There’s never been a greater selection of superhero TV shows, from The Boys on Prime Video to the plethora of Marvel Disney Plus series. But Netflix has a classic series right now that beats them all — and it stars everyone’s favorite web-slinger.
Both seasons of The Spectacular Spider-Man are now streaming on Netflix; that’s 26 episodes of Spidey Goodness to enjoy. This popular animated series debuted in 2008 but was unfortunately canceled a year later after Disney bought Marvel. More than a decade later, the show is still fondly remembered and definitely counts as one TV show that was canceled too soon.
What is The Spectacular Spider-Man about?
Skipping the familiar origin story, The Spectacular Spider-Man begins a few months after batty high schooler Peter Parker (voiced by Josh Keaton) was bitten by a radioactive spider and developed superhuman abilities.
The show follows his attempts to balance a normal teenage life with fighting crime. It also features many of his most iconic villains, including Vulture, Electro, the Lizard, Mysterio, and Dr. Otto Octavius. There’s even a four-part run centered around Venom, which is arguably the best representation of this seminal Spider-Man story outside of the comics.
What really sets The Spectacular Spider-Man apart is its heavily serialized nature. Many animated superhero shows back then stuck to telling self-contained stories in each episode, but The Spectacular Spider-Man isn’t afraid to develop longer character arcs over multiple episodes and even entire seasons.
What do critics say about The Spectacular Spider-Man?
The Spectacular Spider-Man was received with overwhelming enthusiasm when it debuted in 2008. And this positive reputation has remained unbroken to this day. In fact, the show scores a perfect 100% rotten tomatoes (opens in new tab)and viewers agree that it also garnered a very impressive 93% rating.
Eric Goldman from IGN (opens in new tab) stated in an extremely positive review that “Spider-Man finally has a TV series worthy of him”. Praise was given for the series’ multi-part storylines, clear respect for the character’s turbulent history, and clever use of Spidey’s extensive villain gallery.
What culture (opens in new tab)‘s Matthew Wells was equally enthusiastic, saying, “Setting aside the show’s simplistic design, Spectacular Spider-Man has proven in its short two seasons to be the best, if not one, Spider-Man cartoon of all time of the greatest comic cartoons of all time.”
If you’re looking for rankings of the best superhero shows of all time, The Spectular Spider-Man will likely appear somewhere on almost every popular list. That’s because, aside from its blocky animation, there’s very little about this show that’s not commendable, and its enduring legacy is real testament to that.
Should You Stream The Spectacular Spider-Man?
If you have even a vague interest in superhero shows, you absolutely must stream The Spectacular Spider-Man on Netflix. It’s easily one of the best comic book series ever made, and it deserves every second of the 26 episodes it takes to binge-watch.
It’s a great shame that the planned third season never got into production, leaving the series on a cliffhanger that will forever remain unresolved. Despite this, The Spectacular Spider-Man continues to stand as one of the best Spidey media of all time and is an easy recommendation for all ages.
Much like Batman: The Animated Series or X-Men: The Animated Series before it, The Spectacular Spider-Man is one of those rare shows that’s ostensibly aimed at a young audience but has more than enough substance to hook older viewers as well. It’s the perfect show to watch with the whole family as everyone will enjoy it.
The show was only added to Netflix on Friday (July 8) but is already making quite an impact. The Speculator Spider-Man was trending on social media over the weekend as both old and new fans raved about the show and encouraged Netflix subscribers to watch it as soon as possible. There is no contradiction from us. Get The Spectacular Spider-Man on your watch list now.
In other Netflix news, the streamer has reportedly just canceled a major Vince McMahon documentary.