Over 100 episodes of the Ultimate Spider-Man animated series has been produced, and it’s soon coming to an end. At Marvel Animation’s New York Comic Con 2016 panel, executives Stephen Wacker and Cory Lane revealed the finale “Graduation Day,” but that was hardly the end for the webhead. 2017 will see a brand new cartoon starring Peter Parker — the Marvel’s Spider-Man animated series. And readers of Spider-Man comics will notice some familiar facesbehind-the-scenes.
Spider-Man Begins
The news came late in Saturday’s fun panel, but it was easily the biggest news. Aside from the above title card, only people at the panel got to see what Marvel’s Spider-Man looks like. The new series begins right at the start for Peter Parker. The scene from the first episode and he says he was bitten by a radioactive spider just two weeks earlier. Marvel’s Spider-Man animated series is the earliest in Peter’s career we’ve ever seen, and he definitely has a lot to learn.
The five-minute-long scene begins with Peter in a homemade Spider-Man costume, different from the normal one in the above image. Parker can’t get his webbing to work or stick to walls correctly, so he isn’t sure he can do it. Then he remembers some wise words his Uncle Ben once told him. Any Spider-Man can probably guess the saying.
Another Homecoming?
As the scene continued, Spider-Man used his web shooters for the first time and then stopped the bank robbers by flipping over their van. The clip also showcased Peter’s Spider-Sense, showing it onscreen as a kind of slow motion effect while Peter thinks at normal speed.
The action and story are reminiscent of Peter’s appearance in Captain America: Civil War. The back to basics cartoon has a very inexperienced Spidey who builds his own equipment and even wears goggles to help him with his more sensitive eyes. The comparisons became even more obvious when the panel-exclusive slip ended with Spider-Man getting attacked by The Vulture, the lead villain in Spider-Man: Homecoming.
Marvel’s Spider-Man premieres in 2017 on Disney XD, and is being made by folks from Robot Chicken and Avengers Assemble. Most interestingly for current comic fans, comic writer Dan Slott is a story consultant on the show. Good thing too, because the show will adapt some of Slott’s comics, including the character he co-created, Max Modell. He’s the principal of Peter’s high school, Horizon. How many other Dan Slott creations will follow Max unto the show?