from any source and could not use the traditional Spider-Man suit or adapt the early comics. Also, in the original idea, Spider-Man was stranded in a Counter-Earth in which Ben Parker did not die and thus Peter Parker lacked the moral fortitude to resist becoming Venom. However, Marvel Comics did not like the idea and stated that they would not do a story with two Peter Parkers.[8] Additionally, the show was made after Marvel decided not to move ahead with a show focusing on Spider-Man 2099 following consideration due to the DC Comics show set in the DC Animated Universe, Batman Beyond premiering earlier that year which covered the futuristic setting.[9]
Unlike the previous series which used digital ink and paint, the animation on the series was made using traditional cel animation. The characters' designers, including Spider-Man's new outfit, were done by Shannon Denton and Roy Burdine.[10]
Several scripts were written for Season 2, including the conclusion of the cliffhanger, but were never produced.
While covering the launch of John Jameson's one-man mission to Counter-Earth (another Earth located on the far side of the Sun), Spider-Man attempts to stop his two symbiote adversaries Venom and Carnage from boarding the shuttlecraft. Blamed for losing contact with Jameson by J. Jonah Jameson of the Daily Bugle, Spider-Man becomes a target of persecution by the media and the public at large, with a bounty placed on his head. After John Jameson had made contact with Earth through a distress signal, Spider-Man borrows nanotechnology from Reed Richards to design a new suit that incorporates built in upgraded webshooters and spider-tracers, stealth technology and anti-symbiote sonic weaponry. Making his way to Counter-Earth after persuading an attacking Nick Fury to let him rescue Jameson, Spider-Man learns that Jameson has fallen in with a band of freedom fighters opposed to the High Evolutionary whose Beastials, hybrids of animal and humanoid attributes, are the dominant species whilst humans are the second-class minority.
With Jameson reluctant to return until all of the Beastials are defeated, Spider-Man elects to remain on Counter-Earth, blending in as best as he can as Peter Parker, taking up residence in the apartment of a doctor, Naoko Yamada-Jones and her son Shane and fighting the High Evolutionary, his Knights of Wundagore, and his Machine Men alongside the rebels as Spider-Man. It is soon discovered that Venom and Carnage are also on Counter-Earth, and are following orders from the Synoptic, a hive-minded legion of Counter-Earth symbiotes.
This series also shows the animated version of John Jameson's Man-Wolf form, superhero versions of mainstream villains Green Goblin and Vulture, and Counter-Earth's counterparts of Kraven the Hunter and Electro.
The following list reflects the correct viewing order of the Spider-Man Unlimited episodes.
No. | Title | Written by | Original air date | |
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1 | "Worlds Apart Part One" | Story by : Michael Reaves, Will Meugniot Teleplay by : Michael Reaves | October 2, 1999[12] | |
When Spider-Man spots his two main enemies Venom and Carnage, hijacking on John Jameson's spaceship on a trip to the mysterious planet Counter-Earth, he fails to stop them and the two symbiote villains go with Jameson to Counter-Earth where the ship crashes and Jameson presumably dies. J. Jonah Jameson and public then blames Spider-Man for Jameson's seeming death. Spider-Man fakes his own death and lies low for half a year until he gets a new nano-tech costume from Reed Richards and gets another ride to Counter-Earth following a distress signal making it to Earth. He has an encounter with the Machine Men and the Knights of Wundagore who managed to capture him. | ||||
2 | "Worlds Apart Part Two" | Story by : Michael Reaves, Will Meugniot Teleplay by : Michael Reaves | October 9, 1999[13] | |
After escaping from the Knights of Wundagore before he can be experimented on, Spider-Man finds out that John Jameson survived the crash. He has become a member of a rebellion fighting against the forces of the High Evolutionary, a figurehead who hates humans and creates animal-mutant hybrids called the Beastials. Spider-Man then joins the group and moves in with a single mother named Dr. Naoko Yamada-Jones and her son Shane Jones. | ||||
3 | "Where Evil Nests" | Story by : Brynne Chandler Reaves, Will Meuginot Teleplay by : Brynne Chandler Reaves | October 16, 1999[14] | |
Spider-Man meets the Counter-Earth version of the Green Goblin, a hero who mistakes Spider-Man for a villain. Spider-Man realizes the kidnapper of Dr. Naoko Yamada-Jones isn't the Goblin. The two team up to save her and stop a plan by her kidnappers responsible for the green Bio-Mass: Venom and Carnage. | ||||
4 | "Deadly Choices" | Story by : Michael Reaves, Will Meugniot Teleplay by : Steve Perry | December 23, 2000[15] | |
A member of the rebellion against High Evolutionary named Git Hoskins steals a bomb and threatens to blow up the Counter-Earth New York. The rebellion and the Beastials are forced to team up to get it back before both humans and Beastials are killed by the contagious compound within the bomb as Spider-Man learns Git's history that involved Sir Ram. | ||||
5 | "Steel Cold Heart" | Story by : Roger Slifer, Will Meuginot Teleplay by : Roger Slifer | January 13, 2001[16] | |
A machine man named X-51 (the 51st off the assembly line), refuses to hurt innocent people. So he betrays the High Evolutionary and the Knights and decides to join the rebellion after he was previously saved by Spider-Man. | ||||
6 | "Enter the Hunter!" | Story by : Michael Reaves, Roger Slifer Teleplay by : Diane Duane, Peter Morwood | February 3, 2001[17] | |
When the High Evolutionary sees that Spider-Man is a bug in his plans, he has his minion, Sir Ram, hire an assassin named the Hunter (Counter-Earth's version of Kraven the Hunter) to kill the hero. | ||||
7 | "Cry Vulture" | Larry Brody Robert Gregory Browne | February 10, 2001[18] | |
Spider-Man teams up with the Counter-Earth hero version of the Vulture to foil one of Sir Ram's evil plots to transform humans into Bestials and defeat his creation Firedrake. | ||||
8 | "Ill-Met by Moonlight" | Robert Gregory Browne Larry Brody | February 17, 2001[19] | |
John Jameson turns into Man-Wolf and Spider-Man has to break into the High Evolutionary's power plant to find a cure for him. Here, he confronts an electric eel that is Counter-Earth's Bestial version of Electro. | ||||
9 | "Sustenance" | Robert Gregory Browne Larry Brody | March 3, 2001[20] | |
The Goblin returns and figures out that Spider-Man is Peter Parker. They are both then kidnapped by Rejects, failed Beastials created by the High Evolutionary led by the butterfly-like Prima and also consisting of the platypus Besitial Alice, the horse Beastial Lester, and a bunch of unnamed Rejects. They attempt to sneak into one of the High Evolutionary's hideouts in Atlantic City so Spider-Man can escape where he pretends to help the Rejects. | ||||
10 | "Matters of the Heart" | Mark Hoffmeier Larry Brody | March 10, 2001[21] | |
Spider-Man agrees to help Bromley, a member of the rebellion against the High Evolutionary, to find his long-lost brother Gabriel. At the end of the episode after Bromley finds out that Gabriel is loyal to the High Evolutionary, he pushes him into a vat of water. The Beastials inside pull him down. | ||||
11 | "One Is the Loneliest Number" | Robert Gregory Browne Larry Brody | March 17, 2001[22] | |
Eddie Brock is separated from the Venom symbiote by the Beastials so that it can be used in the experiment of the Texas horned lizard scientist Dr. Borowski. Spider-Man agrees to retrieve it by donning it and then give it back to Brock before he dies while contending with Carnage. | ||||
12 | "Sins of the Fathers" | Robert Gregory Browne Larry Brody | March 24, 2001[23] | |
Karen O'Malley, a member of the rebellion against the High Evolutionary, is kidnapped by Machine Men of the Evolutionary, so Spider-Man and X-51 teams up to save her. Meanwhile, the High Evolutionary realizes that Karen is his granddaughter. | ||||
13 | "Destiny Unleashed" | Robert Gregory Browne Larry Brody | March 31, 2001[24] | |
Venom and Carnage reveal why they are on Counter-Earth. They have been working for the Synoptic, whose plan is to team up with the High Evolutionary. When the time is right, they will unleash millions of symbiotes on the planet to finally take over all of all life once and for all. Spider-Man, John Jameson, the rebellion, X-51 and the Goblin all team up to put an end to the High Evolutionary's plans. They appear too late when the plans of Venom and Carnage unfold and the symbiotes are unleashed, ending the series on a cliffhanger. |
In Australia, the series aired on Network Ten's Cheez TV morning cartoon block in August 2001. It ran again on Cheez TV in June–July 2002.[25]
As with the majority of the other Disney-acquired Marvel Comics animated series, Liberation Entertainment UK planned to release this on DVD in 2009. Due to Liberation's bankruptcy, the Marvel licenses were re-acquired by Clear Vision Ltd, who released it on DVD (in Region 2 PAL format) in a two-disk set containing all 13 episodes. It was released on the May 3, 2010. Marvel.com had uploaded all of the series - sponsored by Panasonic - to their website in late 2009, each week another episode was uploaded. All 13 episodes are available on Amazon.com.
In 2019, Disney released all 13 episodes on Disney+ for streaming.
Alongside the animated series, Marvel Comics commissioned a comic to tie in with the series. It would be the second volume of Spider-Man Unlimited as a whole from the company, but the only one of the Unlimited volumes to be based on it. The first two issues were adapted from the first three episodes of the series, with the last three providing their own storyline. In the final issue, Spider-Man meets an escapee from Haven, a Bestial version of Wolverine. After fighting, the two team up and take down a Bestial Chameleon. It is hinted that Wolverine is really Naoko Jones' missing husband (although the cartoon hints that the Goblin is really Naoko's husband). The question was never resolved as poor sales ended the comic's run.
The series was somewhat referred to in the Webspinners: Tales of Spider-Man issues #13 and 14 from February and March 2000 where the Peter Parker of Earth-616 is teleported into another dimension ruled by Blastaar while chasing Carnage (who himself was running away from the NYC police) and finds himself in the costume Spider-Man wore in this TV Show. He joins forces with Dusk and remains in this suit until he defeats both villains and transported back to his homeworld with the knocked out Carnage.
A copy of the series' universe, labeled Earth-7831, is massacred by Morlun's brother Daemos during the events of Spider-Verse.[26] Another version of Spider-Man wearing this costume is seen alive and assisting other Spiders in the climax of Spider-Geddon.[27]
The Peter Parker / Spider-Man from Spider-Man Unlimited appears in the animated feature film Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023), depicted as a member of Miguel O'Hara's Spider Society.[7] His inclusion in the film reveals that he survived the cliffhanger ending of the series while the events after it still remain unknown. Parker himself appears watching Miles Morales argue with Miguel about the inability of Spider-Man to prevent deaths in every universe known as a "canon event" and is later one of the many members of the Spider-Society trying to stop Miles from returning to his home dimension Earth-1610 to prevent The Spot from murdering his father Jefferson Davis on the day he is set to become an NYPD Captain. Parker attempted to punch Miles after Ben Reilly pounced him in mid air only to miss and hit Cyborg Spider-Woman. He is then ran over by Miguel on the train after Miles overpowers him and is among all the other members watching Gwen Stacy being sent back home to her home dimension Earth-65. An image of Eddie Brock turning into Venom as depicted in the episode "One is the Loneliest Number" was also used in the film.
The Unlimited suit appears as an unlockable costume for Spider-Man in Neversoft's Spider-Man video game and its 2001 sequel, Spider-Man 2: Enter Electro.