10 Best Moments From Spider-Man The Animated Series
With great power, there come's classic Spidey action!
Amazing. Spectacular. Astonishing. Spider-Man has been an absolute titan of the superhero genre for decades now, ever since he first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15 in 1962. Since then he has gone on to spawn countless comic books of his own, as well as video games, a massive movie franchise, toys, you name it.
After all this time, one of his best outings was the very much beloved Spider-Man The Animated Series. Debuting in 1994, this was the show that was able to introduce the wall-crawling web head to many a kid's homes and is one of the most faithful adaptations of the hero to date.
During its criminally short 4-year run, this show adapted some of Spider-Man's most well known and classic stories and featured a seminal cast of colorful characters. What it did most, however, was give us some truly epic moments that made it a cut above the rest, even with strict television censorship in place at the time (to the point where it was even cited that a pigeon could not be harmed on screen. No, seriously).
20 years on, even with the recent success of the animated movie Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse and how far animation has come, this old spider still has some webs up its sleeve.
10. Jameson’s Backstory - Episode “Sting Of The Scorpion”, Season 1
As the C.E.O of the Daily Bugle, this mustache-wearing editor is most well-known for his many rants against Spider-Man; constantly printing bad press about him, believing him to be a criminal, and even being involved in criminal endeavors against him (Spider-Slayers anyone?).
What was most interesting was that he was often played for comic relief, or generally presented as an almost one-note character. This all changed when he reveals the reason why he hates Spider-Man: his late wife Julia, who was shot dead by a masked mobster. Since then, he's vowed to stop people who "hide behind masks, and think that they're above the law".
It's hard to argue with where that motivation stems from here. A revealing moment that really fleshes him out as a character, as he simply wanted to honor the memory of his wife by standing up to those in masks: vigilantes and criminals alike. It's never brought up again during the show's run, but this added bit of character development meant that dear old 'Flat Top' got a moment to shine and earned himself some sympathy and understanding along the way.
It's a welcome development and it's nice to see one of Spider-Man's supporting characters get this kind of treatment, and to know that there is a rhyme and reason to Jonah's vendetta beyond a typical 'just because he does'.