There have been many Spider-Man cartoons over the decades. The original 1967 is iconic thanks to that theme song, and many a Millennial Marvel fan loves the ’90s Spider-Man: The Animated Series. But one of the best Spidey toons of all time was the 2008 Spectacular Spider-Man series. It only ran for two seasons, but many view it as one of the best interpretations of Peter Parker outside of comics. Now, via The Direct, we’ve learned that after its Disney+ debut in October 2022, Spectacular Spider-Man is now mysteriously gone from the platform. Spidey didn’t even stick around long enough on Disney+ to make any new amazing friends.

So why is it gone, and where can fans watch it? As to why it’s no longer on Disney+, we can only guess. Sony produced the show, so it’s likely to do with some kind of licensing deal. Non-MCU Marvel properties tend to vanish and then reappear on the platform all the time. The many Fox X-Men films are a perfect example of this. As to where fans can now watch it? Well, it’s still not available on its previous home on Netflix. However, you can still buy individual episodes on Amazon Prime. And, of course, fans can always just buy the complete series set on Blu-ray. Physical media will never suddenly disappear without warning.

Hopefully, one of these days, they will sort out all the various licensing issues, and Disney+ can be the permanent home to all Marvel Comics-based media, especially Spider-Man. With the Spectacular Spider-Man version of Peter Parker appearing (briefly) in Across the Spider-Verse, more fans have become curious about him, and having it vanish from the platform now after a mere few months is rather unfortunate. Having said that, we have a feeling this is not the permanent end of the Spectacular Spider-Man on Disney+. The real question is “When will it return?”

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Fifteen years ago this week, the Marvel Cinematic Universe launched with the arrival of Iron Man in theaters. A decade and a half later, the MCU is the biggest live-action movie and TV franchise in history. Its success, as well as the success of the earlier non-MCU Marvel-based films like X-Men and Spider-Man, took many in Hollywood by total surprise. It took years to get Iron Man and the rest to go from comic to screen, and studio after studio passed on what now seem like no-brainer ideas. But the groundwork for a successful media of shared Marvel heroes happened nearly two decades before Tony Stark said the words “I am Iron Man.” And it all happened on Saturday morning and weekday afternoon TV with ’90s Marvel cartoons.

The Fox Kids Marvel Revolution

Of course, it all really began with the comics. In the ‘80s and early ‘90s, Marvel Comics was the king of comic book publishers. For much of that decade, Marvel’s two biggest sellers were consistently Uncanny X-Men and The Amazing Spider-Man. These titles were so huge, that in 1990 and 1991, Marvel relaunched both Spider-Man and X-Men with new #1 issues, which collectively sold 10 million copies. So one would think this success would lead to animated shows. Well, not so fast there.

Regardless of this runaway comic book success, it was a battle for X-Men to make it to air. Margaret Loesch, a veteran TV executive, saw X-Men’s hit potential with kids. But not one executive at Fox believed in it. They just didn’t get it, thinking comics were too confusing and esoteric to translate to children’s TV. Eventually, Loesch staked her reputation on X-Men being a hit, and the network reluctantly agreed. They told her if X-Men didn’t click, it would be the end of her tenure at Fox. Not only did it click, but X-Men also helped push Fox Kids from fourth place in the ratings to first place almost instantly.

X-Men Launches the MAU: Marvel Animated Universe

X-Men: The Animated Series premiered on Halloween in 1992 as an instant smash. The characters became household names. X-Men sold everything from action figures to pizza. Fox wanted more Marvel, and two years later, Spider-Man debuted on weekday afternoons. And from that very first episode, Spidey let viewers know that he existed in a larger universe. He name-dropped the Avengers and the Fantastic Four. By season two, he met his Fox Kids compatriots the X-Men in a two-part episode event. Even though an entirely different animation studio produced Spider-Man, the voice actors from X-Men reprised their roles, cementing the notion of a unified continuity between both shows. But that was just the beginning.

We should note that the 1994 Spider-Man was not the first Spidey show to feature the X-Men and other Marvel heroes. The 1981-1984 cartoon series Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends had Peter Parker partner with two former X-Men, Iceman and Firestar. And the X-Men guest starred several times, marking their first animated appearance. But Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends didn’t lead to any spinoffs, despite Marvel Entertainment hoping to create an X-Men show. But now, back to the ‘90s.

Iron Man and the Fantastic Four Expand the Universe

With the success of the two Fox Kids Marvel shows, Marvel Entertainment wanted more. When Fox passed on Iron Man and Fantastic Four, they went the syndicated route for these two shows. The fall of 1994 saw the premiere of the Marvel Action Hour, featuring Iron Man and Fantastic Four. Stan Lee himself was the host. The first seasons were not particularly well received, but the two shows still got second seasons, slightly revamped to reflect the tone of X-Men. An Incredible Hulk series and a Silver Surfer show followed them, although the Silver Surfer’s only lasted one season. The Hulk’s show in particular had ties to the MAU, as Robert Hays once again voiced Iron Man.

While the other Marvel cartoons weren’t as huge as the two heavy hitters of X-Men and Spider-Man, they all tied into one continuity. Both Iron Man and the Fantastic Four appeared on Spider-Man after their shows ended, in the epic 1997 Secret Wars event, and the original voice actors returned to reprise their roles. This settled any dispute of whether or not Iron Man and Fantastic Four were of a single continuity with the Fox Kids Marvel shows. Despite minor continuity issues here and there, this connected universe basically worked across all these series. However, by the time Avengers: United They Stand and Spider-Man Unlimited came out in 1999, the MAU fizzled out. But at its peak, it proved an interconnected Marvel universe could work outside the niche comics audience.

’90s Marvel Kids Become 2010’s MCU Adults

The wild popularity of Iron Man shocked Hollywood executives when it hit theaters in 2008. It was the same when X-Men exploded in 2000. There was no general awareness that an audience this big existed for characters studio heads likely considered B-list. They were equally flabbergasted when the first Avengers made box office history. But they shouldn’t have been; the kids who watched the interconnected Marvel cartoons of the ‘90s had become adults. They were ready for live-action versions of the universe they watched on TV with their bowl of cereal. Warner Bros. later did an interconnected DC animated universe of their own with Justice League (and they did it with higher quality). But Marvel beat them to the punch. Without a doubt, the MCU ultimately did this interconnected Marvel universe better too. But the often crudely animated ‘90s Marvel cartoons all walked so the MCU could run.

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Cartoon characters wearing the same clothes over and over is a classic animated TV series trope. It’s on full display in Spider-Man: The Animated Series from the ’90s. To be fair, our titular wallcrawler did have more than one outfit as Peter Parker. (Okay, it was maybe three at most). But the most iconic of those was the striped polo shirt he wore in the opening credits of the show. It’s the same one Peter wore when the radioactive spider bit him—and seemingly, every other day after that. And now shopDisney is selling a replica of that shirt for $49.99. You can check out images of the polo shirt in the gallery below, as well as read Disney’s official description.

Show your love for a timeless hero with this Spider-Man polo shirt. Inspired by the classic Spider-Man animated TV series of the ’90s, it looks like the iconic striped polo that Peter Parker wears when he’s not being your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. A great get for any fan and a guaranteed conversation starter, it features an embroidered Spider-Man patch on the chest.

Click To View Gallery

Anyone who grew up with the animated Spidey back in the day will instantly recognize this turquoise, blue, and white shirt. And if they don’t, the Spidey head will help them make the connection. The embroidered patch kind of reminds us of Izod shirts, only replace that Izod alligator mascot with a Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. As we said, cartoon characters rarely ever had more than one signature piece of clothes. On Scooby-Doo, the gang seemed to have just one set of clothing. For 50 years. At least Peter Parker also had a t-shirt with a blazer he’d wear sometimes. Progress!

The Spider-Man polo shirts are currently sold out, but given their huge popularity, expect shopDisney to restock them at some point down the line.

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Avengers: Secret Wars is coming in a few years, landing in Phase 6 of the MCU and capping off Marvel Studios’ Multiverse Saga. How loyal this Avengers movie will remain to the original 1984 event comic, or its 2015 reinvention of Secret Wars, is still a mystery. But the MCU version of Secret Wars won’t be the first time Marvel has adapted the seminal comics. Back in the ’90s, Spider-Man: The Animated Series did its own (fairly loose) adaptation. For a whole generation of kids, this was “their” Secret Wars.

The producers of Spider-Man: The Animated Series stuck to some key elements of the comic but took some wild swings too. Now, the folks at Comics Alliance have created a video detailing the 3-part Spider-Man: TAS version of Secret Wars. And this rendition of Secret Wars may give us a hint as to how the MCU might condense such a sprawling story into a relatively brief runtime. You can check out the full video above.

The Spider-Man version of Secret Wars kept certain core parts from the original 1984 comic, such as the omnipotent Beyonder, and his superhero vs. supervillain planet, Battleworld. But the roster of heroes was much smaller on TV. The creators kept it to Spidey, The Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Captain America, and the X-Men’s Storm. Almost all the villains in this rendition of Secret Wars were Spidey villains as well. In fact, Lizard took over the role Magneto played in the comic event, acting as the “bad guy on the good guy’s team.” Luckily, Doctor Doom was still the main baddie. Just as in the comics.

The 1997 Spider-Man: TAS version made things even more Spidey-centric than that, though. In a team with Reed Richards, Iron Man, Captain America, and a literal goddess like Storm, they made Peter Parker the leader of the heroes. And they added Black Cat, who was nowhere to be found in the original comics. Also not in the original comics, but appearing in the cartoon, were Blade and Morbius. It’s hard to say whether the MCU’s Secret Wars will take anything from this rendition.

These three episodes led to the final two, which were actually a very early iteration of the Spider-Verse, all decades before the comics. In 2017, the animated series Avengers: Assemble also did its own version of Secret Wars, far more tied to Loki and Asgard. It was ok but lacked the charm of the ’90s Spidey version. That one was truly a wild adaptation of Secret Wars but a reminder that with the right storytellers, one could pull it off. Even on weekday afternoon television.

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Marvel fans watched the trailer for Spider-Man: No Way Home on a loop since its release. You could say everyone is waiting with bated breath for Peter Parker to face off against a series of Multiversal villains. And possibly meet some variants of himself. (Allegedly. But, probably). The trailer showed us the fallout of Peter’s secret identity revealed to the world, and his enlisting of Dr. Strange to magically undo it all. Clearly, much wackiness ensues.

Now, via Geeks Are Sexy, we’ve discovered that someone has recreated the trailer faithfully, using footage from the beloved ’90s Spider-Man: The Animated Series, with a wee bit of The Spectacular Spider-Man toon from 2008 too. The video comes from YouTube channel 100Bombs Studios. You can watch this delightful throwback to the days when Peter wore lots of pastel polo shirts, and swung through primitively rendered CGI buildings, right here:

We must say, 100BombsStudios did a great job with this one. (They made one for the previous trailer earlier this year too). For those curious, the footage primarily comes from the first episode of the show’s third season. Appropriately enough, the title of the episode was simply called “Doctor Strange.” That 1996 episode found Peter and the Sorcerer Supreme fighting Baron Mordo, and an impending invasion from the Dark Dimension of Dormammu. At least part of that plot should sound familiar to anyone who saw the Doctor Strange movie.

Marvel Entertainment

Although there have been many cartoon versions over the years dedicated to Spidey and his exploits, the ’90s series was one of the best. It featured many of his most famous storylines from the comics for the first time. Not to mention most of his most iconic villains. Sure, it didn’t have as groovy a theme song as the ’60s cartoon. Or have Spider-Man living in a high-tech apartment with his Amazing Friends. But it remains a fan favorite series to this day. Maybe we’ll see this animated Spider-world one day in an Into the Spider-Verse sequel. Anything is possible in the multiverse, after all.

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